This episode makes the list for one main reason. I love to
see snobby, pretentious jerks lose. In this case, the jerk is Rebecca’s cousin
Dick, who comes in to town with his wife Donna and twin daughters Debbie and
Darla. From the moment Dick comes on screen, you just want to smack the smug
face right off of him. He goes on and on about how Rebecca deserves better than
Jesse and how her old boyfriend is so rich and successful. The basic theme of
his conversations are “Dick is great, Jesse’s a loser.” The reason they’re
visiting is to enroll Debbie and Darla into a local “Favorite Twins” contest.
This is a contest that doesn’t seem to have any discernable structure to it,
it’s just a popularity contest for twins. Needless to say, Jesse comes to the
obvious conclusion that he’ll enter Nicky and Alex into this contest and show
up Dick. Many shows would probably have the protagonist lose the contest and
then have a heart to heart where he realizes that he doesn’t need the jerk’s
approval. Full House went a different
route and kept the heart to heart, while still allowing Nicky and Alex to win.
Admittedly they didn’t do anything except be cute wearing Elvis costumes, but
it’s still a priceless moment when Jesse gets the victory over Dick. As I
mentioned, there is a heart to heart between Jesse and Becky where she tells
him that she loves him for who he is. It’s very relatable, because no matter
where you are in life, you can always look to someone who has more than you and
get discouraged. This episode does a great job of giving the message to not get
caught up in competition. It also gives the message not to act like Dick and
look down on others. In addition, there’s a fun B plot, where Stephanie
pretends to be twins in order to flirt with a set of cute twin boys. Overall,
it’s a fun, uplifting episode.
#14: Michelle Rides
Again (Season 8, Episodes 23 & 24)
I love series finales. As sad as it is to reach the end of a
show I love, finales are usually very fun. The finale kicks off with Michelle
practicing her horse riding for an upcoming competition. Throughout the episode
we see her having fun, riding horses, even making friends with another little
girl, Elizabeth. The problem is that Elizabeth’s entitled mom mistakes Danny
for stable help, and brags about how her daughter always wins. Danny then
overreacts and the two start a bitter rivalry, which is unfortunate for the
girls, who just want to have fun. Michelle and Elizabeth sneak off for a
parent-free joy ride, but Michelle falls off and hits her head, knocking her
unconscious. There are a few minor subplots, including Stephanie being nervous
about kissing a boy in a play, DJ not having a prom date, and Jessie & Joey
rehearsing for a potential late night TV show. While these plots would be fine
in most episodes, they seem significantly less important when the cliffhanger
involves an unconscious, injured Michelle.
Part 2 picks up in the hospital, where Michelle is
conscious, but has amnesia. Michelle is brought home to her familiar
environment, but that doesn’t seem to help. The family tries telling her
stories, sharing photos, the guys even sing her favorite “Teddy Bear” song. The
tone is very somber as the family is realizing that she may never get her
memory back. With such a serious issue going on with Michelle, it’s hard to
care about anything else. This is my only main complaint with the finale, the
lack of anything interesting with anyone other than Michelle. I understand that
Michelle is a fan favorite, but it’s an ensemble cast. The show is about all of
them, but no one else gets a good send off. Danny, Becky, and Kimmy don’t even
get a pity B plot. Even the characters who have their own plot seem to get them
glossed over. Stephanie ends up kissing her scene partner with no problem.
Jessie & Joey just decide to put their TV plans on hold while Michelle is
sick, but they never go back to it. There is a nice moment where Kimmy brings a
mystery prom date for DJ, who turns out to be Steve, but even that reunion is
overshadowed by Michelle’s plot. I wish they could’ve found a better way to
incorporate the rest of the family. That being said, I did very much enjoy
Michelle’s story. When all hope is lost, Michelle suddenly sees her memory,
manifested as a clone of herself. The Olsen twins are on screen together as
Michelle talks with her memory, before they merge together, making Michelle
whole again. The ending scene shows Michelle revealing to the family that her
memory is back and everyone hugs. It’s admittedly cheesy and predictable, but
can you think of a more fitting way to end Full
House?
#13: The King and I
(Season 5, Episode 5)
Family picnic time! That’s right, the Tanners are all
preparing for competitive games at the upcoming Tanner Family reunion. They
never address the fact that since it’s Danny’s side of the family, Jessie and
Becky wouldn’t be invited, or the fact that Joey and Kimmy aren’t even family
at all. It’s a minor nitpick, but something I noticed. For the competitors we
have Joey and Becky in the pie eating contest, DJ and Stephanie in the three
legged race, Jesse and Michelle in the balloon race, and Danny seems to be team
coach, complete with an obnoxious megaphone. Everyone is practicing, except for
Jesse, who is trying to write a new hit song for his band. He keeps getting
interrupted and pestered by everyone until he snaps and yells at everyone to
leave him alone. I can’t entirely blame him here, since he was trying to work
on his song, but it’s still a dramatic moment, especially for Michelle. The
Tanners leave without Jesse and head off to the picnic. Jesse decides to take a
break and visit a diner, where he meets an Elvis look-a-like. Fake-Elvis tells
Jesse that family is what’s really important and inspires him to rush up to the
picnic and join them. While we don’t actually see this picnic, we see Danny
polishing trophies, so I guess it went well. Jesse then performs his new song,
inspired by his family.
This is a great episode, but I now realize one of the
biggest disappointments in all of Full
House. I firmly believe that had the real Elvis Presley been alive in 1991,
he would have been asked to guest star in this scene. How awesome would that
have been?! Uncle Jesse would be sitting in a diner with his idol and they
would have played it off as if he was just a look-a-like. Despite the lack of
Elvis, this episode was great. Every member of the family was incorporated, and
we get a performance from Jesse and the Rippers, what’s not to love?
#12: The Wedding,
Parts 1 & 2 (Season 4: Episodes 18 & 19)
Have you ever noticed how weddings in sitcoms are almost
always full of chaos, panic, and misunderstandings? At my wedding, no one went
missing or skydived into a tomato truck, but as unrealistic as it is, it makes
great TV. Jesse and Becky are finally getting married, which means family drama
can’t be too far behind. Since Jesse is already living with his crazy family,
we get to meet Becky’s parents. Her father doesn’t approve of Jesse’s wild,
rock and roll, motorcycle lifestyle. He tells Jesse that when he got married,
he settled down and gave up wild adventures. This puts Jesse into full panic
mode as we see at the end of Part 1. Meanwhile, the rest of the family is
preparing for the wedding, causing their own chaos. Danny and Joey get their
suits mixed up, which leads to Becky’s mother literally catching them with
their pants down. Michelle doesn’t get along well with Becky’s niece, Howie,
which is understandable since they’re four year olds. We also get a play by
play style narration from DJ and Stephanie who are filming everything for a
wedding video. As with most two part episodes, I tend to enjoy Part 2 the most,
and this is no exception. The very end of part 1 sets that up as we go back to
Jesse in panic mode. Jesse drags Joey out to take him skydiving, because
apparently Joey’s a pilot? Anyways, it’s the wedding day, and everyone’s at the
church, but no one can find Jesse. Even when Joey shows up, Jesse’s still
missing. We end on a cliff-hanger, or rather a tree-hanger as Jesse’s harness
has gotten snagged in a tree and he’s hanging there helpless. Like I said, only
on TV.
Part 2 is composed of two main stories, Jesse trying to get
to the wedding and the rest of the family stalling until he gets there. A local
tomato farmer finds Jesse, but being too impatient to wait for help, Jesse
unfastens his harness and falls into his truck bed, ruining his tomatoes. To
make matters worse, he starts to steal his truck, which leads to the groom
behind bars in tomato country. Becky finds out what happens and sets out to get
him, while everyone else scrambles to keep the guests entertained. Becky finds
Jesse in jail and they have the expected heart to heart about how marriage is
the beginning of adventure, not the end. I’m sure you get the jist of their
talk, so I’ll leave it at that. Conveniently, the sheriff is moved by their
moment and lets them go, dropping all charges. Becky’s dad’s car gets towed,
but in another stroke of convenience, they flag down a bus with a church choir.
The choir not only gives them a ride, but also backs up Jesse in the ceremony
as he sings “Forever” to Becky. “Forever” will continue on to be a recurring
song throughout the series. The rest of the episode shows us the happy couple
dancing at the reception and riding off on the motorcycle. I’m a sucker for
these kinds of episodes, where it’s supposed to be a simple event, but
everything seems to go wrong. Nobody wants this kind of wedding in real life,
but if I’m going to watch fictional characters get married, at least make it
interesting. Full House did just
that.
#11: Our Very First
Show (Season 1, Episode 1)
Here we have the only representation of the first two
seasons. I apologize again to anyone who is a fan of the early episodes. I
think you have to include the first episode as it sets the stage and introduces
us to the Tanner family. We meet Danny Tanner, a newly widowed father, left to
raise his daughters, DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle. Danny’s mother is just
leaving, but we learn that Danny’s brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey
will be moving in. At the start, Jesse and Joey are very simple characters.
Jesse is a rock and roll ladies man, while Joey is a comedian goofball. That’s
all you really need to know. We get a typical fighting siblings scene when DJ
and Stephanie divide their shared room in half. The absolute best part of this
episode is after Danny goes to work. Jesse and Joey are left to change
Michelle’s diaper. I have to admit, I wouldn’t really know what I’m doing,
changing a diaper, but I think I would be smart enough to figure out that using
an actual diaper is a good idea. These guys missed that memo. They spray down
Michelle’s butt with the kitchen sprinkler and wrap her in a paper towel.
It’s a hilarious and classic scene that sets the tone of two young guys who try
their best, but don’t have a clue.
Of course, you can’t kick off a show like Full House without a little drama
followed by an emotional talk. For this moment, we have DJ trying to move into
the garage, and ultimately crying about how she misses her mother and
everything changing. Danny consoles her, reassuring her that even though they
all miss his wife, they’ll be ok because they’re going to be there to support
each other. It’s cheesy, but it’s also a good message. This family is very
close and over the eight seasons, we have seen them be there for each other.
This pilot does a terrific job of introducing us to the major players in the
show, and also setting the emotional tone for the show as well.
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