Fuller House (TV series)

Premise

Like the original series, the show is set in the same house in San Francisco, California. Recently widowed D.J. Tanner-Fuller is a veterinarian and the mother of three young boys. After the sudden death of her husband, Tommy, who was following his hazardous duties as a firefighter, D.J. accepts the help of her sister Stephanie and best friend Kimmy to move in and take part in raising her three sons, 13-year-old Jackson, 7-year-old Max, and baby Tommy Jr. Kimmy's teenage daughter Ramona also moves in.

Main

Recurring

Guest stars

Development

In August 2014, reports circulated that Warner Bros. Television was considering a series reboot. John Stamos, who had an ownership stake in the show, headed up the attempt to get the series back into production. Creator Jeff Franklin returned as executive producer and showrunner with the collaboration of original executive producers Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett under their Miller-Boyett Productions label.

In April 2015, it was reported that Netflix was close to closing a deal to produce a 13-episode sequel series tentatively titled Fuller House. A representative for Netflix said that the report was "just a rumor". In response to the report, Bure tweeted, "While you all ponder over whether the Fuller House show is true or is an April Fools joke, check out [link to her upcoming TV movie]", and Stamos tweeted, "Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see." On April 20, he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, confirming the spin-off series had been green-lit by Netflix.

In a parallel to the original series, Fuller House focuses on D.J., who is a recently widowed mother of three boys, with her sister Stephanie and best friend Kimmy moving in to help raise the boys. The series starts off with a special episode featuring a Tanner family reunion. On April 21, Netflix confirmed the series was in development. Filming of the series began in July 2015 and lasted until November 2015. In December 2015, the series' release date was revealed as February 26, 2016. Later in the month, Carly Rae Jepsen revealed she and Butch Walker recreated the Full House theme song, "Everywhere You Look" (which was originally performed by Jesse Frederick, who co-wrote the song with Bennett Salvay), for the series as its opening theme.

Casting

In addition to Cameron Bure, Sweetin, and Barber reprising their roles, the other main roles went to Michael Campion, Elias Harger, and Soni Bringas, as their children: Jackson and Max Fuller, and Ramona Gibbler, respectively. It was disclosed that John Stamos would have a recurring role as Jesse Katsopolis and would also be producing. Other original main cast members who would be reprising their roles periodically are Lori Loughlin as Becky Katsopolis, Bob Saget as Danny Tanner, and Dave Coulier as Joey Gladstone. Dylan and Blake Tuomy-Wilhoit also make an appearance reprising their roles as Nicky and Alex Katsopolis, respectively. On April 19, 2016, it was announced Ashley Liao, who plays Ramona's best friend, had been upgraded to a series regular.

Additional cast members recurring regularly throughout the series include Juan Pablo Di Pace, playing Kimmy's ex-husband, Fernando, and Scott Weinger, reprising the role of Steve Hale, D.J.'s high school boyfriend. Eva LaRue portrays Danny's wife Teri, and Michael Sun Lee makes an appearance as the adult version of Nathan Nishiguchi's character, Harry Takayama, who was Stephanie's childhood friend.

Shortly after announcing the spin-off series, it was uncertain whether Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who shared the role of Michelle Tanner, would choose to participate. The Olsen twins ultimately rejected the offer because Ashley has not acted in years with no intentions to restart, and Mary-Kate initially considered the part but later declined as it was not feasible with her fashion career at the time. Subsequently, the producers decided to have Michelle reside in New York City, where she is highly focused on her fashion enterprise. By January 2016, they asked the Olsen twins' younger sister, Elizabeth, if she had any ambitions to take the part of Michelle, but she ultimately declined as well. Nonetheless, the producers are still prodding the Olsen twins to return and are confident that one of the twins will decide to reappear during the second season. In September 2016, it was announced that the character Nelson will re-appear on Fuller House, with the character recast to be portrayed by Hal Sparks, who replaces Nelson's original portrayer, Jason Marsden.

Reviews

Fuller House received generally negative reviews, with most noting the series was very derivative of its source material and was oriented toward fans of the original show. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 32%, based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "After the initial dose of nostalgia, Fuller House has little to offer to anyone except the original series' most diehard fans." On Metacritic the series has an average score of 35 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter panned the show, calling it "a mawkish, grating, broadly played chip off the Full House block." He also added that "It's doubtful that there will be a more painful 2016 TV episode than the Fuller House pilot, which takes an inexcusable 35 minutes to establish a plot that is just an inversion of the original Full House premise." David Weigand of the San Francisco Chronicle reacted similarly, writing: "The episodes are predictable because they’re unoriginal and the writing is painful. The canned laughter is perhaps the greatest reminder of the 'good old days'. If only all those recorded voices had something legitimate to laugh at." Maureen Ryan of Variety wrote that the show "continually goes to the well of having cute kids mug for the camera as they practically yell their lines, and just a little of its self-congratulatory, blaring obviousness goes a long way."

Some parents have complained that the reboot is not family friendly unlike its predecessor because it includes cursing and references to sex and drugs.

In a more positive review, Verne Gay from Newsday wrote that the show is like "Full House 2.0" and that while it has the "same premise, same vibe, mostly same cast", it is "a winner, strictly for fans."

Home media

Warner Home Video released the first season of the series on DVD in Region 1 on February 28, 2017.