March 06, 2021

FULL HOUSE

 

FULL HOUSE
(ABC, September 22, 1987-May 23, 1995)

 

Jeff Franklin Productions, Miller-Boyett Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures (season 1), Lorimar Television (season 2-6), Warner Bros. Television (season 7-8)

  

            Created by Jeff Franklin, Full House centered on recently widowed neat freak Danny Tanner (Bob Saget, John Posey in the pilot) getting help from his best friend, comedian and impressionist Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier), and brother-in-law, rock and roller Jesse Katsopolis (originally Cochran, played by John Stamos), in raising his three daughters: eldest D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), middle Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and baby Michelle (shared by twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen). They moved into his San Francisco house and misadventures followed as three vastly different single men tried to deal with the trials and tribulations that accompanied three girls growing up. Eventually, the titular full house became even fuller when Jesse fell in love with and married Danny’s television morning show co-host, Rebecca Donaldson (Lori Loughlin), and they had two boys of their own, Nicky and Alex (twins Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit), while taking residence in the attic after it was converted into an apartment.

A full house indeed: Jesse and Becky with their boys, Joey, neighbor Kimmy Gibbler, Danny, Stephanie, Michelle, D.J. and her boyfriend, Steve.


            Full House debuted on ABC on September 22, 1987. The series’ theme, played at various lengths throughout the show’s run and in reruns, was “Everywhere You Look”, performed by Jesse Frederick and composed by him, Bennett Salvay and Franklin. The show, like most family-oriented sitcoms at the time, dealt with real issues families often faced in a combination of laugh-filled and heartfelt messages. Despite an unusually high writer turnover rate, the show remained incredibly popular throughout its run, becoming the springboard to launch fellow ABC programs Home Improvement, Family Matters and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. It would go on to become the flagship program of ABC’s TGIF programming block before jumping back and forth between Tuesdays and Fridays. Ultimately, ABC decided to cancel the show despite its strong ratings due to rising costs of production, not even giving it a proper final episode. The show would go on in reruns for years on various basic cable channels, such as TBS and Nickelodeon, as well as streaming on Hulu.



            In 2014, after a lot of back and forth with rumors about a potential movie spin-off, Netflix announced plans to produce a spin-off sequel series. Fuller House debuted on February 26, 2016 and ran for 5 seasons. It followed a widowed D.J. who moved back into the family house and got help from Stephanie and her childhood best friend, Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), in raising her boys Jackson (Michael Campion), Max (Elias Harger) and Tommy (shared by twins Dashiell and Fox Messitt). If that wasn’t enough, Kimmy had her own daughter, Ramona (Soni Nicole Bringas), from her failed marriage. The rest of the original cast except the Olsens, including former guest-stars and recurring characters, would pop in from time to time to offer help or just add to the comedic chaos.

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