Fuller House

Whatever happened to predictability?
It's alive and well in Fuller House.

Okay, here we go... there's a lot to process after watching the entire first season of Fuller House.  Believe me, I had all the feels - I was nostalgic, overjoyed, angry, and legitimately laughed more than even I expected myself to.  I wasn't able to binge-watch the entire season like so many of you have.  I did that for the first season of Full House when it was released on DVD back in 2005.  I watched the whole season over the course of the weekend (I did watch the first episode twice though) and had to wrap my head around the entire thing before sharing my thoughts and feelings with all of you.

The original Tanners
The original cast of Full House look pretty good and mostly act like we remember them. This makes jumping back into the show pretty easy. In the first episode of Fuller House, which is more like a suave recap to bring us up to speed than an actual story because nothing really happens, each returning character manages to get out their catchphrase and gimmicks to remind us where in San Francisco we are.
Uncle Jesse finally seems to have a secure job on General Hospital, eats fried chicken, and sings "Forever".
Joey is a stand-up comedian in Vegas, still loves hockey, busts out the Bullwinkle impression, and brings out Mr. Woodchuck.
Aunt Becky is still a babe, but seems to be more obsessed with babies than ever before.  She doesn't seem to be the career woman she used to be.  Maybe because Jesse actually has a job now and can pay half the bills.
DJ Tanner is a widowed mommy of three, and pretty much takes over the role of Danny Tanner as single parent trying to have a career and get back on her feet.  She needs help from her sister Stephanie, who has been traveling the world as "DJ Tanner", spinning records and trying to start her own music career.  She's essentially the new Uncle Jesse character.  Doesn't want kids, can't actually have them, and is leaving her party lifestyle to help raise DJ's kids.
If you were expecting the original cast to be the forefront of the show, then you're gonna be disappointed.  Oh, sure, after the first episode they visit here and there to keep themselves familiar, but they are certainly supporting characters now and not the stars of the show.  The majority of original characters are so familiar that you wouldn't have thought much time passed since Michelle fell off that horse all those years ago.  The only character that seems to have developed over the years is Danny Tanner - he's moved on, gotten married, and doesn't seem to be obsessed with cleaning as much as he used to be.  Instead, he's proud to see his grandson Max being a little clean-aholic in his place.
For the most part, the Tanners are who we remember.  The show does what's necessary and limits the use of the old folks to make their guest appearances actually really special.  When we see them, we're excited for the nostalgia of it.

The New Kids
DJ's three kids - Jackson, Max, and Tommy - are pretty cute.  This should come as no surprise, given that the original show's formula relied on the three Tanner girls being cute as a button.  Again, just like how DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy have taken over the Danny/Jesse/Joey trio, these kids essentially become the characters we're used to... but now they're boys instead of girls.  At first I didn't like Jackson, and once he started calling himself "J-Money" I was ready to beat the kid with an Uncle Jesse doll.  But then, he grew on me. 
I liked Max right from the beginning - he's overbearing.  He's obnoxious at times.  He's loud to get attention.  He fits in perfectly with the Full House universe.  And hey, he tried potty training a puppy.  If you can get me to think a puppy is cute, then you've worked a miracle.
Tommy is an adorable baby. Maybe not as much as Mary-Kate and Ashley were back in the day, but we shouldn't make this about a comparison even if we're naturally drawn to do so.  Tommy gets bonus points for wearing the same pajamas in the intro as my little boy Grayson does.
What struck me as odd though, but at the same time not really for a Full House show, was how these boys were dealing with the recent loss of their father.  He's only mentioned a couple times in passing, much like Pam was on the original show.  Don't get me started on Papouli.

Kimmy Gibbler and Ramona
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kimmy Gibbler is actually the best part of Fuller House. She's the "Joey" archetype now, but she has a bit of Danny and Jesse in her too (hey, get your mind out of the gutter).  Her ex-husband Fernando fits in really well with the Tanner universe as well.  They managed to keep her stinky feet references to a minimum, and made her out to be a career oriented woman.  And honestly, I'd like to do it "Gibbler Style".
Her daughter Ramona is pretty cool, and hopefully she gets more screen time for season two.

Flashbacks/ Nostalgia
This is where my feelings get a little muddy. 
The first episode was very high on nostalgia and, as mentioned before, it needed to be to bring us back to the Tanner state of mind.  So that was all fine, but at the end of that episode we get this split screen while they sing The Flintstones theme.  I get that it's meant as a tribute to the first show, and it's a passing of the torch, so to speak, but we didn't need the split screen.  If you want to treat the real fans with a special nod like that, you don't show the old one too - the die hard fans are going to get the reference.  After all, it was meant for them.
Later in the season, Stephanie has a flashback to her backyard wedding with Harry Takayama (we'll get to him shortly) and it's literally a copy/paste job of old footage.  And it goes on forever.  It's actually really bad and slows the episode down to a standstill. 
And even late in the season, we get a flashback to DJ and Steve's prom night, but this time the present day DJ and Steve and Matt actually go into the footage to give commentary to it.  I actually thought this was quite funny, a neat idea, and should have been used for the Stephanie wedding flashback too.

The love triangle
Were you Team Steve or Team Matt? I was surprised by DJ's final decision to not exclusively be with either of them.  The whole thing is almost a metaphor for the show itself.  Is it going to be a nostalgia show or will it go forward with something new we've never seen?  Even DJ doesn't know for sure, and I get the feeling that's how the show feels about itself.
In case you're wondering, I was on Team Matt.  Something happened to Steve over the last twenty years.  Not sure how he can go from being a cool guy (captain of the wrestling team) to being so whiny and emotionally demanding.  He certainly felt entitled to be in DJ's life just because he used to be before she was married.  His full name should be Steve Can't-Understand-Why-I'm-Stuck-In-The-Friend-Zone Hale. 

The Olsen Twins
They weren't there, and the cast made sure to let us know a few times.  My favorite was the jab about how expensive Mary-Kate and Ashley clothing is, and how that's why they don't need to act anymore.
(Bonus points for the jab at Alanis Morisette's song about Dave Coulier)

Harry Takayama
This is where I get angry. Every returning character - right down to The Rippers - were the original actors.  Except Harry Takayama.  If they couldn't get the original Harry then fine, use a different character. Stephanie had other friends.  What about Brett?  Remember how her heart went 'brett brett' for him?  What about Walter "Duckface" Berman?  That was a huge missed opportunity to have the original Duckface do a Duckface selfie.  Harry Takayama was the man on the original show.  How dare they disrespect him like that.

The Fullers Without The Tanners
So the question now is, how did the show do when there were guest spots by the original Tanner clan?  Surprisingly well.  It's important to remember that this is still a Full House show.   If you were expecting anything other than cheesy plots, predictable one-liners, and cute sight gags, then why were you watching it?  The Fullers manage to continue doing what the Tanners always did.  The relationship between Stephanie and Kimmy is good, and actually started to take form in the last two seasons of the original Full House. 
I was completely expecting myself to lose interest when there were no original cast members on screen, but  the spots that involved Jackson and Ramona skipping school, borrowing money from Max, and performing backyard wrestling were actually some of my favorite moments in the entire season. 

Theme Song 
Carly Rae Jepsen's version is pretty good.  Updated with some new lyrics.  It's obviously not the original, but certainly no harm no foul here.

The Verdict
I'm happy with Fuller House.  I do hope for a second season.  As I mentioned with the love triangle representing the show's focus, I would have liked to have seen something more definitive for the season finale.  It felt like there was little to no closure.  It's hard to say if we'll ever get any in season two.  Full House was never a show to really expand on ideas after they were introduced and used as plot devices.  If they were, we would have seen Joey's girlfriends more than once.  It'll be interesting to see if the subject of Stephanie not being able to have kids is ever touched upon again, or was it just there for some one-shot emotion. 
What I always loved most about Full House is what most critics always hated most about it.  How completely unreal it was.  Every problem can be wrapped up in 22 minutes with some ice cream and hugs.  It's a world of fantasy.  I, personally, don't watch TV to see real life.  I live in real life.  I know what happens.  That's what has always drawn me to the Tanner family.  They have such elaborate self-fulfilling lives.  Nothing can happen in San Francisco unless a member of the Tanner family is somehow included.  That's kind of beautiful in a weird way.  How in this big world, you really can be the center of it all in your heart and mind.  Fuller House, like the original, is about the importance of family and how your family, however it is made up, should be the center of your everything.  It's that unrealistic appeal, not real life standard, that we watch Full(er) House for.  It shows us just how sweet and caring and great everything could be, if we somehow allowed it to be.
Because, when you're lost out there and you're all alone, a light is waiting to carry you home.  Everywhere you look.

Thanks for reading!
- ryan