“Fuller House” is part sequel, part remake and all schmaltz.
The "Full House" successor, which starts streaming on Netflix next week, features a bunch of returning cast members and a gender-switching twist on the original. In 1987, the recently widowed Danny Tanner (Bob Saget), his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis (John Stamos) and his best friend, Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier), shared parenting duties to Danny's three motherless daughters in a Victorian house in San Francisco.
In 2016, the oldest of those daughters, D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), is a recent widow who moves into that same Victorian house with her three fatherless sons. She's joined by her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and her best friend, Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), who's the single mother of a teenage daughter.
If that isn't enough, Saget, Stamos and Coulier all make guest appearances in the "Fuller House" premiere. As does Lori Loughlin (Becky Katsopolis).
"I wanted to create an episode that was for the fans. That, in essence, was almost the last episode of 'Full House' that we never got to do," said "Full House" creator Jeff Franklin. "And really do something that was going to make the fans happy — that was going to be full of nostalgia. Those fans know the show inside and out probably better than I do. They've watched 192 episodes over and over and over for over 25 years."
It's part of "the whole nostalgia thing," said executive producer Bob Boyett, who also returns behind the scenes.
That explains the continuing appeal of the original series, which has played endlessly in reruns and been adopted by viewers who weren't born until long after the show was canceled in 1995.
"No matter what we've done, everybody always asks about 'Full House,'" said Cameron Bure. And not just in the United States.
"The global appeal of 'Full House' is incredible," said Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer at Netflix. "People grew up on this show in India, in Dubai, in Brazil, in France, in Germany and Korea. And they still love it.
"The idea that they can experience 'Fuller House' at the exact same moment as everyone else in the world will be amazing for them."
How the nostalgia holds up to reality remains to be seen. And the reality is that "Full House" was a show that appealed to children because it was so simplistic, so over-the-top schmaltzy that it played more like a kids' show than something for adults. (Check it out for yourself — it's still airing four times a day on Nickelodeon.)
After a rough start, "Full House" became a hit because the Olsen twins, who shared the role as the youngest Tanner daughter, Michelle, were cute. They remained popular even after they began to grow up and demonstrate that they had little to no acting talent.
But that nostalgic pull is strong. Boyett said he and Warner Bros. "have been approached … at least two or three times a year for some form of follow-up on 'Full House.' " But he, his partner, Tom Miller, and the studio "vetoed" the idea of doing a reunion special or movie.
"I hated reunion shows," he said. "I never wanted to do a reunion show because I think they're mostly lousy."
But, he added, everyone was quickly on board with Franklin's idea to give the three grown-up female characters the central roles in "Fuller House. And, after the premiere, Saget, Stamos, Coulier and Loughlin will make only occasional guest appearances.
"It's a big family, and we want them there," Franklin said. "But this is a show that is centered around these three women."
So it's sort of "Full House: The Next Generation."
The one thing — make that two things — viewers won't see in the 13 episodes produced for Netflix is the Olsen twins. Although there's a break-the-fourth-wall moment in the premiere when we learn that Michelle is in New York running a fashion business (as are the Olsens) — and cast members in unison look directly into the camera.
It comes across as a bit of a slam at Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who declined to participate in "Fuller House," but Franklin insisted it wasn't.
"No, it wasn't meant to be a dig," he said. "It was meant to be a playful wink.
"I tried. We all tried to persuade them to come and play. They decided not to at this time. We're hopeful at some point in the future that they may change their minds and come back and reprise Michelle."
Of course, it doesn't have to be both Mary-Kate and Ashley.
"We only need one of them," Franklin said with a smile.
Despite the Olsens' absence, cast members said "Fuller House" feels like a family reunion.
"It was like coming home again to your childhood home," Barber said.
"The emotions really got to me," said Cameron Bure. "And I was just crying because I was flooded with so many memories."
"It was the same jokes and the same sort of things that we kind of shared collectively as a group," Sweetin said. "It's like when you get back together with a group of friends that you maybe haven't seen for a really long time."
It's pretty much the same jokes in the "Fuller House" scripts as well. Nothing subtle here — the aim is to get the studio audience to go, "Awwwww …" because the show and the kids are just so darn cute.
"It was like stepping back into somebody that was really familiar," Sweetin said. "And then, there was some fun getting to, kind of, fill in the blanks of what's happened to these characters over the past 20 years."
spierce@sltrib.com
Twitter: @ScottDPierce
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On Netflix
The 13-episode Season 1 of “Fuller House” begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, Feb. 26.