Fuller House: The Complete Second Season - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

Fuller House: The Complete Second Season

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I was a child of the 80s and 90s, so I grew up watching all of the classic 90s sitcoms (the 90s WERE the best in my opinion) like The Nanny, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Full House till my mom kicked me outside to go play with the other kids, since I was more than happy to just veg out to sitcoms. The thing about those nostalgic sitcoms is that lightning never strikes twice. Unless you’re Will and Grace, a reboot or continuation of a popular show 15+ years down the line rarely EVER yields good results. It’s just a statistical improbability. However, 20 years after the ending of family classic Full House the powers that be decided to partner up with Netflix to produce a spin-off/continuation of the classic show as part of Netflix’s “original content”. Now, the new series can’t live up the original’s unique charm and 80s super stars, but it DOES bring in most of the old cast and recreate just enough of that homey feeling to make for a cute show that isn’t TOO much like its predecessor, but also just enough to work well enough.

Sorry, I gotta include a couple of spoilers for season one if you haven’t seen it yet, so you might want to skip a paragraph if you’re worried about that. Last time we left off this new “full” house of family members, Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) and Fernando have made up and are back together, but now the Latin lover is staying IN an already over stuffed house! Adding madness to the situation, D.J. is finally ready to let Steve (Scott Weinger) and her co-worker/doctor Matt Harmon (John Brotherton) just WHICH one of the two she wants to have a relationship. The ting is, just as she’s about to tell them it turns out they have moved on and gotten girlfriends of their own (one who is disturbingly similar to D.J.). Meaning poor D.J. has to shover her emotions down for a while and get on with her own life. Naturally this doesn’t work out and we all know WHO D.J. is going to choose (it’s been pretty obvious since the beginning of season one), but not before all sorts of chaos and mayhem ensues around the Tanner/Fuller house.

Stephanie (still played by Jodie Sweetin) is still the party girl with a leash on her, and Kimmy is the lovable goofball that has more insane ideas that Hannibal Lector (although, with much less bloody results). There’s more of an emphasis on the kids this year, with Ramona, Max and Jackson taking up the majority of those episodes. I really never thought I’d say this considering I really disliked her when she was introduced last season, but Ramona has actually grown on me quite a bit. Here character arc as she comes to grip with an absent father that has returned, as well as dealing with her new found cohabitants is quite charming.

The show is nothing new though, and that’s really its biggest fault. Fuller House desperately tries to reignite the same nostalgic charm that made Full House so fantastic, but it ends up looking too much like a knockoff much of the time. The same old house, the same old people (many of them that is), and even some of the same old situations replicated, but in the end the original show was finished. It’s really the new interactions with the kids, as well as the complicated relationship between Kimmy/Fernando and D.J. coming to grips with her husband’s death that resonate the most with viewers. When the show blazes a few more new trails it really shines, but even as its copying the former glory of the 90s show, Fuller House is charming ENOUGH to work a majority of the time.





Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Fuller House: The Complete Second Season replicates the look and quality of discs that season one enjoyed. The series is framed in the standard 1.78:1 aspect ratio and split across two DVD-9 discs with a decently high bitrate. The image is clean and clear, although just a bit soft with that stylized amber glow that many sitcoms employ. The two story house from the original series is being re-used, so old fans will recognize locations and situations for the show, and everything looks impressively detailed considering it's a 480p sitcom. The strong primary colors pop off the during outdoor shots, and while slightly muted inside (ever so slightly), they appear well saturated and homey. Aftifacting is minimal outside of some macroblocking, and the black levels maintain a healthy balance. It's a solid looking show from Netflix and Warner, and while it isn't AMAZING, it is well detailed enough to satisfy just about everyone.





Audio:

Last year's review I stated that I gave the audio score for season one as a 4/5, and I will continue to use that score as it was what I thought at the time, but I'm actually revising my score to 3.5/5. thus, season 2's score will show a 3.5/5 being that the two tracks are identical in nature. Really, this is exactly what you would expect form a multi-camera sitcom show. The series is ALL about the dialog with only minor implementation of the surround channels. Dialog is crisp and well defined, locked up in the center channel and the LFE is mainly used for the score (and it's actually cooked pretty hot for the opening and closing song, I was surprised). It's not a jaw dropping action track, but the limited nature sound design of an on set sit come is well replicated and I hear no flaws in the balance ore the encode.








Extras:

• nothing

Final Score: ​

The second season of Fuller House isn't really any worse or better than the first season, but is really a lateral move for the series. We get to see some more in depth stories about Kimmy and Fernando, and the children get a bigger scope this year, but all in all it's a direct continuation of what happened in season one. Everyone is more comfortable and personable in their roles, but there are less cameos from the original cast, and less cameos from famous people in general (although there is a hilarious one with the late Alan Thicke that was really good). As such I felt the first season edged this one out, but just barely. So if you enjoyed what you saw in season one, then season two will be a comfortable fit. Audio and video are good for DVD sitcom, but once again Warner and Netflix have given us ZERO extras to enjoy. Fun for a good watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Candice Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber
Created by: Jeff Franklin
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Mpeg2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 365 Minutes
DVD Release Date: December 12th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Enjoyed the original and haven't checked out this newer version.. Will have to later once I have more time.