21 years ago, a little sitcom had its series finale. Full House. Maybe you’ve heard of it?
A recent trend on television these days is reunions and reboots. Audiences love seeing characters return that they once loved so dearly. 90210, The X files, Twin Peaks — just to name a few.
A reunion show can be hit or miss.
I’ve watched eight of the thirteen Fuller House episodes.
The AV Club reviewed the show and called it a ‘porn parody without the porn.’ Is that fair to say? No. But, are the critics right in this situation? Is the show bad? Maybe.
The writers of Fuller House needed to remember something: This can not be a constant throw-back. Yes, the little jabs toward the Olsen Twins are funny. And sure, Danny Tanner being in town for a ‘huge reunion show’ is a nice break of the fourth wall. But, after awhile, the self-awareness gets a tad annoying and amateurish.
The show does have some bright spots. Andrea Barber and Jodi Sweeten are fantastic actresses, Sweeten especially does have some serious material that she absolutely nails. DJ’s children, Jackson and Max (played by Michael Campion and Elias Harger) are decent child actors, in my opinion.
The show does have some small season-long plot threads, but generally, it acts as an old sitcom, where episodes stand alone. I appreciate the baby steps, but as I watched more episodes, I found myself wishing I was watching a more connected story.
The show suffers greatly in its writing. Some lines really cross a line for a cheap joke. Oh, and there are fart jokes. Not many, but they’re here. I detest that kind of comedy and I believe if you need your characters to fart, you probably shouldn’t be writing anything at all.
Where the show really misteps, is its treatment of DJ Tanner. Candace Cameron Bure can act. There’s no mistaking that. But what she has to work with is pretty poor. DJ is a really corny ‘soccer mom.’ There’s nothing wrong with having a ‘silly mother.’ But, it’s taken to the extreme and DJ was never like that as a child. She was the smart, good daughter. She’s almost on the verge of doing slapstick humor and I just hate that.
SPOILERS: Besides DJ’s characterization, there is a bigger problem that I see. And that is the fact that by episode 8, she literally jumps into the arms of a man she barely knows and kisses him.
Now, think about it: DJ’s husband just died. Sure, time has passed by the 8th episode, but not much. DJ barely mentions her late husband after the pilot, in which she was in tears talking to her youngest. There seems to be no grieving period. She’s already wanting to date and making out with guys.
What’s worse, is that right after this kiss, her two older boys are missing their father, and she takes them in front of a mirror as she tells them how they remind her of him. And that tomorrow, they’ll watch old videos of their father. It’s meant to be a tender moment, but DJ was making out with the temporary vet dude just two minutes ago!
Will Fuller House be a hit with fans of the previous series? Of course. And, I will be watching the remaining episodes. But, I’m sad to say. Like the art work on the Tanner’s refrigerator, the show is kinda sorta cute but after awhile looks messy and you secretly want to throw it away when no one’s looking.
Written Words 