We’ve talked a lot about Dave Coulier and the rest of the Fuller House gang over the last several months, but recently the man who plays Uncle Joey revealed a pretty big truth to fans. In a recent AMA, Dave Coulier revealed that he almost didn’t get to take the role on the ABC sitcom at all. In fact, a gig with the long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live almost prevented him from taking the role that made him a household name. Here’s what the actor and comedian had to say:
I did a screen test at NBC, my manager Brad Grey called and said that he had talked with Lorne Michaels and Lorne said ‘It's going to be great to have Dave with us in New York this season. And then I told everyone in my life that I was going to New York to be on SNL and then Brandon Tartikoff decided that Dana Carvey and I were too similar. Then I had to call everyone back and tell them ‘Never mind.’ Six months later, I read a pilot titled Full House I would have never been on Full House had I gone to New York to be on SNL.
Getting pulled from Saturday Night Live has been news that has popped up before, but I had no idea that the two events happened in succession. For instance, if Coulier had already been fighting for screen time as a newbie on the late night series, the pilot for Full House never would have been thrown in his lap. It was probably a horrible feeling to literally be hired by SNL and then to have the late night sketch series totally take it back just a short time later. It all worked out as well as it possibly could for Dave Coulier, though.
First of all, Full House actually aired on ABC for 8 seasons, which is a lot of seasons for the late eighties and earlier nineties, but the man’s probably made even more money in the decades since, as Full House enjoys an awesome run in syndication, even today. Beyond that, the show allowed him to become lifelong good friends with Bob Saget, John Stamos and some of the other cast members. Plus, Netflix’s Fuller House revival has given him a nice side gig to go along with his stand-up comedy career.
Those who have gotten to stay on Saturday Night Live for more than a year or two are often able to channel their late night success into bigger or greater things. However, a lot of people never really end up making a name for themselves beyond SNL. Dave Coulier sort-of bypassed that step, simply by taking a role that put him in the limelight as part of ABC’s TGIF lineup. When one door closes, a window opens and all that jazz.
If you’d like to see Dave Coulier throw out a few more "cut it outs" in the coming days, you shouldn’t be disappointed. Netflix has already signed on for Season 2 of Fuller House, although we may not get new episodes until 2017 sometime. If you’d like know what to expect from Season 2 of Fuller House, you can check out what we know about the upcoming episodes.
In addition, if you’d like to read more amusing anecdotal stories from Dave Coulier, check out his full Reddit AMA.
