Some people watch Full House for the hijinks, some people watch it for the heartwarming moments, and then there’s me: I watch it for the continuity. Seriously, my nerdy comic-book-loving brain can’t stop thinking about the intricacy of Full House (and its Netflix sequel, Fuller House), specifically who lived where and when.
Think about it: how many other sitcoms feature characters that shuffle all their stuff from one room to another as many times as the Tanners (and later the Fullers and Gibblers)? And I’m not talking some stunt plotting like when Monica and Rachel lost their apartment to Chandler and Joey. No, when characters move on Full House, they stay moved–that is until the house absorbs another tenant and everyone has to move again.
It makes sense, though. When your show is named after a house that is stuffed beyond capacity, you gotta live up to it. A total of 15 people have lived in that house across 8 seasons of Full House and 3 (and counting!) seasons of Fuller House. And then there’s the larger mythology about the house’s history and who lived where even before Full House’s debut, and also who lived in the house between the two series. Where’s Ken Burns at? We need a 20-hour documentary about the history of this house and all of the other dozen-plus families that have lived in it over the last hundred years. But until that happens, here’s my attempt at mapping out who lived where when in the Full House house.
1.Before ‘Full House’ Season 1
2.’Full House’ 1×1: “Our Very First Show”
It’s so easy to forget that Full House has one of the biggest bummer premises ever. Pamela Tanner dies just a few weeks before the pilot! These kids are growing up without a mother! But fortunately for them (and everyone that loves comedy about mismatched buds thrown into domestic scenarios), here comes Uncle Jesse and Joey! The pilot features the first of many, many rounds of bedroom switcheroo in the show’s run.
- Stephanie moves in with DJ, downgrading DJ from an obscenely large room to just half of one.
- Jesse moves into Stephanie’s old room, complete with pink bunny wallpaper.
- Joey makes the ultimate sacrifice by moving into the alcove in the living room. It’s speaks to Joey’s character that he doesn’t spend the next 9 episodes griping about sleeping on essentially a windowless windowsill.
3.’Full House’ 1×10: “Joey’s Place”
Thankfully all of the passive-aggressive maneuvers you know Joey was doing in-between scenes paid off in this episode when everyone realizes that they have both a garage and a driveway, and Joey can sleep in one of those. Not the driveway, BTW, although I’m sure that crossed Jesse’s mind. So Joey moves into the now finished garage, and all the Tanner junk that was in there is moved to the attic. This status quo lasts for 78 episodes, the second-longest stretch in Full House history!
4.’Full House’ 4×20: “Fuller House”
If episode writers Leslie Ray aren’t getting David Steven Simon aren’t getting residuals for essentially naming the Netflix sequel series 25 years before it debuted, then they should lawyer up! Anyway–this episode takes place right after Jesse and Becky’s two-part wedding, the one where Jesse skydived into a tomato truck. The newlyweds’ plan to move into Rebecca’s place falls through, though, because Jesse gets instantly homesick after missing one night singing Michelle’s doo-wop lullaby. Rebecca, paragon of patience, decides to give up her spacious home and move in with five other people, including her co-worker! This is the biggest shakeup since the pilot episode, TBH.
- Jesse and Becky move into the attic. The framed pink bunny from Stephanie’s room follows them.
- Joey moves into Jesse’s old room (which was originally Stephanie’s room).
- All the recording equipment/junk that was in the attic goes back downstairs to the basement (which was Joey’s old room, and before that the garage).
This setup wouldn’t last for long, though, because Tanners be moving!
5.’Full House’ 5×3: “Take My Sister, Please”
Fed up with Stephanie’s nosiness, DJ makes the traditional older sibling move originally pioneered by Greg and Marcia Brady: she campaigns for her own room. Stephanie takes this personally, and she gets even more upset when her five-year-old sister doesn’t want to give up her room either. After a bunch of hurt feelings and a one hour-ish stint of Stephanie living in the bathroom, the switch happens and Michelle moves in with Stephanie.
- DJ moves into Michelle’s room, where Michelle has lived since even before the pilot.
- Michelle switches places with DJ and moves in with Stephanie. Now all three Tanner daughters have lived in that room.
Also wild fact: this episode splits the series into two large halves. The first 96 episodes have DJ and Stephanie bunking together, and the last 96 episodes have Stephanie and Michelle. Did they plan that??
6.’Full House’ 5×11: “Nicky and/or Alexander”
The next–and final!–Full House shake-up comes not too long after DJ and Michelle switch rooms. Becky gives birth to twins Nicky and Alex, adding another two occupants of the upstairs attic apartment. A total of 88 episodes of Full House feature this living arrangement, making it the longest-running status quo and maybe the definitive Tanner family setup.
7.’Fuller House’ 1×1: “Our Very First Show, Again”
Twenty-one years later, the lights flick on again in the Tanner household to find it super empty. Netflix’s Fuller House begins with just Danny living in the sprawling, four-story house complete with totally finished and inhabitable attic and garage. Was every day just a Risky Business montage for him across four floors?
In the first episode of Fuller House, DJ and her three sons have moved back in with Danny temporarily following the death of her husband (this franchise hates spouses unless they are Becky!). Michelle’s in New York, Stephanie’s on tour in Europe, Joey’s performing in Vegas, and the Katsopolis clan are working in Los Angeles. Danny plans on moving to Los Angeles, too, meaning the house will be sold. But then fate, once again, intervenes…!
8.’Fuller House’ 1×2: “Moving Day”
- DJ moves into the master bedroom, Danny’s old room.
- Stephanie moves down to Joey’s old basement apartment, which is no longer a recording studio.
- Kimmy moves into the attic, previously the Katsopolis love-nest.
- Brothers Jackson and Max Fuller get DJ’s old room (the one she shared with Stephanie, and later the one Stephanie shared with Michelle).
- Tommy Fuller gets the baby room, a.k.a. Michelle’s old room.
- Kimmy’s daughter Ramona moves into Stephanie/Jesse/Joey’s old room.
9.’Fuller House’ 2×1: “Welcome Back”
So far the only real shakeups during Fuller House have been because of Kimmy’s ex-husband/current-fiancé Fernando. He moves into the Fuller house in the Season 2 premiere, much to Max’s annoyance. Max, seriously–you already live with a million people and it’s not like they shoved Fernando in the alcove.
Fernando moves in with Kimmy in the attic, making the attic the space with the most occupants in Full/Fuller House history! Here’s how each room breaks down, naming each room after their original function:
- Attic (6): Jesse, Becky, Nicky, Alex, Kimmy, and Fernando
- DJ’s Room (5): DJ, Stephanie, Michelle, Jackson, and Max
- Stephanie’s Room (4): Stephanie (pre-1987), Jesse, Joey, Ramona
- Michelle’s Room (3): Michelle, DJ, Tommy
- Danny’s Room (3): Danny, Pam (pre-1987), DJ
- Basement/Garage (2): Joey, Stephanie
- Alcove (1): Joey
More stats: DJ, Stephanie, and Joey have all lived in the most rooms in the house at 3 each (although I’m counting Stephanie’s original room, which becomes Jesse’s in the Full House pilot).
10.’Fuller House’ 3×2: “Break a Leg”
And a season later, Fernando moves out of the Tanner/Fuller/Gibbler house and next door into the Gibbler house. So far on Fuller House, the sleeping arrangements established in this episode, with Fernando a neighbor and not a roommate, is the longest-running one at 17 episodes. But who knows what’s in store in Fuller House Season 4!
Season 3 concluded with Danny saying he’s moving back into the house, a move which could once again throw the entire floorplan into chaos. Danny’s only ever lived in one bedroom, will he take his old digs away from DJ? Will he make adult DJ and Stephanie room together again?
Or will Danny become the second person to sleep in the alcove?
