‘Unauthorized Full House Story’ Lifetime Movie Bashed By ‘Full House’ Former Co-Stars
Whatever happened to predictability? Apparently it’s alive and well in the reaction to Saturday night’s premier of The Unauthorized Full House Story. Although not as anticipated as the forthcoming Netflix show, Fuller House, the aforementioned Lifetime movie had the attention of some die-hard Full House aficionados as well as a handful of the original show’s cast members. Cinema Blend looked at the social media activity from a couple of Full House‘s child stars and noted that the made-for-TV movie didn’t exactly garner rave reviews.
Candace Cameron Bure, who played D.J. Tanner on Full House, summed up her opinions with a succinct but eminently clear salvo via Twitter. Bure currently appears in programs on the Hallmark Channel but on Saturday night, her television was apparently tuned to Lifetime.
So bad. Just so bad.
— Candace Cameron Bure (@candacecbure) August 23, 2015
Bure also re-tweeted Andrea Barker, D.J. Tanner’s on-screen BFF Kimmy Gibler, who used an old screen shot of her character to convey her disdain for The Unauthorized Full House Story. Barker and Bure are also working together on Fuller House these days.
Basically I’m going to be making this face all night. pic.twitter.com/j0yG1PkxHN — Andrea Barber (@andreabarber) August 23, 2015
The Toronto Sun reported that John Stamos, the standard bearer for the legacy of Full House, tweeted a shout-out to Justin Gaston, the actor who portrayed him in Lifetime’s quasi-biopic. For his part, Gaston responded with humble gratitude.
Good luck tonight @JMichaelGaston – Hope you have as much fun being me as I do. #UnauthorizedFullHouseStory
— John Stamos (@JohnStamos) August 22, 2015
@JohnStamos it was an honor. If only for a night. I hope I did you justice. You will always be my hairspiration!
— Justin Gaston (@JMichaelGaston) August 23, 2015
Even Jeff Franklin, the creator of Full House and its sequel Fuller House, weighed in on the spectacle of The Unauthorized Full House Story, but his musings were far from flattering, both with respect to the facts behind the script and the cast of the Lifetime movie.
About that lifetime movie. Not so good. And for the record, I never had a fight with bob Saget. But at least they spelled our names right!
— jeff franklin (@fullhouseguy) August 23, 2015
Tough to get past the casting. And nobody hid behind the couch whispering lines to the twins. We hid behind the other actors!
— jeff franklin (@fullhouseguy) August 23, 2015
USA Today didn’t pull any punches in its review of The Unauthorized Full House, either. The news outlet gave the movie a resounding “thumbs down,” taking issue with the production’s casting, set construction, and other details regarding the look and feel of it all.
“Here’s one fact that we’re 100% sure of: we’d gladly take those two hours of our lives back.”
VH1’s assessment of Lifetime’s efforts was a little more charitable, albeit much more sarcastic. An online review of The Unauthorized Full House Story featured a list of “the best moments and revelations” of the show, including the fact that Bob Saget wasn’t the first actor chosen to play the role of Danny Tanner. Bob Saget later got the part after John Posey didn’t cut the on-screen mustard.
Despite its rough reviews, The Unauthorized Full House really got folks talking, and that is not always a small feat when it comes to today’s entertainment market. If the network brass at Lifetime are considering a follow-up, they have plenty of time to get the next one right. After all, it will be a few years until they have enough material to put together The Unauthorized Fuller House Story.
[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]
