Much ado was made about Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s decision not to reprise their roles as Michelle Tanner for the 2016 spinoff Fuller House. Not only were fans disappointed, but the show made several references to their absence over the course of its five seasons. Apparently it rubbed some of the cast the wrong way too, as John Stamos — who has admitted to getting the Olsen twins “temporarily fired” from the ‘80s sitcom — recently opened up about being angry that they didn’t join the Netflix series, and the unusual olive branch they extended.
John Stamos has been championing Bob Saget’s legacy for over a year now, since the comedian died suddenly last January from a head trauma. Members of the cast have consistently credited the Full House patriarch with ensuring the family remained close, and the Uncle Jesse actor told the And That’s What You REALLY Missed podcast it was mostly Saget who kept in touch with the Olsen twins, despite their refusal to return to acting with the rest of the family. He said:
[Bob Saget] was very instrumental in keeping us all together. The twins moved to New York. … And I gotta tell you, one of the only good things to come out of Bob’s, well ... Mary-Kate and Ashley, we didn’t see them much. I mean, we stayed in touch a little bit, but Bob really did. And they were so great. … You hear rumors, 'Oh, they hated their childhood, or they hated being on the show,’ or whatever.
Bob Saget understood Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s decision to not appear on Fuller House, but it was apparently more of a struggle for his TV brother-in-law. John Stamos admitted to being upset with them, and told the podcast about the odd olive branch the fashion moguls offered:
When I did Fuller House they didn’t wanna come back, and I was angry for a minute. And that got out. But they were [like,] 'We loved our childhood. We loved being with you. We miss Bob.' They came over to my house. They brought a pork chop and sage. I don’t know why, but thank you? … It was a frozen pork chop, so that was really nice. So we stayed very close.
Sure, a frozen porkchop may seem like a random way to say, “We’re sorry,” but I’ve got to say, there are probably a few arguments in my lifetime that could have been resolved quicker if someone had brought me dinner, so I can’t hate on this. And it seems to have worked, as John Stamos said they remained close afterward!
Jodie Sweetin offered the best reasoning for why the Olsen twins didn’t want to reprise their role as Michelle Tanner in pointing out that they were 8 years old when the series ended. For all of the other cast members, the eight years on Full House was a significant stretch of their lives, but for Ashley and Mary-Kate, most of their memories were formed after the sitcom wrapped.
The twins’ Tanner family seems to understand why the Mary-Kate and Ashley cameo never happened, but that didn’t keep the show from making it a running gag over the seasons. The Fuller House characters broke the fourth wall several times over its five seasons to make pointed statements about their little sister, starting in the series premiere and ending with one final Olsen twins joke in its final episodes.
It’s good that John Stamos and the Olsen twins were able to bury the hatchet, and if you want to relive any of the Tanner family fun, Full House is available for streaming with a Hulu subscription or to HBO Max subscription holders. Fuller House, meanwhile, can be streamed with a Netflix subscription.
