Warner Home Video presents

Full House: The Complete Sixth Season (1992)

"Can't believe she's gone already. She sees more of the cab driver than she sees of me."- Danny Tanner (Bob Saget)

Stars: John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier
Other Stars: Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin, Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Lori Loughlin, Scott Weinger, Daniel Renteria, Kevin Renteria, Tahj Mowry, Gail Edwards
Director: various

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 09h:25m:00s
Release Date: 2007-03-27
Genre: television

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
C+	B+	B-	C	D-

 

DVD Review

Having grown to know and love the Tanner family during the first five years of their television existence, fans of Full House weren't exactly clamoring for the changes coming in the sixth season. The writers decided to make the show more mature with more serious storylines outweighing the levity. Despite some fan objections to the new tone and to the introduction of a new character, D.J.'s love interest Steve Hale (Scott Weinger), this season would prove to be one of the show's best, as evidenced in Warner's new DVD set.

The series focuses on widower Danny (Bob Saget) raising D.J. (Candace Cameron), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (Mary-Kate/Ashley Olsen) with housemate Joey (Dave Coulier) and brother-in-law Jesse (John Stamos). Up until this point, the biggest changes in their lives involved Jesse marrying Becky (Lori Loughlin) and bringing twin boys Nicky (Daniel Renteria) and Alex (Kevin Renteria) into the world. Much has changed going into the sixth season, with romance in the air, new careers about to begin, and even a touch of domestic violence.

Come Fly with Me finds D.J. returning from a summer trip to Spain, but she isn't alone. She's brought back a new boyfriend, Steve, who attends school with her and basically becomes an honorary Tanner. This episode is our first look at the dynamic involved in the rest of the family's reaction to Steve's presence, but another pair of relationships is in focus during The Long Goodbye. Danny is at a crossroad in his long-distance relationship with Vicki (Gail Edwards), and Michelle struggles to cope with her best friend Teddy's (Tahj Mowry) move to Texas.

Road to Tokyo and Radio Days harken back to fluffier, goofy episodes of past seasons, but the more dramatic themes pick back up in Lovers and Other Tanners. D.J. and Steve are becoming a serious couple, causing Danny concern. As she becomes more and more irresponsible, Danny forbids D.J. to see Steve, which drives a wedge in this father/daughter relationship. This is arguably the best and most dramatic episode in the show's history, eschewing any temptation to make light of a potentially family-crushing situation.

After a satisfying resolution in the last episode, the focus switched in Educating Jesse. Stamos' character is around quite a bit for the next two episodes, actually, as he does some of his best work in Trouble in Twin Town and The Play's the Thing. There aren't any major developments in the episodes Nice Guys Finish First, I'm Not D.J., and Designing Mothers, but we get an excellent holiday episode in the form of A Very Tanner Christmas.

The Dating Game is a throwaway show, and there's way too much going on in Birthday Blues, but Be True to Your Pre-School is a solid effort in which Jesse's attempts to get his boys into a prominent pre-school generates interesting results. The Heartbreak Kid chronicles an early crush for Michelle, but Silence Is Not Golden is another heart-wrenching, deeply serious show. A simple school project partnership between Stephanie and the obnoxious Charles turns into a startling revelation about the latter's abusive household. Fortunately, this does not go into "After School Special" territory, but there is a valuable lesson to be learned about the dangers of abuse.

The episodes leading up to the finale, Please Don't Touch the Dinosaur, Subterranean Graduation Blues, Grand Gift Auto, Room for One More, and Prom Night are mostly filler. However, the two-part end to the season, The House Meets the Mouse, is worth the wait. The Tanner's trip to Disney World comes about thanks to Jesse's upcoming concert there. He initially wants it to be a romantic getaway with Becky, but Danny decides to bring the whole clan. Each family member has a life-changing experience at some point on this trip; none of which I'll spoil here, but all of which result in a great setup for the seventh season.

Rating for Style: C+
Rating for Substance: B+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Again, these episodes appear in their original aspect ratios and the overall quality is slightly better than they appeared on television. The images aren't as clean and sharp as that of recent TV fare, but there has apparently been a bit of clean-up, eliminating most of the dirt and grain. The colors are bright, but slightly muted, and there isn't any bleeding or other blemishes.

Image Transfer Grade: B-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: Each episode has a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, and everything stays up front. Despite a crowded soundfield, the music, dialogue, and laugh track blend nicely together. There aren't any flaws such as hissing or other annoying distortion.

Audio Transfer Grade: C 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 96 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English
Packaging: Nexpak
Picture Disc
4 Discs
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: There aren't any extras at all in this set.

Extras Grade: D-
 

Final Comments

At the point where a series usually peters out and becomes irrelevant, Full House: The Complete Sixth Season is an example of a show taking a new direction and actually working. The more dramatic tone of these 24 episodes is surprisingly riveting television, but there's still plenty of fun and laughs with the Tanner family to please the show's longtime fans. Warner's four-disc set is similar to their others for this series in audio and video quality.

Chuck Aliaga 2007-05-17