Full House Creator Jeff Franklin Reveals John Stamos Almost Quit the Series
The creator of the hit TV show Full House, Jeff Franklin, recently opened up about a moment when John Stamos, who played Uncle Jesse on the series, almost backed out of the show. Franklin shared this revelation during the first episode of Dave Coulier’s new podcast, Full House Rewind, which was dedicated to the late Bob Saget.
Franklin recounted the show’s first table read with the actors, noting that there was a room full of studio and network executives who were all there to see Stamos. However, it was Jodie Sweetin who stole the show with her humor, leaving Stamos upset and fearing that the younger stars were going to overshadow him.
Coulier, who played Joey on Full House, recalled walking out with Stamos after the table read, where Stamos expressed his concern that the whole show would revolve around Sweetin. Franklin added that he later learned that Stamos had called his agent and said, “This is a mistake. Get me off this show.”
Fortunately, Stamos eventually made peace with his role on Full House, which turned out to be a huge success. The sitcom aired for eight seasons from 1987 to 1995 and even had a revival in 2016 called Fuller House, which Franklin also created.
During the podcast episode, Franklin also explained how the beloved trio of Danny, Jesse, and Joey came to be. Initially, John Posey was cast as Danny Tanner in the pilot episode. However, Franklin had always wanted Saget for the role. When Saget became available, Franklin conducted a “secret chemistry test” with Saget, Coulier, and Stamos on the ’80s sitcom Perfect Strangers. After the test, Franklin knew that Saget was meant to lead the Tanner family.
Franklin admitted that it was tough to break Posey’s heart and spend about $1 million to reshoot the pilot, but he believed that hiring Saget would greatly improve the show. “I just had this gut instinct, from the beginning, that Bob could be one of those classic TV dads,” Franklin said. “I just fought for him as hard as I could.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Stamos’ representative for comment on Franklin’s revelations.