Full House Show

Last updated: February 18 2023

On this page you can read all about the show Full House. Here you can find information on how the show came to life and why it was cancelled, as well as information about production and the writing staff of Full House.

Full House

Full House is an American sitcom, that was broadcasted by ABC. At first it was part of the TGIF lineup, but was moved to a Tuesdays later during its run.

The first episode was broadcasted on September 22, 1987. On May 23, 1995, the final episode was broadcasted. The series had a total of 192 episodes and ran for eight seasons. There were five two-part episodes.

This title is said to be derived from the poker hand known as a 'full house', with the three girls being "three of a kind" and Jesse and Joey a "pair".

House of Comics

The original idea fort he show, as pitched to ABC by Jeff Franklin, was a sitcom about three single stand-up comedians living together. If they had gone through with that idea, the show would have been more adult oriented and it would have been called “House of Comics”. The Network however, said they were more interested in a family-friendly show, given the popularity of shows like "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties. As a result, the idea of three kids were incorporated into the story.

The story of Full House

After his wife died in a car accident involving a drunk driver, widowed father Danny Tanner recruits his brother-in-law Jesse, a rock musician, and his best friend Joey, a comedian, to help him raise his three daughters, DJ, Stephanie and Michelle. Living all together in the San Francisco home of the Tanners, the three men and the children bond and become closer to one another.

In the second season Danny, who has been a sports reporter before, becomes host of 'Wake Up San Francisco', a local morning show. His co-host, Rebbecca "Becky" Donaldson starts dating Jesse and eventually they get married and have twin sons, Nicky and Alex. Becky and the twins also move in to the house with the Tanners.

Additional characters are Kimmy Gibbler, DJ's best friend and the Tanner family's, neighbor and Steve Hale, DJ's boyfriend in seasons six and seven.

The show is mainly based around the idea of three bachelors trying to rein in the precocious antics of three little girls. As most kids do (especially in sitcoms), the kids ignore the rules and learn their lesson afterwards. During the run of the show, we see the girls grow up, with all the usual stuff growing kids have to deal with, like (boy)friends, freaking parents and sisterly battles.

The final curtain

Although the show was still rated in the top 25 by 1995, ABC announced that it was canceling the show after the 8th season. The main reason were the increasing production costs. The new WB network wanted to pick up the show for a 9th season, as an old "classic" show to help launch the new network and lineup.

John Stamos, who played the role of Jesse, did not like the idea of dropping the show from ABC, a top four network, to a new network that hadn't yet received full national distribution . He therefore announced that the eight season would be his last.

Because Candace Cameron, who played the eldest daughter DJ Tanner, was planning on going to college after season eight, she also planned the eight season to be her last. She would do some sporadic guest appearances during the ninth season, as her character DJ came home to visite from college during the holidays.

After these two actors announced their departures, the rest of the cast also decided it was time to call it quits. The writers then decided the series had gone as far as it could go, and season eight ended up to be the final season of Full House.

Another explanation for why the show ended comes from Dave Coulier. Full House Forever reached out to him per email years ago and he replied, saying that the network broadcasting Full House (ABC) thought it was time for a new, more mature, programming, and Full House didn't fit in.

The first time the final episode was broadcasted, the entire cast was shown being called on stage, thanking and saying goodbye to the audience.

Season 9 rumors

Along with the above reason for the show's end, there's rumors of one or two season 9 episodes already taped before it was decided that Full House would end. There’s no hard evidence for these episodes to exist however.

Production

Full House was created by Jeff Franklin, produced by Jeff Franklin Productions and Miller-Boyett Productions, in association with Lorimar Telepictures (from 1987 till 1988), Lorimar Television (1988-1993), and finally by Warned Bros. Television (1993-1995). Jeff Franklin was also executive producer of the show, along with Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett.

Writing staff

The writing staff of the show changed a lot during the eight seasons of Full House. During the first season, there were at least three writing staff changes, with only Lenny Ripps (who remained at the show until the end of season 3) and Russell Marcus surviving the changes through the entire season.

Jeff Franklin was the only writer to remain with the series until the end, although all episodes he wrote and directed were during the first five seasons.

In the second season Marc Warren and Dennis Rinsler joined the series, and remained with the show until the cancellation in 1995. By season 5 they took over as head writers and by season 6 they became executive producers.

Filming

Although the series was set in San Francisco, the show itself was taped at the Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles. The first episode of the final season, 'Comet's Excellent Adventure', was the only episode that was actually recorded in San Francisco.

On a few other occasions the cast would shoot in other locations. Most notable are Hawaii, for the opening episode of season 3 "Tanner's Island" and the final two episodes of season 6, "The House Meets The Mouse (parts 1 and 2), which were shot at Walt Disney World.