Review: Fuller House (season 1)

Netflix is ??becoming increasingly a source series instead of movies. And, wisely, is exploring what viewers like to do: binge-watch episodes without having to wait a week to see what happens next. Something even newer, however, is to bring back series that ended many years ago. Fuller House is the most recent case, a revival of Full House, which ended in the 90s.

I remember watching Full House all the time on cable when I was younger and loved the characters, especially the couple formed by D.J. Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure) and Steve Hale (Scott Weinger). I rooted very much for them to be together. And this is the problem of continuing a series years later: we find that they are not together! She is now D.J. Fuller, a widow with three children, as her father in the previous show, and Steve is back and wishes to have a relationship with her. Again as with her father, she has help of two more people to raise her children: her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and her best friend, the always crazy Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber).

All other characters make appearances in several episodes, except for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who refused to reprise their role on the grounds that they would not feel comfortable going back to acting. The absence of Michelle, the character they played, does not go unnoticed: a lot of jokes are made about it, including one that explicitly mentions the names of the Olsen sisters and their fashion empire.

There are also new characters, such as D.J.’s 3 children, Kimmy’s daughter and her “soon-to-be-ex-husband,” the Argentine Fernando (Juan Pablo Di Pace). Some have found Fernando annoying, but I laughed a lot at him.

With the second season already confirmed, Fuller House has a very specific target audience: people who, like me, watched the show in the 90s and would like to see a sequel. I think it will be difficult for the show to attract people who do not know the story or the characters. It is possible, however, that its release leads to a growth in the number viewers of the original show.

It is a very light comedy, made for the family, with moral lessons and situations that always end well. But it’s fun to review the house and characters! And the song (stuck in my head)!

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