Fuller House is Perfect
Everywhere I look (wink) Fuller House is getting ripped apart, criticized as embarrassing, silly, and just bad, the actors being treated like they’re somehow outside of the joke, taking this seriously yet failing to produce a sitcom of the highest quality. These allegations are frankly ridiculous if you’ve seen the show, and I am here to say that Fuller House is perfect and possibly the best thing Netflix has ever created.
Fuller house is the sitcom version of the lifetime movie that Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig did, except waayyy less ernest. It’s the family-friendly version of the Wet Hot American Summer remake but waayyy more ernest. It’s a knowing nod to something beloved but at its core silly, and it exists to delight in ways that don’t necessarily have to do with the product itself being of exceptional entertainment value.
Immediately when the first episode of Fuller House started, I was so in love with everyone’s attitude. I mean… no one was acting. Ok, maybe Candace Cameron was acting. But otherwise, everyone was just there, like, yep hi we’re doing this, and it was fantastic. And that feeling, that sense that everyone is there, hanging out, having a great time, persists throughout the show, and that’s what makes it such a gift.
Each of the episodes of Fuller House are basically replicants of Full House episodes. Or, not replicants, but reiterations, which the characters openly point out. It’s the perfect amount of satire without being a full satire.
I think the story is… fine? Who cares! But the characters are likable, the puppies (and new guy) are cute, and the the references are flying. Also, this is not a show that is even pretending to have a fourth wall. The direct looks to camera, the weird Taylor Swift reference by Joey, the hilariously over the top follow-up jabs at Mary-Kate and Ashley, everyone just NOT TALKING ABOUT Jodie Sweetin’s boobs even though they’re like HELLO RIGHT THERE, it’s like 13 episodes of someone bringing you a big shiny ice cream sundae. It’s the opposite of watching a car wreck, it’s a car DELIGHT.
Another thing to truly adore about Fuller House is the kids! The kids on this show are killing it, each and every one of them are fully developed and perfectly executed. I would believe that kid who plays Max is an actual teddy bear, and Jack and Ramona are both very natural and funny and game (both of them participated seamlessly with the original cast during the NKOTB dance scene) and they fit right in. And again with a delicate line the show walks so well — the show is not serious, but it’s also not so over-the-top that it’s embarrassing for the kids or the new actors, or makes them the butt of a joke. It is a real show, it’s just a real show that’s goal, beyond being an enjoyable sitcom, is to be a knowing nod to a past icon.
What has baffled me most is seeing Fuller House reviewed as lacking in self-awareness. The root of Fuller House’s success lies in its ceaseless self-awareness and careful tightrope-walking the line of endearing self-deprecation without seeming like they are a) trying to be taken seriously and b) being a complete joke. Look at the ridiculous colors and opening sequence, no modern show would possibly ever use those colors. These are 90s colors, these are late 80s colors! It’s just so obvious.
As a huge fan of Full House, Fuller House gave me exactly what I wanted to see and some things I didn’t even know I wanted to see, and nothing I didn’t want to see. They’re doing something because people want it and because they want to do it and because it’s obviously super fun for all of them, which is what we want to see — them all together having a good time. There weren’t any plot lines we needed wrapped up, nothing we needed resolved, we just wanted to hang with our TV buds. We get to see the family we grew up with, genuinely happy to be back together, and watch them have some fun, with us. It’s great and I love it. God I love this show.
