Full House: The Complete First Season (1987)
Film:
DVD:

Created by Jeff Franklin
Starring Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin

Features:

• All twenty-two first season episodes
  
• Running audio commentary by creator Franklin on two episodes
  
• The original unaired pilot episode with John Posey in the Bob Saget role
  

Released by: Warner Brothers.
Rating: NR.
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; episodes appear in their original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Fans of the show should own.

Danny Tanner's (Saget) having a bit of a rough time. His wife has died recently, leaving him with three daughters (Cameron, Sweetin, and the Olsen Twins) to raise. As a sportscaster, he needs to leave the house at some point, and the idea of a mail order bride apparently doesn't appeal to him at this point in time, so he asked his brother-in-law, Jesse (Stamos), and his best friend, Joey (Coulier), to move in and try and help out with the girls.

Well, this show is about how I remember it: a bit too cute for my tastes. It was the same way back when I was in my teens and age has not improved my thoughts on this. Bob Saget just, for some reason, always leaves a bad taste in my mind. I never bought John Stamos as the hair-rock guy and Dave Coulier was always the poor man's Robin Williams.

In fact, I find it incredibly amusing that what this show wound up being most known for is spawning the careers of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. And, I don't know: the whole thing's just so damn happy. For example, they saw as a thing to make their trademark that they would have a hug moment in each episode. Maybe that's what spawned the Hallmark Channel, I don't know.

One of the things that creator Franklin mentions in his commentary time here is commendable, though. In addition to providing insight on how they rode the wake of Three Men and a Baby, they also wanted to show the many children out there in audience-land living in unorthodox family setups that they were in good company. So that, we can appreciate. There's also a trivia track on the Thanksgiving episode.

Also a nice feature is the unaired original pilot. Apparently, they couldn't get Bob Saget at the time the pilot was shot, so John Posey was cast instead. When the pilot was picked up, Saget had become available, so they snagged him. What's odd is that after watching Posey, it's almost a relief to see Saget in the role. Posey is hard to take seriously as he's obviously Acting his way through the show. At least Saget you could take as seriously as you ever could. The pilot's scenes with Posey in the role were reshot with Saget.

For those who like the show, this set is a no-brainer to own. Warner Brothers has included enough bonus action to warrant a purchase. However, for the non-fan, a rental is more than enough.