Full House

This article is about the American television series. For the poker term, see List of poker hands#Full house. For Full House other uses, see Full House (disambiguation).
Full House
Genre Sitcom
Created by Jeff Franklin
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme "Everywhere You Look",
performed by Jesse Frederick
Ending theme "Everywhere You Look" (instrumental)
Composer(s) Jesse Frederick
Bennett Salvay
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 8
No. of episodes 192 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Don Van Atta
  • James O'Keefe
  • Bonnie Bogard Maier
Camera setup Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time 21–25 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution (1991–present)
Release
Original network ABC
Picture format 480i (4:3 SDTV)
Original release September 22, 1987 (1987-09-22) – May 23, 1995 (1995-05-23)
Chronology
Followed by Fuller House (2016)

Full House is an American sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show chronicles a widowed father, Danny Tanner, who enlists his best friend and brother-in-law to help raise his three daughters. It aired from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995, broadcasting eight seasons and 192 episodes.

The series has been rebroadcast in syndication and tie-in merchandise, such as a series of books, have been marketed. A spin-off series, Fuller House, premiered on Netflix in February 2016.

Plot summary

After his wife is killed in a car accident, news anchorman Danny Tanner recruits his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis (a rock musician) and best friend Joey Gladstone (who works as a stand-up comedian) to help raise his three young daughters: 10-year-old D.J., 5-year-old Stephanie, and 10-month-old Michelle, in his San Francisco home. Over time, the three men as well as the children bond and become closer to one another.

In season two, Danny is reassigned from his duties as sports anchor by his television station to become co-host of a local morning television show, Wake Up, San Francisco, and is teamed up with Nebraska native Rebecca Donaldson. Jesse and Becky eventually fall in love, and get married in season four. In season five, Becky gives birth to twin sons, Nicky and Alex.

Main cast and characters

  1. The character's surname was changed from "Cochran" to "Katsopolis" after the first season ended.

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired Network Nielsen ratings
First aired Last aired Rank Households
(in millions)
1 22 September 22, 1987 May 6, 1988 ABC #71 10.9
2 22 October 14, 1988 May 5, 1989 #32 15.3
3 24 September 22, 1989 May 4, 1990 #21 15.4
4 26 September 21, 1990 May 3, 1991 #14 16.0
5 26 September 17, 1991 May 12, 1992 #7 17.0
6 24 September 22, 1992 May 18, 1993 #10 15.8
7 24 September 14, 1993 May 17, 1994 #16 14.2
8 24 September 27, 1994 May 23, 1995 #25 12.5

Production

Casting

John Posey as Danny Tanner in the pilot (shown with Sweetin and Cameron as Stephanie and D.J.)

The producers' first choice to play the character of Danny Tanner was Bob Saget. Saget was not available to appear in the pilot due to his commitment as an on-air contributor to CBS's The Morning Program. The producers instead cast actor John Posey to play Danny. Posey only appeared in the unaired pilot (which is included on the DVD release of Season 1).

John Stamos's character was originally named Jesse Cochran; Stamos reportedly wanted his character to better reflect his Greek heritage, so producers decided to change the character's surname to Katsopolis (beginning with season two).

To comply with child labor laws, twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen were cast to alternate in the role of Michelle during tapings. The girls were jointly credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen" in seasons two through seven, because the producers did not want audiences to know that the Michelle character was played by twins.

All six of the original cast members remained with the show through its entire eight-year run, with five characters added to the cast along the way. Kimmy Gibbler, a recurring character in seasons one through four, was upgraded to a regular in season five. Rebecca Donaldson (later Katsopolis) originally appeared for six episodes in season two as Danny's co-host on Wake Up, San Francisco; producers decided to expand her role and made her a regular the following season. Nicky and Alex Katsopolis, the twin sons of Jesse and Rebecca, made their debut in season five. As babies, the children were played by Daniel and Kevin Renteria, and in season six, the roles of the twins were succeeded by Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit. The last character added was Steve Hale, who was D.J.'s boyfriend in seasons six and seven. He returned in the second half of the series finale after Kimmy set him up with D.J. to be her date for the senior prom.

Comet, the family dog, was played by a golden retriever named Buddy. Buddy later appeared in the original Air Bud (1997) before dying of lung cancer at the age of nine.[1]

Taping

The series was created by Jeff Franklin and executive produced by Franklin, along with Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett. The series was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions and Miller-Boyett Productions, in association with Lorimar-Telepictures (1987–88), Lorimar Television (1988–93), and then by Warner Bros. Television (1993–95) after Lorimar was folded into Warner Bros.'s existing television production division.

Although the series was set in San Francisco, the sitcom itself was taped at the Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles. Outside of certain excerpts in the opening title sequences, the only episode to have actually been taped in San Francisco was the first episode of season eight, "Comet's Excellent Adventure". There were also a few episodes which were filmed on-location elsewhere, most notably Hawaii in the season three premiere "Tanner's Island", and at Walt Disney World for the two-part sixth season finale "The House Meets the Mouse".

The series experienced heavy turnover with its writing staff throughout its run, the first season in particular had at least three writing staff changes with Lenny Ripps (who remained with the show until the early part of the fourth season, by then serving as a creative consultant) and Russell Marcus being the only writers surviving the changes through the entire season. Show creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin was the only writer to remain with the series throughout its entire eight-season run (Franklin also wrote and directed several episodes during the first five seasons). Marc Warren and Dennis Rinsler joined the series' writing staff in the second season as producers and remained with the show until its 1995 cancellation; Warren and Rinsler took over as head writers by season five and assumed showrunning duties as executive producers for the sixth season to allow Franklin to focus on Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (Full House served as Cooper's lead-in when the former aired on Tuesday nights during the 1992–93 season).

Theme song

The show's theme song, "Everywhere You Look", was performed by Jesse Frederick, who co-wrote the song with writing partner Bennett Salvay and series creator Jeff Franklin. Various instrumental versions of the theme song were used in the closing credits; the version used during seasons three through eight was also used in the opening credits in some early syndication runs, although the song was almost always truncated to the chorus for broadcast. Seasons one through five used a longer version of the theme song. In syndicated airings, the line "you miss your old familiar friends, but waiting just around the bend" replaced the lines starting with "how did I get delivered here, somebody tell me please..." (after ABC Family acquired the series in 2003, it became the first television outlet to air the long versions of the theme since the series' ABC run, which were included only in select episodes from the first five seasons, whereas the full version was used in most episodes during those seasons).

Broadcast history

Full House originally aired on Fridays from September 1987 to August 1991, which spanned the show's first four seasons, and later became the flagship program of ABC's newly launched TGIF block in September 1989. The show was briefly moved to Tuesdays during the 1987–88 season, and then aired twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays for a few months in order to help the series build an audience. It remained on Fridays permanently for the next three seasons, as the show's ratings increased. Full House was moved to Tuesdays full-time for season five, and remained there until the series ended in 1995. While the show's first season was not very successful, mostly because it was a new series placed in an 8 p.m. Eastern timeslot (most freshman series start out in protected time slots preceded by successful lead-ins), the show quickly became popular during its second season as it was placed immediately following the established hit show Perfect Strangers (which was also produced by Tom Miller and Bob Boyett). From season three onwards, it was ranked among Nielsen's Top 30 shows (a ratings increase which allowed the series to move back to Fridays at 8 p.m.).[2] By the fourth season, the series jumped to the Top 20 and remained there until the seventh season (the series peaked at the top ten during seasons five and six).[3]

In 1995, despite the fact the show was still rated in the top 25, ABC announced that it was canceling the show after eight seasons due to the increasing costs of producing the series. Upstart network The WB wanted to pick up the show, but John Stamos announced that season eight would be his last (he was mainly upset about Full House defecting from one of the "big four" networks to a network which had not yet received full national distribution; at the time, The WB's distribution outside of some large and mid-sized markets came primarily from the superstation feed of WGN-TV in Chicago). Eventually, the other actors announced they were also ready to move on to other projects, thus ending the show's run after eight years. The one-hour series finale was watched by 24.3 million viewers, ranking No. 7 for the week and attracting a 14.6 household rating and a 25 percent audience share.

U.S. syndication

Warner Bros. Television Distribution handles the domestic and international syndication rights to the series. During the summer of 1991, reruns of the early seasons began airing in a daily daytime strip on NBC.[4] Starting in September 1991, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution began distributing Full House for broadcast in off-network syndication and was syndicated on various local stations nationwide until 2003. In 1998, Atlanta-based cable superstation TBS (which became a general entertainment cable channel in October 2007) and Chicago-based superstation WGN (which carried the series locally in the Chicago market via WGN-TV) obtained cable rights to the series and aired the show every weekday until 2002, when it was dropped from the schedules of both networks; the series returned to TBS on December 9, 2013.

In September 2003, ABC Family acquired the series; as a result, ABC Family became the first network since ABC to air the original extended version of the theme song, featured in select episodes of the first five seasons; by the time ABC Family's rights to the series expired in December 2013, the channel ran the closing credits over the last 30 seconds of the final scene, albeit at the bottom of the screen (it was previously played over the channel's genericized credit sequence design). In other broadcast and cable syndication runs (as well as most other episodes aired on ABC Family), a shortened version of the main theme with alternate lyrics is used for all episodes of the first five seasons; however, an altered version of the opening credits for seasons six and seven is used, removing the lyric "Whatever happened to predictability; the milkman, the paperboy, evenin' TV" that was kept in the long version of the theme during those seasons (the season eight title sequence airs as is).

Nick at Nite acquired the series in 2003, and aired it from October 6 of that year until April 10, 2009; several months later on August 31, 2009, it moved to sister channel The N and continued to air on that channel after its September 28, 2009 rebrand as TeenNick, where it remained until October 24, 2010. The following day on October 25, the series returned to Nick at Nite after a one-year absence, airing in the hour leading into the start of Nickelodeon's broadcast day. Soon after, though, it was dropped from Nick at Nite again, returning to TeenNick until September 2012, where it was then transferred back to Nick at Nite. In 2014, episodes have averaged 1.5 million viewers on Nick at Nite, which is up 7 percent from 2013 and a 0.4 rating in the key 18–49 demographic, up 8 percent from 2013.[5]

Reunions

During Bob Saget's final season as host of America's Funniest Home Videos, six other Full House cast alumni (John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber and Lori Loughlin) reunited on the May 9, 1997 episode (the episode which preceded Saget's final episode as host of that series).[6]

In a December 2008 news story,[7] it was reported that John Stamos was planning a reunion movie.[8] This idea was quickly withdrawn, because reportedly most of the cast was not interested.[9] In 2009, Stamos announced that a feature film based on the show was still planned. Stamos told The New York Daily News, "I'm working on a movie idea, but it wouldn't be us playing us. I'm not 100% sure, but it would probably take place in the first few years." Stamos posited Steve Carell and Tracy Morgan for the roles of Danny and Joey respectively.[10]

In 2012, eight of the Full House cast members reunited in Los Angeles for their 25th anniversary. Publicists for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen said that they "weren't able to attend, given their work schedules."[11]

On July 19, 2013, the original Jesse and the Rippers (the band which Jesse Katsopolis served as frontman, until he was voted out in season 8) reunited on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The group performed a medley of covers including the Beach Boys' "Forever," Elvis Presley's "Little Sister," "Hippy Hippy Shake" and ending with the Full House theme "Everywhere You Look". Bob Saget and Lori Loughlin made cameo appearances.[12]

In January 2014, Saget, Stamos, and Coulier appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. They each reprised their characters, while Fallon dressed in child's pajamas in a bed framed by four gigantic pencils, similar to Michelle Tanner's bed from the show. Saget, Stamos, and Coulier said some of their famous catchphrases from the show, as well as singing "The Teddy Bear" song.[13] Stamos, Saget and Coulier also appeared together in a 2014 commercial for Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt (for which Stamos serves as spokesperson) that debuted during Super Bowl XLVIII, days after their appearance on Late Night.[14]

Spin-off series

In August 2014, reports circulated that Warner Bros. Television was considering a series spin-off.[15] John Stamos, who has an ownership stake in the show, headed up the attempt to get the series back into production.[16] Netflix closed a deal to produce a 13-episode sequel series tentatively titled Fuller House, with many of the original series cast members reprising their roles.[17] Notably, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen both were declined to reprise the role of Michelle in the first season,[18] although the creators and producers said they could still possibly appear in future seasons.[19][20] Stamos would guest star as well and serve as producer.[21][22]

Filming began on July 25, 2015.[23] Like the original series, the show is set in San Francisco.[24] The original series idea was focused on D.J., a veterinarian struggling to raise three boys after her firefighter husband, Tommy Fuller is killed in the line of duty. The original plan had D.J. with two sons and pregnant with a third, but they later made the decision to have D.J.'s third child already be born. The show also revolves around D.J.'s sister Stephanie, who is aspiring to become a musician like her uncle Jesse; and D.J.'s best friend Kimmy, who is a party planner and a single mother to a teenage daughter, Ramona. The show's premise follows one similar to the original series, when Stephanie makes plans to put her career on hold for a while and move in with D.J. to help take care of her children. Almost immediately afterwards, Kimmy makes the same offer for her and Ramona to move in and help out. Netflix premiered the series on February 26, 2016,[25] with a special episode featuring a Tanner family reunion.[26][27]

Other media

DVD releases

Warner Home Video released all eight seasons of the series on DVD in Region 1 between 2005 and 2007.[28] A complete series box-set containing all 192 episodes was released on November 6, 2007. As of 2016, the complete series is available for purchase via online retailers such as Amazon.[29] Additionally, the first four seasons were also released on DVD in Region 2 and Region 4.[30]

Title Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Season 1 February 8, 2005 2007 November 16, 2005
Season 2 December 6, 2005 2007 April 5, 2006
Season 3 April 4, 2006 2007 August 9, 2006
Season 4 August 15, 2006 2007 September 5, 2007
Season 5 December 12, 2006 N/A N/A
Season 6 March 27, 2007 N/A N/A
Season 7 August 7, 2007 N/A N/A
Season 8 November 6, 2007 N/A N/A
The Complete Series November 6, 2007 N/A N/A

Book series

Books based on Full House are geared toward children primarily between the ages of 8 and 14. Warner Bros., which holds the rights to Full House and its associated characters, would not permit others to use their characters, and selected who could write books based on the television series. The books are based on the Silhouette romance novels by Mills & Boon. Full House Michelle #7: Summer Rhapsody is a Silhouette Special Edition #75 by Nancy John and Laura O'Neil in February 1983.

The series includes the following:

Russian adaptation

In 2006 Full House was one of a group of Warner Brothers properties licensed to Moscow-based network STS for adaptation to Russian. The show, Topsy-Turvy House (ru:Дом кувырком) followed the plots of the American version with changes to accommodate cultural differences. It ran for two seasons, beginning in 2009.[31][32]

Unauthorized story

On August 22, 2015, a television movie called The Unauthorized Full House Story was first released by Lifetime. It told the behind the scene making of story of the show.[33]

Awards and nominations

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
Year Category Nominee Result
1994 Favorite Television Actress Candace Cameron Won
1995 Favorite Animal Star "Comet" Nominated
TV Land Awards
Year Category Nominees Result
2004 Quintessential Non-Traditional Family Cast Nominated
2007 Favorite Elvis Impersonation John Stamos Won
Young Artist Awards
Year Category Nominees Result
1989 Best Young Actress Under Ten Years of Age in Television or Motion Pictures Jodie Sweetin Nominated
The Most Promising New Fall Television Series Nominated
1990 Best Young Actor/Actress Under Five Years of Age Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen Won
Best Family Television Series Nominated
Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Comedy Series Candace Cameron Nominated
Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series Jodie Sweetin Nominated
1991 Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series Jodie Sweetin Nominated
Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Television Series Andrea Barber Won
Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen Won
Young Artist Award Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series Candace Cameron Nominated
1992 Best Young Actress Supporting or Recurring Role for a TV Series Andrea Barber Won
Young Artist Award Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series Candace Cameron Nominated
Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series Jodie Sweetin Nominated
1993 Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress Under Ten Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen Won
Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Television Series Andrea Barber Nominated
Exceptional Performance by a Young Actor Under Ten Tahj Mowry Nominated
Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Television Series Nominated
1994 Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Series Candace Cameron Nominated
Outstanding Young Comedienne in a Television Series Jodie Sweetin Nominated
Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Television Series Andrea Barber Nominated
Best Young Actor Guest-starring in a Television Series R. J. Williams Nominated
1995 Best Youth Actor Guest-starring in a Television Show J. D. Daniels Nominated
1996 Best Youth Comedienne in a TV Show Andrea Barber Nominated

References

  1. "Buddy the Dog: Comet". Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  2. "Top Rated Programs - 1985-1990". chez.com.
  3. "Top Rated Programs - 1990-1995". chez.com.
  4. "nbc_day". curtalliaume.com.
  5. "'Full House' cast and producers mulling a revival". FoxNews. August 27, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  6. "Full House invades America's Funniest Home Videos - 5/9/97". sweetin.com.
  7. "John Stamos Planning A 'Full House' Remake?". starpulse.com. WENN. December 4, 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  8. Wieselman, Jarett (2009-07-13). "A 'Full House' Remake, Original Recipe?" (XHTML). New York Post. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  9. Kristin Dos Santos (2008-12-11). "Full House Remake "Completely Dead"". Watch with Kristin. E! Online. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
  10. "ROLL CALL: John Stamos Working On 'Full House' Movie". NBC Bay Area News (KNTV San Francisco). Access Hollywood. 2009-06-05. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  11. Krumboltz, Mike. "A 'Full House' reunion". Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  12. Jesse & The Rippers Reunite (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) on YouTube
  13. Zakarin, Jordan (January 30, 2014). "The Men Of "Full House" Reunited To Help Jimmy Fallon With His Nightmares". Buzzfeed. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  14. Super Bowl 2014 ads: "Full House" reunion for Dannon Oikos yogurt, The Washington Post, January 23, 2014.
  15. "PEOPLE Takes You on the Set of Fuller House".
  16. Ausiello, Michael. "Full House Reunion Series Fuller House Nears 13-Episode Netflix Order". TVLine. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  17. Spangler, Todd. "‘Full House’ to Return for New Season on Netflix: Report". Variety. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  18. "The Olsen Twins Aren’t Returning for the Full House Revival". Time. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  19. Elizabeth Wagmeister (January 7, 2016). "'Full House’ Creator Hopeful for Olsen Twins’ Return in Future ‘Fuller House’ Seasons". Variety. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  20. Randee Dawn (March 3, 2016). "Olsen twins on 2nd season of 'Fuller House'? Why John Stamos has 'a good feeling'". Today. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  21. Whitney Friedlander (2015-05-29). "Bob Saget in ‘Fuller House': Danny Tanner in ‘Full House’ Reboot". Variety. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  22. Friedlander, Whitney (2015-05-07). "‘Full House’ Reboot: Dave Coulier Joins ‘Fuller House’ on Netflix". Variety. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  23. Lowe, Kinsey (2015-07-25). "‘Fuller House’ Call: Reunion Cast Gathers For First Taping". deadline.com. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  24. Stern, Marlow (May 7, 2015). "D.J. Tanner Takes Us Into ‘Fuller House’: Candace Cameron Bure on Netflix’s ‘Full House’ Spinoff". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  25. Gennis, Sadie (December 17, 2015). "Fuller House Gets First Teaser, Premiere Date". TVGuide.com. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  26. "The "Full House" Spinoff Is Officially Coming To Netflix In 2016". BuzzFeed.
  27. Ausiello, Michael (April 20, 2015). "Fuller House Officially Snags 13-Episode Order at Netflix — Get Details on the Cast and (Widow?!) Storyline". TVLine.com. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  28. "Full House (1987)". Releases for Full House. TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  29. "Warner Home Video Releases Full House: The Complete Eighth Season and Full House: The Complete Series Collection on DVD November 6" (Press release). Warner Home Video. 2007-07-19. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  30. "Best Matches". Results from the title search for "Full House". Australia: dvd orchard. 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
  31. Brennan, Steve (March 10, 2006). "Warner Bros. opens up scripted formats in Russia". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  32. Beckerman, Marty (May 14, 2015). "The Untold Story Of The Bonkers ‘Full House’ Russian Remake". MTV News. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  33. Lifetime's 'Unauthorized Full House Story' Cast Photo Causes Twitter Backlash

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Full House
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.