Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there’s a…joint? Dave Coulier recently revealed how Joey Gladstone – his woodchuck-loving would-be comedian on Full House – got his name. And it is far from being as family-friendly as the Tanner clan was.
Speaking on his Full House rewatch podcast, Dave Coulier said he was given the freedom to add to his character, who helps raise DJ, Stephanie and Michelle. “I got to pick my own last name, did you know that? My character last name…Yeah, Jeff [Franklin, the series’ creator] said ‘I’m trying to get a last name for your character,’ and I said, ‘How about Gladstone?’ and he laughed and goes, ‘All right, sounds good.’” So what’s the origin there? “I always thought it was a funny name. It was almost like, ‘I’m glad that I’m stoned.’ You know, I’m a comedian, so that was what I thought. And so Jeff laughed, and that was it.” Cut. It. Out!
It would have been a little too wholesome for Full House to not have had some behind-the-scenes tales such as Dave Coulier’s…and it has plenty of them. John Stamos, who played Jesse Katsopolis, once revealed that he actually got the Olsen Twins fired because they kept screaming on set, although he later had mercy and requested they be brought back. If you want some other juicy pieces – whether they’re completely true or not – it’s worth checking out the rather laughable The Unauthorized Full House Story, which stars a Temu version of the core cast…although it might take a little gladstoning to really get a kick out of.
Of course, Dave Coulier has some other fun tidbits surrounding his personal life: you oughta know by now that Alanis Morissette found inspiration in their relationship for one of her biggest songs.
Dave Coulier would later reprise Joey Gladstone for a recurring part in sequel series Fuller House, even directing a handful of episodes during seasons two through five.
Full House may have been on the air for eight seasons and nearly 200 episodes, but it was far from being an awards darling. Nearly 20 years after it went off the air, the TV Land Awards rightly nominated it for Quintessential Non-Traditional Family.