The Eighth and Final Season

Full House is a feel-good family sitcom that tackles the daily lives of the Tanner family household: Danny, D.J., Stephanie, Michelle, Joey, Jesse, Becky, and twin boys Nicky and Alex. In the earlier seasons, the show focused on three single guys raising three young girls. As the show progressed, more characters were added and the scope changed ever so slightly with more drama. For the most part, the change in tone works and feels much like previous seasons, but the comedy is not quite as strong. For more information about the series, please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, season five, season six, and season seven.

Season eight contains the final moments of the Tanner family as the last of the series. Overall, this season has its moments, as did season seven, but fails to compare to the innocent, silly fun-filled humor found in the show's earlier seasons. In other words, Full House is past its prime in its final moments. This stems from the fact that the show never recovered from its season six changes (having more drama and less innocent comedy), and the content never felt as right the over-the-top cast. Fan or not, this season is probably best as a rental.

The season eight content takes a dramatic look at the Tanner family lives, including several storylines about the youths getting older and the dads (and Becky) having to come to terms with it, more stories about careers and professional lives, and so on. However, the major focus is on the kids: Michelle growing into her independence, Stephanie becoming a rebellious teenager, and D.J. preparing to move on.

The season premiere episode "Comet's Excellent Adventure" is the first of many that highlight Michelle's growing independence from her three dads. She begs the dads to let her walk Comet on her own. Since Comet is more than twice her size, they say no. But when Jesse is preoccupied with his music, Michelle takes the family dog out and loses him. It is a pretty serious episode for the entire family, as Michelle could have been hurt and they all love the dog. Losing Comet isn't her first mistake as she tries to come into her own. In "You Pet It, You Bought It", Michelle earns over two-hundred dollars selling lemonade. She uses her profits to buy a donkey, which wrecks havoc in the Tanner household.

"Making Out Is Hard To Do" is an episode highlighting Stephanie's rebellious teenage ways. She doesn't do her chores and lies to Danny about her actions. She is accidentally caught at a make-out party with her best friend forever Gia, who was introduced as a troubled teen in season seven. But while Stephanie is acting like a teenager, she also has shown positive influence in Gia's life. This information comes out when Danny and Gia's mom Claire catch them redhanded at the make-out party. Sparks fly between Danny and Claire. They have their first date in "Claire And Present Danger". In the episode "Stephanie's Wild Ride", the family averts a crisis. Stephanie and Gia are invited to go out joyriding with some cute boys. D.J. finds ou; fearing for the worst she tells the old man. So, Stephanie doesn't go and Gia gets in a serious car accident.

D.J.'s love life is at the fore throughout the season. She begins the season dating Nelson, an overly wealthy youth. Nelson throws money at everything. D.J. and everyone else like the money, but she didn't feel the chemistry. D.J. later meets a stud named Viper. Viper is the newest member of Jesse's band. They get pretty serious and face lots of relationship drama. Kimmy also gets a little dramatic this season. In "Taking The Plunge", Kimmy decides to elope with boyfriend Dwayne. She believes with D.J. going to college, she will be alone.

As for the adults, Jesse loses the Rippers in the beginning of the season. His former band joins The Brady Bunch's Barry Williams and become an instant success. It hurts Jesse and he forms a new band. Joey also tries out teaching and becomes Michelle's substitute teacher in "To Joey, With Love", which has a few kinks. In "The Producer", Becky is promoted to executive producer of Wake Up, San Francisco. While it is great news, Danny was hoping to get the honor.

Overall, Full House's eighth and final season has a lot going on for the cast, with most of the content focused on the youths and their coming of age. The end result is more drama than the earlier seasons, which does not leave as much fun-filled, goofy moments. The content comes off pretty over-the-top and feels overplayed. It is simply time for the show to end.

Episode Guide

1. Comet's Excellent Adventure: Dog day afternoon. Comet has a leash-free spree exploring San Francisco with an adventurous collie.
2. Breaking Away: Remember how Danny felt when Michelle went to preschool? Well, now it's Jesse and Rebecca's turn to fret.
3. Making Out is Hard to Do: Stephanie brings Pictionary to Gia's party - but the other kids have more advanced games in mind.
4. I've Got a Secret: Don't tell! But Michelle tells Danny about her secret club, Danny blabs, and - presto! Michelle is an ex-member.
5. To Joey with Love: Michelle expects her substitute teacher to be the coolest, the funniest, the bestest ever... yup, it's Joey.
6. You Pet It, You Bought It: Toys? Candy? Soda pop? Michelle has a better plan for spending her lemonade-stand look: She buys a donkey.
7. On the Road Again: Jesse gets a chance to relive his glamour days on the road... and discovers they're not as glamorous as he remembers.
8. Claire and Present Danger: Another sister for Stephanie? When Danny starts dating her best friend's mom, Stephanie jumps to conclusions.
9. Stephanie's Wild Ride: D.J. decides it's time for some sisterly intervention when Stephanie wants to go joyriding with reckless boys.
10. Under the Influence: Show me the way to go home. Kimmy gets way tipsy at a party and spends the night at the Tanners'.
11. Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen: Michelle and Jesse's attempt to exchange a present turns into a ho-ho-holiday adventure.
12. D.J.'s Choice: As far as D.J. is concerned, the only thing worse than no boyfriend is two, especially when she must choose between them.
13. The Producer: Becky gets a promotion Danny has been hoping for. And he's delighted for her. Really. Just delighted.
14. Super Bowl Fun Day: Super Bowl, Joey! Don't forget the batteries for your Bullwinkle TV... and your promise to take Michelle's club to the museum.
15. My Left and Right Foot: After she's teased about her big feet, Michelle has a Sasquatch-sized nightmare.
16. Air Jesse: With a game coming up, hoops-challenged Jesse gets a little help from a friend: Kareem-Abdul Jabbar.
17. Dateless in San Francisco: "What's the plan, Stan?" Danny makes big plans for Valentine's Day.
18. We Got the Beat: The family bands together. Uncle Jesse volunteers to manage Stephanie's new rock band.
19. Taking the Plunge: Afraid she'll be lonely when D.J. heads to college, Kimmy does the logical thing: elope.
20. Up on the Roof: D.J.'s senior-class prank backfires, but it's Jesse who is sent to the principal's office.
21. Leap of Faith: It's a loooong way down. Rebecca thinks bungee jumping is cool... right up to the moment she's supposed to jump.
22. All Stood Up: When a boy asks Stephanie on a date then stands her up, Danny stands up for his little girl.
23. Michelle Rides Again (1): Two small disasters: D.J.'s dateless for the prom; Stephanie's leading man won't kiss her. And one big disaster...
24. Michelle Rides Again (2): Michelle who? Michelle's accident leaves her with amnesia, so the whole family pitches in to bring her memory back.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame color. The picture quality is good considering its age. The image is a bit soft at times. For the most part, it looks good with a slight grain and no noticeable issues attributed with video compression.

Audio:
The audio in this release is in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo. The quality is quite good. The audio is fairly flat, which is due the show being dialogue driven. This release supports closed captioning and has English subtitles.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this season set.

Final Thoughts:
Full House's eighth and final season is another not-so-great season. The show has simply reached a point where its content is not as funny or likeable. The cast has grown up and they take on more dramatic storylines. Combining the drama with their over-the-top personalities result in just too much hard to stomach content. Throughout the season there are some decent moments that will give you a chuckle, but for the most part it is a hard season to get through and enjoy. Fan or not, it's a rental at best.