The majority of the Tanner extended family returned in Fuller House, but several of them were much better in Full House. In the late ’80s, ABC debuted its own take on family sitcoms, with the introduction of the non-traditional Tanner household. Despite a tragedy launching its events, Full House was fun and lighthearted, but it didn’t mean that it shied away from tackling serious issues. While it was never a critical darling, the show was a ratings hit thanks to its realistic portrayal of the joys and difficulties of parenting. It also helped that the stories were told from both the perspectives of its parental figures and the children.
Hollywood’s recent penchant for reboots and revivals paved the way for the return of the Tanners via Fuller House. The Netflix spin-off shifted the focus of its storytelling to the younger members of the Tanner extended family as they dealt with their grown-up problems. Despite that, the show’s primary message remained the same — the importance of family, whatever it may look like. Fuller House featured the majority of the same main cast from Full House. However, the two-decade gap between the sitcoms seemingly changed some of the characters for the worse.
6 Danny Tanner
As the family patriarch, Danny Tanner was integral in keeping his San Francisco household running in Full House. After the death of Pamela Tanner, he was left to raise three young kids — DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle. Because Full House was often humorous, it was easy to overlook just how much pressure it was on Danny to do the right thing while navigating single parenthood. For the most part, he did really well. He prioritized his kids and gave them stability and guidance when they needed it the most.
When Danny returned in Fuller House, however, he didn’t seem like the father from the original show. He could be chaotic and impulsive, which were two things that he wasn’t in Full House. He barely had his new wife, Teri mingle with the rest of his family, and just ended up getting a divorce without people knowing. Danny’s seeming indifference to Michelle’s absence was also off-putting.
5 DJ Tanner
In Fuller House, DJ experienced the same fate as her father, being widowed at an early age and left to raise three young kids on her own. While the sequel attempted to focus on her navigating her life being an unexpected single parent, DJ seemingly moved on from the tragedy quite quickly and got distracted by her love life instead. As the eldest of the Tanner kids, DJ was always responsible, but Fuller House overdid it by making her overbearing and even self-righteous — it was almost like she couldn’t do anything wrong, and every mistake that she committed was painted as humorous.
4 Joey Gladstone
Danny got help raising his kids in Full House from Jesse and Joey. Despite not being blood-related, Joey took care of DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle seriously. Granted that he wasn’t as strict as their biological dad, there was no doubt that he loved them. Despite his silly personality, it was always clear that Joey was sensible. So it was surprising that his own family turned out the way that they did. The Gladstone clan was so chaotic that they were only in the Tanner family home once in Fuller House. Even when Joey continued visiting, he would come without him — proof that even he needed time away from them.
3 Becky Katsopolis
When news broke out that Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, reportedly paid half a million dollars to get their two kids into USC either by faking athletic records or cheating their SAT scores, effectively making them central figures in the national college admission scandal. Netflix then announced that she wouldn’t be back for the final season Fuller House, which meant that she missed the triple wedding of DJ, Stephanie, and Kimmy. There was barely any mention of Becky’s whereabouts until Jesse casually revealed that her wife was in Nebraska helping her mother do an unknown task.
When Becky was introduced in Full House, she was no-nonsense and devoted in her career, but also prioritized her family. The fact that she could just up and leave San Francisco knowing full well that she and Jesse just adopted a new child wasn’t a good look. The fact that she didn’t even make an effort to participate in the triple wedding during the Fuller House finale made it worse.
2 Nicky & Alex Katsopolis
Jesse and Becky’s twins – Nicky and Alex debuted in season 5 of Full House, but they didn’t get as much attention as Michelle did when she was younger, partly because they were not the center of the series. Nonetheless, they’re integral parts of the franchise, so Fuller House brought them back. However, the twins were depicted as spoiled bums, who relied heavily on the help of their parents. Nicky and Alex were planning on opening a fish taco truck after they graduated from college. Their parents didn’t seem to consistently communicate with them, with Jesse seemingly unaware of what his kids were up to.
1 Michelle Tanner
The core Tanner family all returned in Fuller House — except for Michelle. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have long retired from acting, and they opted to skip the project despite being invited. There were actually contradicting news stories about the Olsen twins’ initial involvement in Fuller House. Mary-Kate was reportedly more interested in coming back, but Ashley was set on not coming back. Ultimately, the writers came up with an explanation about where Michelle was in Fuller House. Apparently, she had already moved to New York, hence why she couldn’t participate in her family’s shenanigans in San Francisco.
