Continuing its recent trend of making programming announcements via late-night or early-morning TV appearances, Netflix let John Stamos first tell Jimmy Kimmel on Monday (April 20) night that “Full House” is officially returning to Netflix.
Netflix followed with the official release declaring that “Fuller House,” created by original series creator Jeff Franklin, will premiere on Netflix in 2016.
As of the current moment, Netflix's foray into multi-cam comedy is set to feature Candace Cameron-Bure, Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber as regular stars, with Stamos signed on as a guest star. Stamos will also serve as a producer.
Netflix says that it is in “ongoing” discussions with Bob Saget, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Dave Coulier and Lori Loughlin, but only about “guest appearances.”
Regarding the current status quo in the world of “Fuller House,” Netflix says that the story picks up with D.J. Tanner-Fuller (Cameron-Bure) as a pregnant widow living in San Francisco. Because sitcom, sister Stephanie (Sweetin), an aspiring musician, and D.J.'s bestie Kimmy (Barber) move in. Did I mention that D.J. has two kids — 12-year-old son J.J. and 7-year-old Max — and Kimmy has a teenage daughter? Now THIS is a full house.
“As big fans of the original 'Full House,' we are thrilled to be able to introduce 'Fuller House”s' new narrative to existing fans worldwide, who grew up on the original, as well as a new generation of global viewers that have grown up with the Tanners in syndication,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content for Netflix.
“Full House” premiered on ABC in 1987 and ran through 1995, hitting 192 episodes over the course of eight seasons. The comedy, which has become a syndication staple, won a number of Young Artist Awards, a Kids' Choice Award and a 2007 TV Land Award for Favorite Elvis Impersonation. Like “The Wire,” however, “Full House” never won an Emmy.
Executive producers Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller and Jeff Franklin collectively state, “The continued support of 'Full House' fans of all ages for the last 28 years has been astounding. It is an honor and a thrill to catch up with these beloved characters and explore their lives today. The love you saw on the show was real. The cast has remained a loving family off screen all these years. We are as excited as our fans to finally bring Full House back to life.”
Stamos told Kimmel that the 13-episode “Fuller House” will begin an hour-long opening episode, but the Netflix release says no such thing.
[Editorial Aside: I've already given my general “Fuller House” thoughts in a brief post on The Fien Print's Facebook page. (LIKE ME!) The unchanged bottom line is that this isn't just nostalgia run amuck, but it's nostalgic entitlement run amuck. On one hand, I think it's the fault of TV networks for not making better family sitcoms, but ABC has a half-dozen current family sitcoms that are better than “Full House” ever was. And with the exception of “Modern Family,” none of them come close to either the 16 million viewers drawn by “Full House” at its peak or the 9.5+ million it drew at its lowest ebb. So something is missing in today's TV landscape that causes a certain probably large group of viewers to yearn only for the pablum of their youth and I blame TV networks, not those viewers. Yes, it's regressively Pavlovian, but that's the current marketplace, with its emphasis on remakes, reboots and revivals. To me, though, the title “Fuller House” needed to be saved for a fantastic mockumentary series about veteran character actor Kurt Fuller and his wacky family.]
Are you pumped?