At the end of February, Netflix released 13 episodes for the first season of Fuller House, available for all to binge watch. And binge watch they did. Many people, including myself, finished the entire season before the weekend was even up—and the show was released on a Friday.
Why is this? Well, there are several factors as to why so many people loved the show! For one, there’s the nostalgia factor. So many people grew up with the Tanner family. Uncle Jesse was their uncle. Every funny thing Joey said made them laugh. They cried when DJ cried over a boy, they sang along with Steph when she started the band and they watched Michelle grow up. As honorary Tanners, the audience now gets the opportunity to see the Tanner girls (aka DJ, Steph and technically Kimmy) all grown up and raising a family on their own!
I think that’s actually one of the strongest parts of the show. The girls all grew up the way their characters would grow up. I felt like I was watching adult Steph, DJ and Kimmy, not a whole new set of characters and personalities whose only similarities to the original series are the actresses who play them. I think kudos can be given to Jodie Sweetin, whose portrayal of adult Steph is exactly what we’d expect from the character. With DJ and Kimmy, they had to bring a motherly aspect to the character, so there’s definitely a personality change. Steph, however, grew up with the same mannerisms and traits she had when she was young. It just goes to show that these iconic characters stuck with these actors the same way they stuck with the audience.
The returning characters are great, but the new ones are what make the show so refreshing and fun! DJ now has three sons: Jackson, Max and baby Tommy. Kimmy has a daughter named Ramona and a husband named Fernando. DJ works with a guy named Matt. All of the new characters are likable, fun, sweet and they get along with each other the way a family would. There is literally nothing annoying about them that you don’t get past within the first few episodes. Basically, even if you don’t like them when they are introduced, they get better.
In terms of the storyline, there is one aspect that I think was done well with the show. The point is that DJ’s husband was a firefighter who recently passed away, leaving her to raise their three kids alone. Instead of focusing solely on the pain of losing a husband and father, or ignoring it completely, the show ties in their individual grieving processes in a very natural way, the way many people grieve in real life. For most of the show, the kids are content going through their daily routines, however sometimes things happen that make them think of how much they miss their dad. Then, they all support each other through it.
Despite how much I am gushing over this show, there are a lot of people who despise it. Many critics have said that it is downright awful. Their justification is the same reason why I think so many people love the show—the nostalgia factor. Critics have attacked the plot, which is a mirror image of the original show, only with the girls instead of the men. They have a problem with the clichés, the plot fillers and wasted screen time, and the abundance of hugs.
Sure, Fuller House is not a gripping narrative that the most intellectual of scholars will write dissertations on for years to come, however it doesn’t need to be.
This is Full House, damn it.
It’s a cheesy family show from the late nineties about a bunch of white people living in San Francisco dealing with their average daily lives. Calm down. Fuller House isn’t for the critics or for people who want to get into a new show. This is for the kids who watched it growing up and want to see how these characters are doing now. The episodes aren’t long, and neither is the season. It’s light watching for the people who want to watch it. If you don’t like that stuff, don’t watch. Netflix has tons of other things to watch. I guarantee that those who love it will watch it without a care in the world, and already can’t wait for the second season.