Fuller House uses real life to explain Olsen Twins absence — sort of

By Stephanie Topacio Long December 8, 2015

netflix fuller house olsen twins explanation red carpet — Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com

If the question of how Michelle Tanner’s absence from Fuller House will be explained has somehow been keeping you awake at night, you no longer have to lose sleep. Creators of the Netflix series turned to real life for inspiration, based on the explanation a source gave US Weekly. Michelle, like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the actresses who portrayed her, will be busy building a fashion empire in New York City — and apparently the job keeps her too busy to visit her San Francisco-based family.

The real reason Michelle won’t appear on the Full House revival series, of course, is the fact that the Olsens opted not to reprise their role. While you’d think the producers would have the best odds of bringing back the one character played by two actresses, that’s not the case when the actresses in question have gone on to fashion fame and fortune. Instead, Michelle will be the single member of the Tanner family missing from the reunion episode.

Even without the Olsens, the show will go on, but not without at least one reference to the character. US Weekly’s source shared that the characters will prank-call Michelle in one episode, using her favorite saying: “You got it, dude!” It’ll have to be enough for fans of the original sitcom, which ran from 1987-1995.

Fuller House will star Candace Cameron Bure as DJ Tanner-Fuller, with Jodie Sweetin returning as middle Tanner sister Stephanie and Andrea Barber reprising her role as neighbor Kimmy. The show will pick up after the death of DJ’s husband and follow her family after Stephanie and Kimmy move in with her to help her raise her three sons. The 13-episode first season will also bring back Bob Saget (Danny), John Stamos (Uncle Jesse), Lori Loughlin (Aunt Becky), and Dave Coulier (Uncle Joey) as guest stars.

Fuller House will arrive on Netflix in 2016.

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Stephanie Topacio Long

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Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

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