★★★★★ 0/5

Fuller House

We all long for a bit of nostalgia, but 80s humour was 80s humour for a reason.

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Fuller House

Fuller House is a great argument for why axed sitcoms should never be revived.

Even those stuck in the ’80s and longing for sentimentality will struggle with this one.

To be fair, I was never particularly a follower of the original Full House which aired from 1987 to 1995, so all of the ‘in-jokes’ in this spin-off went way over my head. But it’s 21 years later (or as the opening scene reminds us 29 years since its beginning). You have to presume there are a lot of people coming to the show who have never seen a frame of the original.

The action takes place in the Tanner household of San Francisco. Recently-widowed Veterinarian D.J. Tanner-Fuller (Candace Cameron-Bure) is raising three boys — the rebellious 12-year-old Jackson, neurotic 7-year-old Max and her newborn baby, Tommy Jr. Her dad Danny (Bob Saget), plus ‘surrogate’ dads Joey (Dave Coulier) and Jesse (John Stamos), his wife Rebecca (Lori Loughlin), sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and neighbour Kimmy (Andrea Barber) are all on hand, along with her niece Ramona (Soni Nicole Bringas). Yep, it’s a house pretty full.

The premise of the messy first episode that exists primarily to ‘pass on the baton’ will see Stamos, Saget, Coulier and Loughlin as guest stars only (along with one or two other legacy faces). This next generation series will revolve around DJ struggling to raise her clan until Stephanie and Kimmy move in to lend a hand. And there you have it.

But the episode plays out like a private party you’ve been invited to where you have no idea what’s going on. Adhering to an 80s sensibility, its fingers are white-knuckle clinging to a template that has all but faded save for the Chuck Lorre camp: a multicam sitcom with a studio audience who whoop and holler at the slightest wisecrack.

The opening scene of characters stepping onto the set would make Fonzie proud, with the audience cheering incessantly. I had to check I wasn’t watching a Saturday Night Live parody. The gags are devoid of any subtlety, coming no later than every third line of dialogue, with the audience guffawing monkey-like regardless of whether the line was actually any good or not.

“Damn we all still look good!” declares Jesse. Yes you do. A pity I thought it was Stamos (an Executive Producer of the project) saying the line, not the character.

As the cast steamroll their way through punchline after punchline, I couldn’t help but feel like everybody was acting at one another, rather than with one another.

The plot meandered its way through blast-from-the-past moments (a Stamos-led song will have you cringing) until it works its way up to the routine 11th hour heartfelt moment. Oh where is Alex Keaton or Kevin Arnold when you need them? Somebody show them how to switch from comedy to emotion in a heartbeat? Apologies to Lucy.

I kept wondering who the audience for Fuller House is. If it’s a new, younger audience I’d suggest they are now weaned on single-cam comedies sans-laugh track such as Modern Family. If it’s the original Full House audience (many of whom presumably have their own full houses now) will they be satisfied with a show without the three-men-and-a-baby who made the show?

We all long for a bit of TV nostalgia, but this is one idea that should have been left at a reunion special.

Fuller House premieres today on Netflix.

8 Responses

  1. I’ve just watched the pilot and agree it was dreadful. Were these jokes funny in the 90s? The characters themselves seem over the moon to be back together but I didn’t laugh once during the 35 minutes. John Stamos does have an X-factor that can’t be taught but that song he sang was excruciating. There’s absolutely no reason for Kimmy to move in other than to make kooky gags. Uncle Joey seemed especially lost and pointless.

  2. I watched the first ep last night and I can’t remember the last time I saw such a terrible piece of ‘entertainment’. It was embarrassing, cringe-worthy, pointless, humourless, absolutely dreadful. If John Stamos wasn’t so attractive I would have turned it off after 5 minutes but I’m mortified for him that he spearheaded this show and actually thinks it is good. I was 13 when the original was on and did watch the show, now I wonder how many braincells I killed back then. Halfway through I thought that it must be a parody of itself so actually checked some reviews to see if this was the case. I honestly don’t know how anyone could possibly enjoy the show. Actually, I did enjoy one thing, John was very funny on Late Night with Seth Meyers when he was reading and responding to the critics reviews.

    1. Your judging the show on the pilot and i think thats a mistake. Ive almost finished the season and so far i think the pilot is the weakest episode. The pilot sets up the series with an out with old in with the new dynamic but the better episodes are the ones with the just the new household.

  3. I’ve seen the first 3 eps so far and enjoyed it. There is definitely a place for nice tv. I don’t get the negative reviews accept to suggest those reviewers may not be the target audience.

  4. Only watched a few minutes of the opening ep and I have to agree, will stick with it as I liked the original but that was so long ago! I have to hope the other (coming soon to) Netflix revival Gilmore Girls fares much better, thank god that show never had studio audiance or laugh track to worry about!

  5. I loved it, it’s not the same as full house but that’s because it’s not meant to be like full house. It’s meant to tell the story of what happens after full house. The only think I can pick that’s wrong with it is that Michelle isn’t in it.

    1. Zcsund1234, Michelle might not be there, but in at least two episodes, they either refer to Michelle, as someone in the fashion industry, or they refer to the Olsen Twins and their clothing line.

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