Fuller House Season 1

So back when I was a kid, my sister always used to watch Full House. It was actually a bit of a religious thing where she would watch it consistently and was on top of the show until it ended. I personally didn't watch it myself, but I knew the concept and I knew the nostalgic value of it when I heard that they were rebooting the series on Netflix. Again, I didn't have any personal qualm or interest in the reboot but I was a tad interested in seeing what they could do with such a dated concept revitalized in 2016.

Between 1987 and 1995, the show Full House aired. It followed the story of a father by the name of Danny Tanner (played by Bob Saget... hilariously playing a family man when he is considered one of the most raunchy comedians out there). Danny is raising his three daughters, DJ (played by Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (played by Jodie Sweetin) and Michelle (played by Mary Kate and Ashley Olson).

Because Danny's wife died of plot necessity, Danny needs help raising his daughters and he recruits the help of his brother in law Jesse (played by John Stamos) and his good friend Joey (played by Dave Coulier).

The entire show is your pretty straight forward sitcom and ran for 8 seasons. I can't really give a full fledged review of the first show because let's be honest, I haven't seen enough of it. All I know is that it was really focused on cutsiness and exploiting the Olson Twins who eventually made a huge career out of the success of this TV show.

If you're a fan of Doug Walker and his work as the Nostalgia Critic, he gives a pretty funny and harsh review of the series that is a better, comedic, view than I could probably give.

All I know is that my sister watched this show and while I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it then, I can still check it out now and try and understand the phenomena that everyone has been talking about when it comes to Fuller House. The other great thing is that there's only 13 episodes so even if it's really terrible... (spoiler), it's a quick watch to finish the season while I play video games with it in the background.

Fuller House takes place in the same house years later, centering mainly on the character of DJ as she raises her three boys Jackson (played by Michael Campion), Max (played by Elias Harger), and Tommy (played by Dashiell and Fox Messitt). Of course, because DJ's husband dies of plot convenience... I mean in a fire... DJ needs help raising her children and she gets that help from her sister Stephanie, and her old high school friend, Kimmie Gibbler (played by Andrea Barber). Kimmie has a daughter by the name of Ramona (played by Soni Nicole Bringas).

The show of course features cameos from the entire original cast like Stamos, Saget, Coulier, and the others with the exception of the Olson Twins. And i will give the show credit... the way they make light of this in the show is actually kind of funny.

So in case you didn’t pick up on it, Fuller House follows the same exact plot of Full House but the roles are switched around a bit with the new generation taking the reigns. This is not exactly a bad thing. It’s actually not a new thing. This same concept happened with Girl Meets World and I guess it makes sense as some of the fans of shows like Full House and Boy Meets World are now old enough to be having their own kids. But these shows are not made for the original audiences kids.

For my own personal situation, my sisters watched shows like Boy Meets World and Full House and they either don’t have kids or their kids are very young and I’m guessing they’re not an unusual case, so again, I don’t think this show is for their kids. But that’s where things get a little bit confusing as it doesn’t exactly seem like the show is being made just for the original fans, and even if it is, were original fans actually crying out for a reboot of Full House?

But let’s go under the assumption that the show was designed for the fans first and foremost. You would think that the story and overall plot of the show would be more geared towards the original audience who are now in their late 20's to early 30's. You would think that the show could still maintain the light heartedness of the original while still taking grasp of some issues that hit closer to home for the audience.

Nope… it’s the exact same show. The exact same show. It’s still the schmaltzy, cheese, catch phrase fest that the original show was with the exception of a sparse amount of more mature jokes that really aren’t jokes you couldn’t do on network TV.

The storyline that runs throughout the entire season is that of DJ as she raises her kids and finds love. But the way they do it is not actually in the greatest taste as DJ is interested in two guys and has them compete for her affection. I'm not naive, I know that this has been a trope for male characters before, but I don't know if it's ever gone down so peacefully, and usually not for the main character. These kinds of story lines usually end with multiple people getting hurt and it not looking so great on the main character who is perpetuating this trope. But in Fuller House, the guys are totally down with this competition and it's passed off as a goofy joke as opposed to the truth which is DJ is toying with two good guys she actually doesn't deserve. 

Oh and by the way, if you're wondering who I think DJ should choose, besides the fact that she doesn't deserve either of them, the truth is she should definitely go with Matt. Steve is weird and creepy, Matt is hot and is the definitively better guy... that was never a question as I was watching this show. 

The rest of the story lines in the show are pretty basic, like Max has a concert he needs to play in, but Aunt Stephanie took his magic scarf that gave him the confidence to play his shitty trombone rendition of Old McDonald Had a Farm. It's all the incredibly basic 80's sitcom cliches met with a boat load of catch phrases that aren't funny and are more interested in making you go AWWWW rather than telling an actual story. 

I think there was probably one really honest moment in this entire season and it's when Stephanie tells DJ that she can't have kids. Now you might be saying, Connor, that's a big spoiler, why would you give that away. Well I'm saying it because it is never brought up again. Even during that episode,

it felt very sudden and out of nowhere when the rest of the show was and continued to be just mindless schmaltz. And then it never came up again in the season. Now maybe they'll do an arc in other seasons where it comes back, but you would think that a big deal like that wold be a bigger deal.

But if that's not what the show is aimed at, then maybe it could just be a self aware parody. In fact, I think some of the parts that get a slight chuckle out of me are the times where they're making fun of the Olsen twins and being super self aware. And I think that kind of is the point because the acting is terrible and it really does resemble the original show. But instead of being self aware and making itself better, Fuller House seems content at being self aware that Full House wasn't that good, and I guess they think that's what makes it funnier. I guess leaning into the already bad joke suddenly makes the bad joke funny? Well the truth is it doesn't. Fuller House continues the trek of over the top acting, bad jokes, and again, those damn catchphrases that were set up in the original show and doesn't really build on anything. 

I actually think the more funny part of the show is how generous the studio audience (or recording of the studio audience) is. And again, maybe this is all part of the self awareness this show has, but the studio audience reacts to EVERYTHING. Every joke is apparently knee slappingly funny, every kiss is met with an AWWW or a OOOOOOOOOO. It actually makes me really happy that we don't have studio audiences anymore. 

And you wouldn't really expect that from the theme song. One thing I will say the reboot did better than the original was the rendition of the theme song by Carly Rae Jepsen. I actually really enjoy this new theme song and think it's a decent recreation of a song that originally was kind of annoying and pretty generic overall. But let's be honest, everything about Full House was pretty milk toast and generic.

I think Doug Walker hit it pretty well when he makes mention that the family problems and issues that come up in episodes of Full House feel more like the problems and issues that would happen to people in stock photographs. The problems are relatively harmless. 

And while the writing is one thing, the individual performances don't help the overall feeling of the show because while the main cast seems happy to be there, nobody really seems like they are taking any of it seriously. And why should they, this is a really bad script. 

I guess it's a pretty easy paycheck for a lot of these people, I mean what else is Candace Cameron Bure really doing now besides Hallmark movies? I suppose I shouldn't really complain because since I wasn't the original fan audience and I'm not a girl who watches the Bachelorette, something they seem very content with comparing themselves to in this show, I don't think I'm the target audience for this show. 

The one upside is that none of the women in this show are really hard to look at and John Stamos does hit it pretty well when he says in the first episode, we all aged really well cause it's very true. 

I guess the real entertainment I get from this show is how self aware I am of the show, even more than the show is of itself. If you've watched Bojack Horseman, Full House and in essence, this kind of 80's sitcom is the very basis for the commentary in that show and it actually makes that show funnier. 

I think if I were the one running this show, I would probably make it even more self aware and make an even more poignant point on the real story behind Full House. Like a lot of the shows from the 80's and 90's, there are actually a lot of really dark stories from behind the scenes. Like the fact that Bob Saget made some really inappropriate jokes off camera and the younger cast members and their families were really uncomfortable around him, so much that he could never be alone with the Olson Twins. Why don't they make mention of that when they're being all self aware?

That's one example, and I get it, nobody really wants to bring up that or the effects being child stars had on the kids in this show. And on top of it all, everyone seems like they're doing okay now so why bring it up? And I would say, then the show and everyone making it is really living in a bubble. And in a way that's kind of how the show is. There's no real problems and even if there are, they're laughed off like they don't matter. The reason BoJack Horseman is funny is because it points out the realities outside of the bubble that was created by these 80's television shows that were more considered escapes from reality rather than facing real problems. 

I don't have a definitive answer of what they should have done, all I can do is point out how Fuller House is in essence a nostalgia bubble. It's an 80's show set in the modern day but not only are the stories and characters retro fitted so that they would have worked better in the 80s, despite all the stupid cultural references inserted in, but so are the themes and feel good storytelling. While the show is self aware, it doesn't take that extra step to poke fun at itself and make a point, instead it assumes the audience is fine with mindless crap for 13 30 minute episodes and just leaves it like that. 

I'm not saying that Fuller House needed to be all meta or be a dramatic mess, but even the worst comedies these days usually have a point and usually have something to say through all the light heartedness. The Cracked Video I posted below actually makes a good point that shows like this were more a light hearted way of easing people into the idea of divorce and other hardships that things will still be okay, but it's obvious that that message didn't really stick in the 80's so why would it stick now?

I'm reading WAY too into a show that has original material with the sole intention of cracking catch phrases and just making people feel good. My overall thoughts is that Fuller House is something pretty mindless you could put on in the background while you're working if you like a bright hopeful romp that you don't have to think about too much. The nice thing about it was that I was able to put it on in the background and didn't feel like I was missing much if I wasn't paying attention, but also felt like I needed to be doing something else so I wasn't wasting my time watching this nonsense. So it served as both a sound in the background and a motivator to do more productive things... so I guess that's good?

If you were a fan of both the original and the reboot, please let me know why that is. I'm interested to hear the appeal of the show for others as it obviously doesn't have that appeal to me. 

But those are my thoughts on Fuller House. What did you think? Did you watch Full House? What did you think of it? Which one is better? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movies and TV shows I should review in the future.

I'll leave you with this. There's a great After Hours Cracked video that talks about the reason that all 80s sitcoms had a dead mother. But I'm unable to put it up as the last video so I'll put the link here. Aside from that, I'll leave you with this. An appearance the cast had on Jimmy Fallon... with Donald Trump. Enjoy!