Nearly 20 years after “Full House’s” original series premiered in 1987, Netflix released a “Full House” revival series on Friday Feb. 26. Titled “Fuller House,” the series showcases many of the original cast members, giving them the cheesy narrative arcs that only “Full House” could get away with.
The nostalgic feeling in “Fuller House” was extremely prevalent, starting with the title sequence. The opening credits successfully made its audience feel sentimental, featuring a poppy cover of the original theme and displaying pictures of the cast from “Full House” next to the new—but older—cast members. To tug on the heartstrings even more, the credits showcased new film sequences of the cast acting the same as they did in the original title sequence. For example, just as Danny Tanner—played by Bob Saget—threw around a football in the “Full House” sequence, he is shown throwing a football in the same setting 20 years later.
The show managed to sign on most of the original cast, including Candace Cameron Bure as DJ, Jodie Sweetin as Stephanie and Andrea Barber as Kimmy. As guest characters, the show has Saget as Danny, Dave Coulier as Joey, John Stamos as Jesse, Lori Loughlin as Rebecca and Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit as twins Nicky and Alex. Although the show was unable to enlist the second pair of twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to play Michelle, “Fuller House” is stockpiled with fan-favorite characters.
Right from the start of the first episode, it’s clear that the writers have used the same cheesy tropes that made “Full House” such a family-friendly show. DJ Tanner is now DJ Tanner-Fuller, a single parent with three boys—very reminiscent of single Danny with his three daughters. Although Kimmy and Stephanie have their own lives now—as Kimmy is raising her teenage daughter Ramona and Stephanie Tanner is trying to start a singing career—family comes first on “Fuller House,” so the two decide to move in to help DJ raise her family in the original “Full House” house.
The show still maintains its fun, G-rated humor with cute little remarks. Kimmy hasn’t changed one bit on the show, still wearing the tackiest outfits as she displays her ever-present stinky feet. Even the Tanner-Fuller children are funny—similar to Stephanie’s classic, “How rude!” catchphrase, middle child Max tries to get his own with “Holy chalupas!”
Although it was very heartwarming to see these beloved characters back on screen together, the plotline past the pilot episode was lacking. Any “Full House” revival series is going to be cheesy—and that’s fine. If viewers don’t like corny shows, then they probably didn’t like “Full House” to begin with. But “Fuller House” had misleading messages that should not be spread to viewers.
For one thing, with Kimmy’s relationship with her ex-husband Fernando, “Fuller House” sends the message that it’s OK to be cheated on and forgive a significant other when they try to get you back by buying you an outrageous amount of gifts. No, not by apologizing through words, but with gifts. And that’s ignoring the fact that the show was racist in its portrayal of the Hispanic Fernando.
In addition, the cast constantly makes snide remarks regarding the fact that the Olsen twins didn’t come back on the revival. In the pilot, Danny says, “Michelle sends her love, but she’s busy in New York running her fashion empire” and the cast shatters the fourth wall by staring at the camera for more than 10 seconds. Stamos can comment all he wants that the lines weren’t digs, but when Kimmy said, “[With the Olsen’s clothes’] prices, no wonder they don’t need to act anymore,” it was clearly meant to insult the twins. Sorry that the Olsen twins are too busy running their successful clothing line to come back—they’re more than just childhood stars like Bure and Sweetin.
Perhaps the most perplexingly misrepresentative plotline was DJ’s, with a love triangle with former love interest Steve Hale and new suitor Matt Harmon. Throughout the series, she strings the two along by dating both of them until the end when she still leaves them hanging onto her with her choice to choose “me.”
Other than these hiccups, however, the show is indeed a cute revival—the original also had some questionable plotlines. It was nice and refreshing to see the cast reunited, and I am looking forward to another season, as Netflix renewed “Fuller House” for a second season on Wednesday March 2.u