January 18, 2024 • 34 mins
Every cast & crew member played a part in making Full House the legendary sitcom it was - but without this guest…it never exists. Jodie & Andrea are thrilled to welcome the man who started it all: Full House creator, Jeff Franklin.
Jeff breaks down the unreal origin story of the show and why they spent millions of dollars recasting Danny at the last minute, changing family television forever. And we get the final word on what the worst episode is (spoiler: Jodie’s mom will be THRILLED).
All this and memories from their surreal trip to Japan on an all-new, and essential, How Rude, Tanneritos!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Our guest today is someone I like to call the
heartbeat of Full House. He is the man who made
a pivot in a pitch room and ended up creating
one of the most iconic family sitcoms of all time,
and we are eternally grateful to him for bringing together
our Full House family. Please welcome the one and only
mister Jeff Franklin to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
How long is? How long do we do? I have
to do this?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
See, we're gonna hold hostage right and the torment has
finally turned around. No, we're so excited to have you
on this show though, Jeff, I love this.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Jeff, Welcome to How Rude Tan Rito's.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Did we start?
Speaker 5 (00:57):
We start?
Speaker 6 (00:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (00:58):
It's this is that?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, it's just like to jump right in and uh
and run.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It's a big adrenaline adrenaline rush, just like you're on action.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Wow, guys, don't mess around.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
We don't mess around.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
But Jeff, the last time we saw you, I think
was in Tampa in September for nineties con Is that
the last time the three of us were together.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I think so. I think so.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
And that was September.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That was your first fan convention.
Speaker 6 (01:26):
As I have great pictures of mobs of people in
front of everyone else's table, and then my area is
like it's like a desert tumbling through. Uh, it's it
was pretty funny.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Well, I know, just send people over to your table, Jeff.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
It was.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
You know, there were a few people, a few people
who came by with specscribs and good see.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
They were very excited.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Does it have just said that you were one of
the like you were a long lost Olsen or something,
and you and and nobody would have known the difference and.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Made up something. I was like, cousin, Fred, don't you Yeah, sure.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
The real fans know who I am.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, Jeff, are you surprised still that, thirty six years later,
we still have such a devoted fan base that shows
up to these conventions and listens to these podcasts.
Speaker 6 (02:24):
It is, It is a little surprising, but it's all.
What we had on that show, honestly, was was something
that was really captured lighting in a bottle. I mean,
it had was It's really a special, special group of people,
and and we did something that was never done before.
(02:44):
We actually raised an infant on television and no one
had ever done that.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Oh wow, Yeah, it would skip you'd have like a
baby and then like halfway through the season you were like,
oh my god, it's a toddler, or you know, or
they just aged.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Like a five years old.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Yeah, uh yeah, we actually we did that, and that
alone makes the show unique. But the fact that we had,
you know, the most amazing kids on that show.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Whose idea was it to do it that way and
to not or was it just the fact that, like
the that Ashley Mary Kate sort of gelled so well
with the rest of the cast that it was like this,
there's obvious chemistry or was it an intentional thing? Were
you like, no, we want to see what happens if
you do this?
Speaker 6 (03:33):
Well, I you know, I was just naive. I had
no idea what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You know.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
Now there's there's I think would be good if there's
three kids, but even better if I only have to
write dialogue for.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Two of them.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
There you go, that's smart.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, uh and three, that movie
Three Men and a Baby was coming out that time,
and I think it was just in the air, and uh,
you know, I really wrote it in without thinking anything
about the consequences, you know, not thinking this show was
ever going to sell or.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Turn into anything.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
And next thing, I know, I've got you know, got
screaming babies on the set.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, but no regrets, no regrets about adding kids to
the show. Right, there was kids and dogs, kids, kids
and dogs.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It's in dogs, Golden Retrievers.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So it wasn't always meant to be a family show.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You had a different idea in mind when you went
to pitch this show.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Tell us that story.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's a weird story, how this happened.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
I mean, I don't I can tell it now, but
I you know, for years I didn't really tell the
real story of you know, whole House. I had another
speech where that made me sound really smart, where I
talk about how, you know, there's this myth that every
family in America has a mom and a dad and
two point three kids, and you know it was this wonderful,
(04:59):
you know, family unit, and the truth is that, you know,
that wasn't the case. Most kids were growing up in
single parent homes and we're either you know, divorced, or
they were living with relatives or friends, or you know,
there's all sorts of weird families out there, and those
kids had, you know, had no role models.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You know they were there.
Speaker 6 (05:21):
Weren't those kinds of oddball families on television, So you know,
wouldn't it be great to have a show that, you know,
that made those kids feel good? And it's not about
you know, it's not about who you live with. It's
about you know, are you are they loved? You know,
are they fully supported? So anyway, that was that was
the speech I gave. But that's really not how Full
(05:44):
House happened.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
But that was the speech you would have given had
you had time to prepare it.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And well I gave that speech for years. Why I
can just rattle it off.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
But that was your acceptance speech if we had right.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It was the speech you wrote after, not the heat
of the moment, right right, right speech.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I just do it night by myself. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
We all have those. Every single person in the world
has that speech.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So No. I actually was in a weird dispute with
lor Mar. They had I was there as under a
screenwriting deal and they decided to get out of the
movie business through no fault of mind, but they put
out about six losers in a row and lost a
billion dollars and said, oh, let's just concentrate on television
(06:30):
where we're making all this money. So they I had
to deal with them, and they didn't want to pay me.
They wanted to They just wanted me to go work
on the TV side. And I said, no, I'm I'm
not a sitcom guy anymore. I'm a movie guy.
Speaker 6 (06:43):
I just had a couple of movies come out, and
so we went back and forth, and finally they said,
all right, just pitch something, pitch a show for us,
and if it doesn't sell, we'll pay you.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And fine.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
So I really wasn't crazy about working for that company.
And I thought, let me just figure out a show
that won't sell, and let me come up with the
worst idea ever for a sitcom. And I came up
with this idea that now would be is really smart,
Like somebody can take this and sell it in a heartbeat.
(07:18):
I came up with this thing out of comics, and
wouldn't it be fun to find three up and coming
young guys and put them in a house together and
let them play themselves, you know, And this is nineteen
eighty six, where there's no shows like that, nothing like
that exists. Now everybody's a star and they can make
(07:38):
a show about anyone, and you know, reality is everywhere,
but back.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Then that didn't exist.
Speaker 6 (07:44):
So I had a meeting with Laura More and they're like, Okay,
what do you want to pitch?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I said, well, it's about three.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Guys who were going to cast and they're going to
live in a house and they're going to try to
make it a stand up comics. Okay, well, who are
the characters? Like, I don't know whoever we cast? Well,
what are the stories? I don't know whatever's going on
in their lives? So that's all you got. I'm like, yeah,
(08:13):
well this pitch is only going to last thirty seconds.
I can do it in twelve. And they are looking
at me like what who is this guy?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
What? This is someone professional?
Speaker 6 (08:27):
So they call me back and they're like, well, ABC
wants to meet with you, but you know, they really
want a family show. Can you take this half baked
idea of yours and turn it into you know, a
normal show? And you know they it's like, ohh, I
don't know. I guess I could. I didn't really want it.
(08:47):
And that sort of evolved in the three guys and
then one's a widower and then there's kids, in the House,
and then the three comics morphed into one comic and
two other guys, and it just, you know, it's a
series of of okay, okay, all right, you know, and
they were kind of pushing me to do a traditional
(09:08):
sitcom and it just sort of morphed into in the
Full House, and somewhere along the line, I just went, oh,
this is this is good, This is a fun idea,
This actually could be a cool show, and you know,
my whole attitude kind of flipped. But in the beginning,
I was just trying to come up with something that
was terrible.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Well, and there may be some critics out there that
said that you.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Did through.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Mission accomplished in both ways a success.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
That's so funny.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Yeah, I've got a big I've got a big drawer
full of reviews that that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, that proved that.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And you and you have and you also have a
lovely house full of proof. So yes, one drawer of reviews,
a whole hill worth of proof.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, somebody was nice enough to give me some money
at the.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
End of I mean, look, you know what you really like.
And I hear this all the time from fans.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Though, like you created a show that raised like a
generation of.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Kids of people and like and now has done it
all over the world. I mean, you know going to
Japan was it is incredible?
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Was yeah? Was that? What was that like for you
to realize?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Like, I mean, I know for us it was like,
oh my god, like going to another country is mind blowing.
But like as the person who sort of has shepherded
this whole thing, like when you see it go out
into the world like that, like I can't imagine what
that feels like to sort of have that effect.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
You know. Every now and then I would have a
little a little hint, like I'd be in uh, France
and some little small town and I'd go into some
cafe and I'd give them my credit card and suddenly
somebody would be like not Jeff Franklin from you know whatever,
and you know, in the middle of nowhere, I'm getting
(11:13):
free food and people are taking pictures, and you know.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
It was just like what how did how is it possible?
Speaker 6 (11:20):
But that Japan trip was was shocking because that was
the first time I was actually you know, that was
it was like little you know, I don't know if
it was staged or what, but there was like pandemonium
at the.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
At the airport, the airport we.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
Got off the plane. It was the craziest thing, and
it was just it was so fun. I mean you
can hear like, like I know, the show has been
syndicated and streamed in every country in the world except
for China, I ran, and one other one North Korea.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Really three places. I'm surprised.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Yeah, but you just you know, so there's like over
a billion people that have watched most of the episodes
of Full House.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's like one out of every eight people.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
It's a lot, that's why.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
And then to see all those happy faces, you know,
they were happy, they really happy to see us, and.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
They were crying. They were so like they were so.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Thrilled to see us in Japan. It was really amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I felt like the Beatles walking off the plane and
everybody's like.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Waiting to remember though.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You got off the plane and you were like, oh no,
and Cannie and I were like like I had like
sort of like fixed it, and you were like, oh no,
it's just almost like a thirteen hour flight hours like.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I wasn't camera ready.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
No, no, it was definitely like oh sunglasses. Yeah, I
am fascinated by how you got into the business originally.
I think it's just such an interesting story how you
started working on la Vernon surely and like sort.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Of came up and.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Wound up doing you know, this show, and like, you know,
you created a family when you were such a young
person that like that wasn't part of your experience.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
No, no, not at all. I was.
Speaker 6 (13:25):
I was well at that point, I was thirty two,
that's you know, I've never been married. I didn't have kids.
My sisters didn't even have kids. At one point. I
do have teaching credentials, and I thought, oh, I was
going to be a teacher at one point, and then
I did my student teaching and I taught first grade
(13:47):
believe it or not, in ten weeks with you know,
thirty first graders. Convinced me, you know, that's it. I'm
not having children, know.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
That, Jeff.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I also was going to be an elementary school teacher.
That was when I got my undergrad degree, and I
had no idea you.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Were going to be in the teacher Wow.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Yeah, yeah, so but I you know, but I pivoted.
But yeah, I was sort of the most least likely
person to have created the show. And you know, it
was sort of just a happy accident. But you know,
my family life was not perfect by any means. And
you know, I think there's a part of me that
(14:27):
sort of wanted to create a family that an oddball
family that I would you know, that I'd never quite
got to be a part of, but would have loved
to have been a part of. You know, I think,
you know, my dad was very it was just that
typical nineteen fifties leave it to Beaver dad, you know,
(14:48):
with the suit and tie, disappears at seven in the
morning and comes back at sixth night, and you know,
the nice guy, you know, but not super emotional and
war and all that stuff until much later in his
life when he you know, he kind of discovered that
side to him. But as a kid, you know, that
(15:08):
was you know, that's maybe a part of it. You know,
It's like having guys around that are you know, that
are warm and affectionate and you know, I mean those
those guys were not only these three guys were not
only amazing people and actors, but they were you know,
I mean they were watching them with you guys was
(15:30):
just incredible. It was like, you know, this is this
was perfect accidental perfect casting.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I mean we've talked about that before when John was
on the show and stuff too, and.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
We've talked about how, like, really you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Got three guys who were family guys, even though they
didn't have families of their own yet and didn't have kids,
but like they had that heart there, that that was
who they were, and so it was like they got
to I mean, I keep saying as we're watching the show,
it's like I keep saying, the reason that people fell
(16:08):
in love with it is because you're actually watching us
all fall in love with each other, you know, and
grow and learn and actually kind of weirdly become the
people that are that were reflecting on screen in our
own ways, and like it's it's I had no idea
the impact and like sort of that real mirror reflection
(16:30):
that we had between ourselves and those characters, and like.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Especially the first you know, I mean it came across
very authentic, even in the first episode. Yeah, you know,
it didn't take long for this group to sort of
fall in love with each other. You know, it wasn't like, oh,
it wasn't until season four that you know, everybody sort
of decided they liked each other, right, It was instant.
(16:55):
You know, even those early episodes, which weren't you know,
weren't great compared to you know, when we sort of
figured out the show.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Those early ones were a little rough.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Sea Cruise.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I was like, are we talking about episode three? Z?
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Do you remember Sea Cruise where the three guys go
on a fishing boat to fish and a guy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
That is the single worst episode.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
So we have it on record now that you think
it's the worst too.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
I think it's the worst. It's definitely the worst show
that I was a part of.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Okay, okay, yeah, and and and the running joke is
that my mom had always been like that that third
episode just was it was so out of pocket, it
just seems so So that was like the running joke.
When we watched that one. I was like, this is
gene see worst worst episode, and now I can tell
them guess what.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
No contest it was.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
It was some kind of full house fever dream.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Yeah, there were and there were a lot of those,
but that was the first.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And I can't argue that either. That was that was
painful to rewatch.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You know what, though, I having never watched the.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Show, never watched the show, What do you mean when.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
I was a kid. I never watched. I mean I
watched like the I've seen the pilot.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I'd seen, like, you know, bits and pieces of scenes
that I was in and the but I didn't watch.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
I never watched the show.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
And I watched a few episodes but not definitely short too.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
But it wasn't that I wasn't proud of it. It
was I was a kid, and.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
I was like, yeah, I did that already.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I don't like, I know, I don't need to worry
about it, and I'm not a big TV watcher.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Well, but and being a child actor too.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
I never that must have been why I never heard
from you saying why did you use take two instead
of two?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Three?
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Exactly? Now I've got notes. I'm going back and I
have some Oh.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We have we have pages and pages of notes.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Yeah, I've got thoughts.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
But as child actors do, we're we've spent so much
I'm on the set, having a full time job and
being in school full time that by the time the
weekends came around, we didn't want to watch the show.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
We wanted to go hang out with our friends. So
it was yeah, we had no reason to watch it
until now, I.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Actually love that, because you know, if you watch yourself,
you start to critique yourself and start in your head,
and I don't.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Do that without watching myself.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I'm actually pretty good at just being just being like
this is terrible as it's going on.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
But no, it's true.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And I think as a kid, it was like it
was just more I enjoyed it.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
I loved it. It was fun. It didn't I didn't.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Feel the need to like watch it back. I enjoyed
the doing, not necessarily the end product.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Like that was sort of.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I guess, did your mom and dad's watch?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, yeah, my mom. Of course my mom would not
miss it. My parents would not miss it. I mean,
to this day, if I don't tell my mom that
there's like a KTLA interview that I'm doing and she
misses it, it's a thing.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
So yeah, she watched. She watched every episode at.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
My parents' house and they no longer. They don't live
there anymore. My brother lives there.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
But at my parents' old house there's still VCR tapes.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Yes, of every f under my parents bed is actually
that I might have They finally might have given him
to me and been like just take these please.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
But in VHS tapes that I had.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, well, you can't watch those anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
They Yeah, I think I did.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I had them transferred to DVD somewhere around twenty years ago.
So yeah, at least those might hold up before you
could just buy them, you know, at like best buy.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So, Jeff, is it true that Jody is the only
cast member to not audition for Full House?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
No?
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Oh okay, what's the truth.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Then there's two of them? Oh, oh okay, Jody for sure?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Jody for sure?
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Okay, because I've stumbled onto that a tape of her
from Bowery h And that was your first job, right,
the first It was my.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
First TV job.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I had done commercials up until that point, but that
was my first like TV job.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Yeah, yeah, and it just I mean that was you know,
that was that was one of the happiest days of
my life.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Like, oh my god, who is this girl?
Speaker 6 (21:19):
This is Shirley Temple incarnated incarnated But Shirley Temple is
still alive, so how is this?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
It was?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
That was shoe to you, you know, as there's nobody
I've ever experienced that was so you know, at that age,
that was thank you could not only just light up
the screen, but was so you were so on top
of everything.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It was crazy.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
It was your life was upside down, like to have
it together so much at age four and now look
at you.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Really right, it's true what happens just well, you know,
you can only hold it together for so long.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
But it's still true.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
I can go on to set and like remember everything
where everything was exactly. A mark of this is that
I cannot leave my house without coming back in at
least two to three times because I left my keys,
my phone. I think like it, But on set it's
I am just totally hyper focused and can remember everything.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
But I leave there and I'm like, I don't know
my name. So yeah, so somethings haven't changed.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Vision.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
After I saw the tape, I'm like, okay, you know,
let's offer her the part. And I got nervous, like
I had this vision of you, you know, at four
years old, sitting behind a big desk, smoking a cigar,
you know, reading this show.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I mean I was, yeah, I started early, two is
a week, I don't think.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Basically it was the baby from Roger Rabbit.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
For me.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
The things you could do at I mean, at age five,
there was a show I don't know if you remember
it really early on where everybody had chicken pox and
you were trying to sneak out of the house. Yes,
oh yes, And we wrote this. It was like a
half page monologue for a five year old with all
(23:13):
these twists and turns in it where you're trying to
act like, you know, you're not Stephanie, but you know,
I'm just sneaking out of the house. And and then
the whole thing on wines and you see, you know,
you just fall apart and the truth comes out.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I mean it's a whole you know.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
Yeah, it's a major piece of act. Yeah, like the
first day of rehearsal, you're off book and had it
and it was just it was I never see anything
like it anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yes, Jody did an audition and then John Stamus did
not audition.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
That's why he was so pissed im.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
He we just offered him the part. And then then
I had a we had a lunch together.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Okay, And I'm sure.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
I'm sure you guys read John's book, by the way,
which is phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yes, so great.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, we had him on like the week the week
after it came out, I think, and he was talking
about it and we were just, yeah, I'm so proud
of his journey and his writing.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
It's just mind blowing how good it is.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Uh yeah, I'm trying to write a book, and now
I'm totally discouraged after reading John's book.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
It's like that.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
He's like, Wow, No, but you're you're an actual writer,
so like you have the skill and the talent. John's
was great, I have no doubt about that. But you've
been writing your whole life, and so I think it's
going to do this. You can absolutely do this. Will
be the first in line to buy it, Yeah, and
get it autographed and give it a there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, well not with the lines that fan on that
you got, you know what I mean? They have that
done a little better.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
It might be given out.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
That's the point.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So tell me how Okay, tell me the John Posey
Bob Saggot because Bob Saggat wasn't the original Danny Tanner,
so why not.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
What happened there?
Speaker 6 (25:19):
Well, that's you know, we every all the other roles
fell into place beautifully, and I just couldn't find the
right guy for Danny and I had when when the
show was first picked up. I said to our casting directors,
I said, I have two names on my list. You know,
(25:39):
I want either Paul Reiser, a really hot actor at
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Great, yeah, that would have been a big get. At
that point, he was thinking about it.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
He was he was weighing either full House or this
other show called My Two Dads, which you know that
was the season of single dads, right right, I.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Just came out.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
So there was another show on NBC that's the one
Paul took. And I called you know, I knew him,
I was. I called him up. I'm like, Paul, what
are you doing? Like three dads are better than two?
And we got three kids, you only got one, you know,
And it was.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
My numbers alone were winning, So ye.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Can't you see?
Speaker 6 (26:25):
And it was it's also kind of an unsavory premise
to that show.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It was weird, like the mother.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Had had an accident sleeping with both those guys like
thirteen years ago, and she and so both of them
thought they were the dad, and they decided not to
find out and just moved in together and raise the
girl together. So yeah, it's a weird. It's a weird promise.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Well yeah, and it's also one of those things that
now you'd be like, we'll just go to CVS and
get one of this paternity test and we'll solve this.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Get twenty three and me right, yeah then yeah anyway, and.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Wow that.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Anyway.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
So, and the other name was Bob Saggott and I
knew Bob from UH. I produced a show called Some Buddies.
Bob Saggot was the warm up guy the audience and
that's how I first met Bob. And uh, you know,
because who else can talk.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
For three I'm gonna say that's the perfect It's amazing.
Once you give him a microphone and there's a brief
pause in action, he is gone, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It was really it was hard to get him to
stop talking.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
I was going to say, how to actually get to
shooting when he was doing the warm up.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I mean we would turn the bike off.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
And then that's I was going to say, yeah, that's yeah,
and he'll still go be like it's not working.
Speaker 6 (27:55):
Yeah, oh well I'll keep going. He couldn't possibly want
me to stop talking. But yeah, And I even said
to Bob, I go, you know, one of these days,
you know, I hope we get to work together. I hope,
you know, I would love to create a show someday
and have you star in it, you know, And he's like,
as long as I still get to do the warm up.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You know, I'm pretty good at this.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Is that why you always took the mic from Bob
Purlough doing our targent.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
He just wanted to be the warm up guy.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's his dream job anyway.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
So so Bob couldn't do it because he was under
contract to this CBS morning show and he was there
man on the street guy. He eventually got fired for
being Bob. He was just a little little too risque.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
First, I was gonna say, yeah, like I feel like
Bob being given free reign to like, hey just go
up to people on the street and like riff it
just is a lot. No, yeah, we've made a mistake.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
So my first two choices were were unavailable. And then
we started reading everyone in town and we're basically out
of time, and I was kind of lobbying to like
maybe wait, like let's not shoot it now, Let's wait
till we have the right guy at the studio. Was
(29:18):
very nervous, so like sometimes they just pull the plug
and you never get to make it, and you know,
so we found this guy, John Posey, who was a
dramatic actor. He wasn't you know, he wasn't a comedian,
he wasn't really hadn't done any comedies. Just a likable,
sweet guy and a good actor, and you know, we
(29:41):
just sort of ran out of time and everybody said, Okay,
let's try this guy and hope for the best. And
you know, it was fine, It was fine. It wasn't
you know, nothing bad happened that the pilot tested through
the roof. You know, he was probably he was the
lowest testing character, but that's because the straight basically the
(30:04):
straight man and surrounded my idiots.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So yeah, so you know that was to be expected.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
And then the show gets picked up and there's pictures
everywhere of the cast and John Posey's in them. And
suddenly I get this call from Brad Bray, who was
managed Bob Dave and Gary Shandling, like three really pivotal people.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
In my life.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
And Brad says, hey, you know, so you know, Bob's
around in case, you know, just in case, you know,
you want to go reshoot that pilot, you know, and
you know, I knew what he was saying, and saying,
Bob would really like to do this if there's any way,
And so I arranged for a secret chemistry test on
(30:54):
the Perfect Stranger stage with Michelle Dall and John.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
And Dave and we shot a se I wish I
had it. I don't know.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Yeah, it's probably somewhere one of my brothers probably hasn't, but.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
You know, and it was it was fine.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
But there were just a couple of moments where Bob,
you know, had this spark, and it makes such a
difference to have somebody who's really funny things really funny.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
You know, Bob had no heat. Bob was not a
star yet.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
You know, he was just a guy, you know, on
the circuit trying to trying to get going. But uh,
I just felt like he could be one of those
TV dads you know.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
He was he was.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
He had this cuteness and sweetness and likability and you know,
he really like clicked all the boxes for me, and
I just you know, So then I started lobbying. You know,
I'm like, I know this is crazy, but we got
to do this all over again. We gotta we got
to make a change. I mean, we've got to spend
a million dollars. We I mean it was. People looked
(32:03):
at me like I had lost my mind, and I
just was relentless. I just didn't give up. And it
sucks because you know, we had to let somebody go
and break their heart.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
And he was.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
He's been a working actor for you know after that.
But still, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
What a horrible hor Oh it's the worst as an
actor when you're like, yeah, that was almost Did.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
You have to have that? Did you have the conversation
with John Posey?
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Did you have to fire him yourself or did you
send a producer to do it?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Talked to his agent and his agent told him no,
that was was.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:45):
Like five years later, I had hanging with mister Cooper
on the air and I actually gave John. I was
scared of death, but I wanted to do something nice
for him all those years. It's kind of weird to
have him on Full House, but I had him on
that show. Oh good, sir, It's like I get it,
(33:08):
you know, all good, Thanks for thanks for the three liner.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
Well, fan of Rito's.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I hope, just like us, you want to hear more
from Jeff because we're going to finish it up with
him next week in part two of his interview and
in the meantime, if you want to follow us on Instagram,
make sure and follow.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Us at how Rude Podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
You can also send us an email howardpodcast at gmail
dot com. We'd love to get your questions, find out
what you guys are loving about the show, what you
want to know more about, and make sure you like
and subscribe to the podcast so you can keep hearing
more of how Rude Tannerito's and remember you guys until
next week.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
The world is small, but the house is full.
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Wow, this is Jody Sweeten. It's twenty twenty four.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Yep, no, no,
Our guest today is someone I like to call the
heartbeat of Full House. He is the man who made
a pivot in a pitch room and ended up creating
one of the most iconic family sitcoms of all time,
and we are eternally grateful to him for bringing together
our Full House family. Please welcome the one and only
mister Jeff Franklin to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
How long is? How long do we do? I have
to do this?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
See, we're gonna hold hostage right and the torment has
finally turned around. No, we're so excited to have you
on this show though, Jeff, I love this.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Jeff, Welcome to How Rude Tan Rito's.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Did we start?
Speaker 5 (00:57):
We start?
Speaker 6 (00:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (00:58):
It's this is that?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, it's just like to jump right in and uh
and run.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It's a big adrenaline adrenaline rush, just like you're on action.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Wow, guys, don't mess around.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
We don't mess around.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
But Jeff, the last time we saw you, I think
was in Tampa in September for nineties con Is that
the last time the three of us were together.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I think so. I think so.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
And that was September.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That was your first fan convention.
Speaker 6 (01:26):
As I have great pictures of mobs of people in
front of everyone else's table, and then my area is
like it's like a desert tumbling through. Uh, it's it
was pretty funny.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Well, I know, just send people over to your table, Jeff.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
It was.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
You know, there were a few people, a few people
who came by with specscribs and good see.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
They were very excited.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Does it have just said that you were one of
the like you were a long lost Olsen or something,
and you and and nobody would have known the difference and.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Made up something. I was like, cousin, Fred, don't you Yeah, sure.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
The real fans know who I am.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, Jeff, are you surprised still that, thirty six years later,
we still have such a devoted fan base that shows
up to these conventions and listens to these podcasts.
Speaker 6 (02:24):
It is, It is a little surprising, but it's all.
What we had on that show, honestly, was was something
that was really captured lighting in a bottle. I mean,
it had was It's really a special, special group of people,
and and we did something that was never done before.
(02:44):
We actually raised an infant on television and no one
had ever done that.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Oh wow, Yeah, it would skip you'd have like a
baby and then like halfway through the season you were like,
oh my god, it's a toddler, or you know, or
they just aged.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Like a five years old.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Yeah, uh yeah, we actually we did that, and that
alone makes the show unique. But the fact that we had,
you know, the most amazing kids on that show.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Whose idea was it to do it that way and
to not or was it just the fact that, like
the that Ashley Mary Kate sort of gelled so well
with the rest of the cast that it was like this,
there's obvious chemistry or was it an intentional thing? Were
you like, no, we want to see what happens if
you do this?
Speaker 6 (03:33):
Well, I you know, I was just naive. I had
no idea what I was doing.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
You know.
Speaker 6 (03:39):
Now there's there's I think would be good if there's
three kids, but even better if I only have to
write dialogue for.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Two of them.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
There you go, that's smart.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, so you know, uh and three, that movie
Three Men and a Baby was coming out that time,
and I think it was just in the air, and uh,
you know, I really wrote it in without thinking anything
about the consequences, you know, not thinking this show was
ever going to sell or.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Turn into anything.
Speaker 6 (04:08):
And next thing, I know, I've got you know, got
screaming babies on the set.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Yeah, but no regrets, no regrets about adding kids to
the show. Right, there was kids and dogs, kids, kids
and dogs.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
It's in dogs, Golden Retrievers.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
So it wasn't always meant to be a family show.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You had a different idea in mind when you went
to pitch this show.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Tell us that story.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's a weird story, how this happened.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
I mean, I don't I can tell it now, but
I you know, for years I didn't really tell the
real story of you know, whole House. I had another
speech where that made me sound really smart, where I
talk about how, you know, there's this myth that every
family in America has a mom and a dad and
two point three kids, and you know it was this wonderful,
(04:59):
you know, family unit, and the truth is that, you know,
that wasn't the case. Most kids were growing up in
single parent homes and we're either you know, divorced, or
they were living with relatives or friends, or you know,
there's all sorts of weird families out there, and those
kids had, you know, had no role models.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
You know they were there.
Speaker 6 (05:21):
Weren't those kinds of oddball families on television, So you know,
wouldn't it be great to have a show that, you know,
that made those kids feel good? And it's not about
you know, it's not about who you live with. It's
about you know, are you are they loved? You know,
are they fully supported? So anyway, that was that was
the speech I gave. But that's really not how Full
(05:44):
House happened.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
But that was the speech you would have given had
you had time to prepare it.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And well I gave that speech for years. Why I
can just rattle it off.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
But that was your acceptance speech if we had right.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, that's what I mean.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It was the speech you wrote after, not the heat
of the moment, right right, right speech.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I just do it night by myself. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
We all have those. Every single person in the world
has that speech.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So No. I actually was in a weird dispute with
lor Mar. They had I was there as under a
screenwriting deal and they decided to get out of the
movie business through no fault of mind, but they put
out about six losers in a row and lost a
billion dollars and said, oh, let's just concentrate on television
(06:30):
where we're making all this money. So they I had
to deal with them, and they didn't want to pay me.
They wanted to They just wanted me to go work
on the TV side. And I said, no, I'm I'm
not a sitcom guy anymore. I'm a movie guy.
Speaker 6 (06:43):
I just had a couple of movies come out, and
so we went back and forth, and finally they said,
all right, just pitch something, pitch a show for us,
and if it doesn't sell, we'll pay you.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And fine.
Speaker 6 (06:55):
So I really wasn't crazy about working for that company.
And I thought, let me just figure out a show
that won't sell, and let me come up with the
worst idea ever for a sitcom. And I came up
with this idea that now would be is really smart,
Like somebody can take this and sell it in a heartbeat.
(07:18):
I came up with this thing out of comics, and
wouldn't it be fun to find three up and coming
young guys and put them in a house together and
let them play themselves, you know, And this is nineteen
eighty six, where there's no shows like that, nothing like
that exists. Now everybody's a star and they can make
(07:38):
a show about anyone, and you know, reality is everywhere,
but back.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Then that didn't exist.
Speaker 6 (07:44):
So I had a meeting with Laura More and they're like, Okay,
what do you want to pitch?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I said, well, it's about three.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Guys who were going to cast and they're going to
live in a house and they're going to try to
make it a stand up comics. Okay, well, who are
the characters? Like, I don't know whoever we cast? Well,
what are the stories? I don't know whatever's going on
in their lives? So that's all you got. I'm like, yeah,
(08:13):
well this pitch is only going to last thirty seconds.
I can do it in twelve. And they are looking
at me like what who is this guy?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
What? This is someone professional?
Speaker 6 (08:27):
So they call me back and they're like, well, ABC
wants to meet with you, but you know, they really
want a family show. Can you take this half baked
idea of yours and turn it into you know, a
normal show? And you know they it's like, ohh, I
don't know. I guess I could. I didn't really want it.
(08:47):
And that sort of evolved in the three guys and
then one's a widower and then there's kids, in the House,
and then the three comics morphed into one comic and
two other guys, and it just, you know, it's a
series of of okay, okay, all right, you know, and
they were kind of pushing me to do a traditional
(09:08):
sitcom and it just sort of morphed into in the
Full House, and somewhere along the line, I just went, oh,
this is this is good, This is a fun idea,
This actually could be a cool show, and you know,
my whole attitude kind of flipped. But in the beginning,
I was just trying to come up with something that
was terrible.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Well, and there may be some critics out there that
said that you.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Did through.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Mission accomplished in both ways a success.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
That's so funny.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Yeah, I've got a big I've got a big drawer
full of reviews that that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, that proved that.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
And you and you have and you also have a
lovely house full of proof. So yes, one drawer of reviews,
a whole hill worth of proof.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Yeah, somebody was nice enough to give me some money
at the.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
End of I mean, look, you know what you really like.
And I hear this all the time from fans.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Though, like you created a show that raised like a
generation of.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Kids of people and like and now has done it
all over the world. I mean, you know going to
Japan was it is incredible?
Speaker 5 (10:32):
Was yeah? Was that? What was that like for you
to realize?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Like, I mean, I know for us it was like,
oh my god, like going to another country is mind blowing.
But like as the person who sort of has shepherded
this whole thing, like when you see it go out
into the world like that, like I can't imagine what
that feels like to sort of have that effect.
Speaker 6 (10:53):
You know. Every now and then I would have a
little a little hint, like I'd be in uh, France
and some little small town and I'd go into some
cafe and I'd give them my credit card and suddenly
somebody would be like not Jeff Franklin from you know whatever,
and you know, in the middle of nowhere, I'm getting
(11:13):
free food and people are taking pictures, and you know.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
It was just like what how did how is it possible?
Speaker 6 (11:20):
But that Japan trip was was shocking because that was
the first time I was actually you know, that was
it was like little you know, I don't know if
it was staged or what, but there was like pandemonium
at the.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
At the airport, the airport we.
Speaker 6 (11:35):
Got off the plane. It was the craziest thing, and
it was just it was so fun. I mean you
can hear like, like I know, the show has been
syndicated and streamed in every country in the world except
for China, I ran, and one other one North Korea.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Really three places. I'm surprised.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Yeah, but you just you know, so there's like over
a billion people that have watched most of the episodes
of Full House.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's like one out of every eight people.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
It's a lot, that's why.
Speaker 6 (12:18):
And then to see all those happy faces, you know,
they were happy, they really happy to see us, and.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
They were crying. They were so like they were so.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Thrilled to see us in Japan. It was really amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I felt like the Beatles walking off the plane and
everybody's like.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Waiting to remember though.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You got off the plane and you were like, oh no,
and Cannie and I were like like I had like
sort of like fixed it, and you were like, oh no,
it's just almost like a thirteen hour flight hours like.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I wasn't camera ready.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
No, no, it was definitely like oh sunglasses. Yeah, I
am fascinated by how you got into the business originally.
I think it's just such an interesting story how you
started working on la Vernon surely and like sort.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Of came up and.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Wound up doing you know, this show, and like, you know,
you created a family when you were such a young
person that like that wasn't part of your experience.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
No, no, not at all. I was.
Speaker 6 (13:25):
I was well at that point, I was thirty two,
that's you know, I've never been married. I didn't have kids.
My sisters didn't even have kids. At one point. I
do have teaching credentials, and I thought, oh, I was
going to be a teacher at one point, and then
I did my student teaching and I taught first grade
(13:47):
believe it or not, in ten weeks with you know,
thirty first graders. Convinced me, you know, that's it. I'm
not having children, know.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
That, Jeff.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I also was going to be an elementary school teacher.
That was when I got my undergrad degree, and I
had no idea you.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Were going to be in the teacher Wow.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Yeah, yeah, so but I you know, but I pivoted.
But yeah, I was sort of the most least likely
person to have created the show. And you know, it
was sort of just a happy accident. But you know,
my family life was not perfect by any means. And
you know, I think there's a part of me that
(14:27):
sort of wanted to create a family that an oddball
family that I would you know, that I'd never quite
got to be a part of, but would have loved
to have been a part of. You know, I think,
you know, my dad was very it was just that
typical nineteen fifties leave it to Beaver dad, you know,
(14:48):
with the suit and tie, disappears at seven in the
morning and comes back at sixth night, and you know,
the nice guy, you know, but not super emotional and
war and all that stuff until much later in his
life when he you know, he kind of discovered that
side to him. But as a kid, you know, that
(15:08):
was you know, that's maybe a part of it. You know,
It's like having guys around that are you know, that
are warm and affectionate and you know, I mean those
those guys were not only these three guys were not
only amazing people and actors, but they were you know,
I mean they were watching them with you guys was
(15:30):
just incredible. It was like, you know, this is this
was perfect accidental perfect casting.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I mean we've talked about that before when John was
on the show and stuff too, and.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
We've talked about how, like, really you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Got three guys who were family guys, even though they
didn't have families of their own yet and didn't have kids,
but like they had that heart there, that that was
who they were, and so it was like they got
to I mean, I keep saying as we're watching the show,
it's like I keep saying, the reason that people fell
(16:08):
in love with it is because you're actually watching us
all fall in love with each other, you know, and
grow and learn and actually kind of weirdly become the
people that are that were reflecting on screen in our
own ways, and like it's it's I had no idea
the impact and like sort of that real mirror reflection
(16:30):
that we had between ourselves and those characters, and like.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Especially the first you know, I mean it came across
very authentic, even in the first episode. Yeah, you know,
it didn't take long for this group to sort of
fall in love with each other. You know, it wasn't like, oh,
it wasn't until season four that you know, everybody sort
of decided they liked each other, right, It was instant.
(16:55):
You know, even those early episodes, which weren't you know,
weren't great compared to you know, when we sort of
figured out the show.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Those early ones were a little rough.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Sea Cruise.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
I was like, are we talking about episode three? Z?
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Do you remember Sea Cruise where the three guys go
on a fishing boat to fish and a guy.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
That is the single worst episode.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
So we have it on record now that you think
it's the worst too.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
I think it's the worst. It's definitely the worst show
that I was a part of.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Okay, okay, yeah, and and and the running joke is
that my mom had always been like that that third
episode just was it was so out of pocket, it
just seems so So that was like the running joke.
When we watched that one. I was like, this is
gene see worst worst episode, and now I can tell
them guess what.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
No contest it was.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
It was some kind of full house fever dream.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Yeah, there were and there were a lot of those,
but that was the first.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
And I can't argue that either. That was that was
painful to rewatch.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You know what, though, I having never watched the.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Show, never watched the show, What do you mean when.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
I was a kid. I never watched. I mean I
watched like the I've seen the pilot.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I'd seen, like, you know, bits and pieces of scenes
that I was in and the but I didn't watch.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
I never watched the show.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
And I watched a few episodes but not definitely short too.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
But it wasn't that I wasn't proud of it. It
was I was a kid, and.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
I was like, yeah, I did that already.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
I don't like, I know, I don't need to worry
about it, and I'm not a big TV watcher.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Well, but and being a child actor too.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
I never that must have been why I never heard
from you saying why did you use take two instead
of two?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Three?
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Exactly? Now I've got notes. I'm going back and I
have some Oh.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
We have we have pages and pages of notes.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Yeah, I've got thoughts.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
But as child actors do, we're we've spent so much
I'm on the set, having a full time job and
being in school full time that by the time the
weekends came around, we didn't want to watch the show.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
We wanted to go hang out with our friends. So
it was yeah, we had no reason to watch it
until now, I.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Actually love that, because you know, if you watch yourself,
you start to critique yourself and start in your head,
and I don't.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Do that without watching myself.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
I'm actually pretty good at just being just being like
this is terrible as it's going on.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
But no, it's true.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
And I think as a kid, it was like it
was just more I enjoyed it.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
I loved it. It was fun. It didn't I didn't.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Feel the need to like watch it back. I enjoyed
the doing, not necessarily the end product.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Like that was sort of.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I guess, did your mom and dad's watch?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, yeah, my mom. Of course my mom would not
miss it. My parents would not miss it. I mean,
to this day, if I don't tell my mom that
there's like a KTLA interview that I'm doing and she
misses it, it's a thing.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
So yeah, she watched. She watched every episode at.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
My parents' house and they no longer. They don't live
there anymore. My brother lives there.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
But at my parents' old house there's still VCR tapes.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Yes, of every f under my parents bed is actually
that I might have They finally might have given him
to me and been like just take these please.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
But in VHS tapes that I had.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, well, you can't watch those anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
They Yeah, I think I did.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
I had them transferred to DVD somewhere around twenty years ago.
So yeah, at least those might hold up before you
could just buy them, you know, at like best buy.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So, Jeff, is it true that Jody is the only
cast member to not audition for Full House?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
No?
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Oh okay, what's the truth.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Then there's two of them? Oh, oh okay, Jody for sure?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Jody for sure?
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Okay, because I've stumbled onto that a tape of her
from Bowery h And that was your first job, right,
the first It was my.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
First TV job.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I had done commercials up until that point, but that
was my first like TV job.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Yeah, yeah, and it just I mean that was you know,
that was that was one of the happiest days of
my life.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Like, oh my god, who is this girl?
Speaker 6 (21:19):
This is Shirley Temple incarnated incarnated But Shirley Temple is
still alive, so how is this?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
It was?
Speaker 6 (21:29):
That was shoe to you, you know, as there's nobody
I've ever experienced that was so you know, at that age,
that was thank you could not only just light up
the screen, but was so you were so on top
of everything.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
It was crazy.
Speaker 6 (21:46):
It was your life was upside down, like to have
it together so much at age four and now look
at you.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Really right, it's true what happens just well, you know,
you can only hold it together for so long.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
But it's still true.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
I can go on to set and like remember everything
where everything was exactly. A mark of this is that
I cannot leave my house without coming back in at
least two to three times because I left my keys,
my phone. I think like it, But on set it's
I am just totally hyper focused and can remember everything.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
But I leave there and I'm like, I don't know
my name. So yeah, so somethings haven't changed.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Vision.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
After I saw the tape, I'm like, okay, you know,
let's offer her the part. And I got nervous, like
I had this vision of you, you know, at four
years old, sitting behind a big desk, smoking a cigar,
you know, reading this show.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
I mean I was, yeah, I started early, two is
a week, I don't think.
Speaker 5 (22:44):
Basically it was the baby from Roger Rabbit.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
For me.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
The things you could do at I mean, at age five,
there was a show I don't know if you remember
it really early on where everybody had chicken pox and
you were trying to sneak out of the house. Yes,
oh yes, And we wrote this. It was like a
half page monologue for a five year old with all
(23:13):
these twists and turns in it where you're trying to
act like, you know, you're not Stephanie, but you know,
I'm just sneaking out of the house. And and then
the whole thing on wines and you see, you know,
you just fall apart and the truth comes out.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I mean it's a whole you know.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
Yeah, it's a major piece of act. Yeah, like the
first day of rehearsal, you're off book and had it
and it was just it was I never see anything
like it anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yes, Jody did an audition and then John Stamus did
not audition.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
That's why he was so pissed im.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
He we just offered him the part. And then then
I had a we had a lunch together.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
Okay, And I'm sure.
Speaker 6 (24:04):
I'm sure you guys read John's book, by the way,
which is phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yes, so great.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, we had him on like the week the week
after it came out, I think, and he was talking
about it and we were just, yeah, I'm so proud
of his journey and his writing.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
It was amazing.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
It's just mind blowing how good it is.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Uh yeah, I'm trying to write a book, and now
I'm totally discouraged after reading John's book.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
It's like that.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
He's like, Wow, No, but you're you're an actual writer,
so like you have the skill and the talent. John's
was great, I have no doubt about that. But you've
been writing your whole life, and so I think it's
going to do this. You can absolutely do this. Will
be the first in line to buy it, Yeah, and
get it autographed and give it a there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, well not with the lines that fan on that
you got, you know what I mean? They have that
done a little better.
Speaker 5 (25:03):
It might be given out.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
That's the point.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
So tell me how Okay, tell me the John Posey
Bob Saggot because Bob Saggat wasn't the original Danny Tanner,
so why not.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
What happened there?
Speaker 6 (25:19):
Well, that's you know, we every all the other roles
fell into place beautifully, and I just couldn't find the
right guy for Danny and I had when when the
show was first picked up. I said to our casting directors,
I said, I have two names on my list. You know,
(25:39):
I want either Paul Reiser, a really hot actor at
the time.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Great, yeah, that would have been a big get. At
that point, he was thinking about it.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
He was he was weighing either full House or this
other show called My Two Dads, which you know that
was the season of single dads, right right, I.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Just came out.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
So there was another show on NBC that's the one
Paul took. And I called you know, I knew him,
I was. I called him up. I'm like, Paul, what
are you doing? Like three dads are better than two?
And we got three kids, you only got one, you know,
And it was.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
My numbers alone were winning, So ye.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Can't you see?
Speaker 6 (26:25):
And it was it's also kind of an unsavory premise
to that show.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It was weird, like the mother.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
Had had an accident sleeping with both those guys like
thirteen years ago, and she and so both of them
thought they were the dad, and they decided not to
find out and just moved in together and raise the
girl together. So yeah, it's a weird. It's a weird promise.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Well yeah, and it's also one of those things that
now you'd be like, we'll just go to CVS and
get one of this paternity test and we'll solve this.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Get twenty three and me right, yeah then yeah anyway, and.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Wow that.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Anyway.
Speaker 6 (27:10):
So, and the other name was Bob Saggott and I
knew Bob from UH. I produced a show called Some Buddies.
Bob Saggot was the warm up guy the audience and
that's how I first met Bob. And uh, you know,
because who else can talk.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
For three I'm gonna say that's the perfect It's amazing.
Once you give him a microphone and there's a brief
pause in action, he is gone, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
It was really it was hard to get him to
stop talking.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
I was going to say, how to actually get to
shooting when he was doing the warm up.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I mean we would turn the bike off.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
And then that's I was going to say, yeah, that's yeah,
and he'll still go be like it's not working.
Speaker 6 (27:55):
Yeah, oh well I'll keep going. He couldn't possibly want
me to stop talking. But yeah, And I even said
to Bob, I go, you know, one of these days,
you know, I hope we get to work together. I hope,
you know, I would love to create a show someday
and have you star in it, you know, And he's like,
as long as I still get to do the warm up.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
You know, I'm pretty good at this.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Is that why you always took the mic from Bob
Purlough doing our targent.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
He just wanted to be the warm up guy.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's his dream job anyway.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
So so Bob couldn't do it because he was under
contract to this CBS morning show and he was there
man on the street guy. He eventually got fired for
being Bob. He was just a little little too risque.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
First, I was gonna say, yeah, like I feel like
Bob being given free reign to like, hey just go
up to people on the street and like riff it
just is a lot. No, yeah, we've made a mistake.
Speaker 6 (28:58):
So my first two choices were were unavailable. And then
we started reading everyone in town and we're basically out
of time, and I was kind of lobbying to like
maybe wait, like let's not shoot it now, Let's wait
till we have the right guy at the studio. Was
(29:18):
very nervous, so like sometimes they just pull the plug
and you never get to make it, and you know,
so we found this guy, John Posey, who was a
dramatic actor. He wasn't you know, he wasn't a comedian,
he wasn't really hadn't done any comedies. Just a likable,
sweet guy and a good actor, and you know, we
(29:41):
just sort of ran out of time and everybody said, Okay,
let's try this guy and hope for the best. And
you know, it was fine, It was fine. It wasn't
you know, nothing bad happened that the pilot tested through
the roof. You know, he was probably he was the
lowest testing character, but that's because the straight basically the
(30:04):
straight man and surrounded my idiots.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
So yeah, so you know that was to be expected.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
And then the show gets picked up and there's pictures
everywhere of the cast and John Posey's in them. And
suddenly I get this call from Brad Bray, who was
managed Bob Dave and Gary Shandling, like three really pivotal people.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
In my life.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
And Brad says, hey, you know, so you know, Bob's
around in case, you know, just in case, you know,
you want to go reshoot that pilot, you know, and
you know, I knew what he was saying, and saying,
Bob would really like to do this if there's any way,
And so I arranged for a secret chemistry test on
(30:54):
the Perfect Stranger stage with Michelle Dall and John.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
And Dave and we shot a se I wish I
had it. I don't know.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Yeah, it's probably somewhere one of my brothers probably hasn't, but.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
You know, and it was it was fine.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
But there were just a couple of moments where Bob,
you know, had this spark, and it makes such a
difference to have somebody who's really funny things really funny.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
You know, Bob had no heat. Bob was not a
star yet.
Speaker 6 (31:27):
You know, he was just a guy, you know, on
the circuit trying to trying to get going. But uh,
I just felt like he could be one of those
TV dads you know.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
He was he was.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
He had this cuteness and sweetness and likability and you know,
he really like clicked all the boxes for me, and
I just you know, So then I started lobbying. You know,
I'm like, I know this is crazy, but we got
to do this all over again. We gotta we got
to make a change. I mean, we've got to spend
a million dollars. We I mean it was. People looked
(32:03):
at me like I had lost my mind, and I
just was relentless. I just didn't give up. And it
sucks because you know, we had to let somebody go
and break their heart.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
And he was.
Speaker 6 (32:16):
He's been a working actor for you know after that.
But still, you know.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
What a horrible hor Oh it's the worst as an
actor when you're like, yeah, that was almost Did.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
You have to have that? Did you have the conversation
with John Posey?
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Did you have to fire him yourself or did you
send a producer to do it?
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Talked to his agent and his agent told him no,
that was was.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (32:45):
Like five years later, I had hanging with mister Cooper
on the air and I actually gave John. I was
scared of death, but I wanted to do something nice
for him all those years. It's kind of weird to
have him on Full House, but I had him on
that show. Oh good, sir, It's like I get it,
(33:08):
you know, all good, Thanks for thanks for the three liner.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
You know.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
Well, fan of Rito's.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
I hope, just like us, you want to hear more
from Jeff because we're going to finish it up with
him next week in part two of his interview and
in the meantime, if you want to follow us on Instagram,
make sure and follow.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
Us at how Rude Podcast.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
You can also send us an email howardpodcast at gmail
dot com. We'd love to get your questions, find out
what you guys are loving about the show, what you
want to know more about, and make sure you like
and subscribe to the podcast so you can keep hearing
more of how Rude Tannerito's and remember you guys until
next week.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
The world is small, but the house is full.
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Wow, this is Jody Sweeten. It's twenty twenty four.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Yep, no, no,
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Andrea Barber
Jodie Sweetin
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