Full House was a popular American television sitcom that ran from 1987 to 1995 on the ABC network.
| Full House | |
|---|---|
| File:Full House intro.jpg The Cast of Full House, Seasons 6 & 7 | |
| Created by | Jeff Franklin |
| Starring | John Stamos Bob Saget Dave Coulier Candace Cameron Jodie Sweetin Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Lori Loughlin Andrea Barber Scott Weinger (Seasons 6-7) Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit (Seasons 6-8) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 192 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jeff Franklin Thomas L. Miller Robert L. Boyett Marc Warren Dennis Rinsler (Seasons 6-8) |
| Running time | approx. 24:00 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 22, 1987 – May 23, 1995 |
Characters
- Jesse Katsopolis (Jesse Cochran in early Season 1) (John Stamos) - An up and coming musician who is Danny's brother in law, Rebecca's husband, and the father of Nicky and Alex.
- Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) - Jesse's brother in-law, as well as the widowed father of D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle. He is also a co-host the morning talk show "Wake Up San Francisco".
- Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier) - Danny's best friend through grade school and college. He makes a living as a comedian.
- Rebecca Donaldson (Lori Loughlin) - Jesse's wife, and the mother of Nicky and Alex. She also a co-hosts the show "Wake Up San Francisco" with Danny.
- D.J. Tanner (Candace Cameron) - Oldest daughter in the Tanner household that holds much responsibility for her younger sisters and cousins.
- Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) - The middle daughter of the Tanner household in which she is D.J.'s younger sister and Michelle's older sister.
- Michelle Tanner (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) - Youngest of the Tanner daughters, D.J. and Stephanie's younger sister. She has a strong bond with Jesse, who calls her "shortie" or "munchkin" as her nicknames.
- Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) - D.J.'s best friend, and next door neighbor. A serious pest for other members of the tanner household.
- Steve Hale (Scott Weinger) - D.J.'s steady boyfriend for two years.
- Nicky and Alex Katsopolis (Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit) - Identical twin sons of Jesse and Rebecca that share the same birthday as Michelle.
Synopsis
The premise of the show, which takes place in San Francisco, California, involves widowed father Danny Tanner, who is left to raise his three young daughters D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle following the death of his wife, Pam, in a car accident involving a drunk driver (the full story is not revealed until the final season). He then recruits his best friend from grade school, Joey Gladstone, and his late wife's younger brother, Jesse Katsopolis, to help him take care of his 3 daughters. Many of the show's exploits surround the idea of three "swinging" bachelors trying to rein in the precocious antics of three little girls, who frequently get the best of them. As usual with many sitcoms, Danny's daughters ignore the rules, only to learn their lesson afterward. The episodes usually end with a hug or a kiss and the girls and sometimes the girls admitting their wrongs and working out a compromise with their father, or Joey, or Jesse. Joey makes a living primarily as a stand-up comedian, and at one point hosted a children's television program, The Ranger Joe Show. Jesse on the other hand is a full-time musician who started working for his father's exterminating company as an exterminator, but eventually quit the family business to devote more time to his music, and his band "Jesse and the Rippers." Eventually he would become the owner of the Smash Club, a night club that he inherited where his band had played regularly. Jesse and Joey also had busniess ventures together in advertising industry, even starting their own agency at one point. They would also become DJ's on a daily syndicated radio show, The Rush Hour Renegades. Meanwhile, Danny originally started out as sportscaster for a local TV station, until he became the co-host of the morning talk show "Wake Up, San Francisco" alongside Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson. As the series goes on, Becky would eventually start dating Jesse, and then marry and have twin sons Nicky and Alex. Despite Jesse being married and having children of his own, he would continue to live in the Tanner household as the extended family all live in the same house, thus giving the true meaning to the name "Full House". The girls grow up as the series goes on and various boyfriends are introduced, notably Steve Hale who would be D.J.'s steady boyfriend for 2 years.
The show's original pilot starred John Posey as the original Danny Tanner, because Saget was unavailable. Show creator Jeff Franklin thought that he would be great for the role, and even before Saget came into his mind he thought Paul Reiser could work in the role.
The theme song, "Everywhere You Look", was performed by Jesse Frederick, which he co-wrote with Bennett Salvay, although the song was almost always truncated to just the chorus for broadcast.
History of the show
The original title of the show was House of Comics. It was going to be about three different comedians living together. However, executive producer and creator Jeff Franklin learned that ABC wanted a sitcom about a family, so it was changed to Full House when it was decided that the show was going to promote family themes and values. The show was based loosely on the film Three Men and a Baby, which came out right around the same time.
In the unaired pilot of Full House, John Posey originally played Danny.
Full House was part of the TGIF lineup from the fall of 1988 to the fall of 1991, the show's second, third, and fourth seasons. It was moved to Tuesdays for season 5, and remained there until its cancellation.
The show never received a proper series finale as ABC suddenly announced that it was canceling the show after the eighth season because of the increasing costs to produce the show. The new WB Network wanted to pick up the show for a ninth season, but John Stamos opposed the move which led to his announcement that the 8th Season would be his last. Eventually, the other actors announced they were ready to move on to new projects as well so the show ended after eight years on ABC.
Guest Stars
Over the course of the sitcom's eight year run, there have been many famous celeberties that have made an appearance on Full House.
Syndication history and current airings
Since the show's ending in 1995, the sitcom has continued to live on in syndication while gaining even more popularity from newer generations of families. Full House was first shown on various local stations across the nation. In the late 90s, TBS Superstation (now just simply TBS) and WGN picked up the show and aired it every day until 2003, when the show was dropped from the daily schedule on both networks. Later that year Nick at Nite picked the show up, and then eventually ABC Family would do the same a year later in 2004. Currently, Full House still airs on Nick At Nite and ABC Family with a combined airing of at least 6 episodes per weekday between the two networks. On Nick At Nite, the sitcom is aired every night at 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM ET, and at 1:00 AM and 1:30 AM ET. ABC Family aires the sitcom at 12:00 PM ET and 12:30 PM ET, as well as 3:00 PM and 3:30 PM.
Broadcasters outside of the United States:
- Argentina: Warner Channel
- Australia: Seven Network
- Austria: ORF1
- Belgium: Kanaal Twee
- Brazil: SBT, Warner Channel
- Canada: CITS-TV, TVtropolis, OMNI Television
- Chile: Canal 13, Warner Channel
- Croatia: Croatian Radiotelevision, RTL
- Denmark: Kanal 5 (Denmark)
- Ecuador: Ecuavisa, Warner Channel
- France: France 2, Comédie !
- Germany: RTL Television, RTL II
- India: Zee Cafe
- Italy: Rai Uno, Italia 1
- Japan: NHK
- Lithuania Tele 3
- Latvia: LNT
- Norway: TV Norge
- Philippines: RPN 9
- Poland: TVP2, RTL 7, TVN
- United Arab Emirates: MBC 4
Episode list
DVD releases
Season releases
| DVD Name | Release Date | Ep # | Cover Art |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | February 8, 2005 | 22 | File:Full House intro.jpg |
| The Complete Second Season | December 6, 2005 | 22 | File:Full House intro.jpg |
| The Complete Third Season | April 4, 2006 | 24 | File:Full House intro.jpg |
| The Complete Fourth Season | August 15, 2006 | 26 | File:Full House intro.jpg |
| The Complete Fifth Season | December 12, 2006 | 26 | File:Full House intro.jpg |
| The Complete Sixth Season | March 27, 2007 | 24 | |
| The Complete Seventh Season | TBA, 2007 | 24 | |
| The Complete Eighth Season | TBA, 2007 | 24 |
Full House books
There were many short books based on the show. They were divided into different sub-series, such as "Full House Sisters", "Full House Michelle", "Full House Michelle and Friends", "Full House Stephanie", "Full House Club: Stephanie."
Full House chronology
Though not as comprehensive as the Star Trek one, Full House is believed to be the only sitcom to have its own Chronology, online at several sites. Like the Star Trek one, it presents a timeline of events in the family's lives in both the TV universe and in the books.
Trivia
- The family lives at 1882 Gerard Street, and their phone number is 555-2424. In real life, there is a "Gerard Street" in the San Francisco area, but 1882 Gerard Street couldn't exist, as it only goes to the 1400 block.
- There are seven windows on the front of the house at 1882 Gerard Street.
- The entire series was filmed in the Los Angeles area instead of San Francisco, where the sitcom takes place. However there were a few episodes where the cast would shoot elsewhere, most notably in Hawaii in the episode "Tanner's Island" in the beginning of Season 3 and in Disney World for the episodes "The House Meets the Mouse (Parts 1 & 2)" at the end of Season 6. The only episode to have actually been filmed in San Francisco was "Comet's Excellent Adventure", which is the first episode in Season 8.
- Lori Loughlin was originally scheduled to appear on a few episodes in season 2 as Rebecca Donaldson, Danny's co-host on Wake Up San Francisco. But as the season went on, her character quickly gained popularity which prompted producers to give her a permanent role beginning in Season 3 and continued on through the rest of the series.
- It wasn't until Season 5 that Andrea Barber (who played Kimmy Gibbler) was added to the opening credits, despite her recurring role on the show since the first season.
- Perhaps the most famous scene featuring the entire cast was at the end of the opening credits during Seasons 4-8 where the last shot of the opening credits of the show features the cast having a picnic in Alamo Square in front of the row of Painted Ladies in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. Contrary to popular belief, the red-doored Victorian where the Tanners live is not one of these houses.
- Michelle was credited as being played by "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen" for Season 1, because the show's director didn't want audiences to know that Michelle was played by twins. The reason the role of Michelle was played by two children rather than one was due to California state laws that regulated the number of hours a small child can work.
- Uncle Jesse's last name at the beginning of the show was Cochran, reportedly since one of the producers was a fan of singer Joe Cocker. However, this was changed after season one, when he came to be called Jesse Katsopolis. The name change was due to John Stamos wanting the Jesse character to better reflect his Greek heritage. No in character reason is given for the character's name change, but fans tend to feel it could have been a stage name, especially because the name "Cochran" also disappeared from the band's name after season one.
- A fictional junior high school, Van Atta Junior High, which was mentioned in several episodes, was a reference to one of the program's producers, Don Van Atta.
- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen appear on the show four times together. The first time was in The Seven-Month Itch - Part One in Jesse's dream. The second time was in the fourth season episode Greek Week where one of the relatives' kids looks just like Michelle. The third time was in The Devil Made Me Do It when Michelle is talking to her two consciences as to what to do after she gets in trouble. The last time was in the final episode of the series, Michelle Rides Again - Part Two when Michelle talks to her memory and then gets it back.
- The Beach Boys and their music always had a significant role in the show. Jesse sings their song, "Forever", to Becky at his wedding, and his band's cover of "Forever" (complete with background vocals from the Beach Boys themselves) also becomes his first big hit single. Their first apperance was on the episode "Beach Boy Bingo" during Season 2, in which the entire band was featured. Mike Love then made a second appearance at the end of Season 3, then again at the end of Season 5 accompanied by Bruce Johnston.
- In Season 5, the baby versions of Nicky and Alex were played by Daniel and Kevin Renteria. Then starting in Season 6, Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit played the roles of Nicky and Alex, until the show's ending.
- Denise Frasier, who is one of Michelle's best friends doesn't appear in any episodes during the 8th season. No explanation is given towards her absence.
- In the opening scene of the Season 4 episode "Ol' Brown Eyes" Danny's hair is still styled long as it has been for the first few seasons, but in the next scene you see him, his hair is shortened in the back which it remains that way for the rest of the season. Obviously, Bob Saget must have gotten a haircut in between these scenes.
- Members of the Full House cast have appeared on Disney Channel shows four times:
- Candace Cameron in That's So Raven as Courtney Dearborn; credited as Candace Cameron Bure. (Episode: "Teacher's Pet")
- Mary Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen in Sister, Sister as themselves. (Episode: "Slime Party")
- Dave Coulier in The Thirteenth Year as Whit Griffin.
- Dave Coulier in The Even Stevens Movie as the host of Gotcha!, Lance LeBow.