'It Might as Well Be YouTube': Jaleel White Casually Trashes Tyler Perry

You might have missed it through all the smoke and scorched earth of the film's opening weekend, but Jaleel White appeared as a banjo-playing teacher in Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. That got White an audience with VanityFair.com, where the actor wasn't about to regret or apologize for his run as one of the most notorious TV child stars of the '90s. Not only that, but guess what? According to White, they don't make them like Family Matters any more.

At least that was how White put it to Mike Ryan, who dared to set the record straight when the actor explained holding on to his iconic-ish gig as Steve Urkel for as long as possible:

I'm the highest-paid black kid in the history of television, just so you understand that. I was trying to prolong the checks! For all of the people who want to scratch their heads about this . . . we're probably the second-longest-running African American show in the history of television.

I believe Tyler Perry's House of Payne has put you in third.

Did we get passed by Tyler Perry's show? Did we? He's shooting them so fast, I don't even know if that counts.

That's a good point.

He's shooting like four a week! I think you've got to make something that everyone's willing to watch in droves. I don't know what category to put that in. I don't want to sound like I'm dissing Tyler Perry, but making three or four episodes in one week is not the same in terms of production value of what we did, one a week. Technically, I guess he passed us. More power to him, but it might as well be YouTube videos.

Well, then. For those keeping score at home, it has come to this: The man who once played sitcoms' most ruinous, space-exploring dork just shot over the bow of the man who currently plays the movies' most rancorous, purse-swinging grandma with a penis. Your summer can only improve from here, right? Oh.

· Q&A: Jaleel White on His 31-Year Career [VF.com]