The Unauthorized Full House Story will premiere on Lifetime this coming August, despite Dave Coulier’s tweet that Lifetime should #CutItOut. Coulier played Joey in Full House. To be fair to Lifetime, the actors they got to play the original cast members of Full House look fairly close to what the actual actors looked like who played the original characters in Full House. The Lifetime movie just might turn out to be a Must See for fans of the ABC sitcom.
Some wags in the media, like one who wrote an article for Entertainment Tonight upon seeing the cast photo for Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story, have declared things like the cast members look “like a team of impostors of the family you grew up to know and love.” The Lifetime show will reportedly tell details about what really went on behind the scenes of the hit ABC sitcom.
The Lifetime show, The Unauthorized Full House Story, will also focus on the actual lives of the actors, and, according to a press release by Lifetime, “the pressures they faced in balancing their television personas with their real lives.” Full House premiered in 1987. It eventually became very popular, and had a run of 192 episodes.
Full House was so successful that it is still fondly remembered by fans to this day, and repeats of it have attracted a new generation of fans who enjoy watching it with their parents. There will also be a sequel to Full House on Netflix called Fuller House, which will premiere sometime in 2016. It will begin production this coming July. Most of the original Full House cast will be returning for the Netflix sequel, including Bob Saget and John Stamos. The Olsen twins, however, who collectively played Michelle Tanner, will not be in the sequel.
The Unauthorized Full House Story’s cast includes Justin Mader in the role of Dave Coulier, Garrett Brawith from the 2007 movie, Rolling, playing Bob Saget/Danny Tanner, Stephanie Bennett from Big Eyes as Lori Loughlin/Rebecca Donaldson, and Justin Gaston from Days of Our Lives in the dual role of John Stamos and Uncle Jesse. The Lifetime made-for-T.V. movie will premiere on Saturday, August 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Two actresses will be playing the dual roles of actress Candace Cameron Bure. Shelby Armstrong will play the actress when she was younger, and Brittney Wilson, from the movie Rogue, will play her when she was older.
There will also be two actresses in the cast of Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story who will be playing actress Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner. Dakota Guppy, who was in the movie The Returned, will play her when she was younger, and actress Jordyn Olson will play Sweetin when she was older.
Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who played the iconic character Michelle Tanner, will be played by six different actresses. The two actresses who will be playing the youngest versions of the Olsen twins and Michelle Tanner will be Kinslea and Blaise Todd. The versions when the twins were age six will be played by Tyla and Calla Jones, and the age nine versions will be played by Jordan and Kylie Armstrong.
Likewise, actress Andrea Barber, who played Kimmy Gibbler, the best friend of D.J., will be played by Aislyn Watson, from the movie Finding Mrs. Claus, and actress Jaime Schneider, from Twisted Tales of My 9 to 5. They will be playing the actress when she was just starting out in the series and then when she was older.
Harvey Kahn (Flowers in the Attic) and Stephen Bulka, who was an executive producer of Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story, will be the show’s executive producers. Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story will be directed by the director of An En Vogue Christmas, Brian K. Roberts, from a teleplay written by Ron McGee, who also worked writing for the T.V. series Rizzoli & Isles.
Lifetime’s The Unauthorized Full House Story will, with any luck, not cause viewers to say “Cut it out,” nor “Have mercy!” Lifetime has had mixed success with the reality behind-the-scenes flicks that they have produced, but that is not to say that their latest offering will not be potentially a Must See one for fans of the original Full House series.
Written By Douglas Cobb
Sources:
Lifetime Press Release
Entertainment Tonight: Lifetime’s ‘Full House’ Cast Photo
Will Make You Feel Uncomfortable In Some Way You Can’t Quite Describe
E! Online: The Full House Lifetime Movie Cast: What Happened?
Photo Courtesy of Scott Schafer/Lifetime Network
