Guest Author - Edie Dykeman

Full House became one of the most popular sitcoms during the late 80s and early 90s. The show had everything from a single father of young daughters, to a rock musician uncle and a comedic best friend.

Prior to the shows start, Danny Tanner lost his wife when she died in an accident due to a drunk driver. The youngest of his three daughters was just six months old. In desperate need of help, he solicited his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and his best friend Joey Donaldson to join the family.

Danny, played by Bob Saget, was a sportscaster and later a talk-show co-host of Wake Up, San Francisco. Over the eight-year run of the show, Danny faced numerous challenges as his daughters grew into their teens.

John Stamos played Jesse, a Harley riding up-and-coming rock musician. When the series began, he worked as an exterminator angering his father when he decided to quit the family business to become a full time musician. After moving in with Danny and the girls, he pretty much settled down from his wild ways.

Dave Coulier portrayed Joey Gladstone, Danny’s best friend. He was a comedian and puppeteer who did imitations of cartoon characters. Although he dated a number of women during the show, he never settled down.

The fourth adult was Rebecca Donaldson, played by Lori Loughlin. She joined the show during the second season as Danny’s co-host on the morning show, and later married Jesse, after dating for two seasons. She gave birth to twin boys Nicky and Alex in the fifth season.

The main children on the show were Donna Jo “D.J.” Tanner played by Candace Cameron (Bure), Stephanie Tanner played by Jodie Sweetin, and Michelle Tanner played famously by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

As the oldest, D.J. aged from ten years old to a senior in high school during the course of the show. As typical with teens, she struggled for independence and privacy, and was into fashion and boys.

Middle daughter Stephanie aged from five years old to pre-teen during the show. She was the typical second daughter often causing trouble for her older sister.

As noted above, Michelle was six-months-old when her mother was killed. She was a favorite of Uncle Jesse who often called her Shortie or Munchkin. She was sad when she heard he was getting married and probably moving out. During the years of the show, Michelle aged to about eight-years-old. The lovable little gal enjoyed giving the grown-ups advice.

After getting off to a rather slow start the first season, the popularity of Full House began to climb after it was moved to follow Perfect Strangers in season 2. As a part of the TGIF Friday night slot, the ratings continued to climb. The show hit an all time high in the top ten during Seasons 5 and 6 following a move to Tuesday nights.

Although the show remained popular, ABC canceled Full House at the end of its eighth season in 1995 due to the increased cost of producing the show. The show is still available in syndication and on DVDs.

Biography Channel produced a one hour show in 2009 revealing what went on behind the scenes, and hearing from the young stars how it felt to grow up while on the show.