'Fuller House': Critic Verne Gay's first impressions of the first 6 episodes of Netflix's reboot
A scene from "Fuller House," Netflix's reboot of the beloved late '80s, early '90s sitcom, premieres on the streaming service Feb. 26. Credit: Netflix / Michael Yarish
Get past the studio audience on Netflix's revival of "Full House," titled "Fuller House," arriving Feb. 26. Get past the "multi-camera" set-up.
Get past the sense that you have entered a time machine and the guy setting the button back to the 1990s (even though this is set in present day) is actually a new-fangled thing called a "streaming service.”
Get past the deja vu all over-again-and-again sense that we have all passed this way before (and before and before)...
Get past all of this, or don't -- in fact, Netflix would prefer that you don't, actually -- and the revival of "Fuller House" works exceedingly well.
The streaming service has sought embargoes on reviews or "news reports" stemming from the episodes, six of which were made available to TV writers Monday night. Honoring the spirit of that embargo, you'll get no details here, other than a largely positive impression.
Now, by "positive," what do I mean? Simply that original showrunner Jeff Franklin, back for this reincarnation, featuring some/most original cast members, has clearly stamped -- indelibly -- this reboot with the spirit of the original. That's what fans demand, and what they'll get.
Of that "spirit," it's important to note that the original "Full House" was a product of its times -- flagship of ABC's TGIF, and a shrewd recalibration of the traditional family sitcom going back to the early '50s, with an extended family bound to a specific place (San Francisco) and time (the '90s) when traditional "nuclear" families had been shredded beyond recognition on TV ("Roseanne") or were artifacts to be gently mocked ("Home Improvement"). Like "The Brady Bunch," "Full House" embraced an extended "non-traditional" family, squashed the "traditional family values" into one immediately recognizable package, and spent the next nine years ladling comfort food to an entire generation that grew up on this.
Even the lyrics of "Everywhere You Look" were weekly reminders that a storm may be raging on the outside but that warm genial glow was still here on the inside, at the Tanner house on Girard Street (the real address is 1709 Broderick St.)...
Whatever happened to predictability./ The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV?/ How did I get to living here?/ Somebody tell me please! /This old world's confusing me.
"Full House," and "Fuller House," are comfort food -- the latter a reminder that time passes, but time also stands still, that people may change but "character" is immutable. It's a reminder that the familiar/comfortable rhythm of the familiar/comfortable TV sitcom was just like learning to ride a bike -- once learned, impossible to forget, even if it has become unfashionable.
I should add that this newcomer -- or old-comer -- is strictly for original fans, designed to invoke memories and feelings that probably haven't had TV workouts since the original went off the air in 1995.
In other words, you got it, dude.
