Tonight I was channel surfing and my remote landed on Nick at Nite and the 90’s sitcom, Full House. It was the two-part series finale, where Michelle gets amnesia. There are other storylines included, with Jesse doing too many things and not getting any of them right, DJ deciding to not go to her prom, and Stephanie trying get a guy from drama class to kiss her. In the end, Michelle gets her memory back, Jesse learns his lesson about focusing on what is important, Steph gets kissed, and DJ gets to go to the prom with her boyfriend Steve. Touching speeches are made, and there are Tanner family hugs for everyone!
I loved Full House. A bit older than the intended audience, that did not stop me from watching Full House most Friday nights. I worked as a group home night counselor for teenage girls. We watched together and they loved the TGIF lineup, even though their lives were a far cry from the kids in their cushy surroundings on TV each week. The drama, angst, goofiness, and laughter of the original series still make people laugh today, and the powers that be tell us there will be more of the same in the new Netflix series Fuller House, available on February 26.
If you are looking to be the ultimate manager, you need Jimmy Fallon in your back pocket. Looking to reboot a TV series? Recreate a very special moment from the original show in a skit on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Promoting a new album? Show off your mad skills with the Wheel of Musical Impressions. Want to cement your place in pop culture history? Dance your heart out (again) with a flash mob style performance of your iconic movie dance sequence. Want to hook the cool kids? Try out a new app with Jimmy on the show. Jump start your career by getting a shot on Jimmy’s show. Here are some of my favorite spots (so far) from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Footloose entrance with Kevin Bacon
Here is Kevin Bacon’s Tonight Show entrance, dancing to two of the most popular songs from his 1984 movie Footloose: Never performed by Moving Pictures and Footloose performed by Kenny Loggins. The movie was released long before anyone ever even thought of playing ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’.
Full House reunion on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, and John Stamos all came to wish Jimmy luck on his move to the Tonight Show in this skit recreating a scene from a very special episode of Full House back in the 80’s. Love the hair and catch phrases…and the Teddy Bear Song!! And there always was a lesson, wasn’t there? I am looking forward to 2016’s Fuller House.
Jesse and the Rippers
Six months earlier, on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, was the reunion of one of the best fictional bands I have ever seen, Jesse and the Rippers with frontman Jesse Katsopolis (John Stamos). The band performed the biggest hits of their career: Forever (cover from The Beach Boys), Little Sister (cover from Elvis Presley, jesse’s idol), Hippy Hippy Shake (the Beatles perfomed this is 1963), and Everywhere You Look (the theme song from Full House). Thoroughly enjoyable.
This was a clever skit transporting everyone back to Saturday morning TV and the lives of the kids at Bayside High. When Zack called a time out, it brought me right back! It really was amazing that all these years later, they looked very much like the characters they played 25 years ago. The inside jokes are super fun, too (I especially liked the one about Elizabeth Berkley being a stripper).
Lip Sync with Emma Stone
IMHO the best performance of any of the lip syncs I have seen on the Tonight Show. Jimmy starts out strong with Fancy by Iggy Azelea, but then Emma kills it, with Blues Traveler’s Hook. It was amazing!! Mr. Roboto by Styx was Jimmy’s second selection and it was well done, but then Emma closed with DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win and boy, did she ever!! Epic.
Daniel Radcliffe performs Blackakicious’ Alphabet Aerobics
I had never heard Alphabet Aerobics. I doubt that anyone can do it as well as Harry Potter did here. Flawless.
Wheel of Musical Impressions with Christina Aguilera
I have seen some fun Wheel of Musical Impressions, but I do love Christina, so that’s the clip I am sharing. Her impressions of Cher and Britney were dead on. Jimmy did just as impressive a job as David Bowie and then Michael McDonald. Also fun to check out is Ariana Grande’s ;ip sync clip (find it on youtube) where she impersonates Britney and then Christina!
Dubsmash with Selena Gomez
I had never heard of Dubsmash before I searched it for this post, and does it look fun!! I will have to try it out and post it. Here is Jimmy and Selena with scenes from movies and commercials, then one of Selena’s own songs, Same Old Love.
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Neil Young sing Fancy
And finally, I do love Jimmy Fallon musical impressions. Neil Young, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and a cast of thousands (so it seems). e has a knack for pairing songs with unlikely performers. My favorite is Jimmy doing Neil Young singing Iggy Azelea’s Fancy, where he is joined by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. So many years later and those guys are still in harmony!!
My very first rock concert was The Beach Boys at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) when I was in my early teens (this was around 1972, for those of you who are trying to do the math.) I attended a program for inner city kids at Vincent House (one of the local community centers), where I met Maureen, a college student from LeMoyne who volunteered there. She invited a friend and I to travel home with her to Albany for the night. It was exciting to travel overnight with someone not in my family but the thing I remember most about the trip was the slightly nauseous feeling I had that night after leaving the concert. Now I know it was from all the pot smoking.
The next time I paid any attention to the Beach Boys, other than singing to their songs on top 40 radio, was when they guest starred on Full House in the 80’s. Who didn’t love the TGIF lineup? I really doesn’t matter how implausible the plot was, it was just good fun to see the guys joke with the Tanner clan (and watching them ‘act’ was pretty funny.) Here are the Tanners singing with the Beach Boys at a concert:
I'm With The Band Wives 