List of Full House characters

Main cast in season seven

This is a list of the characters from the American television sitcom Full House. The series ran for eight seasons on ABC from September 22, 1987 to May 23, 1995.

Main characters

Note

Jesse Katsopolis

Jesse Katsopolis (portrayed by John Stamos; the character's last name in season one was Cochran, but was changed reportedly due to John Stamos wanting his character to better reflect his Greek heritage) is Danny's brother-in-law, Pam's younger brother and husband to Rebecca Donaldson and father to twins Nicky and Alex. Born Hermes Katsopolis (as revealed in the season 5 episode "The Legend of Ranger Joe", and was named after his great-grandfather, who in turn is named after the Greek god of swiftness), he did not like his birth name as other kids teased him for it; so when he was in kindergarten, he begged his parents to have his name changed to Jesse, thinking that one had to have a "cool name" to be in the in-crowd. As an adult, he was more confident with his true name, telling the girls about the Greek god of speed and how his great-grandfather saved a village from a volcano, but still goes by Jesse. In contrast with Danny, Jesse is portrayed as being irresponsible most of the time, but occasionally serves as a responsible adult when a responsible adult is needed (such as when he discovers Stephanie's classmate is a child abuse victim in the season 6 episode "Silence is Not Golden"). Jesse is revealed as a high school dropout in season six's "Educating Jesse", though in an earlier plot (in season four's "One Last Kiss") about a high school reunion, he mentions not wearing his cap to his graduation because he did not want to mess up his hair.

Jesse's obsession with his hair becomes a major trait of his throughout the series, as well as his obsession with Elvis Presley. His obsession with the former is fully established in the season two premiere "Cutting it Close", which focuses on Jesse's tough time coping when Stephanie accidentally cuts off a hunk of his mullet, which leads to him getting into a motorcycle accident that lands him in a full arm cast; later episodes reveal that he has a special comb called Mr. Goodpart (which gets damaged in a melee to purchase a Mighty Mutant Super Kids Super Fortress for Michelle in season eight's "I've Got a Secret") and that he gives pep talks to his hair (as revealed in season seven's "Wrong-Way Tanner").

Jesse first moves into the house with virtually no experience in taking care of young children or babies, but starts to learn the ropes along the way. He becomes closer to all of his nieces over the course of the series, especially Michelle, to whom he affectionately nicknames "munchkin" and shorty among others. In the first season, Jesse works for his father Nick's exterminating business before leaving to pursue work in advertising, frequently working with Joey. He later works with Joey as co-hosts of an afternoon drive time show on local radio station KFLH called The Rush Hour Renegades. Further along in the series, in season seven's "Smash Club: The Next Generation", Jesse becomes the new owner of The Smash Club. Although he was shown to be a sports fan as well as a good athlete in the earlier seasons, it is revealed in later seasons that Jesse hated all sports (especially basketball, as revealed in "Air Jesse" from season eight) and was not very athletic. Jesse's main passion is music, and struggles to "hit it big" with his band, Jesse and the Rippers (in the earlier part of the series). However, his increasing responsibilities to his family, radio job, and as owner of a club, lead his band members to kick him out of the band (in the season eight premiere "Comet's Excellent Adventure"); in "Making Out is Hard to Do", he briefly decides to quit being a musician until he has a nightmare in which he appears on Downbeat (a Behind the Music-style show-within-a-dream-sequence) has him dream that his family hates him, Rebecca has divorced him (and moved on with Joey) and Jesse himself was a balding (due to a scalp infection) and overweight mechanic with Kimmy Gibbler (dressed in the attire of the Married... with Children character Peggy Bundy) as a wife; two episodes later in "To Joey, With Love," he subsequently starts a new band called Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets. He also says huh, like "not you huh".

Danny Tanner

Daniel Ernest "Danny" Tanner (portrayed by Bob Saget, John Posey in the unaired pilot) is left with three young daughters to raise after his wife, Pam, dies in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. At the beginning of the series, he works as a sportscaster for Channel 8 News. In the season two episode "Tanner vs. Gibbler", he is chosen by his station's general manager Mr. Strowbridge to be the co-host for the station's new morning talk show, Wake Up, San Francisco, alongside Rebecca Donaldson. In season one's "The Big Three-O," Danny's beloved car "Bullet" is severely damaged after another driver rear-ends the vehicle, leading it roll out of park and become submerged in the San Francisco Bay as Jesse and Joey shop for new seat covers for the car to surprise Danny with as a present for his 30th birthday; Jesse and Joey end up bidding for a new car that is identical in appearance, unknowingly competing with Danny, who purchases the car (and later named it "Walter") after he calls the car dealership that Jesse and Joey are and places a bid over the phone.

Danny goes on his first date since his wife's death in the season one episode "Sea Cruise," as part of a fishing trip that was intended to only include himself, Jesse and Joey; he is seen going out on dates on select occasions throughout the series. While Rebecca goes on maternity leave in season five just before giving birth to his nephews Nicky and Alex, Danny ends up falling in love with her co-host replacement, Vicky Larson. The two of them begin dating in season five's "Easy Rider," becoming Danny's most serious relationship since he became a widower, and the two later become engaged in the season six finale "The House Meets the Mouse". However, their relationship turned into a long-distance situation as Vicky was assigned various reporting jobs away from San Francisco. In season seven's "The Perfect Couple," Vicky ended up getting her dream job of anchoring the network news in New York City, but a long-distance relationship did not work for either of them, so Danny decides to break up with her; this leads him to a mass feng shui habit in the following episode, "Is It True About Stephanie?," to which his family acknowledges was his way of trying to cope with his breakup. Danny eventually meets fellow single parent Claire Mahan in season eight episode "Making Out Is Hard to Do," and they have subsequently start dating in the episode "Claire and Present Danger."

Although he is not established with this trait early on (season one's "The Return of Grandma" depicts him as begrudgingly trying to clean the messy house with Jesse and Joey after their mothers threaten to move in if they cannot keep the place clean), much of the humor surrounding Danny's character comes from his obsession with cleaning and cleanliness. Danny can often be found cleaning for cleaning's sake, sometimes even cleaning his cleaning products (in a version of the original season three opening titles, seen during episodes in which Lori Loughlin does not appear as Rebecca Donaldson, Danny is even shown to be cleaning his floor vacuum with a handheld vacuum). He says the family motto is "clean is good, dirt is bad". Danny views spring cleaning as his equivalent to Christmas and home movies as his New Year's Eve (as revealed in the season two episode "Goodbye, Mr. Bear"). His quirkiness and generally "unhip dad" personality are also targets for humor. He is a skilled pool, dart player and guitarist (as respectively revealed in season four's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and season eight's "To Joey, with Love").

Like most other characters, he generally cannot stand Kimmy Gibbler, considering her as “an annoying, obnoxious nuisance”;^[1] at times, urging D.J. to make new friends whenever Kimmy does something that irritates him. Danny also has one brother and one sister, and his parents are divorced. Unlike his brother-in-law Jesse (who is more into rock-and-roll), Danny has a taste for 1970s Disco music; one of his favorite songs is Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry.

Joey Gladstone

Joseph Alvin "Joey" Gladstone (portrayed by Dave Coulier) is the childhood best friend of Danny Tanner, and adulthood best friend of Jesse Katsopolis. Joey moved in with Danny shortly after the death of Danny's wife, Pam, to help raise D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle. Joey works as a stand-up comedian, whose act usually includes vocal imitations of cartoon characters such as Popeye, Bullwinkle J. Moose, Pepe LePew and others. Joey initially slept in the alcove of Danny's living room. However, after complaining of not being able to find privacy, Danny reconstructs his basement garage into a bedroom for him in the season one episode "Joey's Place" (prior to the reveal, Joey contemplates moving out after the family's behavior makes him believe that Jesse and Danny can handle taking care of the girls and that he is not needed). Joey nearly quits comedy in the season one episode "But Seriously, Folks," after Phyllis Diller (who was there as an audience member) hogs his slot at a comedy club, deciding to change his name to Joe and become a serious businessman. He reverses his decision after D.J. decides to quit practicing the guitar, realizing that he is not setting a good example. Although there was some tension between Joey and Jesse when they first move in with the Tanners, they quickly become good friends to the point where Jesse asks Joey to be his best man at his wedding. Even so, Joey's perceived immaturity does irritate Jesse at times. Joey usually handles the day-to-day raising of the kids by doing chores like making meals, driving the kids to school appointments, and after school activities, taking care of Michelle as a baby, and helping the kids with their homework. Joey also buys D.J. her first car for her 16th birthday in the season six episode "Grand Gift Auto," which ends up getting repossessed after the police discover that the car had been stolen; Joey nearly moves out again after the family's attempts to try illustrate that Joey is not capable of committing a crime make him believe that the rest of the family thinks of him as a big joke. It is in this episode that Joey reveals that he had wished to have siblings as he grew up as an only child (even imaging that he was part of The Brady Bunch), and that being part of the Tanner family gave him the extended family he always wanted. In season four's "Viva Las Joey," Joey is reunited with his estranged father (at the arrangement of Stephanie and D.J.), a former serviceman in the Armed Forces, with whom Joey did not get along with growing up due to his strict parenting style and his disapproval of Joey's dream of being a comedian; his father realizes that Joey made the right career decision when he sees his son's routine when Joey is invited as an opening act for Wayne Newton in Las Vegas.

Joey has held various jobs in addition to his work as a stand-up comic. For a while during seasons two and three, Joey and Jesse run an advertising business, J&J Creative Services, in which they partnered to compose jingles for television and radio commercials. In season four's "Joey Goes Hollywood," Joey wins a role he secretly auditions for in a sitcom co-starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello called Surf's Up. Joey's most successful job was portraying "Ranger Joe," on an afternoon children's variety television show. He was given the job to replace retiring original host "Ranger Roy" in season five's "The Legend of Ranger Joe," only to be fired after triggering Roy's acute physical paranoia when hugging him as a thank you; after Danny informs Joey of this while telling him of his firing, Joey ends up saving Roy from a "hug-o-gram" that he had sent to gratitude for the job; he then gets rehired after Roy becomes impressed with Joey's hosting skills when he takes over for Roy on his last show. Ranger Joe's sidekick is his wise-cracking woodchuck marionette puppet "Mr. Woodchuck" (first seen in "The Legend of Ranger Joe" and last seen in "Michelle Rides Again"). Joey quits his job in season six's "Radio Days," after he becomes disgruntled with his boss Mr. Strowbridge's wife as his co-host. Jesse and Joey subsequently become co-hosts of a successful afternoon show on radio station KFLH called, Rush Hour Renegades. Besides his impressions, much of Joey's humor comes from his depiction as a man child, particularly the fact that he still watches cartoons as an adult and has an extensive knowledge of animation.

D.J. Tanner

Donna Jo Margaret Tanner (portrayed by Candace Cameron) is Danny and Pam's oldest child. Over the course of the show's run, D.J. attends Frasier Street Elementary, Van Atta Junior High and Bayview High School. In the pilot episode "Our Very First Show," she ends up having to share her bedroom with Stephanie in order to allow Jesse to move into Stephanie's old bedroom; due to problems with privacy regarding Stephanie, in the season five episode "Take My Sister, Please," she sells Danny on an idea to switch rooms with Michelle, who in turn would move in with Stephanie (only after convincing Michelle to move in with Stephanie, after she rejects the offer to move in with her older sister).

D.J. is typically the daughter who acts the most practical, often giving advice to her younger sisters, Michelle and Stephanie. Although she sometimes bickers with them, she cares for them deeply. As D.J. entered into middle school, she started to deal with more serious issues like puberty and dating. She has her first serious relationship with Steve Hale (who was first introduced in the season five episode "Sisters in Crime"), who later becomes a real fixture in her life (and a regular character beginning in season six) when their characters return from a summer abroad in Spain. Their relationship lasts until they break up in the season seven episode "Love on the Rocks," when they realize that the passion in their relationship is gone, but they agree to remain friends. D.J. has on-and-off relationships (during the show's final season) with guitarist Viper (a member of Jesse's new band Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets) and rich kid Nelson, but both relationships do not last (the two end up vying for D.J.'s affections in the season eight episode "D.J.'s Choice," only for D.J. to reject them both after their fighting gets to be too much for her to bear). In the series finale "Michelle Rides Again," Steve shows up at the Tanner house to take D.J. to her senior prom and they share a kiss. Her best friend throughout the show was next-door neighbor Kimmy Gibbler, who was the complete opposite of D.J. in every way. In season eight, D.J. gets accepted to University of California, Berkeley and it is implied she will go to college there after graduating high school (after she was rejected from her first choice, Stanford University).

Stephanie Tanner

Stephanie Judith Tanner (portrayed by Jodie Sweetin) is the witty, sarcastic middle child of Danny and Pam, the younger sister of D.J., and the older sister of Michelle. Her mother died when she was five years old. Her catchphrases during the early seasons of the series include "how rude!," "well, pin a rose on your nose!" and "hot dog". She eventually evolved into something of a tomboy in seasons four and five. Stephanie has a habit of spying on D.J.'s life by reading her diary and eavesdropping on her telephone calls (having been caught in the act several times), and is generally the most athletic and nosiest of the Tanner girls. Her best friends in school are Gia Mahan and Mickey, whom she meets in season seven (the former is the only one who appears through to season eight). Of the three sisters, Stephanie has dealt with the toughest issues, such as peer pressure into smoking (in season seven's "Fast Friends"), "make-out" parties (in season eight's "Making Out is Hard to Do"), joyriding (in season eight's "Stephanie's Wild Ride"), and uncovering a classmate's child abuse (in season six's "Silence is Not Golden"), as well as the death of her mother when she was only five. In her early years, she is very sentimental about Mr. Bear, a stuffed animal that her mother gave to her after Michelle was born (this was the focal point of the season two episode "Goodbye Mr. Bear"). She and Jesse are the most abrasive when it comes to how they feel about Kimmy Gibbler.

Michelle Tanner

Michelle Elizabeth Tanner (played by twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), is Danny and Pam's youngest daughter. Danny is more overprotective of Michelle than the other girls. Michelle was just a baby when Pam died (as a result, she does not remember her mom). Jesse and Joey's misadventures in taking care of her when she was a baby provided a great deal of humor. Once Michelle started to grow up, she became the focus of more of the show's storylines. Her best friends, Teddy and Denise, appear frequently in later seasons. She also has other friends, such as Derek Boyd, Lisa Leeper, and bossy Aaron Bailey, who Michelle has an uneasy friendship with. Her favorite toys (in earlier seasons) are Barney, a plush bear who hangs on the wall above her bed, and her stuffed pig. It is apparent that Jesse is somewhat closer to her than her sisters, and he gives her nicknames such as "munchkin", "shorty" and "rugrat". She is known for her many recurring catchphrases such as "you got it, dude!", "you're in big trouble, mister!", "oh, puh-lease!", "aw, nuts!", "duh!", and "no way, José!"

Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis

Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis (portrayed by Lori Loughlin), is the sarcastic, practical, but very loving and well-educated woman who becomes the love interest and later wife of Jesse Katsopolis. Becky was born in Valentine, Nebraska and decided to pursue journalism as a career while she was in high school. Becky moves to San Francisco to become the co-host of Wake Up, San Francisco, being paired with Danny as her co-host; the two become close friends, although she often quips about Danny's quirks and tendency to ramble in his conversations. She was reluctant to admit her feelings for Jesse at first, but she eventually falls in love with him. The two almost elope in Lake Tahoe in the season two finale "Luck Be a Lady", but backed out when Becky realized that she and Jesse were not really ready to get married. They eventually get married (in the second part of the season four episode "The Wedding") on Valentine's Day.

After Jesse has a bittersweet farewell to the rest of the family when he decides to move into Rebecca's apartment in the season four episode "Fuller House," Rebecca agrees to move in with the Tanners and Joey when she discovers how much Jesse misses them, living together in the attic (which Jesse and Joey have converted into an apartment). Becky helps to transform Jesse, although she still teases him about his obsession with his hair and love of Elvis. She also serves as a mother figure to the girls at times; most prominently giving advice to D.J. as she becomes a teenager. Becky gives birth to twin boys Nicholas and Alexander on Michelle's fifth birthday in part two of the season five episode "Happy Birthday, Babies". She and Jesse name Alexander after a teacher who inspired her to become a journalist and Nicholas after Jesse's father. Becky is offered a producer role on Wake Up, San Francisco in the season eight episode "The Producer", which results in Danny briefly quitting the show due to him being passed over for such a promotion.

Kimmy Gibbler

Kimberly Louise "Kimmy" Gibbler (portrayed by Andrea Barber, recurring since season one and upgraded to a series regular in season five) is D.J.'s best friend and the Tanners' annoying but well-meaning next-door neighbor. Kimmy and D.J. have been best friends since they were eight years old, despite their differing personalities; the two have temporarily ended their friendship multiple times during the show's run due to disputes over various situations, but always end up reconciling and forgive each other. Most of the Tanner family cannot stand her (Danny, Stephanie and Jesse are especially annoyed by her, with Stephanie often making jabs at her lack of intelligence and other unusual quirks and Danny urging D.J. to make new friends and often asking Kimmy to leave the house). She is often known to be a poor student in school, and had copied D.J.'s homework during most of the early seasons. Kimmy is the subject of a recurring gag in the series, regarding her terrible foot odor, which becomes noticeable to other people mainly once she removes her shoes; Kimmy also becomes aware of this in a scene in the season seven episode "The Apartment", in which she accidentally grabs one of her shoes while searching for her phone when Danny calls her to find out the whereabouts of D.J. (who had fallen asleep on her boyfriend Steve's couch while watching a movie in his apartment). She is also known to be addicted to shopping.

In the episode "Another Opening, Another No Show", Jesse and Kimmy get locked in a closet on the night of the grand re-opening of The Smash Club, after the door handle breaks off in Jesse's hand; while there, Kimmy finally tells Jesse how much it hurts when he and the other Tanners (except for D.J.) pick on her. He finally tries to stop picking on her and tells the Tanners to try to go easy on her, though their behaviour towards her remains the same in later episodes, although she never seems to mind it anymore.

Kimmy's only serious relationship is with Duane (who is introduced in season eight episode "Taking the Plunge"), a very air-headed boy that was only was known to say "whatever". Ironically, he was shown to have a fondness for Shakespearean works as he passionately quoted a line from Shakespeare's 18th sonnet. In "Taking the Plunge," Kimmy decides to run off to Reno and elope with Duane after she was rejected by the colleges that she had applied to, and is afraid that D.J. will go off to school and forget her. When D.J., Jesse, and Danny arrive at the chapel to stop her from getting married too young, D.J. tells her that she will always be her best friend no matter what. In the series finale "Michelle Rides Again," she tries to find D.J. a blind date for prom, and ends up surprising her with her ex-boyfriend Steve instead.

Steve Hale

Steven "Steve" Hale (originally introduced as Steve Peters; portrayed by Scott Weinger) is D.J.'s first steady boyfriend. He is introduced in the season five episode "Sisters in Crime" as D.J.'s date to a movie that she ends up taking Michelle and Stephanie to, and returns to the series as a regular character in the sixth season premiere "Come Fly With Me" (which establishes the character as played by Weinger in his original appearance the season prior). Steve is two years older than D.J. and is a star member of the high school wrestling team. He is known for having a healthy appetite, and often eats at the Tanners' when he visits.

In "A Very Tanner Christmas," Steve receives an acceptance letter to a party school in Florida that he had applied to (this causes the two to briefly break up due to D.J.'s concern that she would miss him), but decides to go to a local community college in order to improve his grades and continue his relationship with D.J. In the season six episode "Prom Night," both he and D.J. attend Steve's prom where he is elected prom king (although his ex-girlfriend—whose affections he later rejects—is named prom queen). Steve and D.J. break up in the season seven episode "Love on the Rocks," after they realize that their relationship was not as passionate as it used to be, but they decide to remain friends.

Nicky and Alex Katsopolis

Nicholas "Nicky" and Alexander "Alex" Katsopolis, (played by Daniel and Kevin Renteria as babies during season 5; Blake and Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit as toddlers for seasons 6–8) are the twin sons of Jesse and Becky Katsopolis. The two were born in the season five episode "Happy Birthday, Babies," on the date of Michelle's fifth birthday. Becky named Alex after a high school teacher that inspired her to venture into a career in journalism, while Jesse chose to name Nicky after his father, for giving him great hair. They have blond hair and are fun-loving toddlers, with minor distinctions between them. Nicky is more quiet and sweet, while Alex is more outspoken and mischievous. They often repeat what the other twin says.

Recurring characters

• Vicky Larson (played by Gail Edwards) is Danny's girlfriend during seasons five and six and was briefly his fiancee from the season six episode "The House Meets the Mouse" until halfway through season seven. Vicky is very focused on her career, which proves to be the undoing in her long-distance relationship with Danny. They meet in season five's "Nicky and/or Alexander," when Vicky fills in for Becky (who is on maternity leave) on Wake Up, San Francisco, and start dating two episodes later in "Easy Rider". Later in season six's "Play It Again, Jesse," Danny insists that she take a news anchor job in Chicago that she was offered once Becky returns, and that starts a long-distance relationship (that goes from early season six to mid-season seven). Danny eventually proposes to her when she comes along on the family's vacation to Walt Disney World in "The House Meets the Mouse". However, Vicky later gets her dream job—anchoring the network news in New York City—in the season seven episode "The Perfect Couple" (the character's final appearance); as a result, she cannot come to live with Danny and his family in San Francisco, nor is Danny able to uproot his family in California. Therefore, to the dismay of themselves and Danny's family, they have a mutual breakup. Vicky often gives advice, such as helping D.J. with her relationship with Steve, and helping Danny to deal with it and serves as a motherly figure to D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle.
• Gia Mahan (played by Marla Sokoloff) is Stephanie's archenemy (beginning with her first appearance in the season seven episode "Fast Friends"), who later becomes her best friend (starting with the conclusion of "Is It True About Stephanie?" from that same season, but more prominently during season eight). She leads Stephanie into dangerous or not-so-smart situations. Stephanie gets involved in a few wild, irresponsible things because of Gia, such as going to a make-out party planned by her in the season eight episode "Making Out is Hard to Do", and (almost) smoking in "Fast Friends". Conversely, Stephanie was also a positive influence on Gia. During an unknown time when her parents had been through a divorce, Gia is shown as a cigarette-smoking, rebellious teen with horrible grades. She is two years older than Stephanie, as she was held back in school. Viewers learn (as of "Making Out is Hard to Do") that because of Stephanie, Gia has stopped smoking, became more respectful, improved her grades, and lost her inclination to play pranks on other people.
• Teddy (played by Tahj Mowry) is Michelle’s best friend. He first appeared in the season five premiere "Double Trouble," when Michelle meets him on their first day of kindergarten following the advice that Joey told Michelle that the best way to make new friends was by being funny, and does a Bullwinkle impression. He accompanies her when she needs a "date" to sneak out and join Danny on a date with Vicky in the season five episode "Bachelor of the Month". He is also the one whose house Michelle runs away to in "The Devil Made Me Do It" later that season (Tahj Mowry's real-life sisters Tia and Tamera Mowry appear in that episode in a dual role as Teddy's older sister). He moves to Amarillo, Texas in the season six episode "The Long Goodbye"; Teddy returns in the season seven episode "Be Your Own Best Friend", when his father's job moves him back to San Francisco. He and Michelle even consider trying to be boyfriend and girlfriend in third grade in the season eight episode "Dateless in San Francisco", but find that it is no fun for children their age.
• Denise Frazer (played by Jurnee Smollett) is Michelle's best female friend, introduced in the season six episode "The Long Goodbye". She replaces Teddy as Michelle's best friend after Teddy moves to Texas. Denise, like Teddy before her, often gets Michelle into trouble. In the season seven episode "Be Your Own Best Friend," Teddy moves back to San Francisco, leaving Michelle to choose between him and Denise for whom to serve as her best friend. Danny makes her understand that it is possible to have more than one best friend. Michelle ultimately forms a trio of friends with Teddy and Denise at the end of that episode. In the season seven episode "Too Little Richard Too Late," it is revealed that Denise's uncle is Little Richard (who guest starred in the episode). Denise does not appear after that episode, having been written out without explanation due to Smollett's role in the short-lived ABC sitcom On Our Own (which aired during the 1994-95 season, concurring with the run of Full House's eighth and final season).
• Aaron Bailey (played by Miko Hughes) is Michelle's recurring and longest running classmate. Introduced in the season three episode "Bye, Bye Birdie", he is the typical class bully, who tends to be annoying and rude at times. He pinches Michelle in the season four episode "A Pinch for a Pinch," which results in Jesse telling Michelle to fight back by pinching him in retaliation. When the teacher punishes them, Jesse takes Michelle home, pulling her out of preschool. While that behavior does not continue, his obnoxious ways continue throughout the series. In other episodes, he treats Jesse as either an equal or underlying rival. In addition, he also creates trouble for D.J. and Kimmy when they have boys over while Kimmy is babysitting in season four's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Danny even remarks (in season seven) that they are watching Aaron for several days "until his regular babysitter stops twitching". He is sometimes seen being nice to Michelle.
• Derek S. Boyd (played by Blake McIver Ewing) is one of Michelle's friends (appearing in eight episodes total throughout seasons six through eight). Michelle first meets Derek in the episode "The Play's the Thing," when he lands the role of Yankee Doodle in their school play, America the Beautiful. Though Michelle is initially jealous of Derek for winning the part over her (due in no small part to the fact that both of her sisters played Yankee Doodle in the same play), she helps him recover from a case of stage-fright, and they eventually become friends. Derek is very educated and well-spoken for a boy of his age, though also a bit on the wimpy side. He also shows signs of being a bit obsessive-compulsive. As shown in several episodes (including in his first appearance), he is also shown to be a very talented singer. In the scene in which he is first introduced, Derek says he blends in with his surroundings.
• Lisa Leeper (played by Kathryn Zaremba) is one of Michelle's friends (featured in six episodes during the eighth season, beginning with "I've Got a Secret"); in the episode We Got the Beat," Lisa is shown to be an extremely good singer when she sings a duet of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Derek.
• Nelson (played by Jason Marsden) is a love interest for D.J. that is introduced in the season eight premiere "Comet's Excellent Adventure". Nelson is a teenager who comes from a very wealthy family, and dates D.J. on-and-off for some time (ironically, it is in his first appearance that D.J. breaks up with him; he ends up going on a date with Kimmy three episodes later in "I've Got a Secret"). Not much is revealed about Nelson's background or family, aside from the fact that he is very rich, and often throws and attends big parties on yachts. Though in "Taking the Plunge," he mentions that his cousin, Regina – with whom he sets Joey up on a date – is visiting the United States from England. Toward the latter stages of his "relationship" with D.J., in "D.J.'s Choice," he gets into a "tug-of-war" with Viper to be D.J.'s boyfriend, to which she declines both boys.
• Claire Tanner (portrayed by Alice Hirson) is Danny's mother. She helped Danny raise the girls in the first few months after the death of Danny's wife, Pam, prior to Jesse and Joey moving into the house. She appeared in only three episodes: "Our Very First Show" and "The Return of Grandma" (as portrayed by Hirson), and in "Granny Tanny" (as portrayed by Doris Roberts).

Other characters

• Nick Katsopolis (played by John Aprea) is Jesse and Pam's father. He is an avid fan of Elvis Presley, just like Jesse. Also, like his son, he is very much interested in his hair and women (as he states in the season two episode "Our Very First Christmas Show", "there are two things Katsopolis men are known for: kissing and great hair"). Nick is the owner of an insect extermination business. He met his wife, Irene, the day that Elvis was drafted into the United States Army. Nick was a firm but caring parent. In the episode, "D.J.'s Day Off" it is mentioned that he would punish Jesse severely. This combination is also seen in the episode "It Is Not My Job", when Jesse quits the extermination business Nick responds with: "If you're out of the business, you're out of the family." Later on, he explains this by saying that he did not build up the business to sell it to a stranger. His love for his family is also shown by the fact that Irene bringing in Michelle curbed his anger. When Michelle was getting ready to do a television commercial for marshmallows in the season two episode "El Problema Grande de D.J.", he remarked that Michelle looked like a little blonde version of the redhead he likes on Gilligan's Island, which was revealed to be Tina Louise by Irene. In honor of inheriting Nick's hair, Jesse names one of his twin sons after him. Nicky and Alex never interact with their grandparents on-screen like the girls have, as Nick and Irene are last seen in season four.
• Irene Katsopolis (played by Yvonne Wilder, and by Rhoda Gemignani in "The Return of Grandma") is Jesse and Pam's mother, and the wife of Nick Katsopolis. She often talked about diapering Jesse's "tushy", and touched his and other people's "tushies," which made Jesse mad; at other times, she would talk about when Jesse was a kid. She often mentioned how she is older than Nick, and her passion for younger men (which makes Nick feel inferior at times).
• Stavros (played by John Stamos in a dual role) is Jesse's swarthy, greasy, woman-crazed Greek look-alike cousin (with minor cosmetic differences in appearance from Jesse, namely Stavros having a mustache, a gap in his teeth, a slightly larger nose than his cousin and a mole on his cheek). Appearing only in the season seven episode "Kissing Cousins," he hits on Becky—despite the fact that she is Jesse's wife—several times during the episode. He is shown to be a con artist; he cheats Joey out of his watch and money during a card game, and tells a fake story about a mudslide that devastated his village in order to pilfer the "donations" and leave, to which the family catches on. Jesse expresses his disappointment with the dastardly deeds that Stavros—who ends up being arrested – commits.
• Wendy Tanner (played by Darlene Vogel) is Danny's sister, who is an avid animal enthusiast, and works at a zoo. She owns a chimpanzee named Ginger, and is known to have had somewhat of a rivalry with Joey in their childhood, but when she comes back to San Francisco in the season five episode "Too Much Monkey Business," she and Joey have a brief relationship after they both revealed themselves to have had "secret crushes" on each other. It is also revealed that she collects exotic souvenirs from around the world. She and Joey date briefly (but she is not seen or mentioned after the episode).
• Iorgos "Papouli" Katsopolis (played by Jack Kruschen) is Jesse's Greek grandfather, introduced in the season four episode "Greek Week". Papouli is the central to the storyline of the season seven episode "The Last Dance," when he visits San Francisco to see the family and starts to forge a very close relationship with his granddaughter Michelle. Later in the episode, Papouli dies of natural causes (Danny specifically mentions that his heart gave out and died in his sleep while staying at the house). When Michelle hears about the tragedy after her Honeybee meeting, she becomes very despondent and decides not to go to school, acknowledging that Papouli promised to appear as part of her school assignment and teach her class a Greek dance. Michelle attempts not to show any emotion in front of Jesse, who himself has a hard time coping with Papouli's death and tells Michelle that it is okay to cry in mourning of Papouli, as the two start sobbing and hugging each other. Jesse appears at Michelle's school and accompanies her in performing the dance that Papouli taught her earlier in the episode when she is unable to remember the moves.
• Mindy Gladstone (played by Beverly Sanders) is Joey's mother. She appears only in the season one episode "The Return of Grandma," although Joey talks about her often during the series, such as when Joey lands a gig opening for Wayne Newton in Las Vegas in the season four episode "Viva Las Joey". When Joey was asked by Jesse why he could not invite his mother to come see the show, he claims she is working as Goofy at Walt Disney World.
• Kathy Santoni (played by Anne Marie McEvoy) is a classmate of D.J.'s. While only appearing in four episodes (beginning with season three's "Back to School Blues"), Kathy Santoni is mentioned in several episodes by various characters. In the season seven episode "The Apartment," it is revealed that she got married and pregnant at age 16.
• Walter F. Berman (Whitby Hertford) is a school friend of Stephanie Tanner. At first, Stephanie disliked him, and went as far as teasing and imitating his resemblance to a duck (which occurs when his lips are pursed). She—along with the rest of the class—even nicknamed him "Duckface". However, after following her Uncle Jesse's advice, she learned to appreciate Walter more, even if he was a nerd. This led to Walter briefly considering Stephanie as his "secret girlfriend".
• Harry Takayama (Nathan Nishiguchi) is the first on-screen friend of Stephanie's (appearing in season two, beginning with the episode "Middle Age Crazy"). He usually calls her "Chief", and she refers to him as her boyfriend—without understanding that term's full meaning (as Stephanie put it in Harry's first appearance, "you're a boy, and you're my friend; that makes you my boyfriend"). Stephanie decides to have a pretend wedding with Harry in "Middle Age Crazy," feeling that she is not receiving attention from the rest of the family. His last appearance is in the season three episode "Nerd For a Day". In the episode "Pal Joey," Harry becomes infatuated with D.J. after she teaches him a mathematic problem using oranges.
• Cindy (played by Debra Sandlund) is a girlfriend of Danny's, appearing in three episodes during season four, beginning with the episode "Terror in Tanner Town". It is revealed that she works as a dry cleaner in that episode, and she first met Danny when he comes to the store as a customer. She also has a precocious and troublesome 10-year-old son named Rusty.
• Rusty (portrayed by Jordan Christopher Michael) is the son of Cindy, Danny's girlfriend in season four, first appearing in "Terror in Tanner Town". Rusty has a penchant of performing mischievous antics and practical jokes that wreak havoc on the family. During a crazy prank that Rusty started in "Secret Admirer," he misunderstood D.J.'s words and believed that she was romantically interested in him. This caused him to develop a brief crush on her, but quickly got over it when the other members of the family caught on to his prank, in which he sent a letter intended to D.J. (without signing his name on it) that ends up being circulated to the rest of the family as well as Kimmy and Cindy, resulting in everyone mistakenly believing that someone else in the group was interested in them. He was last seen in "Stephanie Plays the Field," training for baseball with Stephanie.
• Ricky (played by R. J. Williams in the season four episodes "Secret Admirer and "Happy New Year") is the neighborhood paperboy whom D.J. had a crush on.
• Brett Davis (played by Sean Fox in season four, introduced in the episode "Stephanie Plays the Field") is a classmate and friend of Stephanie's who plays Little League Baseball for the Cubs. He is supposedly Stephanie Tanner's first love.
• Viper (David Lipper) is a guitarist in Jesse's band Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets during season eight. He is introduced in "To Joey, With Love", when he auditions for the band in competition with Danny, who is revealed to be as equally excellent at guitar. He begins to date D.J. in the episode "On the Road Again," much to the initial dismay of Danny and Jesse, the latter of whom briefly kicks him out of the band. He is revealed to have insecurities about not going to college in the episode "Claire and Present Danger", and ends up twisting everything D.J. says to where she puts him down. He eventually dumps her in "D.J.'s Choice," because he thinks things are moving too fast for him and wants space. He then changes his mind and begs her to take him back. This causes problems as D.J. starts to date her old boyfriend Nelson again. D.J. cannot decide between the two and asks for time to think. Unfortunately, neither one gives her space and begin to fight over her. D.J. then says that if they are going to force her to choose, then she would not choose either one and dumps them both.
• Caroline (portrayed by Dorothy Parke) is a friend of Danny's, who was first seen in the season one episode "Sea Cruise," as one of the dates who appear while Danny, Joey, and Jesse go on a fishing trip on a boat. She also appeared in the episode "The Big Three-O" six episodes later.
• Adrianna (Fabiana Udenio) is Jesse's one-time girlfriend in the season one episode "Daddy's Home".
• Corinna Spicer (Elizabeth Keifer) is a student in Jesse's "private music class," whom Jesse was interested in, in the season one episode "Jesse's Girl". At the end of the episode, she winds up with Joey instead.
• Jill (Darcy DeMoss) is one of Jesse's early girlfriends. She and Jesse date when there is no one else to date, according to her.
• Duane (played by Scott Menville) is Kimmy Gibbler's boyfriend in season eight (first appearing in the episode "Taking the Plunge"), whom she considered marrying in Reno. He is often airheaded like Kimmy is, and is mostly quiet and known for saying "whatever" in a surfer-like accent. One thing is known about him is that he loves the works of William Shakespeare. In part one of "Michelle Rides Again," he passionately recites lines from Shakespeare's 18th sonnet.
• Mrs. Carruthers (played by Marcia Wallace) is a neighbor of the Tanners (appearing in seasons seven and eight), who has a massive (but obviously one-sided) crush on Joey, as evidenced by her constant "chasing" him down, and his subsequent attempts to "hide" from her and reject her advances. She collaborates with Kimmy Gibbler to form a Neighborhood Watch program known as the "Crime Catchers" in season seven's "The Bicycle Thief". She also is known to "dominate" the PTA elections at Michelle's school, Frasier Street Elementary, every year, inspiring Joey to run for PTA president in a fair election in "Too Little Richard Too Late," to which he is ultimately disqualified due to Mrs. Carruthers pointing out that PTA rules require that the president must be a parent of a Frasier Street student. However, Mrs. Carruthers offers Joey the opportunity to be her vice president instead, a position he accepts.
• Pamela "Pam" Katsopolis Tanner (portrayed by Christie Houser) is Danny's wife, Jesse's sister, and the mother of D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle, who was an unseen character, except in the form of a home video shot when she and Danny brought Michelle home from the hospital in the season two episode "Goodbye Mr. Bear". She was killed by a drunk driver before the start of the series (according to D.J. in the eighth season episode "Under the Influence"). She has been described as traits her children have: always smiling (Michelle), full of energy (Stephanie), and always did her best at everything (D.J.).

Guest stars

Season one

• Kirk Cameron – Episode 18: "Just One of the Guys", as Steve, Danny's nephew and the girls' cousin. He is the real-life brother of Candace Cameron (Kirk's eventual wife and Candace's sister-in-law Chelsea Noble appears in the following episode "The Seven-Month Itch" as Jesse's girlfriend Samantha).
• Phyllis Diller – Episode 16: "But Seriously, Folks"
• Belita Moreno – Episode 12: "Our Very First Promo"

Season two

• The Beach Boys (as themselves) – Episode 16: "Beach Boy Bingo". They also appear in season three, episode 24: "Our Very First Telethon", and season five's "Captain Video" (parts 1 and 2) in the "Forever" music video. The first time they appeared, they were supposed to be guests on Wake Up, San Francisco, but had to cancel their appearance due to fog preventing their plane from landing. D.J. then wins a telephone contest to get tickets to their concert, but she has trouble deciding whom to take with her. In the end, the whole family ends up going and even joins the band on stage.
• Jonathan Brandis – Episode 11: "A Little Romance"

Season three

• Scott Baio – Episode 9: "Dr. Dare Rides Again"
• Doris Roberts – Episode 5: "Granny Tanny"

Season four

• Frankie Avalon – episode 23: "Joey Goes Hollywood"
• Annette Funicello – episode 23: "Joey Goes Hollywood"
• Erika Eleniak – episode 9: "One Last Kiss" as Jesse's high school girlfriend Carrie Fowler.
• Wayne Newton – episode 7: "Viva Las Joey" as himself. In the episode, Joey opened to Newton in Las Vegas.
• Jaleel White appears as his character Steve Urkel from the series Family Matters (which was produced by Full House's production companies Miller-Boyett Productions and Lorimar Television) in episode 16: "Stephanie Gets Framed", Urkel happens to be a cousin of D.J.'s friend Julie (played by Tasha Scott, who was also White's love interest in the 1990 TV movie Camp Cucamonga). During his visit, he helped and gave advice to Stephanie Tanner, because she had to get reading glasses. Stephanie is reluctant because of how reading glasses will make her look, but Steve tells her "the trick is to make them laugh with you before they laugh at you."

Season five

• David Lascher – Episode 3: "Take My Sister, Please"
• June Lockhart – Episodes 1 and 2: "Double Trouble" and "Matchmaker Michelle"
• Whitman Mayo – Episode 7: "The Volunteer"
• Tommy Page – Episode 16: "Crushed"

Season six

• Danielle Fishel – Episode 10 and 17: "I'm Not D.J." and "Silence is Not Golden"

Season seven

• Little Richard appears as himself in "Too Little Richard Too Late". It is revealed that he is Denise's uncle. Because he was holding a concert in San Francisco, Michelle asks him to perform a concert to help Joey's campaign for PTA president. He accepts, and performs for Joey's campaign. Richard is quite late to the concert, but makes it up to them. He has a dislike to Jesse after Jesse's comment about him putting a punch bowl on his head at family gatherings.
• Marla Sokoloff – first appeared as Gia Mahan in "Fast Friends" and later becomes a recurring cast member
• Suzanne Somers – Episode 19: "Love on the Rocks"
• Ben Stein appeared as Elliott Warner in "Another Opening, Another No Show".
• Vanna White – Episode 15: "The Test"

Season eight

• Andrea Abbate as Gia's mother Claire Mahan and Danny's new girlfriend
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Episode 16: "Air Jesse"
• Mickey Rooney - Episode 11: "Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
• Frankie Valli – Episode 12: "D.J.'s Choice"
• Barry Williams appears as himself in "Making Out is Hard to Do", replacing Jesse as lead singer of The Rippers

References