The humour on Full House

[Left Turn]

I think we would all agree that the humour on Full House changed over the course of the series.

As I see it, the humour on Full House divides into four periods. Others may not agree with this.

Season 1
The humour in season 1 is relatively bland compared to the rest of the series, but does introduce a few of the running gags that were in the series.

Seasons 2-4
The classic period of Full House humour. This period includes the largest share of the well known catchphrases ("How Rude!", "You Got It Dude!", "Have Mercy", "Cut It Out", ect.). For the girls it has most of the classic DJ/Steph insult humour, a lot of the Steph/Kimmy insult humour, and Michelle's "cute" humour. For the guys it has most of Joey's classic jokes, as well as the running gags about Danny's neatness, Jesse's Elvis obsession, and his hair.

Season 5
The humour in season 5 is a transition from the humour of the early years of the show, to the humour of the later years. Joey's classic jokes are gone. The only catchphrase Stephanie has left is "How Rude!", and even this is de-emphasized. Michelle's "You Got It Dude!", phrase is de-emphasized, and "Oh Puhleeze!" becomes her new catchphrase. Michelle's "bad girl" humour, introduced in a couple of episodes in season 4, takes off. The Steph/Kimmy fights become fewer but more intense, and the running gag about Kimmy's foot odor problem takes off. The DJ/Steph insults largely dissapear. The running gags about Danny's neatness, Jesse's Elvis obsession, and his hair, continue.

Seasons 6-8
The final phase of Full House humour. The number of jokes decrease, and a much greater percentage of the jokes are scene based. Most of the catchprases are gone, except for Michelle's "Oh Puhleeze!", and Jesses's "Have Mercy!" and "Watch the hair". Steph and Kimmy still trade insults, but they don't yell at each other any more, and they cooperate on a few occasions. The running gag about Kimmy's foot odour problem continues through season 7. The running gags about Jesse's Elvis obsession die down, but the Jokes about his hair obsession become more exagerated. The running gag about Danny's neatness is de-emphasized.

I could go into even more detail, but I'll leave it at this for now.

[Rios39]

The humor in Full house is great. I'd say as the show got a bit older the jokes and the humor of the show got better. One of the many great aspect of Full House.

[fullhouseforever]

I think you have a good general view of the humor on the show.  I'll add on my personal view of things anyways.  I considered the catchphrases (except for How Rude perhaps, which was done quite creatively at times) were more of a liability, just because you could kind of anticipate them.  At least that's the way it is for me.

I think we can agree seasons 2 to 4 had the best jokes of the seasons.  Season 5 I'm not the biggest fan as a whole, but this and season 6 I think demonstrated the plot-based comedy pretty well.  I found season 8 in particular to overdo that last area, which outside of the aura and style of the show is probably the big reason why I don't appreciate it as much as I could.

I do think I find the show a lot funnier than I used to think though, where I was mostly relying on my obsession for how much I got out of it.

[Left Turn]

One thing I didn't think of when I made my original post was that there was an increase in the physical humour on Full House in the second half of the series. There was always some physical humour on Full House, but it increased over the course of the second half of the series. Definitely season 8 had the most physical humour of any of the seasons.

Comet's Excellent adventure -- When Jesse's one man band shorts out his electronics.

I've Got A Secret -- When the guys are in the mass pile up of shoppers trying to get a Mighty Mutant Super Fortress.

To Joey, With Love -- Some of Joeys jokes while substitute teaching Michelle's class, such as the map that snaps up unexpectedly, and the egg into the bottle trick.

You Pet It, You Bought It -- Shorty eating Steph's geography project, and the painting of Great Grandaddy Cornwall Tanner.

On The Road Again -- The coin operated toilet that turns on the vibrating bed.

Stephanie's Wild Ride -- The dangerous driving of the two older guys that Steph and Gia are in the car with.

Under The Influence -- Jesse and Joey's "Flounder tarts" gag. Also Kimmy's drunken antics in the flashback to the frat party.

Arest Ye Merry Gentleman -- The pranks the Michelle and Mr. Dreghorn play on Jesse in the store. Also DJ and Stephanie trying to stuff the pillow into Joey's Santa costume that is too small.

DJ's Choice -- Kimmy eating the pie with no hands; Joey accidentally sawing Jesse's hammer; and Kimmy getting flung off the teeter totter into the tree.

Super Bowl Fun Day -- When Jesse and Joey accidentally knock over the electronics box and short out the tv reception in the sports bar.

My Left and My Right Foot -- Michelle's dream about becoming a clown with ridiculously big feet that keep growing.

Air Jesse -- The basketball humour invloving Jesse's inability to make a basket except from his 'sweet spot'.

We Got The Beat -- When Stephanie knocks over the microphone while performing on stage with Girl Talk. Also, when Joey's "Elton John" glasses shatter from the high not on Lisa and Derek's rendition of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

Taking The Plunge -- When Joey wants to get a picture of the Queen, and the Queen's guards think he's trying to shoot the queen with a gun. Also Comet slobbering all over the note DJ left to explain where she and Nelson went.

Up On The Roof -- Putting Robillard's car on the roof of school. Also the silly putty jokes.

Leap of Faith -- The bungee jumping scenes. Also the gag with Nicky & Alex's toy helicopter.

All Stood Up -- The fight between Jesse & Kimmy. Also the competition between DJ & Michelle to see who does each others chores.

[BL]

What I tend to find about FH's humor is that the more it deviated from the traditional season 2-4 humor, the funnier it became. I don't think it was because the gag based humor just wasn't funny, but when repeated over and over again, it simply lost its value.

[MT Fan]

The flounder tarts gag was one of my all time favorites. Althought most Full house humor was best verbally. Also don't forget the Season One diaper changing scene.

[fullhouseforever]

What I tend to find about FH's humor is that the more it deviated from the traditional season 2-4 humor, the funnier it became. I don't think it was because the gag based humor just wasn't funny, but when repeated over and over again, it simply lost its value.

The thing with FH is the humor was just an extra on top of what I liked about it.  The laughs could be minimal i it stuck to a format I liked.  Had the more modern gag related show happened only once, I'm not sure how I much I would have enjoyed it then either.  That's less to do with how good it is, and more to do with what I'm looking for when I see the show I guess.

(P.S. 15,000th post! )

[BL]

Yeah, it's pretty obvious comedy was not the highlight of FH as a show. It was probably more for marketing than anything else; you couldn't market a show with a premise like FH's as a drama. Especially the generally "petty" plots would not get through.

[fullhouseforever]

I really see the comedy in it as more amusing and pleasant rather than LOL hilarious that might be found on some other shows.  There are actually some shows, particularly around the same time that followed a similar format with that.  Perhaps that's why I might even enjoy those kinds as well as I do.  When a show relies on being hilarious, it really has to be to work.

[Left Turn]

yeah, there wasn't a lot of burst your gut laughing humour on Full House. There was some, but not a lot. Also, a lot of the humour on Full House was derived from the actors delivery of the lines, rather than the lines themselves being inherently funny.

[fullhouseforever]

That's a good point as well.  As much as people (when I say that I'm mostly referring to the general public and critics) like to critisize the acting at times for being cheesy and not really standout, I must say it really does help me enjoy the show more.  It really blends into the whole style so well.

[Left Turn]

Another thing is that on the whole the b-plots tend to be funnier than the a-plots. Often the b-plots are fairly funny, while the a-plots, even if they have some funny bits, include most of the sappy emotional moments on the show.

[jenessa]

The humor was orginal and there really wasn't any stupid kind of humor and that good.

[Nay (fhfreak)]

I loved the humor in FH when I was really obsessed, I thought everything was funny.  Some stuff still is, mostly in the later seasons, but when I watch the earlier seasons, I feel embarrassed that I was so obsessed with FH.

[Mikayli]

I actually think that the middle of the series had the most humor.  And of course there were the classic moments, like the diaper-changing scene in the first episode, and one of the classic laugh-out-loud scenes, the one from Rock the Cradle.