When the second season rolled out, White was added to the main cast.
It also propelled White to incredible fame.
They hit a stalemate.
Jaleel White says his book is a lean into Nineties nostalgia.Vivien Killilea/Getty Images
Theres a simplicity to life back then, man, thats pretty enjoyable for all of us.
And really its all about timing.
I thought I knew your story, but there was a lot in there I didnt know.
And it really wasnt very good in the beginning, to be quite honest.
If you look at the early episodes, the mannerisms became more pronounced with time and rehearsal.
And so I wasnt seeing myself, quite frankly, like others were seeing me.
And then [Family Mattersproducer] David Duclon was like, People need to see this side of you.
This is just me.
I wasnt even treated on set on par with the other stars.
So I was like, Mom, this is hilarious.
Theyre making it look like Im one of the stars like Jennifer Aniston.
So thats prime example of how even TV will play with time and billing and then promotion.
Do you recall doing the rap?Oh my gosh, that embarrassing rap.
How did you balance those two very different worlds?Thats my mom.
My mom refused to let me do autograph signings.
I was not traveling every weekend being famous someplace.
She really was dead-set on me continuing to be a normal kid in school.
And in a world before smartphones, this was possible.
It was a very grounding element in my life.
It must have felt like you were leading a double life.
It would come off braggadocious.
Oh, hes a show-off, or something like that.
On some level, the other cast members must have resented all the attention you were getting.
Did you sense that at the time?Yeah.
I mean, thats well documented.
I try not to belabor it just because were 30 years later.
The kids in the long run have remained close-knit.
Kellie just called me yesterday.
But she lives in Maryland.
I live in L.A., Darius is just all over.
So the dividing line was more between the adults and the kids.
Jo, what day do you catch her?
Was it a Tuesday?
Was it a good Tuesday or a bad Wednesday?
Thats what I just chalk it up to, I really do.
You two were mature enough hash things out and become friends again pretty quickly.Yeah, absolutely.
And Im like, Oh, and these guys are adults?
They didnt work that out?
Id love to hear a little about Rosetta LeNoire, who played Mother Winslow.
I feel like many people dont know about her incredible past.
She even worked with Orson Welles on his famous VoodooMacbethin the 1930s.Rosetta was our top two producers favorite.
They really doted over Ms. Rosetta.
And Ms. Rosetta was a whip-cracking grandmother on our set.
I remember she was always all over Darius.
She would just get on me quickly if she ever saw me with food on the set.
That was such a Broadway no-no.
How dare you come to the set for rehearsal carrying food?
And she was a stickler since she came up in Broadway.
As the years went by, the plots of the show started becoming more and more outlandish.
Near the end, you were time-traveling to pirate ships.
I just saw one where you, Richie, and 3J transform into three different Bruce Lees.
Did you ever think it was starting to get a little too outlandish?The Nineties were the Nineties.
And I see the show in chapters.
When I was in high school, it was more fun for me.
Watching [the movie]Fridayon campus at UCLA was a seminal moment for me.
I was like, Man, comedy is kind of passing me by.
I dont mean skill-wise.
I knew that I can do what they can do.
And no war was waged.
We were good workers.
It started as a grounded family show.
By the end, it really was like a science fiction show.Yeah.
They produced the jump the shark episode.
Thats where I got that the bright idea to combine that with our show in the Grandmama episode.
It was like, No, no, no, you will not disturb the business model.
Its like, Yeah, but its changing.
Single-camera shows were starting to take over.
I noticed that withThe OfficeandBernie MacandModern Family.
I saw those shows creeping in, and redefining what comedy on television would be.
So thats an inequality in the business thats always existed.
Do you have any points in syndication?I do.
I talk about this in the book.
Did you see theKey & Peelesketch about you and the show?I love that sketch.
Thats my favorite sketch.
Thats my favorite parody thats ever been done about the show.
Why?Because it was just so authentically hysterical.
First of all, Jordan Peeles impersonation of Reggie [VelJohnson, who played Carl] was just hysterical.
That skit took things to a surreal place.
Reggie being so upset about the ludicrous storyline, that just cracked me the fuck up, man.
I want to see that really played out, but grounded, because that was Reggie to some degree.
That wasreallyReggie to some degree.
She had an absolute instinct to protect me and get me to college.
She was just focused on those two things alone.
I didnt have traditional showbiz parents in that they werent projecting what they wanted for themselves onto me.
It was as simple as, If he stays in show business long enough, hell pay for college.
And so she just never could get out of that mindset.
So it was kind of frustrating.
You never had even a tiny scandal or controversy.
I was more afraid of my parents than I was any cop.
I actually think, in the weirdest way, thats healthy parenting.
I want my daughter to be more afraid of disappointing our household than of the cops.
I know all sitcom stars deal with typecasting.
Because I look at somebody like Ed ONeill, and in my mind hes very much Al Bundy.
Did you turn down more reality shows in the aftermath ofDancing With the Stars?Oh, yeah.
Thats because reality is a different monster, man.
I like being a trained performer.
Its this dance of likability and romance and faux romance.
But theyre like, Yeah, but well pay you this much money and its good TV.
And Im like, Im sorry, bro, thats deceitful.
And thats also, not only is it deceitful, but its making deals with the devil.
I dont think it should be legally allowed to be able to call those shows reality shows.
Every single aspect of them is fake.Yeah, theyre fake.
The general public really doesnt have any idea to what degree they are overproduced.
Theyre literally just putting words in your mouth.
What was it like to go back to the character after all these years?Scooby-DooI liked.
I should have kept it atScooby-Doo.
The Santa thing just didnt work out to my liking, and we got hit by two things.
And it was supposed to be something a little more akin to old-school claymation.
No Black character had ever been the central focus of something that had been done that way.
But then when the pandemic hit, they told me it wouldve to be 2D or no deal.
People dont even realize how much you have to survive television development to make anything special.
And so I wish I had stopped it with Scooby.
I love being a part of the Scooby legacy, but I wish I had just stopped it there.
You made it worse by saying you wouldnt return after the commercial.
I just dont get it.
I wanted to do something that felt more akin to what Ive written in the book.
We could make something authentic if we kept it close to my book.
And I wasnt offered a reboot.
I was offered a contract.
There were no producers attached.
We will give you $80,000 this time around.
We were always told to ignore television critics.
Oh, they dont know what theyre talking about.
Just ignore those guys.
Theyre either being biased, snobbish, elitist, or racist.
Thats the way I was told when I was a kid.
No, fuck that.
I see great television reviews, and Id like to earn a good one one day.
Everywhere I go, man… That one makes me feel like such a dad.
And I think the shows going to get better.
I know its going to continue to get better.
Im as enthusiastic about other talent as I am about the talent in myself still.
