Rank: 5/5
Netflix’s latest reboot, “Fuller House,” reunited viewers with the Tanner clan after 21 long years.
The show, acting as a “Full House” sequel, brings back Danny Tanner, Jesse Katsopolis, Joey Gladstone, D.J. Tanner Fuller, Stephanie Tanner, Becky Donaldson Katsopolis, Kimmy Gibbler, Steve Hale, Nicky and Alex Katsopolis, and even the Rippers.
“Our Very First Show, Again” premiered, along with the other 12 episodes of season one, on Feb. 26. The episode paid homage to the premiere episode of “Full House” from 1987.
The pilot episode employs side-by-side footage of both “Full House” and “Fuller House,” with the characters mimicking their actions from years past. In the premiere episode, to calm down baby Michelle, the Tanner clan walked around her playpen while singing “The Flintstones” theme song. This same tactic was used in “Fuller House” with Fuller’s youngest son, Tommy.
Just like Danny, Fuller was left buried under the stress of raising three young children alone, after the death of her spouse. Her husband, a firefighter, died in the line of duty. Stephanie and Gibbler step in to help Fuller, taking on the roles of Jesse and Gladstone.
Stephanie, like Jesse, is a successful musician. She has spent her adult life DJing in places like Ibiza and Coachella, and, at first, is eager to return to her busy work schedule. But she ultimately realizes that family is more important.
Gibbler, like Gladstone, plays the best friend role. As a child, she was the friend no one wanted, but Fuller always stuck by her side. It comes as no surprise that Gibbler is here to stick by Fuller in her time of need.
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, who both played Michelle, are the only cast members to not reprise their role. Their absence does not go unnoticed. When Stephanie asks where Michelle is, Danny informs her that she is busy in New York with her fashion empire.
With this, the actors break the fourth wall and throw shade and side eye at the camera.
The show is also chock-full of nostalgia. The catchphrases are back, as are Gibbler’s smelly feet, Danny’s love of hugging and cleaning, Mr. Woodchuck and Jesse’s references to his hair.
“Fuller House” trades in some of the wholesome family values of “Full House” for a realistic, modern adaptation of a 21st century family. The show contains cursing, drug references and digs at Donald Trump.
While some might say “Fuller House” is merely a washed-up version of the original, it’s exactly what the fans ordered, and that’s all that matters to the actors.
“The critics never had a good thing to say about ‘Full House,’ and yet it ran for eight years in primetime, and then it’s never been off the air in 30 years,” Candace Cameron Bure, who plays Fuller, said in an interview with E! Online. “So it’s a testament to what the fans want and not what the critics think.”