“Fuller House” reunites the majority of the original cast back for the revival series — but before there was Netflix, there was “Full House.”
Jeff Franklin, creator of the iconic family sitcom, says finding the perfect cast members in the ’80s was a pretty seamless experience, which is unusual for the typical tedious casting process.
“It was a dream to cast,” Franklin says. “Pilots are really, really tough. Everybody’s casting at the same time so you have 100 shows all fighting for the same talent pool. Most pilots fail because the cast isn’t right — not necessarily that the writing is bad because you have so many scripts that are written and the ones they pick are usually the cream of the crop, for the most part.”
“Fuller House,” which premieres on Netflix today, will feature the entire “Full House” cast — besides the Olsen twins. But, Franklin says the famous sisters were never really part of the plan.
“At the point I started developing this, the Olsens had actually stopped acting and were very busy with the fashion empire they were building. I knew that they were not going to be regulars on the show,” he says. “I was hoping they would stop in now and then, but it was always intended to be DJ (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and Kimmy (Andrea Barber).”
(For what it’s worth, Franklin says he has not had discussions with Mary-Kate and Ashley about returning for a potential second season. “The show hasn’t aired. We don’t have a pick-up so no I’m resting my brain for awhile. I’m trying not to think about it,” he says.)
