One of the most interesting pieces of true trivia to come out of the unauthorized Lifetime movie about the sitcom Full House is that Dave Coulier was almost on Saturday Night Live as a cast member. It's a good thing he got to do so many voices and impressions on his long-running sitcom, though I still like to think about what might have been. Has anyone from Full House been on Saturday Night Live ? Only Bob Saget hosted Saturday Night Live while Full House was on the air, while Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen hosted in 2004. Nobody else from the main cast has ever been on the sketch show. Isn't that insane?
Full House ran from 1987 to 1995. I'm not an expert on the talent booking history of Saturday Night Live,but it seems like having the hot young stars of the hot new shows to plug their projects is a relatively recent trend on the sketch show. However, someone like Valerie Bertanelli, Christian Slater, Rob Lowe, or Courtney Cox would be in the mix during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Other than that, the hosts make me feel pretty old. Tom Hanks joined the Five Timer's Club during the run of Full House. Mary Tyler Moore hosted in 1989. Even Charlton Heston hosted twice. Finally, one of the guest hosts during this time was Dana Carvey. What a Full House full circle, y'all! Dave Coulier didn't join the SNL cast partially because his style of comedy was a bit too similar to Dava Carvey, which I can kind of see. Not to mention they have the same initials. Who would have guessed that in the run of Coulier's family sitcom, Carvey would not only have a successful career on Saturday Night Live, but also come back and host it.
In the spirit of what never was for Uncle Joey, here are some of the highlights from his Full House cast mates' time on the program.
Bob Saget Monologue
So this happened right after the cancelation of Full House in 1995. During Weekend Update, Ellen Cleghorne mourned the cancelation as well and Saget consoled her. I'm not sure why they went for this joke twice, but there's nothing that can't be saved with a Danny Tanner pep talk.
"Fast Attitude Speed Team"
Saget's host appearance included a parody of America's Funniest Home Videos and this sketch that cast him as a track coach. His tip? Run faster. The sketch also gets weird and meta towards the end, when all of the actors admit that they aren't High School aged.
"Chapman Family BBQ"
The Olsen twins hosted in 2004, when Seth Meyers was still doing sketches and played their older brother. This sketch is weirdly kind of artsy, for Saturday Night Live, and I love it. It's just a series of made up home videos with a twist, but not too unrealistic, ending.
"Pat & Patti's Backpack Shack"
Here's another sketch with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. This is definitely on the wackier side and begs the question — why did it take this long for the Olsen twins to dress as ducks? While Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen did play themselves on Saturday Night Live, there weren't as many Full House references as I would have liked, just the one in a Z105 sketch with Jimmy Fallon that briefly references Dave Coulier's impressions.
I'm still stunned that John Stamos has never hosted Saturday Night Live. I suppose he was too busy hanging with the Beach Boys. Maybe this is Stamos' year, with both Grandfathered on Fox and Fuller House on Netflix with the gang. Let's keep this tradition alive!
