The third season of ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show is about the recently widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend ...

'', an American

family sitcom A family-friendly product or service is one that is considered to be suitable for all members of an average family. Family-friendly restaurants are ones that provide service to families that have young children. Frequently, family-friendly produc ...

created by

Jeff Franklin Jeffrey Steven Franklin (born January 21, 1955) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for being the creator of the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' and its Netflix sequel '' Fuller House''. Early life and education F ...

, premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in the United States on September 22, 1989, and concluded on May 4, 1990. The season was partially directed by Franklin and produced by Jeff Franklin Productions,

Miller-Boyett Productions Miller-Boyett Productions (or simply Miller-Boyett) is an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was responsible for family-oriented hit series such as ''Happy Days'', ...

, and

Lorimar Television Lorimar Television, formerly Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969

, with Don Van Atta as the producer. It consists of 24 episodes, most of which were directed by Bill Foster. From this season onward,

Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin (; born July 28, 1964) is an American actress. From 1988 to 1995, she played List of Full House and Fuller House characters#Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis, Rebecca Donaldson Katsopolis on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC ...

is credited in the opening credits. Set in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the show chronicles widower father

Danny Tanner The American television sitcom ''Full House'' ran for eight seasons on ABC from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995. Its sequel series '' Fuller House'' followed 21 years later, airing on Netflix, beginning February 26, 2016; the two parts of ...

, who, after the death of his wife Pam, enlisted his brother-in-law

Jesse Katsopolis The American television sitcom '' Full House'' ran for eight seasons on ABC from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995. Its sequel series '' Fuller House'' followed 21 years later, airing on Netflix, beginning February 26, 2016; the two parts o ...

and his best friend

Joey Gladstone The American television sitcom ''Full House'' ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 22, 1987, to May 23, 1995. Its sequel series ''Fuller House (TV series), Fuller House'' followed 21 years later, airing on ...

to help raise his three daughters, D. J.,

Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown, wreath, garland". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Pol ...

, and Michelle. In this season, Danny and

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

's talk show takes a spike in popularity, meanwhile Jesse and Rebecca continue dating while Jesse prepares to leave his rebellious ways in the past. Initially, it was planned that Becky would appear only in six episodes of season two, however, the producers found that the Tanner girls needed a mother figure. In the meantime, Joey searches for ways to launch his comedy career. The season also marks the first appearance of Comet, a dog the family adopts in "And They Call It Puppy Love". D. J. starts seventh grade and her second year of junior high, Stephanie enters the second grade, and Michelle gets her first bed and starts preschool. By this season, the series' viewership increased, turning ''Full House'' into the most popular series of ABC's block TGIF; also, for the first time the series figured among the 30 highest-rated programs of the year. Critical reception was mixed, with critics regarding the sameness of the program, and praising towards the characters and actors performance.

Cast

The season's main cast is

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the ...

as Jesse,

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and television host. He portrayed Danny Tanner on the sitcom ''Full House'' (1987–1995) and its sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2020). ...

as Danny,

Dave Coulier David Alan Coulier ( ; born September 21, 1959) is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'', Peter Venkman on '' The Real Ghostbusters'', and Animal and B ...

as Joey,

Candace Cameron Candace Helaine Cameron Bure (; Cameron; born April 6, 1976) is an American actress and talk show panelist. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series '' Fuller House'', and a number of roles in Hallmark Ch ...

as D. J.,

Jodie Sweetin Jodie Lee Ann Sweetin (born January 19, 1982) is an American actress and television personality. She is best known for her role as Stephanie Tanner in the ABC comedy series ''Full House'' and its Netflix sequel series '' Fuller House''. Earl ...

as Stephanie, and

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986), also known as the Olsen twins, are American fashion designers and former actresses. Mary-Kate Olsen, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Ashley made their acting debut as infants playing Mi ...

as Michelle. Additionally,

returned as Rebecca "Becky" Donaldson, and, from this season, she had left the recurring cast to become part of the main cast. She appears in thirteen of the season's episodes. The season's guest stars include

Bobbie Eakes Bobbie Diane Eakes is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Macy Alexander on ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (1989–2000, 2001, 2002–2003) and for her role as Krystal Carey on ''All My Children'' (2003–2011). Biog ...

in "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (in 22 Minutes)";

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

as Claire, Danny's mother (replacing

Alice Hirson Alice Corinne Hirson (née Thorsell; March 10, 1929 – February 14, 2025) was an American actress best known for her roles on television. She began her career on stage, before roles on daytime soap operas. She was best known for her roles as Mav ...

, who played the role in

the first season ''The First Season'' is a Canadian drama film, released in 1989. The film stars Kate Trotter as Alex Cauldwell, a woman in British Columbia who, following the death of her fisherman husband Frank (Dwight Koss), tries to support herself and her dau ...

);

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the American Bro ...

as himself, in the episode "Star Search";

Scott Baio Scott Vincent Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off '' Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on the s ...

in "Dr. Dare Rides Again"; and

Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

in "Our Very First Telethon".

Reception and release

Ratings

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' states in a December 1989 article that ''Full House'' was "the most popular series on Friday night and the most popular of all among the 2-to-11 year-old set" at the time, with an average of 28% of the TV audience in its time slot reported in March 1990. The season three ratings did enter in the Top 30 highest-rated programs for the first time, coming in at number 22 for the 1989–90 season.

Critical reception

David Hofstede in the guide ''5000 Episodes and No Commercials'' and Donald Liebenson of

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

cited the fact that Michelle says her catchphrase "You got it, dude" for the first time as highlight of the season. It will become one of the most popular catchphrases in American television. Jeffrey Robinson from

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

said that season three did not included different things for the series, with exception of actors' "over-the-top performances, which alone would be bad, but together make for some fun jokes." Robinson stated, "Overall season three is a nice addition to the Full House series." Similarly, Currentfilm.com praised the characters development, and the actors performance, as well as the screenplay that offers "a nicer balance of snap and sap than prior seasons."

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

placed "Tanner's Island", "Our Very First Telethon", "Honey, I Broke the House", and "Fraternity Reunion" respectively at numbers 7, 8, 14, and 16 on its list of The 19 Most

WTF WTF most often refers to: * WTF (Internet slang), an expression of disbelief WTF may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and online publications *''The Daily WTF'', a blog about information technology "perversions" *''WTF? What's the ...

Moments From ''Full House''.

Episodes

DVD release

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

released a DVD box set containing all third-season episodes on April 4, 2006 only on Region 1.

References

; Notes ;General references * * ;Specific references {{DEFAULTSORT:Full House 1989 American television seasons 1990 American television seasons 3