The new Netflix series Fuller House is really just about perfect. Discovering this show is like finding an Irish bar in some far-away city you don't know–the show offers you a comfortable, familiar spot to sit down and know more or less what you're gonna get.
I never really cared for Full House, but it was so ubiquitous in its time you couldn't avoid it. Fuller House picks up exactly where it should, if the series was going to pick up again today, and does exactly what you'd expect. There are few surprises, and little edge to anything. What you do get, however, is a show sublime in its calculated nostalgia.
You know these characters. You know these plots. You know that house. People that were annoying 30 years ago are now charming, because we've grown up while they haven't. Bob Saget, John Stamos and Dave Coulier make frequent appearances, every one a fourth-wall-breaking wink. "Look at how silly this is," in a tone-perfect way. Cameron-Bure and Sweetin have aged, but they're the third-decade versions of themselves you'd expect. The familiarity is comforting.
The only real surprise in the show is Andrea Barber's Kimmy Gibbler. While seemingly nothing has changed at all with Kimmy, we learn that the series' most annoying character is actually the most wise. She always has been, and is doing an amazing job at being Kimmy Gibbler. Barber plays Gibbler exactly as she did in the original series run, and the writers show her the respect she deserves. She's a fantastic businessperson, smart as a whip, and her sexy-yet-crazy ex-husband chases her with a passion. Evidently she is one hot tamale.
Most importantly Gibbler shows us that the awkward teens turn out to be the most interesting among us all.
Stamos looks great too. He enjoys pointing that out.
