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Although it may pain some people to admit it, Full House was staple for many seasons on ABC from the late 80’s to early 90’s and it was wildly popular. I watched it all the time and since it’s been in syndication so much, I’ve seen every episode probably dozens of times, albeit, shortened for airing purposes. Now its here in all its glory, the seminal first season of Full House.
The Main Characters
I think everyone knows the main characters but I’ll throw them in since I like to type! The master of the household is Danny Tanner (Bob Saget). His wife recently passed on leaving him alone with his three daughters, in age order D.J. (Candace Cameron), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and baby Michelle (Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen). He isn’t quite alone though, as he is joined by his brother in law Jesse Cochran, later Katsopolis (John Stamos) and best friend and comedian Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier). The 6 of them live together and the 3 men will have to deal with raising 3 young girls.
The Setting
San Francisco, California.
The Plots
+++Season One+++
---Disc One---
1) Our Very First Show (24:45)
Original Air Date: 09/22/87
One of the most surprising things right off the bat is the extended opening. They play the full theme song, which they don’t do in syndication. I haven’t heard this version in years. The show starts with Danny’s mother leaving. She had been with Danny taking care of the kids since Pamela, his wife, died. The girls are sad to see Grandma go but luckily Uncle Jesse and Joey are showing up today! Uncle Jesse shows up, clad in leather, telling about his trip to Reno and meeting a showgirl. Wow, a bad boy right off the bat. Joey walks in seconds later with all his clothes wrapped in his arms. Wow, a joker right off the bat. Jesse and Joey see their new rooms, Joey is in an alcove in the living room and Jesse is in a room with pink bunny wallpaper. Danny shows his affinity for hugging right off the bat, too. Danny leaves to work, he is a sports anchor at a San Francisco television station and the star segment of the show occurs. Joey and Jesse must change baby Michelle’s diaper. Hilarity ensues of course. Danny comes home from work and Joey and Jesse are bushed. Vanessa, the showgirl Jesse met with earlier arrives (and the first Have Mercy debuts). That’s when Stephanie tells them all that DJ moved out. The family is worried and start going to the police when Stephanie says she will go to see DJ. Turns out, she moved into the garage, and she’s on the phone with Kimmy Gibler, who has three sisters. Danny even calls her by her real name, Donna Jo. Danny has to take care of the baby leaving Jesse to deal with DJ who bribes her into moving back in so he can be with Vanessa, who left. Jesse demands his money back and DJ moves back to the garage. This leads to a heart to heart with Danny and DJ which leads to them knowing they’re all for each other. They finish the show singing to Michelle. Right off the bat the pace of the show is set. We know all the characters, the way they acted was the same almost the whole run and it’s amazing they found the character’s personalities so early. The episode was actually pretty funny, too, with some pretty good one-liners and funny moments.
2) Our Very First Night (24:45)
Original Air Date: 09/25/87
Jesse and Joey are busy changing Michelle and having fun. Danny comes in and takes care of the rest of the duties. Jesse then goes and starts hanging up posters over the pink bunnies when Stephanie says that her mom made the bunnies. Bye-bye posters over the bunnies! It’s time for Steph to go to bed, and the boys have to muddle their way through a bedtime story. Then, Danny, Joey and Jesse try to leave but Danny tells them that one of them must stay. Danny can’t since he has a job and is doing the ten o’clock news. Jesse is the one that has to stay, much to his chagrin. Jesse stays there and allows Steph and DJ to have two bowls of ice cream and they can’t go to sleep. Jesse doesn’t help matters by bringing the whole band over. Steph and DJ order pizza and stay up the whole night dancing away. Joey shows up and starts congo-ing. Danny comes in and is appalled by what he sees. Danny basically gives Jesse a lecture that he has to be responsible after Jesse fesses up to having the band over. Michelle starts crying and they learn she is teething and in pain. Jesse stays with Michelle to soothe her since he’s the only one who can. Danny basically tells Jesse he is not adult enough to be reliable and Danny then goes to have a talk with DJ and Stephanie. He learns they got Ice Cream and it wasn’t totally Jesse’s fault. They apologize to Jesse and Danny asks for forgiveness since he did a nice thing in taking all the blame. They have another TV moment and close the show singing and dancing with Michelle.
3) The First Day of School (24:46)
Original Air Date: 10/02/87
Tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten for Stephanie and DJ is preparing for 5th grade with Kimmy Gibler, who makes her first appearance. Meanwhile, Jesse and Joey must give Michelle a bath! Of course, they both end up in the tub singing when Danny walks in. Danny also sees DJ and Steph are not able to sleep in anticipation of the big day. They are ready for school the next day and Danny tapes them on his 30lb humungous hand held camera. So they start off to school but Stephanie comes back saying she will never go to school. They try to tell her she needs to go and somehow Jesse starts talking about good first times and talks about losing his you know what. Danny manages to bring Steph to school and she stays and Jesse and Joey show up to help Steph out. Both Jesse and Joey tell the teacher that they are Steph’s dads and Danny walks in, so the teacher thinks Steph has three dads! Oh the hilarity! Meanwhile, Danny looks out the window and sees DJ trying to hop the fence to escape from school. DJ is upset that she’s in the smart classes with all the geeks. As Danny talks to DJ, Steph tries to escape, too. DJ tells Danny that she’ll talk to Steph. DJ gives her a pep talk and convinces her to go back to school. Pretty interesting first day of school, I’d say.
4) The Return of Grandma (24:46)
Original Air Date: 10/09/87
Jesse brings home a turtle that saved his life and Joey leaves the house a mess since he hasn’t done the dishes. Of course, Danny learns his mother is flying in to check up on things. He panics because he wants everything to be perfect to show he can get by on his own. They go shopping to clean things up and they come home minutes before grandma walks through the door. She is appalled by how dirty things are. Jesse and Joey leave expecting that she will clean things up but are shocked to learn that their mothers have shown up! Danny tells them that the moms should go out and if the house isn’t cleaned, they can come in and control their lives. Of course, the turtle is missing and they spend the whole time looking for him to not get anything clean. The moms show up in the middle of the lost turtle crisis and Danny asks for another chance. They give it to them and they miraculously clean the whole house. Of course, that miracle was in the form of a cleaning lady. The moms still promise not to take over their lives and Steph finds the turtle.
5) Sea Cruise (24:48)
Original Air Date: 10/16/87
The show starts out with little ol Michelle starting to walk! DJ and Steph come down the stairs dressed in their honey bee outfits. The girls leave with Michelle and for once, there are no kids in the house. The guys want to go out and pick up chicks but Danny just can’t go. It’s only been 5 months since his wife passed on. Jesse and Joey decide to stay in with Danny. Danny takes them all fishing! He looks for the good Captain Jack who runs the boating facility when Jesse’s rock star friend tracks him down with her beautiful back-up singers. The person running the boat isn’t Captain Jack either, it’s Caroline, her daughter. Boy’s night out now has 4 women! Jesse and the rock star start making out to boot as well. Joey even tries to get with the two back-up singers. So they all end up fishing and everyone is catching fish instead of Danny. Of course, they break into song and have fun until Danny falls into the water. They end up back at home and Roxanne (Jesse’s rock star friend) asks Jesse to join her on the road. Jesse thinks it only to carry her bags and Danny blocks Caroline’s advances. Joey intervenes and wants to know why they’re acting that way. Danny isn’t ready for a relationship so soon after Pam even though he likes her. Jesse is bitter about not having a record deal when he put together Roxanne’s band and she’s a big star. Joey makes them realize they shouldn’t act that way and both come to terms with their women of the episode.
6) Daddy’s Home (24:46)
Original Air Date: 10/23/87
Steph is getting ready for her recital and DJ is ready to shop for clothes on sale and Danny is pumped to go, but he gets called in to do the game of the week. Danny can’t go but Jesse takes them to the recital and then shopping. Danny comes home and sees he missed an exciting day and things get worse when Michelle calls Jesse and Joey, “da-da.” Joey also decides he wants to start living Jesse’s life and starts dressing and acting like him. He even takes Jesse’s bike and disappears! Danny takes the day off from work to spend more time with his daughters, too. Joey finally returns and Jesse is less than pleased. Turns out, Joey was at a woman’s house down the street and fell asleep on the couch after playing monopoly. Danny puts DJ and Steph back to sleep but DJ is not happy. She misses her dad and feels she always has to be strong around Steph. Danny consoles her and vows to spend more time with his family. He then puts Michelle to sleep and she finally calls him da-da. Aww.
---Disc Two---
7) Knock Yourself Out (24:46)
Original Air Date: 10/30/87
Danny is getting a chance at being the color man for the big boxing match on cable TV. Danny is pumped to go and Jesse, Joey and the girls are ready to watch but Joey is worried about Michelle, she is coughing. Jesse and Joey take care of Michelle as Danny breaks the news to the boxer that his wife left him. Of course, the boxer loses and Danny tanks but he comes home and sees that Jesse and Joey actually did great jobs as parents. They end up doing some male bonding to end the show as well.
8) Jesse’s Girl (24:28)
Original Air Date: 11/06/87
The show opens with a thunderstorm in ol San Fran. Jesse wakes up with a bat thinking he hears a prowler and runs into Joey. Everyone wakes up and we hear in flashback form that Jesse is mad at Joey. So we flashback. Jesse is giving guitar lessons and a good-looking lady comes in to get lessons. Jesse is infatuated with this woman. Now Joey gets to give his side of the story and how the backstabbing took place. The woman (Karina) shows up and Joey answers the door and asks if she wishes to join the family (sans Jesse) to watch the Wizard of Oz. Of course, it rains and the cable goes out. Joey does his Wizard of Oz bit to entertain them. Karina is very entertained to say the least. Danny takes the kids to bed and Joey is alone with Karina and Karina puts the moves on him. And they plan a date, for after her lesson with Jesse! Joey then remembers how Jesse was infatuated with her and gets worried about seeing her, and calls her Jessie’s girl. Karina tells her she’s not Jesse’s girl and she starts making out with Joey when Jesse walks up the stairs. They are pissed at each other of course but Danny talks to them and they realize that they weren’t in love with her, but the idea of being in love. They mend fences and Karina comes back and Jesse says she should give it a go with Joey.
9) The Miracle of Thanksgiving (24:46)
Original Air Date: 11/20/87
It’s Thanksgiving! It’s the girls first Thanksgiving without Pam and unfortunately, Danny’s mother is snowed in and can’t make dinner. Luckily, Joey claims the Miracle of Thanksgiving will help them prepare dinner. They give up and say they are going to a restaurant but DJ inspires them to have a home cooked meal, which they always had when Pam was alive. They sing and dance and prepare the food. Of course, the turkey is frozen as DJ boasts about her turkey. They put back in the oven when two women show up at the door with a turkey looking for their uncle. Danny asks Jesse to try and get the girls to stay, but they are married. Danny tries to buy the turkey but Joey comes in acting all-weird and the girls leave. They come in and the turkey is burnt to a crisp and Stephanie drops the pumpkin pie and they both run upstairs to their room. Jesse and Danny are able to console the girls but Jesse needs some consoling of his own, it’s his first Thanksgiving without his sister and he spent more Thanksgivings with her than anyone. Danny raises his spirits and the family comes together for a magical Thanksgiving.
10) Joey’s Place (24:46)
Original Air Date: 12/04/87
Joey has been chosen to go on a comedy tour and he can’t wait to go. He is not sure if he wants to since he made a promise to the girls to stay. They tell him he should go and he is pumped. He goes about rehearsing but can’t find anyplace to rehearse quietly! DJ talks with Joey and she feels bad he doesn’t have a room of his own. She talks with Jesse and Danny about this and Danny decides he needs out of the alcove. Joey leaves the next day for his two-week tour. Joey also has this feeling that the family doesn’t need him. A nice thought for someone leaving for two weeks. Jesse goes mad the first day but Danny comes home and has a solution. He will build Joey a room! So Joey comes home and sees that all his things are gone from his alcove. They tell him that they moved all of Joey’s things into the garage, and he thinks that means they don’t want him. So he goes to the garage and is totally surprised to see a room built for him. The family really does want Joey!
11) The Big Three-O (24:50)
Original Air Date: 12/11/87
Danny is turning 30 and they are planning a surprise party for him. They have a party planned for him and Jesse is going to take Danny’s car to get seat covers for him. Of course, things go wrong. Danny’s car, Bullitt, has been totaled. Jesse hides the seat covers since they don’t want him to know right away that the car has been totaled. So Danny comes home and enjoys his party and opens his presents and Stephanie runs in with the present Jesse hid. Danny opens the gift and goes to put it on the car when Jesse tells him what happens. Danny doesn’t believe him at first but sees the car and is stunned. Danny hides his disappointment, but its evident that the car he had since he was 20 is gone, and with it the representation of his 20’s. Luckily, the next day, they find an exact replica at a car dealership. Joey and Jesse try to get the car for $11,700, since that’s what the insurance is listed as. Of course, a mystery buyer calls in and a bidding war erupts, pushing the price up to $21,000. Of course, they mystery buyer is Danny himself but he gives up the car. Jesse and Joey decide they can’t afford it and leave, but the dealer sells it to them for 11,500. Jesse and Joey come home and Danny says he fell in love with another car. Jesse and Joey show him the new car and he loves it. The family goes to a spin to end the show and Danny comes to terms with being 30.
12) Our Very First Promo (24:32)
Original Air Date: 12/18/87
The show starts off with a major continuity gaff. They are in the garage, which was turned into Joey’s room two episodes ago! So Stephanie hears a scary noise going up the stairs and thinks it’s a monster. Danny comes home and has great news. He will be in a commercial and the whole family will be in it with him! The crew is coming tomorrow to film. So that night, Stephanie hears the sound again, and this time DJ hears it and they both get scared. Jesse inspects and sees no monsters and the girls only go to bed when Danny with them, and he sleeps the night with them. Jesse and Joey are changing Michelle the next day and Jesse hears the noise too and determines it’s a ferret and he goes to catch him. The woman comes to tape the family (her name is Ronnie) and she basically makes Joey move her stuff out of the alcove and transforms the family into something completely foreign to how they really are. Jesse’s even the housekeeper! Danny fires Ronnie and directs the promo himself. At the end, Jesse even finds the Ferret.
---Disc Three---
13) Sisterly Love (24:48)
Original Air Date: 01/08/88
DJ just came back from a performance of the Frog Prince and she was great. Jesse suggests that DJ goes into commercials and acting and urges Danny to contact some people for a job. Danny doesn’t want to but Jesse makes the suggestion in front of DJ and she’s pumped. Danny calls someone up and he learns there’s a casting call for an upcoming commercial. Of course, DJ wants to do it. So Jesse brings DJ and Stephanie for DJ to audition. DJ knocks them out with her audition and they have the big boss come in to make the final decision. So DJ goes to get her hair done and Jesse goes to fill the meter, leaving Steph with the talent lady and Steph plays with the cereal, and gets picked to be in the commercial! DJ comes home and she is pissed. Danny learns that Steph got the part and he’s excited for her but sad for DJ. Danny leaves for work and tells Jesse and Joey to keep an eye on Steph and DJ, and sure enough, they start fighting. Jesse and Joey now have to mend broken bridges They make DJ realize that Steph didn’t steal the part on purpose and she realizes that’s true and helps Stephanie memorize her lines and rehearse.
14) Half a Love Story (24:48)
Original Air Date: 01/15/88
Danny is at work and talking to Robin, who is interviewing for a field reporter position. Robin is played by Kristen Alfonzo who you may now know as Hope on Days of Our Lives. Jesse comes to the set with Michelle. Robin comes over to him; since she sees the baby and they make plans for a date. Of course, Robin comes over with Danny and while she’s there, one of Jesse’s ex-girlfriends shows up since they had a date tonight. Jesse tries to separate them but they both end up meeting with Jesse sitting between the two of them. Jill of course tells Robin they have a date and Jesse is definitely in an awkward situation. Jesse and Robin have a conversation afterwards and they are attracted to each other, but Robin doesn’t want to go through with it since she doesn’t want to get hurt. The next morning, DJ and Stephanie try to convince Robin to go out with Jesse but she doesn’t want to. So Jesse walks in and Steph hurts her finger so Jesse has to care for her and Robin sees the whole thing. So the next day, Robin has her audition and Jesse helps her out and she gets the part. Robin and Jesse speak that evening and decide to be friends before having any type of relationship.
15) A Pox in Our House (24:48)
Original Air Date: 01/29/88
Jesse starts with a song with his barbershop group, which is pretty good. Stephanie doesn’t feel well though, she has the Chicken Pox. Everyone has had the pox except Joey and Michelle. So Jesse and Joey take care of Michelle and they give Stephanie a blow horn in case she needs someone. So the next day everyone wakes up and Jesse and Joey have the Chicken Pox. Turns out Jesse never had it. So Danny has to find a sitter real quickly since he’s due to be on the Golden State Warriors bench and DJ is going to a slumber party. Danny calls everyone he knows but can’t find a babysitter. Luckily, DJ comes home and offers to babysit since she wants to do something nice for Danny, and he gets to go to his Warriors game!
16) But Seriously, Folks (24:47)
Original Air Date: 02/05/88
Jesse starts the episode teaching DJ how to play guitar. See, DJ has a plan to start a band with Kimmy playing the keyboard. Unfortunately, DJ can’t play the instrument. Tonight is Joey’s big night though. He has a big comedy gig coming up with talent scouts from HBO being there. They show some of the other comedians, one of them being the dude from the Max from Saved By The Bell, I think. Danny, Jesse, Stephanie and DJ come to see the show. Joey is set to go on after a magician, which is every comedian’s dream. He is set to go on when Phyllis Diller shows up and gets up on stage to do her routine and stays up there for over an hour and a half. Phyllis leaves, and takes half the crowd with her. Joey then gets up on stage and bombs, with people leaving as he’s telling the jokes. The next day, Joey is very different. He is wearing a suit and all his stuffed animals and toys are gone. Joey is now Joe, and he has abandoned comedy altogether and he will venture into the business world. So Danny and Jesse look into putting Michelle into a nursery since Joe won’t be around. Joe comes back and he has turned down 8 jobs already. Jesse is still trying to teach DJ guitar, and DJ quits saying he wasn’t good at it, much like Joey said after he quit comedy. So Jesse tells Danny they need to get Joey back in comedy. So Danny and Jesse bring Joey down to the club and Jesse gets on the stage doing Joey’s bits very badly causing Joey to get on stage and take over the mike and does awesome. Jesse tells Joey that he caused her to quit guitar and so Joey has to go and convince DJ not to be a quitter, which he does. Joey’s back and DJ isn’t going to give up guitar, either.
17) Danny’s Very First Date (24:47)
Original Air Date: 02/12/88
So the Honey Bees gather in the Tanner living room and they are ready to sell jars of honey as a fundraiser and the winner gets a new bicycle! Of course, Stephanie wants to win that bike. Jesse comes home and sees a tree house that was given by his mother to Michelle. Danny runs in and the honey bees are still there, and he has a thing for Linda, the Queen Bee. Danny doesn’t know if its time to date yet, and Jesse says that it’s been enough time. So Danny goes to the living and bags a date with Linda. He doesn’t know how to break it to the girls, though. He tells them but DJ guilt’s him into staying home. Jesse and Joey then hear him canceling the plans and convince Danny to go on that date. He shouldn’t put his life on hold and it will always be tough for the girls. Jesse and Joey start building Michelle’s tree house when the girls walk in. They tell DJ and Steph that they shouldn’t stop their dad from seeing someone since he may be lonely. DJ and Steph still don’t know what to think of this, since they don’t want Mom to be unhappy either. So the girls come into Danny’s room and want to know if he still loves Mom. He tells them that he does and he thinks about her all the time and that they spoke when they were still married and said it’d be all right to see other people if anything happened. So they get Danny to see Linda again and DJ even calls her to set up the date! So Linda comes over and they are off on their date!
18) Just One of the Guys (24:25)
Original Air Date: 03/04/88
DJ’s geeky cousin Steve is coming over and DJ is explaining to Kimmy that even though this guy is full of acne, glasses and braces and attractive things like that, he’s really a nice guy. So Kimmy and DJ are chatting about Steve when Stephanie walks in the door with Steve. Steve has now grown up and is a good-looking guy. He is also incidentally, played by Kirk Cameron, Candace’s brother in real life. So Kimmy and DJ are enamored with him but have to stay home to watch Michelle while the boys go out playing basketball. The boys come home and DJ is desperately trying to get Steve’s attention, but he’s too busy palling around with Jesse, Joey, and Danny. DJ feels sad since she thinks that you only get noticed if you’re a guy. They all head to the park the next day to play some touch football and DJ again tries desperately to fit in, and even tackles Steve. Steve questions the tackle and DJ gets in a hissy fit saying that Danny should adopt him. Danny explains to DJ that his dad moved out a year ago and Danny needs to help him out. DJ mopes some more and then goes home where Steve comes in and they have their heart to heart and patch things up.
---Disc Four---
19) The Seven-Month Itch Part 1 (24:44)
Original Air Date: 03/11/88
The whole family is going to Disney Land, leaving Jesse at home. Of course, he’s home alone so he invites a woman over. So the family leaves and Jesse invites his woman over. Of course, the family comes back since the plane they were leaving on couldn’t fly in the fog. So Stephanie (who was so excited to go to Disneyland) and Jesse (who wanted a night alone) are miserable but Danny suggests a family fun night! Steph runs off but DJ and Danny are able to make her feel better. Jesse isn’t quite as easily consoled, since he can’t spend any time with his girlfriend, or any time with anyone. He tells Joey his feelings, that he can never be alone and there’s always distractions. Joey tells him to sleep on his feelings and starts having bad dreams about being overwhelmed. So he leaves in the middle of the night leaving a note for Danny and Joey that he had left. We have our first to be continued of the series.
20) The Seven-Month Itch Part 2 (24:45)
Original Air Date: 03/18/88
When we left the Tanner’s last week, Jesse had run away from home. Now Danny and Joey have to tell the girls that Jesse had run away. They decide to tell the girls that Jesse is actually on vacation. Jesse calls in and says he’s skiing in Tahoe and he doesn’t know he’s coming back. So, back at the Tanner house, DJ is now getting her guitar lessons from Danny and she learns that Jesse has moved out and Danny can’t force him to come back. So DJ tells Stephanie that Jesse has moved out and they hatch a plan to bring him back. They call the cabin in Tahoe and talk to one of Jesse’s friends. The girls tell him that Michelle is sick and only Jesse can help her. Jesse comes back from skiing and when he hears this he remembers all the moments he’s had with Michelle. He comes home and Danny and Joey have no idea what Jesse is talking about with Michelle’s cough. Jesse realizes that he really loves the girls but he also loved being able to do what he wants. He realizes that he’s going to be their uncle and he wants to be a part of their lives. So it’s put, Jesse is staying.
21) Mad Money (24:45)
Original Air Date: 04/29/88
Jesse keeps sneaking in and out of the house with a blue bag and the whole family wants to know what’s in it! Joey then walks in with $5,000 from an old Savings Bond. He gets gifts for the little girls and says he has gifts for Jesse and Danny. Danny knows what he’s getting, his $800 he loaned Joey back in college. DJ meanwhile, wants to know what’s in the bag but feels guilty about opening it. So she hides an Oreo cookie in there so Michelle will open the bag for her. Michelle gets the cookie as Jesse and Danny walk in catching baby Michelle in the act. Joey then gives Danny and Jesse gifts, a lifetime pass to the All-American Amusement Park. Joey then buys a pinball machine for himself. Danny lectures him on how he’s spending his money and mentions old debts. Joey doesn’t know what Danny’s talking about and he mentions the $800 he gave to Joey for his car, 11 years ago. Joey then just gives Danny the whole wad of money to get him off his back. Jesse is in his room when the girls come in and see Jesse in an Elvis get-up. He has been impersonating Elvis to get some extra cash and didn’t want the family to know. He tears the house down and everyone claps, and he’s been offered a long-term gig as Elvis. He doesn’t know if he wants to take the job since he doesn’t want to be an impersonator. Danny and Joey are still arguing over the money and everything in general but when they help Jesse they realize why they’re friends.
22) D.J. Tanner’s Day Off
Original Air Date: 05/06/88
DJ is singing a Stacy Q song when Kimmy walks in. Kimmy got a letter written by her brother to get her out of school tomorrow to get her autograph at the mall. While downstairs, Danny is leaving for the night and Jesse and Joey will be in charge. As Danny leaves, DJ tries to get Danny to sign an absence notice to meet Stacy Q but Danny won’t sign it. So DJ asks Jesse how he skipped out on class in his day, and DJ uses his ploy on Joey to skip out of school. DJ’s plan works and Kimmy and DJ go to the mall to get her autograph. Of course, as they are there, Joey walks in to get the autograph and he has Michelle with him. Joey stands in line and lets Michelle walk around (she is corded to Joey) and Michelle finds DJ and Joey finds DJ as well. Joey is mad that DJ lied to him. He takes her home and calls Jesse. Jesse then learns that she cut school using Jesse’s plan. So Jesse and Joey punish DJ but decide not to tell Danny what happened. So Danny comes home and Stephanie comes in around the same time saying DJ got better from being sick. The secret’s blown. Danny finds out DJ missed school and Stephanie is mad that she was tricked. Danny isn’t mad at Jesse and Joey for covering for her since he’d be lost without him and Danny lectures DJ that she was selfish for lying like that. The family hugs as we end the episode, and the season.
Season 1 Review
Season 1 was actually better than I remembered it. As a youngster growing up, it was never cool to like shows like these; shows with a bunch of tender loving moments. I mean, I always watched it but never admitted to it. Looking back, I find I enjoy more than I ever did. The comedy actually wasn’t too bad, and the show is littered with funny moments. The shows were well-written as well. It was truly a sitcom. The show I think got stuffier as it went along but the first season was really kind of fresh. The acting was pretty good as a young Jodie Sweetin and Candace Cameron did well in their roles, Bob Saget played his role to a T, Dave Coulier and John Stamos were good as well. The young Olsen twins were not annoying which was nice, as they sort of took over the spotlight in later seasons. In the end, it’s a good little show and you can see the writing improve as time went on. I’d say it was good season and probably rate it a 3.5/5 overall.
DVD Features
A) Extras
---Disc One---
1) Original Un-Aired Pilot (26:56)
If you’ve seen the first episode, everything here is EXACTLY the same (dialogue etc) except for all scenes with Bob Saget were done by an actor named John Posey. Some scenes were kept and they didn’t need to re-record it, like all the scenes where the characters were without John in the camera shot. The episode is just a shade longer due to an extended ending and some one-liners cut from the final episode but otherwise its exactly the same. Having watched Full House for years it was hard to even see John Posey as Danny but on repeated viewings it shows why he was cut. He just didn’t play the character well enough. Bob actually seemed caring and having him taller than everyone else showed his status as the head of the house. John, though he tried, didn’t get that across enough. He didn’t show he was a single father coping with the loss of his wife and couldn’t emote that well enough. Definitely interesting to see the pilot with someone other than Bob Saget as Danny.
2) Episode Commentary – Our Very First Show
Jeff Franklin, the creator and executive producer of Full House, does the commentary. Jeff mentions he actually co-wrote the song and that the Olsen twins were not in the credits since he didn’t know how much he’d use them in the first season but when it was picked up for season two, he put them on the credits. Jeff says he always wanted his own TV show and wrote 12 pilots, 6 of which got made, but none that got picked up. He was working for Lori mar writing movies when they decided not to make movies anymore! Lorimar asked him to write a pilot. He had the idea of having three comics living together called the House of Comedy. He was to pitch it but he was told that they wanted to have a sitcom. He knew that mostly women watched it so he had three men being house wives and added kids, and since, “Three Men and a Baby,” was coming out, he added a baby. He also changed the professions around to make it a non-traditional family. For Jesse, his choice was always John Stamos. The original name was supposed to be Adam but John changed it to Jesse. Jeff mentions he had two people in mind for Danny- Bob Saget and Paul Reiser who opted to do My Two Dads instead. Bob was still under contract to the CBS morning show at the time and had trouble finding the right person to play Danny and they cast John Posey. The show was picked up with John in the role but Bob became available after it was picked up and he chose Bob over John. He talks about casting the other cast members as well. Their stories aren’t quite as exciting. Jeff talks about casting Candace because she was the best one who read for it, and it didn’t hurt that she was Mike Cameron’s (of Growing Pains) sister. He always wanted twins for the babies so they could increase their time on camera, they could only be on set under the lights for about a minute at a time. He talks about the Full House trademarks, the heart to heart moments and the singing and dancing, which Candace hated since it wasn’t cool. This was actually a fantastic commentary, he talks about the casting and kept it interesting the whole time.
---Disc Two---
1) Miracle of Thanksgiving Trivia Track
This is just a trivia track that plays on the bottom, giving you some interesting factoids about the show. It was interesting to watch, though doesn’t give as much info as the Seinfeld DVD did. It is good for a once-through though.
---Disc Three---
None.
---Disc Four---
1) Episode Commentary – Mad Money
Jeff Franklin again does this commentary. He says that this is the only season that had the full theme song and it seemed to get cut down every season to where it was only about half a minute at the end of its run. He says that at the start of season two they wanted to do the cold opening, then the theme songs. He talks about the Olsen’s acting, Jesse’s addiction to Elvis, how John and Jeff’s mother were in the episode. Jeff talks about how Full House was panned by critics when it first debuted and the initial ratings weren’t that great either. They were put on Friday nights and were rated in the low 70’s for a while, and the show was in danger of being cancelled after about 5 to 6 episodes. ABC kept them on and Perfect Strangers was then put as the lead in for Full House and the ratings started improving. That summer, Full House was put after Who’s the Boss and the ratings were going way up and became a hit and were moved again to Friday where it stayed. Jeff is actually excellent on these commentaries as both were spectacular.
B) Audio/Video
The video is plain old fullscreen and can be a little grainy at times. Granted, the show is over 15 years old so it’s to be expected. It’s better than the re-runs in syndication though. The audio is in Dolby Digital though, really, it’s just Full House. It doesn’t need the whole she-bang. Still, it’s there.
C) Liner Notes
The DVD is a fold-open three-page type deal with discs one and two in the middle, discs three and four on the right and the liner notes in a folder on the left. The folder contains a mini-booklet with Warner Brothers TV DVD sets and there is also a four page gate-fold booklet featuring the cast when it’s first open, and a listing of the DVD contents with an episode guide on the inside four pages. It’s there I got the original airdate information a brief synopsis of each episode.
D) Easter Eggs
None.
Overall Review
It’s nice to have these shows on DVD for easy access but not much is on the DVD besides the shows. There are two (very good) commentaries, a trivia track and the pilot. I doubt there are many outtakes or film from 1987 or 1988 when the show first debuted but I think we’ve been spoiled by the Seinfeld sets with all the extra features they’re throwing on. A second volume has come out and I don’t know if there are any other extras or if subsequent sets will include more, but this was pretty bare thin. Still the strength of the show lives on and its fans will buy it anyway. I’d say that the DVD set overall is pretty average based on the slim amount of extras and I hope they include more features in future sets.
Overall Rating
5.5
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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