John Stamos was a major part of this week’s This Is Us , even if he wasn’t a physical cast member on the NBC drama. The Fuller House actor was name-checked multiple times in the This Is Us episode “The Last Seven Weeks,” which marked the hit show’s winter return after a lengthy holiday hiatus.
In a key scene from the episode, former The Manny star Kevin Pearson (Justin Hartley) asked his girlfriend Zoe (Melanie Liburd) to move in with him into his New York City condo by giving her a John Stamos key chain. Kevin explained that his nieces Annie and Tess (Faithe Herman, Eris Baker) gave him the throwback keychain after a phase of referring to him as Uncle Jesse, which is John Stamos’ character from the 1980s sitcom Full House. The photo of John Stamos on the key ring is from the actor’s mulleted early Jesse Katsopolis era on the ABC classic comedy, and it is priceless.
While Kevin’s move-in proposal didn’t initially go as planned—Zoe gave him the Stamos keychain back after getting cold feet—things eventually worked out for the couple.
“I’m in love with you,” Zoe later cried to Kevin. “I want John Stamos back.”
Stamos, who is clearly a This Is Us superfan, later took to Twitter to post a GIF from the scene with a thank you to the show’s producers for the namecheck in the episode.
“The hardest I’ve cried since the pilot,” the Netflix star wrote. ” Thanks for the namecheck, my @NBCThisIsUs friends. Love you and love the show xo JS.”
John Stamos also gave This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman and showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger a shout-out. You can see his sweet tweet below.
Of course, while Full House fans were pleasantly surprised by the John Stamos reference, the actor may have known about it ahead of time. Shortly before the This Is Us winter premiere aired, Stamos took to Twitter to respond to Dan Fogelman’s announcement that a “great” new episode was coming.
“Any mention of me in this particular episode Danny Boy??” Stamos teased.
John Stamos has a long history with the This Is Us creator. In 2015, Dan Fogelman was an executive producer on Stamos’ short-lived Fox sitcom Grandfathered . Stamos also appeared as a singing knight in Fogelman’s musical comedy series on ABC, Galavan t. With a connection like that, maybe John Stamos’ Uncle Jesse can make a cameo on This Is Us and come face to face with The Manny at some point.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
