In an age where Hollywood’s obsession with reviving old properties has now filtered into television, it’s no surprise that Netflix, which is known for its multitude of original series, would eventually fall into this trap. Following in the footsteps of Disney Channel’s “Girl Meets World,” Netflix’s “Fuller House” is another attempt to reboot a classic ‘90s sitcom, albeit one that misses its mark.
The central problem with “Fuller” is that it’s a full 13-episode season which relies entirely on nostalgia. Had this been done as a one-off “Full House” reunion special, it would have been a great way to tie in the loose ends of the original series while providing all the characters and catchphrases that fans know and love. Unfortunately, the series format they went with proves unnecessary.
Let’s look at the pilot, which is as far as this reviewer made it. The intro plays out like the promotional sketches the cast has done on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Danny (Bob Saget), Jesse (John Stamos), Joey (Dave Coulier) and all the other original cast members (except Michelle, as the Olsen twins declined to return) enter to a roar of audience applause, saying little more than their catchphrases and a few lines of forced exposition. We learn that the aforementioned characters all got jobs in Los Angeles, while Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) is a London DJ (going by the title “DJ Tanner”). Meanwhile, DJ (Candace Cameron Bure) is a widow with three boys, thus filling Danny’s role from the original.
From there, we’re forced to endure a Disney Channel-esque updated version of the original theme sung by Carly Rae Jepsen, before moving into a going away party for Danny and company. Overwhelmed with her role as a single mom with three kids, the pilot ends with Stephanie and the lovably annoying neighbor Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) agreeing to move in and help her out. We also get a cameo from DJ’s high school sweetheart Steve (Scott Weinger), who’s now divorced but still stops by the Tanner household and scours their refrigerator.
As someone who grew up a fan of the original series, I appreciated all the nostalgia and sentimentality embedded into the pilot. From the fourth-wall jokes in the intro to Jesse singing the Beach Boys’ “Forever” to Becky (Lori Loughlin) in front of everyone, it felt like the perfect reunion. Yet given that the story is a beat by beat rehash of the original, expanding this reunion into an entire series is an utterly pointless endeavor.
The thing that makes “Full House” special is that it’s a quintessentially ‘90s show. Thus, the only audience “Fuller” has the potential to reach is diehard fans of the original. That said, creator Jeff Franklin and the other writers could have given us something different that maintains the same spirit, but instead opted for an overtly nostalgic reboot, which despite taking place 29 years later, appears to keep its characters confined to the ‘90s.
Like Stamos, the characters and story within “Fuller” simply haven’t aged. While I would have loved if the pilot were a standalone reunion special, all I kept thinking when looking at this as a series was “Cut … it … out.”
