TOW #19 "Review: ‘Full House’ Sequel Is a Forced March Down Memory Lane" by James Poniewozik

In his review of the recently premiered "Fuller House"( A"Full House" sequel) James Poniewozik shares a very strong opinion arguing that the Netflix series could at best be called "not good" due to the its lack of originality, betrayal of the original show, and cringe worthy content. He humorously compares, "To make a “Full House” sequel “good” — less formulaic, more innovative — would be like baking an artisanal, organic Hostess CupCake: You could do it, it might be delicious, but it would be a betrayal of the product." (para. 1). Although I found the pilot of the show to be quite amusing, I have to agree with Poniewozik. There isn't much cause However, one could certainly argue that there is something good about the series considering that it has gained lots of attention and made the Netflix "popular page" within only a few hours. Additionally, it could also be said that the series was not made with the intention of reinventing "Full House," but actually allowing viewers of the show to reminiscence. Since the audience of the original show is probably 'all grown up' at this point, there is definitely something positive about the fact that the new show is something they can watch with their families and share a part of their childhood. Yet, there is something rather conflicting about this concept because it would seemingly be much easier, and much more accurate, for "Full House" lovers to just share the original series with their families instead of the newer one. Considering that much of the content on "Fuller House" alludes to the original, there is definitely some fallacy to be accounted for with this argument.

Poniewozik's apparent frustration is completely valid in the midst of a generation of television that seems to plagued with spinoff after spinoff after spinoff. Seldom is it that a televsion show, or even movie, of this nature can even be compared in success and quality to the original. This would be an interesting topic to get into, especially if it involved accounting in why it is so difficult for a decent sequel to be produced from such a popular original. Assuming that the author would feel similarly about other seemingly unnecessary sequels, I doubt he would be a fan of the next Harry Potter movie, not to mention the other many sequels coming out this year.