Valuable (and random) friendship lessons from Full House
Yesterday, Dave Coulier AKA Joey Gladstone gifted us with a Full House friendship fun fact: He often served as John Stamos’ wingman in real life back in their single days. No big surprise there. Of all the 80s/90s sitcoms casts, these folks are probably the tightest (see the constant impromptu Instagram reunions and group wedding photos). You know why? Because of all the lessons they learned from those very special Full House episodes. That show threw down ALL the friendship knowledge, and while some lessons were kind of weird, others still ring true today—albeit, in the sitcom-iest way possible. Here’s some of the finest episodic takeaways we’ll never forget:
Be true to yourself, guys, OK?
Stephanie had a rough time starting junior high. The transition was only made more difficult when she tried to hang with a bunch of “cool girls.” These girls aren’t really that cool, though, because they cut class to hang out in the bathroom and smoke. When Stephanie denies a cigarette, all the other girls make fun of her. Her one real friend in the group, Mickey, stands up for her, saying that it’s totally Stephanie’s choice whether she wants to smoke in the girls bathroom or not. Way to fight the peer pressure, ladies! In the end, Stephanie stays true to herself, and Mickey ditches those “cool girls.”
Good friends stay super-close even when they move far away
Michelle has a best friend in Teddy (Also, it’s awesome that Michelle is a girl and Teddy is a boy and they’re best friends, because we needed to be reminded again and again as kids that it’s totally OK to have friends of the opposite sex. Where was I? Oh right—). But then Teddy’s parents have to move to Texas, and Michelle is heartbroken. She even goes so far as to tie Teddy to a chair so he can’t leave. In the end, he does leave, but their friendship doesn’t end. That’s what’s important.
Embrace your friend’s weird quirks—see Kimmy Gibbler
Everything about the friendship between DJ and Kimmy reminds us always love our best friends, no matter how strange they might be (but like, strange in a totally sweet and awesome way). Even by 90s sitcom standards, Kimmy is weird. But we’re all a little bit weird every now and then, and DJ never leaves her BFF’s side.
True friends last forever—especially when they live together in a house with another family
Danny and Joey know the exact date they became friends: February 23, 1968. That’s the day back in middle school when the two of them were hanging out on the playground, and together stood up against a school bully. It was also that day that they pledged to be friends forever. It was a signed pledge, so it was super official. Twenty years later, Jesse even signs the middle school friendship pledge, only reaffirming that these guys will be together forever.
Sometimes your best friend can be a stuffed animal and that’s OK
Let’s talk about Mr. Bear for a second. Stephanie and Mr. Bear are pretty much inseparable throughout the early years of Full House, for a very good reason, too. Mr. Bear was given to Stephanie by her mother shortly before she passed away. Needless to say, Mr. Bear is always there for Stephanie, even if he is just a stuffed animal. She almost parts with him a BUNCH of times, but she can’t bring herself to in the end. Even though this is a real relationship with a fake bear, it’s totally OK to lean on this friendship — it’s kind of like as long as Stephanie has Mr. Bear, she’s got a little piece of her mom there, too.
It’s also OK to say ‘no’ to a friend, got that?
Even though DJ and Kimmy were the best of friends, they didn’t always see eye to eye. This one time, DJ threw a surprise party for Kimmy, but Kimmy found out about it and invited literally everyone over to the Tanner house. DJ was NOT happy about it. Kimmy storms off with a bunch of her “new” friends, and it takes a while for the two girls to reconcile. Eventually Kimmy realizes that she was wrong to bring more friends to crash her party, and DJ was wrong to totally flip out at Kimmy. The feud only makes their communication skills stronger.
You can have multiple best friends—dogs count, too
If only we could go back in time and tell little Michelle that Mindy Kaling thinks of best friends not as one single person in your life, but rather as a “tier” of people. After Teddy moves away, Michelle gets a new best friend in Denise. But then Teddy moves back, and Michelle has a complete freak out because she think she can only have ONE reign supreme. Thankfully, Danny is there to talk some sense into her, and explains that it’s important to have “old best fiends” and “new best friends.” The two can live in harmony.
Sisters have your back, especially when you need them most
In a very special Full House episode, DJ decides to start dieting, and some scary stuff happens. DJ basically stops eating during her crash diet, and Stephanie picks up on all the warning signs. She KNOWS she can’t keep a secret like this, because it could really hurt DJ. DJ makes her swear not to tell anyone, but Stephanie has to do what’s best for her older sister. Stephanie confesses to Danny what’s going on, and Danny has an awesome pep-talk with DJ about loving herself and her body and not caving into narrow beauty standards. (OK maybe it wasn’t in so many words, but he got the message across). And guess what? It’s all thanks to Steph who totally stepped up for her sis.
