From 1989-1991, “Full House” WAS Friday nights. Seriously. Was there a half hour more important to you as a kid than the  half hour spent watching a new episode of “Full House” on TGIF?

Although it was considerably corny (and you knew it, too), the irresistible appeal of Uncle Jesse, Uncle Joey, little Michelle, the unforgettable theme song, the iconic street of Victorian houses, and the beautiful San Francisco setting was just too great to ignore.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Danny Tanner- The cleaning obsessed (OCD?) father of the house. His wife was killed by a drunk driver, leaving him with a perfect premise for a sitcom.

Uncle Jesse- The brother-in-law sex god. He brings his high maintenance hair to the Tanner house where he learns the joys of babysitting little girls while trying to have band rehearsals.

Uncle Joey- Danny’s childhood friend and a comedian, Joey is known for his endlessly abrasive cartoon impressions. He also has a ventriliquist dummy named Mr. Woodchuck.

D.J. Tanner- The oldest daughter of three, D.J. is a typical adolescent. She experiences various problems with dating, driver’s ed, and being Kirk Cameron’s real life sister.

Stephanie Tanner- The middle sister of the three, Stephanie suffers from “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia Syndrome”, always having to share a room with one sister or another.

Michelle Tanner- The youngest of the Tanner girls, Michelle was the criminally adorable, de facto star of the show. (And the Olsen twins never, ever looked back…)

Becky Donaldson- Danny’s co-host and Jesse’s eventual wife, she was known for her obscure mid-western remarks. Why again does she agree to live in the attic with Jesse??

Kimmy Gibler- The stereotypical, wacky neighbor next door, she was universally disliked by the Tanners, except for D.J., who was her best friend.

Steve- In later seasons, D.J.’s food-machine, jock boyfriend. Did you know that Steve was the voice of Aladdin?

Nicky and Alex- Jesse and Becky’s long-haired twin sons, they were brought on the show to up the cuteness level to a 20. Did they succeed? You be the judge.

Comet- A talking dog. (What, you didn’t see that episode?)

THEME SONG

The red convertible, the Golden Gate Bridge, the grassy field in front of the Victorian houses- this is an absolutely unforgettable theme song. If you’re like me, it’ll be ingrained in your memory forever.

WHAT’S A”FULL HOUSE MOMENT”?

The corny, emotional climax in the last five minutes of EVERY “Full House” episode. Complete with an overwhelming musical score, it really took this sitcom to the next level, for better or for worse.

THE MOST ICONIC EPISODE

“The Wedding”. When Jesse goes skydiving on his wedding morning, and ends up in jail, the ceremony is temporarily put on hold. But it’s not long before Jesses arrives, and the wedding turns into one, big self-indulgent concert.

THE CRAZIEST EPISODE

“Happy Birthday, Babies”. It’s a Flinstones themed birthday party for Michelle, when- oh no!- Becky goes into labor! And- oh no!- Fred Flinstone- I mean Jesse- suddenly needs an appendectomy!

THE CHEESIEST EPISODE

“Stephanie Gets Framed”. It’s TGIF crossover time- with Steve Urkel! Yup, the King of Geeks comes to the Tanner house to annoy Danny, pester DJ, and get on Jesse’s nerves.

THE SADDEST EPISODE

Uncle Jesse is moving in with Becky, and oh boy is this sad for Michelle (note the dual Michelle/Jesse teardrop shots). Thankfully, Becky has a solution- Jesse doesn’t have to move out; she’ll move in!

THE EPISODE YOU’LL NEVER FORGET

“Honey, I Broke The House”. Stephanie drives Joey’s car into the kitchen!

CATCHPHRASES

Jesse- “Have mercy!”

Joey- “Cut. It. Out!”

Stephanie- “Well pin a rose on your nose!”, ”How rude!”

Michelle- “You got it, dude!” “You’re in big trouble, Mister!” “No way, Jose!”

THE DVD SET

If you still can’t get enough “Full House”, then I suggest picking up the the DVD box set, neatly packed in a replica of the Tanner’s iconic Victorian house.

Since it’s the beginning of the weekend, what do ya say we take a trip back…way back…

To the early 90s. 

Don’t be scared! Zubaz can’t hurt you- they really can’t!

Are you ready?

Ok. Imagine what Friday was like a long time ago. You’re sitting in school, it’s 2nd maybe 3rd grade. At 3 o’clock, the bell rings and the school week is finally over. For the next 66 hours, you are free. For the rest of the afternoon you’re gonna be running, jumping, and screaming outside! When you get home, you find Dad picked up McDonald’s for dinner. Excellent! Next, it’s time for some video games. Man, what a rush! I hope this feeling NEVER ends!

Then it’s 8 o’clock.

And you know what that means.

Before there was the Internet, and before there was the independence of adulthood, there was only one thing to do on a Friday night. I’m talking, of course, about the TGIF lineup on ABC.

“Family Matters”, “Full House”, “Step By Step”, “Boy Meets World”, “Perfect Strangers”, “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”, “Sabrina The Teenage Witch”, “Dinosaurs”- TGIF was the place for many a warm memory around the old TV box with Ma and Pa. 

It was the age of sitcom perfection, or as I like call it- “The High Sitcom”. No not stoner high you idiot- like ”High Modernism” or “High Classical”.

It was the era of genius ideas.

Here’s a show for you: 3 single men living together and raising 3 young girls. A house of love- a house full of laughs. FULL HOUSE.

Or: Middle class black family and the lovably geeky kid next door. Hard work matters. Love matters. ”Did I do that?” FAMILY MATTERS. 

Or: Dinosaur family doing dinosaur things in dinosaur times. DINOSAURS.

You can watch these shows now on Nick at Nite and TBS, but it just isn’t the same as that magical block of programming on Friday nights in the 90s called TGIF.

Over the next few Fridays, I plan to feature each TGIF show in its own blog post, and go further in depth about each of these 90s sitcoms.

To get started, I was interested to know which show you would like to see profiled next Friday. Please share your memories!