That was the first line from the theme song to Full House, which, for eight seasons, saw Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) raising his three daughters with his extended family which included his brother-in-law and his best friend. Like the theme song, Full House was fairly predictable: Every conflict was solved within 22 minutes, usually with some cheesy background music while the characters apologize to each other. It was comfortable. No one stayed mad on Full House. And it went on for eight years.
A little over two decades later, on Friday, February 26, Netflix will foist upon us a new version of Full House — a Fuller House — and a lot of critics will probably denounce it for being predictable. Me? That’s exactly why I loved it so much.
The Tanner house is just about exactly the same on the inside. As we start, Joey’s still in the basement, Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky are coming down from the attic, and there’s some propping with a baby. Suddenly, it’s 1990 again. For me, that’s not a bad thing at all.
I’ve always been fascinated by TV show “reunion movies,” a trend that seems to have been killed by the Seavers of Growing Pains about 15 years ago when it was realized that sometimes, people don’t care to come home again (especially when the family doesn’t even live in the same house anymore!) Now, networks figure that movies are silly when they can get multiple episodes to pad syndication packages, DVD sets, or Netflix deals. It’s probably easier, too, than getting people back for just a few weeks and then doing a lot of promotion for one two-hour shot. But once upon a time, those “reunion movies” were good. “Return to Mayberry” and “A Very Brady Christmas” remain among my favorites. Sometimes it is fun finding out whatever happened to your favorite TV family.
The first hour of Fuller House feels like one of those reunion movies. Everyone is back, save for the two twin elephants in the room, but their absence is noted and not ignored throughout the series. It’s a little naughtier than the original series seemed to get — humor at about the level of “is Uncle Jesse doing his taxis every night?” — but so much of the cast falls right back into the characters we knew and loved. They make it look like those people were still a part of them even though there were twenty years away. The sole holdout there might be Bob Saget, who looks and acts more like what we know “Bob Saget” to be rather than the sweater-wearing Danny Tanner. And, as John Stamos’ Uncle Jesse points out in the pilot — they all look good.
That first episode sets up what will come later for the show, and it sets up the new premise… even if sleeping arrangement continuity is clearly a little confused between episodes 1 and 2. Characters from the original series come and go beyond the premiere, which is nice, but from Episode 2 on, it’s Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber, and the actors playing their children who keep the house full. Is it preciously wonderful like Orange Is The New Black or Breaking Bad? No, but was the original Full House Seinfeld? Of course not, and that’s okay. I just know that when I watched, I felt like I was 12 again, and not in a way where I felt talked down to; instead, it was like “hey, be comfortable with your old friends.”
If anything has me curious, it is if the younger generation will get this show and like it like I did. I almost think Fuller House works best for viewers between 30 and 40 who grew up watching the original show. It’s certainly not Girl Meets World, which is aimed at a younger audience with jokes thrown in for the parents who loved Boy Meets World to get. Hopefully, the new kids – including Michael Campion, Elias Harger, Soni Nicole Bringas, and the Messitt twins – will be as liked by the younger set as the original Tanners were.
And the theme song? Perfect. Pay close attention to the opening credits of the first episode, as they’re a bit longer and feature some familiar shots. Thankfully, Fuller House makes use of archive footage fairly often, which is a good thing since Netflix does not have the original Full House series in their streaming library. (How rude!)
I know I’m a male in my late 30’s and I shouldn’t gush so much about this show like I did, but I really liked it. There’s nothing wrong with predictability — it’s way better than an update that doesn’t get what we loved about the original show in the first place. Netflix made the first six episodes available to press, and I am really looking forward to seeing more. If you hated Full House, that’s okay and I respect that. But the show worked for me, and I’m glad Netflix and Warner Horizon rolled the dice.
Fuller House drops at 12:01am Friday, February 26 on Netflix.
KSiteTV Editor-In-Chief Craig Byrne has been writing about TV on the internet since 1995. He is also the author of several published books, including Smallville: The Visual Guide and the show's Official Companions for Seasons 4-7.
