Bryton James, best known today for his role on The Young & The Restless, is looking back at his TV roots with an ambitious plan: an animated reboot of Family Matters.
James played Richie Crawford for eight seasons on the beloved sitcom and told Entertainment Weekly that he wants to "take the show and turn it into an animated series." His vision includes modernizing classic episodes and reintroducing the Winslow family for a new generation.
According to James, the project once had momentum. "I got pretty far along," he explained, revealing that a production company was ready to finance and that he’d secured buy-in from the original cast—including Jaleel White, who became a household name as Steve Urkel.
Still, the reboot is currently stalled. “It’s sitting in Warner Bros.’ hands right now,” James said, though he remains hopeful about pushing it forward.
Family Matters ran from 1989 to 1998 and followed the lives of the Winslows, a middle-class Black family in Chicago.
Alongside Reginald VelJohnson as Carl Winslow, the show introduced audiences to Urkel, Richie, and a cast of characters that blended family warmth with slapstick humor. Over the years, the series lost some of its cast members—Michelle Thomas, who played Myra Monkhouse, died in 1998, and Rosetta LeNoire, who played Estelle Winslow, passed away in 2002.
But many core stars remain in touch. James shared that a 2018 reunion reconnected him with castmates like Telma Hopkins, Darius McCrary, and Kellie Shanygne Williams. He also described White as a mentor, noting that they still speak occasionally.
James believes animation is the perfect way to revisit the sitcom. He pointed out that some of Urkel’s original storylines—like creating a tornado in the Winslows’ kitchen—already leaned toward fantasy.
Animation, he argued, could expand on that while eliminating the challenges of coordinating live-action production. “Jaleel wouldn’t have to put the outfit on either,” James joked, adding that the cast could voice their characters.
Though Jaleel White previously turned down a live-action reboot pitch centered on Urkel and Laura, James remains confident that fans of Family Matters would welcome his animated version. “We could still deliver what the show did for the audience and for families,” he said, “and revamp it for the new generation.”