“Full House” mulling revival
In the “you’ve got to be kidding me” department, Warner Bros. is considering a revival of the sitcom Full House, which ran on ABC for eight seasons between 1987 and 1995.
According to TV Guide, most of the cast – with the exception of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen and Lori Loughlin (who currently stars in two series for the Hallmark Channel) are on board. Also on board are two principals with the original show: Jeff Franklin, who created the show and is writing the pilot; and co-producer Bob Boyett.
The Full House revival is currently on the drawing board; a deal has yet to be struck with any network.
The effort is no doubt fueled by the success of Girl Meets World, the update of the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World currently airing on the Disney Channel, and the recent revival of Dallas, now in its third season on TNT.
Though never a critical favorite, Full House was a big hit among younger audiences and was a cornerstone of ABC’s TGIF lineup before moving to Tuesday nights, finishing in the Top 25 in seven of its eight seasons on the air.
But the series’ strength lies within its reruns. Currently airing on Nick-At-Nite, Full House is averaging 1.5 million viewers a night and a 0.4 rating among adults 18-49. Moreover, the series is drawing better ratings among kids and teens – just like it did during its original off-network broadcast syndication run, which lasted a dozen years.
In its first syndication cycle, Full House was the top-rated off-net show among kids and finishing right behind Saved By The Bell and Married…With Children in the teen demo. In adult demos, House was competitive with Cheers, Golden Girls, Cosby Show, and Married.
During the mid-1990’s, Full House often finished as the market’s top rated off-network sitcom in Chicago at 5 p.m. on WGN-TV, who parent company Tribune Broadcasting struck a six-station deal for the show.
Full House also was the last sitcom to air in daytime on the major networks; selected reruns aired on NBC just before going into syndication in 1991. Full House reruns also has aired on ABC Family, TBS, and WGN America.
Recently, three of the series stars – Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, and John Stamos all made appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (before Fallon became host of the Tonight Show), reprising their Full House characters; and also appeared in a Super Bowl Commercial for Dannon Oikos Yogurt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrcaeAumAZo
While Full House’s revival is being considered, keep in mind not all comebacks work: The Arsenio Hall Show, whose original run’s height of popularity peaked at the same time Full House’s did, wasn’t able to generate any interest the second time around.