The Netflix original follows the story of eldest Tanner daughter DJ (Candice Cameron-Bure) who’s left to take care of her three kids on her own following the death of her husband. Similar to the situation with her own father in the original series (played by Bob Saget), her younger sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and best friend Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) decide on a whim to move in and help out.
While reviews of the show have been largely mixed (OK, mostly bad), there’s no denying the publicity that it has generated. And even those that cringe as they watch describe it much like a car wreck: they just can’t look away. “I Want to Hate ‘Fuller House,’ But I Just Can’t,” reads the headline of Forbes’ review of the show, which goes on to call it “the ultimate form of nostalgia-bait.”
Jeff Franklin, who created the original show that aired from 1987 to 1995, also created Fuller House. He was reportedly shopping a sequel for the past decade, until Netflix finally swooped in and made it happen.
The opening montage includes bits from the original series, and the original theme song, Everywhere You Look, now sung by Carly Rae Jepsen. The pilot episode saw the return of every major character, with the exception of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who jointly played the youngest Tanner daughter Michelle in the original. Credited with recurring roles are John Stamos (Jesse Katsopolis), Dave Coulier (Joey Gladstone), Lori Loughlin (Rebecca Katsopolis), Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit (Nicky and Alex Katsopolis), and Scott Weinger (Steve Hale).
While Netflix likely won’t be releasing data on how many people actually watched any time soon, with so many reviews of the show, albeit negative ones, it’s clear that many people tuned in. The question is: will that viewership continue beyond the initial curiosity of how a super-cheesy ‘90s sitcom translates into a super-cheesy 21st century one? Netflix is obviously banking on it.
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