Myself being somewhat involved in theatre through my grandfather a little bit through my own self, particularly involved in the writing part of it, I can say with certainty that creating a movie or a program for a family is the toughest job one can think of. To create a very good family programme does not require an excellent team of animators and the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art computer technology; it can do without an extraordinary plot; it also can go without extraordinary characters who display either the extreme of vindictiveness or the extreme of idiocy. To create a real family programme requires the almost impossible job of showing a family just like the viewers’ families are… or would like to be.

Which is, as I said, almost impossible.

I bumped into Full House last year some time, and since then, I haven’t missed an episode yet. I must have seen the same episode half a dozen times, but I never really thought I was being an idiot for doing so. What’s the beauty of it?

Let me try to search an answer…

Whether you agree or not, everyone in the family has an eccentricity of his own, which is never always the exaggerated versions you see in cartoons or typical comedians’ shows. It’s mostly a very sober version of those eccentricities. Every member of a family has something weird about himself. My father, for one, sings songs with words that don’t exist in any dictionaries in the world. My mother shuts her eyes damn tightly while talking on the phone. I am a bunch of eccentric eccentricities that I am going to conveniently forget to mention.

But none of these weird habits are loud or obnoxious that we invite mockery from our neighbours or friends. It’s always inside the family and with very close friends of ours.

If you look at the characters in Full House, you’d see just this. You have Joey who is cartoon fan and a cartoon mimic and a cartoon himself. But he’s not loud, he’s not garrulous, he’s not noisy and he’s not irritating. (He’s frankly an idiot, though). Then you have Jesse Katsapolis who is a maverick for his hair, taking care of it like a model takes care of her… oooh… figure. Then you have Mr Tanner who’s all for the cleaning the house till he dies.

Though each one of them has eccentricities about himself, they aren’t the blown-up exaggerated pictures… if you don’t get what I mean, watch some Zee TV comedy show for families… Hum Paanch would a good example in contrast.

The humour in this programme, Full House, is therefore sober and subtle, making it even more effective than the gaudy and garrulous humour you have in Seinfield. Of course I am a very eccentric fan of the latter as well (now, I’ll try and search a synonym for “eccentric” so that it doesn’t look like an essay of a kid who’s just learnt the word!). But I am an even more enthusiastic fan on Full House for the aforesaid reason.

So there you have a part of the answer.

Turn to the other side. Let’s peep into the ways of the family itself. Let’s look at the father-daughter relationship between DJ, Steph and Michelle and Danny Tanner.

It’s a beautiful depiction of the relationship. Every one of the three female stooges has been a very bad girl sometime in the story. They have made mistakes, they have lied, they have insulted their father, mistreated him, ignored him, made him feel like dirt… the horrible thing all kids do as they grow up. And each time their father has shown them the error of their ways promptly and effectively.

But the way in which he brings out the error of their ways, the situation, his method of talking, the acting, the environment, the words… everything creates an effect that really can not be described.

What I’m trying to say is that… not all fathers deal with their daughters, or their children for that matter, in the way Danny Tanner deals with his lot. But he deals with them in the manner every father wants to deal with his children. Some children are adamant, so you need a stern tone to scold them… but Danny Tanner’s way of telling their daughters about their mistake is what every father feels when his child has done something wrong. He might not express it. He might not bring out his child’s error the way Danny does. But his feelings are just like the feelings of Danny Tanner.

That’s the beauty of his character. It’s like Danny is the heart of a father depicted on screen.

And that goes for everyone else. DJ, Stephanie and Michelle are the hearts of three kinds of daughters (children to be gender sensitive) depicted. Jesse and Joey are the hearts of Unlce Dandy and Uncle Loony depicted (you know what I mean).

When some family watches this programme, he’ll find his own heart somewhere on the screen.

I think that’s what makes this programme special.

It’s funny. It’s sweet. It’s splendid.

It’s a house full of love and laughter