tv

Fuller House (Season 1) (2016)

---

It’s been 21 years…and the Tanners are back!

---

There’s not a lot of stuff I get this excited about on TV…in fact, a Full House reunion is probably pretty close to a one-of-a-kind event for us Gen X and Gen Y folks out there.  Our parents (and grandparents) got to enjoy reunion specials of everything from The Brady Bunch to The Waltons to Andy Griffith, but of course nowadays the television landscape is quite different.  With nearly everything digitized in some manner, there’s much less of a demand to bring back a bunch of actors 20 or 30 years later, not with the original material so close at hand.  Fuller House isn’t a reunion in the strictest sense – technically it’s a spin-off, or perhaps more correctly a continuation – but so far, the first season has been peppered with reunion-esque moments that are designed to actively touch on one’s previous experience with Full House.  Fuller House is establishing itself as its own show, but at the same time it’s more than comfortable dipping into the past.

The mid 80s through the mid 90s saw an unparalleled growth in the family-oriented sitcom.  At the time, cable was morphing from a 30 to 50 to 100 channel giant, which both led to and was a result of a splintering of special interests in TV shows.  In previous decades there hadn’t been many channels to chose from, so the entire family settled down in front of the TV for an evening, severely restricted in what they could watch.  Naturally, networks chose to air more family-friendly fare during the evening hours.  It was important to appeal to parents and kids – if the shows were too child-like, adults would change the channel; if the subject matter was too extreme for their kids, they’d probably also change the channel.  Way back when TV was new it was a very family-centric activity.

So fast forward to the 80’s and the rise of cable.  This whole concept of a family sitting down in front of the tube seemed to be lost, however, some stations – particularly ABC at the time – decided to get back to family programming, specifically families with younger children would be more likely to be at home watching TV on a Friday night.  It worked.  ABC’s T.G.I.F. was one of the most successful programming blocks ever and turned into a massive hit with an entire generation of kids and their parents.  The other networks followed suit in varying degrees, but it’s the ABC stuff we remember: Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Step By Step, Sabrina, as well as other non-TGIF sitcoms like Roseanne, Who’s the Boss?, The Wonder Years, and Growing Pains.  NBC found success with shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Blossom, and CBS managed to breathe another couple years worth of life into canceled ABC shows like Step By Step and Family Matters.

Most of these shows were never terribly popular with critics.  Dismissed as unfunny, sappy, and poorly written among other things, they nonetheless enjoyed astounding popularity and moreover, quite a few of them endured in syndication years after going off the air.  All throughout the late 90s and early 2000s it was almost impossible to escape shows like Full House, Family Matters, Sabrina, Fresh Prince, and Boy Meets World on daytime TV.  Time has rolled on and pushed many of these shows into late night slots or out of syndication altogether (in favor of the more recent, “final” generation of multi-cam sitcoms a la Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc.).  Still, to be as derided as they were in their heyday, and despite how truly terrible some of them became, it’s quite amazing that half (or more) managed to hang around on TV schedules, day after day, for another 10 or 15 years past their cancellation.  Indeed from roughly 1985 to 1995 was a very special time to be watching family-geared sitcoms, and no show more encompasses, represents, and embodies this “specialness” than Full House itself.

Yeah, Full House is cheesy, sappy, corny, hokey…but despite all that, it works.  The idyllic world of the perfectly imperfect Tanners represents positive escapism at its finest.  It’s easy to laugh at the overly simple solutions (and the silly “problems” that lead to them), but sometimes, I think that deep down we all wish our problems were as easy to handle as the Tanners’.  As the show rounded its halfway point it declined a bit in quality, and then there are moments from the last season that are almost unbearable to watch…but I’ll get into my specific thoughts about Full House another time.  For now, let’s talk about how the all-new Fuller House takes on this huge reputation.

The pilot, taking place 29 years after the original pilot (making it 21 years since the show ended) unexpectedly kicks off with, well, everyone…or almost everyone.  We get a quick glimpse and a few lines from all the characters present plus an introduction to current circumstances….Bob Saget (Danny), Lori  Loughlin (Becky), John Stamos (Jesse), Dave Coulier (Joey), Candace Cameron-Burr (DJ), Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie), Andrea Barber (Kimmy), and even Scot Weinger (Steve) and Blake & Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit (Nicky & Alex).  Notice anyone missing?  That’s right, the Olsen twins couldn’t be bothered.  There’s a point early on in the episode where the rest of the characters mention that “Michelle” is “too busy running her fashion empire in New York” and proceed to break the fourth wall by glaring at the audience.  (Producers maintain confidence that they’ll secure Mary-Kate, Ashley, or perhaps even the twins’ younger sister Elizabeth to appear at some point during the second season.)

The pilot is chock full of these self-referential moments.  The more familiar you are with Full House, the more you’ll get out of this barrage of sometimes ridiculous sounding dialog.  There’s a great line in a later episode where Steve plans a “throwback” date for DJ; he mentions that he has some Alanis Morrissette playing in the car, and then DJ says something like, “ooh I love that song, let me tell you who that song’s about!”  That joke will go unnoticed by most, but assuming she’s talking about Alanis’ first big hit, “You Oughta Know,” the persistent rumor is that she wrote the song after her breakup with none other than Dave Coulier (who of course is the actor who portrays Joey…just in case you had trouble putting all that together).

The premise of Fuller House is a straightforward inversion of its parent show.  DJ has been staying with her dad following the death of husband.  He died fighting fires, and his last name was Fuller (hence Fuller House, as DJ is now DJ Tanner-Fuller).  She’s got 3 sons; the eldest is Jackson, who I’m guessing is about 13, followed by Max, who’s maybe around 6 or 7, and then there’s Tommy, a 6 – 9 month old baby.  The Tanners are having one last she-bang before Danny puts his house on the market; he and Becky (and by extension Jesse) are moving to LA to host a national version of their talk show, Joey lives and performs in Vegas, the Katsopolis twins have been in college for 6 years (or something like that), Stephanie is taking a quick break from her globetrotting musical career where she’s known as “DJ” Tanner, Steve apparently still lives in the area (as a pediatrist), and Kimmy, who’s now a party planner, is organizing the going away party.

Just before the big day, the family happens to overhear DJ in a private moment talking to her youngest about how scared she is of doing it all alone and so forth…at which point all the grownups offer to stay behind!  After a quick discussion, it’s agreed that the adults have done enough.  Stephanie clears her party/music schedule to stay behind with DJ, and Kimmy decides to stick around as well, bringing her daughter Ramona (about Jackson’s age) with her from a failed marriage.  And so by the end of the pilot everything is fairly well established – we know that the old guard is far enough away not to pop up all the time but close enough for semi-regular appearances. Danny of course decides to let DJ and company stay in the house, officially consisting of DJ, Stephanie, Kimmy, and the children Jackson, Ramona, Max, and Tommy.

The first episode was fun to watch, but it was admittedly a little exhausting keeping up with all the jokes and I was glad to see that the show reverted to a more traditional format by the second show.  The grown up kids and the new kids are fairly likable as a cast (although 40-year-old Kimmy is still a little too much like 14-year-old Kimmy for my tastes), though part of me thinks that this premise might’ve been a little more successful 5 or even 10 years ago.  The oldest of the kids – DJ, Kimmy, and Steve – were about to graduate highschool at the end of the original show’s run, which puts them at almost 40 at the outset of Fuller House.  Stephanie was 4 or 5 years younger than DJ, so she’s now in her mid 30s.  Starting the show out with such “old” main characters knocks out a bunch of great years for adult/kid interaction.

So far it’s trying hard to stick to its source material.  DJ takes the role of Danny; she’s not obsessed with cleaning, but she is slightly neurotic and decidedly unhip at times.  Stephanie fills Jesse’s role as the hard-partying music lover (she even drops lines like “bottle poppin'”), though Jesse’s status as a 23-year-old rebel was much more convincing than Stephanie as some sort of 35-year-old, club hopping, hard drinking, dubstep queen.  Not surprisingly, Joey’s element of slapstick is inherited by another non-Tanner, Gibbler herself.  I think Barber has the chops to be a decent sitcom actress, but not with the shit she’s given to work with by the writers.  Of all the actors and actresses, she probably looks the least like her old self, yet she’s got Kimmy’s facial expressions and vocal intonation nailed.  But seriously, watching grownups act like total clowns 24/7 just isn’t funny.  Joey cracked a few good jokes in his time and his desire to become a professional comedian is as respectable as any aspiration, but the constant reminder that he was one big manchild who’s life consisted of watching Hanna-Barbera cartoons, practicing dumb voices, and doing everything possible to remain as socially immature as possible was really too damn much to stomach sometimes.  Kimmy doesn’t have this same overt interest in all things childlike, she just seems to enjoy making absolutely no sense.  Her ex-husband also appears from time to time, channeling a sort hyperactive, off-balance Ricky Martin with an accent that’s almost beyond comprehension.

The children’s personalities are a bit less distinct at this point, though they seem to be developing in their own directions.  The modified dynamic of 3 boys and 1 girl will hopefully lead to new and interesting stories that’ll soon be able to stand on their own merits.  I haven’t made up my mind yet about the actors playing the kids, though the little boy that plays Max (the middle child) has an outspoken and sassy personality that definitely reminds me of Sweetin in her best years (as child under the age of about 9 or 10).

Thus far the storylines have been slightly skewed towards the 3 girls, and while normally I would count this as a misstep in a family-oriented sitcom, in this instance I think it’s the right decision.  Having familiar faces and characters on screen keeps reminding us that this is indeed a continuation of Full House and keeps one’s expectations in check to that end.  Aside from the first episode, older characters have popped up throughout the first season in small roles, including Jesse, Becky, and Joey.  It’s nice to see these guys around – it’s also nice to see that they’re not dominating the screen.

While the show retains its wholesome goody-two-shoes feel-goodness at its core, it’s also taken a decent first step at joining the modern era of TV.  The original show had a few almost risque lines in the first season, but after that almost all of it was dropped, and in fact the sappiness grew year after year, to the point where it was no longer age appropriate.  Who knows, the same fate may befall Fuller House, but for now, it’s quite a bit edgier than its predecessor.  For instance, drinking seems to hold a serious place in Stephanie’s life; in an episode similar to the original’s “The Seven Year Itch” (where Jesse begins to feel trapped and almost leaves), Stephanie is seen with a champagne bottle in hand.  She frequently makes references to her time spent drinking in clubs, and when the girls go out for a night, “tequila shots” are frequently mentioned.  Fuller House is also home to at least 2 failed marriages – there’s Kimmy and there’s also Steve who makes mention of getting married but being married no longer.  Steph also alludes to a few crazy sex stories, and some double entendre is thrown around between the adults; I specifically remember either Kimmy or Steph making a veiled reference to DJ going a while without a man.

Oh and how could I forget: the first season also features 2 same-sex kisses albeit outside the context of a same-sex relationship.  Steve (yes, the Steve) and Matt (a suitor of DJ’s) miscoordinate an attempt to smooch DJ simultaneously and end up smashing into each other, while Fernando (Kimmy’s ex who spends the latter half of the season trying to win Kimmy back) asks Stephanie to write a love song for him to sing to Kimmy; when he fails at getting the words right, he insists that Steph sing it to Kimmy in his stead, and as the song comes to a lyric about “your kiss” (or something along those lines) a repulsed Stephanie refuses but Kimmy, wrapped up in the moment, takes it upon herself to grab Steph and kiss her anyway.  These scenes are little more than quick shock/sight gags, but if you know anything about the original show, you know they’d never attempt something so potentially divisive.

Overall I think this is a good thing.  You can certainly insert adult comments and jokes into a family show without making it raunchy, and it also helps to ground the show in a relatable reality.  We’ll need to see a little more than 13 episodes to properly judge how this all balances out with the children, but it’s off to a promising start in my opinion,

The show’s first season-wide story arc concerns DJ – and rightfully so – and her potentially reinvigorated romance with none other than Steve, versus her interest in a newcomer to the show (fellow vet Matt).  Steve’s endless jokes about food feel a bit out of place in this new iteration, though his slightly goofy yet likable presence is a fun addition and a marked improvement over his somewhat flat personality and static development in the previous series.  Some of the season’s funniest one liners originate with Steve’s jealousy over DJ’s new almost-boyfriend.  This degree of semi-serialization is another good indicator that Fuller House is open to more modern television conventions.

Unfortunately, critics haven’t taken much of a liking to Fuller House, and I’m a little concerned at the prospects for going another season.  It’s not a perfect show, but it is doing enough good stuff to warrant seeing a second season develop.  Many claim that the show is of little value to viewers who aren’t already Full House die-hards, and while I can see exactly where this sort of criticism is coming from, I think the writers have done an adequate job of getting most of the fan service out of the way during the first episode or two.  It takes 3 or 4 episodes for the show to hit its stride, but once it does, it has the benefit of feeling both familiar and new.  I really wish that more than 13 episodes had been produced; I think the limited amount of time spent with this next generation of Tanners may hurt their chances at a second season.  More episodes means more chances for the writers and producers to show what they’re capable of and establish a comfortable balance between the old and the new.  Of course it could also mean more chances for catastrophic failure, though as it is, this first season feels a little too much like a trial run that’s gearing up for something bigger….I suppose plenty of other first seasons fall into this exact same boat though, so maybe it isn’t a big deal.

The real challenge to Fuller House’s sustainability probably has more to do with the death of the sitcom itself.  Although sitcoms have been monumental in the development of television, the idea of what a sitcom is has been rapidly changing and evolving over the past 10 years or so.  The end of Friends in 2004 was essentially the death knell of the sitcom – from I Love Lucy all the way up through All in the Family, from giants like The Golden Girls to quirkier shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun, from cultural watersheds like Seinfeld and Cheers to the family feel-good shows like The Wonder Years and Family Matters, it was all coming to an end.  Late comers such as Everybody Loves Raymond, Yes Dear, and King of Queens would end their runs within a couple of years.  We had a few others pop up since then, such as Everybody Hates Chris, which was subsequently run into the ground by the CW, and How I Met Your Mother which dutifully carried the torch for a while, not to mention Melissa & Joey which felt like a perfect update to the ol’ TGIF formula (ABC quickly and quietly gave it the axe) but most new sitcoms after the end of Friends failed to make much of a splash with audiences and certainly never gained the cultural momentum of things such as “the Rachel” haircut, Steve Urkel, Michelle Tanner, Archie Bunker, “How you doin’?” and so forth.

Sitcoms took a huge hit from the reality television that became so pervasive beginning in the very late 90’s, and by the time the smoke cleared, the technology behind watching TV had changed drastically (cheap DVDs, streaming/VOD services, RedBox) which itself helped to spawn our first generation of highly serialized shows (Lost, The Sopranos, Mad Men, etc.).  Sitcoms died because a) the methods behind the manufacture of TV had changed, and b) the methods of television consumption had changed.  In the same time period, cinema has taken a huge hit as well, becoming less and less of an artistic medium; those guys are all moving over to TV where they can develop characters and stories over the course of years rather than 3 acts.  TV is no longer this static, unchanging force.  People don’t need to flop down on their couch once a week for some laughs in this age of binge-watching.  And so the sitcom’s most direct successor is the “dramedy,” shows that take themselves more seriously than a sitcom by focusing on longer and more significant story-arcs, character development, and a dynamic setting, yet they also retain a lightness and warmth absent from the old guard of prime-time dramas (you know, the hour-long shows that used to come on after the sitcoms).

Fuller House has got an uphill battle ahead of itself – it doesn’t merely have to prove itself as a viable sitcom, it’s got to justify its existence as a sitcom in an era when sitcoms are obviously not at the forefront of viewers’tastes.  Will it pull through?  I hope so.  I think being on broadcast TV would help, but I also think that Netflix may be willing to give them a little more creative leeway and probably won’t be so quick to cancel the show in the face of a few lackluster ratings.

So what do you think?  Is Fuller House a keeper or not?  Can it use its own nostalgia to rally against the growing tide of anti-sitcoms?  I’d love to know what you think so let me know in the Comments below!

Written by The Cubist