Fuller House - TV Review

So I know that they say Hollywood is always doing sequels or reboots because they don't have original content, but I frankly enjoy sequels (cannot wait for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2), and reboots (Gilmore Girls, hello?).  Granted some times they do it horribly wrong (Dirty Dancing 2 - Havana Nights), but sometimes they do a pretty decent job (Grease Live).  Of course it's never as good as the original but for audiences, you do wonder what happened to these beloved characters or you just have fun seeing something familiar or nostalgic.

So when Fuller House was announced on Netflix, I was curious and excited. I personally like watching reruns of Friends, Full House, How I Met Your Mother and Parks and Recreation.   Plus its Netflix which meant binge watching!

Now what people need to understand is that Full House was always a corny, family oriented show. If you watched this in the 80's or watched the reruns at Nick at Night, you know that this show was cheesy and the cast always hugged. So if you expect that, than this reboot/resurgence is reminiscence of that and is fun to watch. You can't expect it to be like Modern Family which not only has a stellar cast but heartfelt story lines in every episode.  It's a sitcom filmed in front of a studio audience, and the audience cheers every time John Stamos or Bob Saget comes on stage.

"Fuller House" takes place 20 something years later after DJ gets married and has three boys and her husband (whose last name is Fuller, hence the Fuller House), dies in a fire. They move back to Danny Tanner's house where she raises her kids with the help of her little sister Stephanie and her best friend Kimmy Gibler. Stephanie is a well known DJ and has partied for most of her life. Kimmy is separated from her cheating husband Fernando and has a daughter who is the same age as DJ's oldest son.  So they all have to adjust to living together and helping DJ raise her boys.  Sound familiar?

Fuller House has the same cheesy moments and lots of hugging, but is slightly more risque as this is Netflix and not network television.  Still very family oriented but the girls are going out in skimpy outfits and drinking alcohol. They get into the dumb shenanigans and make reference to all the past catch phrases - How Rude, Have Mercy, Cut It Out...They even have the same theme song but this time sung by a woman.

One cool thing was the most of the cast (except Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) return.  They do make reference to Michelle in the first episode and later comment on how expensive the Mary Kate & Ashley clothing line is. Even Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky's twins - Nicky and Alex are in the first episode.  Steve, DJ's ex is also on the show.

Overall it is a fun show to watch and takes you back to TGIFriday's on ABC.  Don't expect Emmy award winning writing or acting and just enjoy it.

American Crime Story: The People Vs OJ Simpson

I think it's safe to say that everyone and their mothers was glued to their televisions when the whole OJ Simpson trial was happening back in 1995. Even if you didn't want to watch it, you would catch it because it was on every channel all day.   Now that a good amount of time has past, FX has invigorated our interest in the whole OJ saga with their American Crime Series - the People vs OJ Simpson.

They have an all star cast that includes Cuba Gooding Jr as the Juice, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. Selma Blair as Kris Kardashian and in my opinion the two best casted roles - Courtney B Vance as Johnnie Cockron and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark.

The story starts at the beginning of the murder and shows OJ leaving his place and getting on a plane shortly after Nicole and Ron are murdered.  I will say that the series tries to be unbiased and let you decide things on your own. Obviously there are characters that are convinced OJ as guilty but it never comes out and says he's guilty.

I will say that the series is captivating and the casting was well done. At first I was unsure about Cuba playing OJ or  John Travolta as Robert Shapiro but as the story develops, you can see the method to the madness.  Both Cuba and JT are a little over the top but I think that's just the way they were.  Also it was hard to see Robert Kardashian as anything but Ross but all the characters are slowly coming into their own. I think it'd be unfair to judge the series by the first episode as many critics did.

Overall this is a great series that reminds viewers of all the chaos and drama that happened back in 1995.  Like the 1995 trials, this series will keep you glued to your televison.