Full House
Is an American sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show chronicles the events of widowed father, Danny Tanner, who enlists his brother-in-law and best friend to help raise his three daughters. It aired from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995, broadcasting eight seasons and 192 episodes.
While never a critical favorite, the series was consistently in the Nielsen Top 30 (from 1988 onward) and gained even more popularity in syndicated reruns. It has also had tie-in merchandise marketed, such as a series of paperback books. A sequel series, Fuller House, premiered on Netflix on February 26, 2016.
Plot
After his wife is killed in a car accident, news anchorman Danny Tanner recruits his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis (a rock musician) and best friend Joey Gladstone (who works as a stand-up comedian) to help raise his three young daughters: D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle, in his San Francisco home. Over time, the three men as well as the children bond and become closer to one another.
In season two, Danny is reassigned from his duties as sports anchor by his television station to become co-host of a local morning television show, Wake Up, San Francisco, and is teamed up with Nebraska native Rebecca Donaldson. Jesse and Becky eventually fall in love and get married in season four. In season five, Becky gives birth to twin sons, Nicky and Alex.
Casting
The producers' first choice to play the character of Danny Tanner was Bob Saget. Saget was not available to appear in the pilot due to his commitment as an on-air contributor to CBS's The Morning Program. The producers instead cast actor John Posey to play Danny. Posey only appeared in the unaired pilot.
John Stamos's character was originally named Jesse Cochran; Stamos reportedly wanted his character to better reflect his Greek heritage, so producers decided to change the character's surname to Katsopolis.
To comply with child labor laws, twins Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen were cast to alternate in the role of Michelle during tapings. The girls were jointly credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen" in seasons two through seven because the producers did not want audiences to know that the Michelle character was played by twins (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen ) In an occasional running gag, both twins would occasionally appear together in fantasy sequences.
All six of the original cast members remained with the show through its entire eight-year run, with five characters added to the cast along the way. Kimmy Gibbler, a recurring character in seasons one through four, was upgraded to a regular in season five. Rebecca Donaldson (later Katsopolis) originally appeared for six episodes in season two as Danny's co-host on Wake Up, San Francisco; producers decided to expand her role and made her a regular the following season. Nicky and Alex Katsopolis, the twin sons of Jesse and Rebecca, made their debut in season five. As babies, the children were played by Daniel and Kevin Renteria, and in season six, the roles of the twins were succeeded by Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit. The last character added was Steve Hale, who was D.J.'s boyfriend in seasons six and seven. He returned in the second half of the series finale after Kimmy set him up with D.J. to be her date for the senior prom. He was played by Scott Weinger.
Comet, the family dog, was played by a golden retriever named Buddy. Buddy later appeared in the original Air Bud (1997) before dying of lung cancer at the age of nine.
Taping
The series was created by Jeff Franklin and executive produced by Franklin, along with Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett. The series was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions and Miller-Boyett Productions, in association with Lorimar-Telepictures (1987–88), Lorimar Television (1988–93), and then by Warner Bros. Television (1993–95) after Lorimar was folded into Warner Bros.'s existing television production division.
Although the series was set in San Francisco, the sitcom itself was taped at the Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles. Outside of certain excerpts in the opening title sequences, the only episode to have actually been taped in San Francisco was the first episode of season eight, "Comet's Excellent Adventure". There were also a few episodes which were filmed on-location elsewhere, most notably Hawaii in the season three premiere "Tanner's Island", and at Walt Disney World for the two-part sixth-season finale "The House Meets the Mouse".
The series experienced heavy turnover with its writing staff throughout its run, the first season in particular had at least three writing staff changes with Lenny Ripps and Russell Marcus being the only writers surviving the changes through the entire season. Show creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin was the only writer to remain with the series throughout its entire eight-season run (Franklin also wrote and directed several episodes during the first five seasons). Marc Warren and Dennis Rinsler joined the series' writing staff in the second season as producers and remained with the show until its 1995 cancellation; Warren and Rinsler took over as head writers by season five and assumed showrunning duties as executive producers for the sixth season to allow Franklin to focus on Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (Full House served as Cooper's lead-in when the former aired on Tuesday nights during the 1992–93 season).
Theme song
The show's theme song, "Everywhere You Look", was performed by Jesse Frederick, who co-wrote the song with writing partner Bennett Salvay and series creator Jeff Franklin. Various instrumental versions of the theme song were used in the closing credits; the version used during seasons three through eight was also used in the opening credits in some early syndication runs, although the song was almost always truncated to the chorus for broadcast. Seasons one through five used a longer version of the theme song.