Fuller House certainly wasn't the first time in history that an ended television show returned for a reboot years later. In fact, it wasn't even the first show from its era to be revived-- that distinction arguably belongs to Girl Meets World. But there was just something about Fuller House and its success that seemed to have a domino effect on the TV show reboot genre, and now there seems to be a new revived show announced every other week. So if you're excited about all of the returning TV franchises, thank Fuller House. If you're not, then blame Fuller House.
The behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the original Full House, as well as the rocky lives and careers of some of its stars after it ended, has been well-documented in the years since its cancellation via interviews, retrospectives, and tell-all books. By comparison, the production of Fuller House has ran relatively smoothly for the most part, with only a recent firing of a key member of the staff serving as anything approaching the drama behind and following its predecessor.
That isn't to say that there aren't some secrets to spill about Fuller House - and the fact that the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen didn't want to do the show isn't even among the juicier tidbits.
Here are 15 Secrets Behind Fuller House You Had No Idea About.
The reviews have been brutal
The original Full House-- like most shows cut from that sappy, slapsticky TGIF cloth-- was always more of a fan favorite than a critical darling. Let's just say that nobody involved with the show has any Emmys on their mantle because of it. So it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Fuller House didn't get much love from critics-- but the vicious things that have been written about it seem to suggest that many reviewers downright despise it.
Beyond just the expected complaints of the show being formulaic and overly sweet, Vulture called the show some of the "most excruciating TV... ever broadcast." The A.V. Club said that it "isn't just bad, it borders on obscene." The Washington Post viciously compared the nostalgia Fuller House evokes to having relations with the deceased. Yuck.
Candace Cameron Bure's controversial views
Two of the '80s and '90s biggest young stars, siblings Kirk Cameron and Candace Cameron, both became outspoken in their Christian beliefs following the endings to their subsequent shows (Kirk was the star of Growing Pains). While there is certainly nothing wrong with being religious, the Camerons have both gained notoriety for the extent to which they have spoken out about their beliefs.
In addition to being in strong support of "traditional marriage"-- which means being against the LGBT community being allowed to wed-- Candace has also expressed controversial views about a woman's submissive role in a marriage.
Not only did this make her guest hosting gig on The View contentious, but it has led to her fans being somewhat confused by her being involved with Fuller House given its often risque humor-- more on that in the next entry.
John Stamos was arrested just before filming began
John "Uncle Jesse" Stamos has had a pretty low-key life and career following the success of Full House, perhaps surprising giving that the show turned him into a bonafide heartthrob. In fact, other than making headlines when he allegedly cheated on and then filed for divorce from Rebecca Romijn, Stamos has mostly kept his nose clean these past two decades.
So it's rather ironic that Stamos got pulled over and busted for driving under the influence, just as Fuller House was going into production. It seems a shame that Stamos would get arrested just before his big return, but as Stamos tells it, he was using the illegal substance because of the show-- one of its uses is to lean out their muscle mass, which is why Stamos claims he was taking it.
Edgy content turned off many fans
Full House was the very definition of "family-friendly," almost to a fault-- the show defiantly provided all-ages comedy in an era where things were constantly being pushed toward the extreme. Perhaps such squeaky-clean content wouldn't find an audience in the 2010's, but that's certainly what many old-school Full House fans were hoping for with Fuller House.
Much to their chagrin, within just the first few episodes there was a girl-on-girl kiss, some very suggestive night club dancing, innuendo-laden jokes, and Jodie Sweetin's outfits that showcased just how much she has matured in the ensuing years.
The show's edgy content definitely turned off a lot of Full House fans who had hoped to introduced their kids to a show as innocent as the one they grew up with, only to find Fuller House to be not quite G-rated.
Lori Loughlin's daughter's issues
The effects that fame has on famous children are often negative, but we don't hear enough about what it can mean to be the child of famous parents-- and how it's not always as great as we imagine it to be.
Lori Loughlin, who plays Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on Fuller House, says that her daughter Olivia had some problems as a result of having a famous mom. As young as six-years-old, Olivia had already developed trust issues with her friends, unsure as to which ones truly liked her and which ones just wanted to hang around a famous family.
It's a tough thing for adults to deal with-- having to go through that at such a young age must've been very difficult.
Andrea Barber is allergic to the Tanners' couch
Although much of the Tanners' house had to be rebuilt for Fuller House, there are several original set pieces that have survived and were able to return to television-- most notably, the iconic blue-and-white-checkered couch. While sitting on that same couch they sat on 20 years ago was a great blast from the past for most of the cast, one actor had some issues with it.
Andrea Barber, who plays the Tanners' quirky neighbor Kimmy Gibler, had several bad asthma attacks in the early stages of filming Fuller House. It was eventually determined that she was having a reaction to the couch and its years of embedded dust and debris. Following a deep cleaning-- and Kimmy's proximity to the couch being kept to a minimum-- Barber and the couch have been getting along much better.
Steve was a little too thirsty for DJ
One of Full House fans' favorite things about the last few seasons of the show was the relationship between DJ and Steve, played by Scott Weinger (aka the voice of Aladdin). Steve was definitely the recurring character that fans most wanted to see make a return to Fuller House, and they weren't disappointed as he appeared very quickly and has been a major part of the show ever since.
However, one thing didn't quite sit right with viewers about Steve's return-- his eagerness at getting back together with the recently-widowed DJ. Despite the early episodes portraying DJ as still having a very hard time adjusting to the death of her husband and her new life as a single mother, Steve shows up and is immediately going full-force at trying to woo the emotionally-fragile DJ-- even making a reference to his big, comfy bed.
Slow down, Steve!
John Stamos vs the Olsen Twins
One of the biggest stories about Fuller House was that Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, who started their acting careers on Full House literally as babies and parlayed that success into hugely-successful fashion careers, weren't going to be making an appearance on the reboot. They weren't even interested in so much as a cameo.
While the pair would later explain that they simply had a lot going in and weren't really interested in acting anymore, there was initially some buzz that the Olsens claimed they simply weren't told about or invited to appear on the show-- a claim which prompted John Stamos to literally "call bulls---" about on Twitter.
Combined with the frequently-repeated stories that Stamos wasn't fond of the Olsens as babies and once called for them to be replaced, it makes one wonder if there has never been much love between the three stars.
Uncomfortable parallels between Stephanie Tanner and Jodie Sweetin
Jodie Sweetin, who played wise-cracking middle child Stephanie on Full House, definitely had the hardest time among the cast adjusting to life after the show. Sweetin spent years partying and struggling with substance abuse, something she was very candid about. At the start of Fuller House, however, Sweetin had turned her life around and been sober for several years.
Given Sweetin's history, it makes sense to portray Stephanie as having also lived a party girl life-- but what is odd is that Fuller House makes light of it. Perhaps Sweetin finds it empowering to be able to laugh at Stephane's partying and alluded-to recreational substance use.
Given how tragic of a story it was for Sweetin and how hard it seemed to be for her to escape that life, it feels awkward to have Stephanie's issues be a source of comic relief on the show.
Uncle Joey is ashamed of his family
Sure, Fuller House eventually introduced audiences to Uncle Joey's Vegas magician wife, Ginger, and the couple's three kids-- but for most of the show prior to that, Joey hadn't so much as mentioned the existence of a family.
Making things more problematic is Joey's willingness to show up at the Tanner house-- which is a plane ride away-- just to babysit for his friend's grandchildren for a single night. What kind of dad just drops everything and leaves his wife and three kids just to babysit a non-relative a few states over-- and doesn't once mention or talk about his family at home the entire time he is there?
Fuller House definitely doesn't paint Joey in the most positive of lights as a husband and father.
John Stamos distanced himself from Full House
John Stamos seems to be all-in on Fuller House, not only as a recurring character but as the sole original cast member to serve as a producer. This is interesting, since Stamos spent part of the time between Full and Fuller House trying to distance himself from the former.
While never outright badmouthing the show, Stamos had gotten to a point where he didn't like talking about it. He resented that he was so closely identified with Uncle Jesse.
Maybe it's because he never again had a role as big or as long-lasting as Full House, or maybe-- like many stars-- he just learned to appreciate his most iconic role as he got older. Stamos eventually softened his opinion on the show, up to and including helping to make its reboot happen.
Miley Cyrus takes a cheap shot at Jodie Sweetin's past
As previously mentioned, Jodie Sweetin had some dark times after Full House-- times which, unfortunately, there are some pretty embarrassing pictures of on the internet. For years, such pictures topped Google results of the star-- something that changed once she cleaned up and landed the role on the hit Netflix reboot.
That is, until another former child star decided to drudge up Sweetin's party days, just as Fuller House was taking off.
Not long after the launch of Fuller House, Miley Cyrus took to Twitter and tweeted pictures of Sweetin straddling her ex-husband in a nightclub, saying that her "current mood" was "#FullerHouse." The backlash was swift, with people criticizing Cyrus for taking an unnecessary shot at Sweetin, who had been clean for years and was getting her acting career back on track.
It still isn't clear exactly why Cyrus did it, but luckily for Sweetin, the tweet was soon forgotten.
Bob Saget made light of a major misconduct controversy
Despite spending years as America's favorite sitcom dad, Bob Saget's onstage comedy career has always been full of vulgar, controversial material. To have him do something that raises eyebrows and sparks outrage is nothing out of the ordinary, but one particular joke-- made in the middle of his return to his Danny Tanner role-- was too far even for him.
In January of 2018, Saget and fellow comedian Bill Maher recreated the notorious picture of senator Al Franken smiling as he groped a sleeping Leeann Tweeden, eventually leading to Franken's resignation. It would've been a joke in poor taste any time. In the middle of the progress being made with the #MeToo movement, to mock a woman's story of misconduct feels particularly out of place and cringeworthy-- especially from someone currently cashing a paycheck as a dad on a family sitcom.
Dave Coulier's questionable past, overlooked
Netflix has seemed to have very little tolerance with even accusations of misconduct, firing big-name stars like Kevin Spacey and Danny Masterson from its shows as well as scrapping a planned Louis CK stand-up special. Yet it seems to be okay keeping Dave Coulier as a recurring Fuller House character, despite his admitting to having a relationship with the very young Alanis Morissette.
Coulier's attitude about his time with Morissette has always been rather blasé, at times almost proudly confirming the urban legend that Morissette's breakthrough song-- "You Oughta Know"-- is about him (though at other times he has denied it). To have him not only admit his past relationship with Morissette but have a sense of humor about it seems to be at odds with today's no-tolerance view of misconduct.
Worst of all, Fuller House even poked fun at "You Oughta Know" and its long-rumored ties to Coulier. Really, Netflix?
Jeff Franklin fired over misconduct allegations
Netflix may not take Coulier's past indiscretions seriously, but it wasn't messing around when allegations of misconduct surfaced around Full and Fuller House creator Jeff Frankin. After investigating the claims against him, Netflix fired Frankin from the show this past February.
While Franklin hasn't been accused of having engaged in any physical misconduct with members of the Fuller House cast or crew, he reportedly has a history of sharing graphic details about his love life in the writers' room, as well as constantly bringing his various girlfriends on set and letting them have small parts on the show. The complaints about Franklin's behavior were said to be numerous.
The ever-controversial Candace Cameron Bure said that Franklin is a "dear friend" who will be "sorely missed," and didn't address the complaints in any way-- which is never the right way to handle things in such situations.
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