So Long, Jimmy

     Has anyone ever held on to the fantasy of their estranged grandparents getting back together? Well little Edie (played by twins Emelia and Layla Golfieri) is oping for two generations to patch things up. Edie is a toddler being raised by a curious group of family in a fairly "Full House". Her app-developer dad and resident sensetive guy Gerald E. Kingsley (Josh Peck) and entrepreneur-without-a-cause mom Vanessa (No-last-name like her icon Rhianna) played by singer Christina Milian. Gerald is also the product of two unlikely parents, hippie social worker Sarah (Paget Brewster, a.k.a. Kathy from FRIENDS), and an unknown father, until the first episode of this show. Gerald shows up at a an L.A. barely-hotspot, Jimmy's, and announces to Jimmy Martino (John Stamos) that he is his long-lost 25-year old son. Jimmy doesn't know how to fit into a family that plays an elaborate game to choose a movie night, let alone how to grandparent or parent a child. He makes an elaborate show of ditching Thanksgiving to take a model girlfriend to the beach. As soon as Jimmy meets a more recent ex of Sarah, he jumps in, trying to show Gerald he can be more of a dad than a guy that raised him for several years.   In the end, Jimmy realized he only wanted to be the his family on the holiday.       

     Over time, the family wears Jimmy down with their kindness. He makes up for lost time with Gerald and little Edie. As expected, jokes about about popular culture, trying to be cool, taking care of children, and Jimmy's obsession with his hair abound.  Yes, it's a bit hokey. It is also loaded with "back together" cameos Bob Saget (as an old pal of Jimmy that wants to keep partying), Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) as a crude potential investor for Gerald's app. The storylines are a bit cliche at times,  but Stamos' charm is never wavering. My favorite episodes included one where Gerald and his dad pretend to be a gay couple to get Edie into a fancy preschool (Edie's Two Dads). In another,  SNL alum Nasim Pedrad (Budget Spa) takes Jimmy on a wild date that makes him realize he craves too much validation from women.  Every character's life generally improves from time spent in this unlikely group. Weekly family dinners happen at Jimmy's restaurant, whether cranky Annalise (Kelly Jenrette) has gotten them a table or not. Yes, Jimmy's sous-chef Ravi and personal assistant Annalise are reluctant at first, but enjoy hanging around with the Kingsley clan. Ravi tries to hard to be liked and be a part of Jimmy's family, while outwardly Annalise could care less. Shy Gerald breaks out of his shell, winning over Vanessa, who goes after tough guys with motorcycles and tattoos. Sarah remembers how wild she was hen she knew Jimmy, and learns to forgive him for not being there for her, and forgives herself  for not telling Jimmy they had a son.

     Jimmy needs this new family, plain and simple. We learn toward the end of the season in a heartbreaking origin episode (Jimmy's 50th, Again) that his dad was never proud of him and he filled the last 20+ years with meaningless flings so he didn't have to connect with anyone. When Jimmy meets tough businesswoman and Queen of the "Thanks for last night" muffin basket, Catherine Sanders (Regina Hall), he has his first honest relationship in years. Jimmy also learns how terrible he has treated women in the past. This is also the same point when Sarah admits she has rekindled feelings for Jimmy. Is one big, happy Kingsley clan in the horizon? The answer is NO! 

     The show wrapped season 1 a few weeks ago and was unabashedly cancelled by FOX along with The Grinder. We were left with Gerald's proposal scavenger hunt  for Vanessa gone horribly wrong but accepted. Jimmy's father passed away. Sarah broke up with her boyfriend the day before they were moving in together. Jimmy told Sarah he broke up with Catherine, then went to really break up with her in a dramatic airport run. Sarah discovered this from her granddaughter, and "pulled a Jimmy", leaving Mr. Martino flying solo at a Cure concert, like he stood her up 25 years ago. While I have wrested with my definition of "pulling a Jimmy" (muffin baskets after a one-night stand,  keeping a secret vault of  moisturizer and tanner, namedropping "B' list celebrities), I think I came come to the true definition. Pulling a show off the air while it was developing an emotional heart is "pulling a Jimmy". It is so hard to find a delicate balance of funny, hokey and emotionally moving these days, and FOX pulled a show that is doing all of this. Seriously, does anyone think they are writing this week on Brooklyn 99? Bad move, FOX.

TV Theme Songs Revisited- Whatever Happened to Full House

     Since I'm sure you haven't been living under a rock, I'm sure you know Full House is back on Netflix as a new iteration called Fuller House. It's still the same D.J. (Candace Cameron-Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and neighbor Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), raising up some kiddos in the old Tanner family home in San Francisco. Eldest daughter Donna Jo is very straight-laced like her father, Danny, and she is recently widowed with three boys, which is the exact opposite of how the Tanner girls grew up. Her sister Stephanie (Uncle Jesse much?) and best friend Kimmy (definitely the essence of weird Joey) are moving in to help. Now Kimmy is a mom, and her teenage daughter adds the Disney-channel style sass. I have yet to delve into the hew show, but I will blog the moment it happens. I'm really here to express my interest in the rebooted theme song. Some of you younger folks might not know what a theme song is. Once upon a time (or at least a good ten years ago), all shows (drama and sitcoms) had an opening song that described the sentiment of the show and showed memorable scenes of the characters, introducing the actors by name. Fuller House took the opportunity to re-do it's theme song, Everywhere You Look.

     The theme song was performed by ABC's TV theme hit-maker of the late 80's and early 90's, Jesse Frederick. Jesse also song and penned themes for Family Matters, Perfect Strangers and Step By Step so he was the king of this stuff in the 90's. Most recently, Jesse debuted his version of The Tonight Show theme song. Back in Fuller House land, he worked with Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me  Maybe*). This song is getting a lot of buzz, appearing in the show teaser and even being sung by CRJ and Danny Tanner himself,  Bob Saget last week. The tune uses the same words and melody of the original song with more of a poppy, twangy take on the song that asks "Whatever happened to predictability?" Please check out the amazing podcast from the Tuner crew that delves deep into the musicality of the two different versions of the theme song. There's also a bonus mash up of the songs together that sounds really weird and pretty cool. Tuner has some amazing podcasts and I have become a total fan girl after discovering them last week, thanks to my trusty Google App!


* Stay Tuned for a post next week where we really dissect the meaning of Carly Rae Jepsen's hit. I have so much more to say about this song.

Fallon Goes to Hollywood

This week, Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show broadcasted from Los Angeles. Some may forget, Jay Leno hosted the same Tonight Show from L.A. for years, and Johnny Carson before him did the same in his later seasons. Conan even tried it for a brief time (Too soon, I don't think I'm over the way NBC gave Conan the shove yet). How is an L.A. show different from an NYC show? for one thing, all of the celebrities are at your beck and call and live right nearby. Here's the banner week of guests and performances. I felt like I needed a vacation just from keeping up with the episodes (and maybe from laughing a bit too much) For more info, visit the Tonight Show website.

Monday
Will Ferrell (Zoolander)
Christina Aguilera (The Voice)  (*Did the "Tight pants" sketch with Jimmy and Will)
Music from 2 Chainz and L'il Wayne present Collagrove

Tuesday
Skit with the cast of Full/Fuller House (with Jimmy as Donald Trump)
Zach Galifinakis (Baskets)
Ronda Rowsey (MMA Fighter)
Music from Pitbull (with Robin Thicke, Joe Perry and others)

Wednesday
Jennifer Lopez (Shades of Blue and she has a new Las Vegas residency)
Jay Leno (Comedian and former host of this show)
Snoop Dogg got stuck in traffic-izzle
Music from Zayn (who doesnt use a last name anymore, formerly of One Direction)

Thursday
Vince Vaughn (talking about his producing projects)
Ryan Seacrest (American Idol is on for a few more months)
Music from Dead and Company (The Grateful Dead + John Mayer)

Friday
Demi Lovato (touring with a JoBro)
Bryan Cranston (Oscar nominee)
Music from The Weekend and Lauryn Hill (new Fugees??)

Welcome Back! It's a Fuller House with Jason Marsden

It's been a while since I blogged, and for my first post back, I'm talking about the best 90's family comedy in history- Full House. In case you've been living under a rock, it's coming back! In more current news, my beloved Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), just got pulled over for a possible DUI this weekend, which greatly worried me about the fate of this winter's FH  reboot.

The episode I'm watching on Nick at Nite right now is an episode about DJ's tough choice (aptly named DJ's Choice from Season 8) between musician Viper (guitarist of Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets) and junior billionaire Nelson. Viper writes a song for DJ, and Nelson hires Frankie Valli to come to the park re-dedication to serenade DJ.

"(Nelson) He's a nice guy, and he pays in cash."- Frankie Valli

It's utterly over the top, which is why the episode plays so well. Much like episodes with famous guest stars (several with the Beach Boys come to mind), FH makes the guest star fit in well to the story. In the end, Donna Jo wisely chooses none of them (because I suspect she's still in love with Steve, who ended up escorting her to the senior prom).  This remains to be seen, but I believe Steve was the love of her life. Only Netflix will tell.

Back to the reason I am fascinated with this episode, dear young billionaire Nelson.
Here  actor Jason Marsden (left) plays Nelson in Full House, circa 1995:

Here he is the same year, playing Eric's best friend, Jason on Boy Meets World. Maybe he can score a drop in on the new Girl Meets World Show. 

He also appeared at the same time (1995-1997) on Step by Step as JT's best friend and Dana's boyfriend, Rich. How did this guy find time to guest star in three sitcoms at the same time? 

That's owed all to talent and a good agent. 

All photos are from IMDB.com