Fuller House season 5 part 1 is now available on Netflix, and it contains a fun reference to another classic sitcom: Cheers. Netflix's sequel spin-off of the '80s/early '90s family-centric sitcom Full House debuted in 2016, effectively bringing back the Tanner family. However, while the original sitcom focused on the clan's patriarch, Danny, and his two best buds, Joey (Dave Coulier) and Jesse (John Stamos), its contemporary puts the spotlight on the two Tanner sisters: DJ (Candace Cameron-Bure) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweeting), as well as their long-time friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber).
The final season of Full House is set to have 18 episodes, nine of which have already rolled out, and the rest to follow sometime next year. Picking up shortly after the birth of Stephanie's daughter Danielle Jo Tanner-Gibbler, via Kimmy as the surrogate, the season follows her and Jimmy (Adam Hagenbuch) as they navigate parenthood. The reference to Cheers occurs in episode 3 "Family Business," during a male-bonding lunch that turns into a business endeavor.
As Jimmy was contemplating his family troubles, DJ asked Steve (Scott Weinger) to bring Jimmy and Fernando (Juan Pablo Di Pace) to Uncle Monty's so they can bond. The sub shop is described as having been an institution in San Francisco for decades, which is why the three react so strongly upon learning that the owner will be closing it down to move to Florida. During their initial outburst, Fernando objected to the upcoming shut-down by describing the establishment as where “everyone knows your name, but their mouths are too full to say it.” This line will sound familiar for fans of Cheers as it's a spin on the show's eponymous bar's tagline, “where everybody knows your name.”
Running from 1982 to 1993, the NBC long-running sitcom is an American TV classic, with reruns and marathons airing on specialty channels to this day. It follows the day-t0-day activities of the local Cheers bar in Boston, with Ted Danson playing owner and chick-magnet Sam Malone. Woody Harrelson got his first big break on the show as the slow, yet charming bartender Woody Boyd, and Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane was so popular with the fans, he had his own highly-successful spin-off series, Frasier. For a time, Cheers was the longest-running multi-camera sitcom with 275 episodes across 11 brilliant seasons, until CBS' The Big Bang Theory dethroned it just before ending earlier this year.
Frankly, Fuller House season 5 part 1 didn't lean much into the nostalgia or popular culture gags. It did have a few Game of Thrones references in addition to the direct Cheers tribute. The season barely featured the older cast with Joey and Jesse only popping out at the very last episode in celebration of DJ's surprise engagement to Steve. This was a striking contrast to the show's earlier seasons, which some argued leaned too heavily on what's been done in the past. In any case, with nine more episodes left, the show still has enough time to bring on all the familiar Full House tropes for long-time fans.