No, “Fuller House” doesn’t come anywhere close to how funny the original “Full House,” but for diehard fans, it is a great return to the Tanner household.
Where the series shines most is with the Tanner siblings, who are all grown up and have moved back into their family house. DJ is now a widowed mother of three (sound familiar?), Stephanie is now a partier pursuing a music career (with the slightly confusing stage name of “DJ Tanner”) and their neighbor Kimmy hasn’t really grown up at all. Having the same actors reprise their roles, minus Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, helps portray this as a natural transition.
The lack of Michelle, who the Olsen twins doubled as when they were younger, doesn’t detract from this transition at all. Allegedly the pair were denied from reprising their role as the youngest sister, but as her character only remained cute and entertaining until she was four, her absence was not missed.
There are plenty of cameos by other actors from the original series to make the episodes run smoothly. John Stamos, the show’s Uncle Jesse, comes up in a few episodes, Bob Saget is back as Danny Tanner and Dave Coulier is back as the childish Joey.
While chock-full of nostalgia, plenty of plots from the original “Full House” are recycled, with many meta moments where characters acknowledge this. For example, in the first episode, the Tanner family gathers around the baby and sings the Flintstones’ theme, which happened in the first pilot. The rehashing of plots and jokes proves they are no longer funny, if they were ever funny in the first place.
If you’re not a fan of fourth-wall breaking humor, this show is not for you, as each episode is littered it. When the show’s patriarch, Danny Tanner, mentions the in-show reason why Michelle isn’t around is because she’s “running her fashion empire in New York,” a nod to the source of much of the real-life Olsen twins’ money, the characters look at the screen while canned laughter rolls on for what seems like forever.
Where the show fails most is with its new characters. The only one of any interest is DJ’s new love interest, Matt (John Botherton), competing with her original crush Steve (who has aged horribly).
But who cares? The entire point of this show is to provide nostalgia. Being released on Netflix, it doesn’t seem producers were nervous about the show’s ratings, however low they may be. Just enjoy. You’ll have a nice trip down memory lane.