Two Of A Kind Working On A Full House
It's no bluff, most of my students are not book smart.
What they lack in book smarts, however, they make up for, in spades, in street smarts. They know nothing of little leagues and play dates. They hang with their cousins and spend their summers in "DR" or "PR". All anyone can play is the hand God they dealt them.
Most of my kids spend a lot of their time letting their futures ride on being cool. Doing good in school? Not cool. Reciting lines from movies like The Godfather verbatim? Cool.
This is why it is so surprising, for all the time spent on decidedly more mature content, that most of my students go "all in" on shows like Full House. This my friends, is a bet I would have never wagered. Now in syndication, Full House had its heyday when I was their age, which was (God help me) nearly twenty years ago.
In case you were living under a rock, Full House was the story of a single dad, Danny Tanner (Bob "surprisingly foul mouthed" Saget) whose wife dies suddenly, leaving him to care for his three pre pubescent daughters: DJ "Donna Joe" Tanner (Candace "I'm With Kirk" Cameron), Stephanie Tanner (Jodie "look at me now" Sweetin) and Michelle Tanner (Mary Kate & Ashley "when we had baby fat" Olsen).
Deciding against going it alone, Danny begrudingly enlists the help of buddy Joey Gladstone (Dave "Cut It Out" Coulier) and Uncle Jesse (John "I wish that I was Jessi's girl" Stamos). Together the three men lead sail the unchartered waters of the SS PMS and even manage to belt out a song with The Beach Boys every so often.
I've tried explaining to my students that when Full House was on the first time around I was just about the age they are now. To seal the deal I use the example of the Olsen Twins and how much they have umm, grown, since the show. I think they get it. They still think I'm ancient, but they sorta get it.
Still it's bizarre for me to think that of all the sitcoms I grew up with, Full House is the one to transcend time. In some ways, I can remember watching Full House like it was yesterday. A time when the term 'annoying neighbor' was synonymous with the name, Kimmy Gibbler. When people weren't afraid to laugh at cheesy, overplayed one liners like "How Rude!" . Things were simpler then so laugh track enduced, canned laughter was acceptable, if not encouraged.
The more I think about it though, Full House and my students actually make the perfect hand. After all, Full House, and eighties sitcoms like it signify a way of life most of my students know nothing about. Their lives are hard, their innocent days numbered. This isn't just true of the youths of the urban areas, you see it in the suburban sects as well. Being young these days is like playing without a full deck.
I guess it was only a matter of time before a new generation found Full House since shows like these can no longer find them. Why? Because they simply don't make sitcoms like this anymore. This just goes to show that kids today still want to be kids, if only we would let them. When The Cameron clan stopped performing, who could these children turn to for entertainment?!
That's why I say let them enjoy their Full House. Before you know it, families like these will lose out to the likes of the Corleone family for good. But until then, they got it, dude.
What they lack in book smarts, however, they make up for, in spades, in street smarts. They know nothing of little leagues and play dates. They hang with their cousins and spend their summers in "DR" or "PR". All anyone can play is the hand God they dealt them.
Most of my kids spend a lot of their time letting their futures ride on being cool. Doing good in school? Not cool. Reciting lines from movies like The Godfather verbatim? Cool.
This is why it is so surprising, for all the time spent on decidedly more mature content, that most of my students go "all in" on shows like Full House. This my friends, is a bet I would have never wagered. Now in syndication, Full House had its heyday when I was their age, which was (God help me) nearly twenty years ago.
In case you were living under a rock, Full House was the story of a single dad, Danny Tanner (Bob "surprisingly foul mouthed" Saget) whose wife dies suddenly, leaving him to care for his three pre pubescent daughters: DJ "Donna Joe" Tanner (Candace "I'm With Kirk" Cameron), Stephanie Tanner (Jodie "look at me now" Sweetin) and Michelle Tanner (Mary Kate & Ashley "when we had baby fat" Olsen).
Deciding against going it alone, Danny begrudingly enlists the help of buddy Joey Gladstone (Dave "Cut It Out" Coulier) and Uncle Jesse (John "I wish that I was Jessi's girl" Stamos). Together the three men lead sail the unchartered waters of the SS PMS and even manage to belt out a song with The Beach Boys every so often.
I've tried explaining to my students that when Full House was on the first time around I was just about the age they are now. To seal the deal I use the example of the Olsen Twins and how much they have umm, grown, since the show. I think they get it. They still think I'm ancient, but they sorta get it.
Still it's bizarre for me to think that of all the sitcoms I grew up with, Full House is the one to transcend time. In some ways, I can remember watching Full House like it was yesterday. A time when the term 'annoying neighbor' was synonymous with the name, Kimmy Gibbler. When people weren't afraid to laugh at cheesy, overplayed one liners like "How Rude!" . Things were simpler then so laugh track enduced, canned laughter was acceptable, if not encouraged.
The more I think about it though, Full House and my students actually make the perfect hand. After all, Full House, and eighties sitcoms like it signify a way of life most of my students know nothing about. Their lives are hard, their innocent days numbered. This isn't just true of the youths of the urban areas, you see it in the suburban sects as well. Being young these days is like playing without a full deck.
I guess it was only a matter of time before a new generation found Full House since shows like these can no longer find them. Why? Because they simply don't make sitcoms like this anymore. This just goes to show that kids today still want to be kids, if only we would let them. When The Cameron clan stopped performing, who could these children turn to for entertainment?!
That's why I say let them enjoy their Full House. Before you know it, families like these will lose out to the likes of the Corleone family for good. But until then, they got it, dude.
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