Top photo: Lietmotiv from Washington, DC, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On September 22, 1987, American television audiences met a family living through one of the hardest changes imaginable. A father had lost his wife, three daughters were growing up without their mother, and two men with very little parenting experience were about to move into their San Francisco home.
That was the beginning of Full House, the family sitcom that would become a familiar part of American television throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The premiere episode, “Our Very First Show,” introduced Danny Tanner, Uncle Jesse, Joey Gladstone, and the three young Tanner girls. It also established something that would become central to the series: behind the jokes, misunderstandings, and household chaos was a family trying to take care of one another.
And surprisingly, one of the most emotional moments in that first episode involved a little girl who decided she would rather live in the garage.
A Family Trying to Begin Again
The episode opens three months after the death of Pamela Tanner, Danny’s wife and the mother of D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle.
Danny Tanner, played by Bob Saget, has been relying on his mother, Claire, to help care for the girls. But Claire is preparing to return home, leaving Danny to manage a household that suddenly feels much too large for one parent.
Fortunately, Danny has a plan.
His brother-in-law, Jesse Cochran, played by John Stamos, is moving into the house. So is Danny’s childhood best friend, Joey Gladstone, played by Dave Coulier.
Jesse is a motorcycle-riding musician with an independent lifestyle. Joey is a comedian who enjoys impressions and jokes. Neither seems particularly prepared for the daily challenges of raising children.
But both have agreed to help.
For Danny, their arrival means he will not have to face fatherhood alone. For the girls, however, the arrangement brings another major change to a home that has already experienced too many.
And nobody is less enthusiastic than the oldest daughter, D.J.
Why D.J. Refuses to Share Her Bedroom
D.J. Tanner, played by Candace Cameron, is ten years old when the series begins. Like many children her age, she values having a little space of her own.
Unfortunately, the family’s new living arrangement means she must share her bedroom with her younger sister, Stephanie.
Stephanie, played by Jodie Sweetin, is delighted by the idea. She imagines sharing clothes and spending more time with her older sister.
D.J. sees things differently.
To her, the change means losing another piece of the familiar life she once enjoyed. She attempts to establish strict boundaries inside their shared room, even dividing the space to make it clear which side belongs to whom.
Stephanie does not take the rules quite as seriously as D.J. would like.
The conflict is played for laughs, but there is something deeper beneath the sisters’ disagreement.
D.J. has already lost her mother. Her grandmother is leaving, and now she is being asked to give up the privacy of her own bedroom.
Eventually, D.J. decides she has had enough.
Instead of accepting the new arrangement, she moves into the garage.
Uncle Jesse and Joey Face Their First Parenting Disaster
While D.J. struggles with the new household arrangements, Jesse and Joey discover that caring for a baby is much harder than either imagined.
Michelle Tanner, the youngest daughter, needs her diaper changed.
Ordinarily, this would be a simple task for an experienced parent. Unfortunately, Jesse and Joey have never changed a diaper before.
What follows is one of the premiere’s most memorable comedy sequences.
The two men approach the situation with an astonishing lack of practical knowledge. Instead of handling the diaper change in Michelle’s nursery, they bring the baby into the kitchen and begin improvising.
The kitchen equipment becomes part of their unusual operation. They clean and dry Michelle before attempting to replace her diaper with paper towels.
Stephanie watches their efforts and eventually reveals that actual diapers were available all along.
Her explanation for not telling them sooner is wonderfully simple: nobody asked her.
The scene introduces a running idea that would help define the show’s humor. Jesse and Joey genuinely care about the children, but affection does not automatically make someone an expert at parenting.
Sometimes learning to care for a family means getting everything wrong first.
The Garage Scene Reveals D.J.’s Real Heartbreak
When Danny discovers that D.J. has moved into the garage, he becomes understandably alarmed.
At first, the adults attempt to persuade her to return to the house. Jesse even tries offering her money, hoping a financial incentive will resolve the problem quickly.
But Danny eventually realizes that the disagreement is not really about bedroom space.
He sits down with D.J. and Stephanie to talk about what has been happening.
D.J. finally explains why the changes have upset her so much. First, she lost her mother. Then her grandmother had to leave. Now even her bedroom no longer feels like her own.
For a child still grieving, these are not separate inconveniences. They are another series of reminders that the life she remembers is disappearing.
Danny understands because he is grieving too.
He reminds D.J. that although their family has changed, they still have each other. Stephanie and Michelle remain part of her life, and Jesse and Joey have come to help them stay together.
Danny makes it clear that he does not intend to allow their family to fall apart.
The conversation changes D.J.’s mind. She agrees to return to the house and share her room with Stephanie.
It is a gentle resolution, but it gives the premiere an emotional purpose beyond simply introducing the characters.
The new household will require sacrifices from everyone. Yet those changes also mean that nobody has to face the family’s loss alone.
The Sweet Ending That Established the Show’s Spirit
As the episode draws to a close, the Tanner household begins to feel less like a temporary arrangement and more like a family finding its rhythm.
Jesse and Joey have already survived their first difficult day of childcare, although their methods could certainly use improvement.
D.J. has agreed to return from the garage, Stephanie is happy to have her sister nearby, and Danny can finally see that his unusual household might work.
Then baby Michelle brings the adults together for another memorable moment.
Jesse attempts to get Michelle to say his name. When she makes a sound, he proudly interprets it as a successful first attempt.
Later, the family joins together in a playful rendition of the theme from The Flintstones.
It is a fitting ending for a premiere built around change and uncertainty.
The house is still crowded. The adults are still learning. The children have not stopped creating problems.
But the family is together.
And that is exactly what Danny had hoped for.
How the First Episode Introduced a Television Favorite
Full House premiered on ABC on September 22, 1987, with “Our Very First Show.” The episode was directed by Joel Zwick.
The main cast included Bob Saget as Danny Tanner, John Stamos as Jesse Cochran, Dave Coulier as Joey Gladstone, Candace Cameron as D.J., Jodie Sweetin as Stephanie, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen sharing the role of Michelle.
Alice Hirson appeared as Danny’s mother, Claire, while Christie Claridge played Vanessa, a woman Jesse had met before arriving at the Tanner home.
The pilot introduced Jesse under the surname Cochran, although the character would later be known as Jesse Katsopolis.
There was also an interesting difference between the original production and the version viewers saw on television.
An unaired version of the pilot featured actor John Posey playing Danny Tanner. Bob Saget ultimately portrayed Danny in the broadcast version and throughout the series.
Created by Jeff Franklin, Full House went on to run for eight seasons, concluding in May 1995.
But the foundation of the show was already visible in its first episode.
There was the loving but anxious father, the unpredictable uncle, the comedian trying to make everyone laugh, and three daughters with very different personalities.
More importantly, there was a central idea that brought them all together.
A family does not have to look exactly the way it once did to remain a family.
For viewers who remember watching Full House during its original television run, “Our Very First Show” offers a return to the moment when everything began.
For those discovering it decades later, the pilot remains a warm introduction to characters learning that love, patience, and a little humor can help a household survive difficult changes.
And perhaps the most memorable lesson came from D.J., who discovered that sharing a bedroom did not mean losing the people who mattered most.
Do you remember watching the very first episode of Full House? Which moment stayed with you—D.J. moving into the garage, Jesse and Joey changing Michelle’s diaper, or the family’s final scene together?
Share your favorite memory in the comments.
Sources
- tvguide.com
- imdb.com
- imdb.com
- rottentomatoes.com
- rottentomatoes.com
- tv.apple.com
- thetvdb.com
- full-house.org
- classic-tv.com
