As a young boy in Nigeria, I was introduced to aspirational and loyal Black American friend groups through shows like “Living Single,” “Martin,” and “In the House.” Heartwarming Black family shows such as “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” taught me about not having to fit in, yet still making a difference.
And other 90s shows, such as “Moesha,” “Sister Sister,” and “Hangin’ with Mr Cooper,” pushed the funny family narrative while also dealing with serious topics such as sex, sexism, drugs and peer pressure.
But the first Black American show I remember came into my life long before I’d even seen an episode. Whenever I made a mistake as a kid growing up in Nigeria, my dad would belt out Urkel’s one-liner “Did I do that?” to sort of ease my babyish guilt.
And in high school, Urkel’s nerdy style became the trend for young Nigerian men. In the early 2000s, it was nothing to see us dressed in the suspenders and big glasses combo. We were even begging our parents to buy Urkel’s attire so we could fit in at school.
I remember how my friend and I had pressured our parents into buying us Urkel glasses to fit in, and to this day, suspenders – the piece of western fashion which he popularized – are still a hit. By the time I was 7 years old, in 2002, I was catching reruns of “Family Matters” on Saturday mornings with my parents. I remember my first episode vividly, and as luck would have it, it became one of my favorite episodes of all time.
In the episode entitled “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Urkel” from season 4, Laura Winslow and Urkel switch roles. It’s such a special episode because Laura and Steve both learned important traits about each other and learned empathy. It’s an episode I always revisit, because it reminds me of the family time we spent in front of the TV, trying to catch whatever “Family Matters” episode Nigeria’s Silverbird Network decided to show us that day. Also, that episode inspired my teenage antics, as I’d always think about Eddie Winslow begging his dad to push his curfew past 11:00 p.m. whenever I wanted to push those same boundaries with my parents.