Inside the Secrets, Scandals and Legacy of ‘Full House’ From Creator Jeff Franklin

September 22, 1987. Thirty years ago. Ronald Reagan was president, and “Full House” debuted on ABC’s worst night at 8 p.m. Friday, considered to be not a time slot, but rather a “death slot.” We barely made the Top 75. The reviews of the show were terrible — “cheesy, saccharine, mind-numbing” — and that was from the one positive review.

If you had told me I’d be running the same show with the same cast in 2017, I would’ve asked what drugs you were on, and could I please have some? And yet, today, “Full House” has become one of the most beloved, popular and iconic family sitcoms ever. How on earth or any planet is this possible? Here’s how…

My big break happened when Garry Marshall “hired” me for fifty bucks a week to be a “researcher” on “Laverne and Shirley.” He did this with a couple young writers each season — a cheap way to put them on the writing staff and try them out. Eventually, the WGA put a stop to this, but it was a godsend for me. Midway through my second season, I became the showrunner on “Laverne and Shirley,” the no. 1 show on TV watched by 50 million viewers every week. I’m pretty sure that at age 24, I was the youngest showrunner ever (and now I may be the oldest). I was definitely the least experienced. But Garry taught me how to run a sitcom — by example, and personally. His shows featured lovable characters, physical comedy, life lessons and happy endings. And although Garry never worked on “Full House,” I think of “Full House” as a Garry Marshall show.

There is a moment when every sitcom writer first dreams of having their own show. Mine was working on “Bosom Buddies.” Tom Hanks was the star and Bob Saget was the warm-up guy. After a marathon re-write, I walked out of my office and the sun was up. I had worked a 22-hour day. I thought if I was going to work this hard, I should have some profit participation. So during the next three years, I pitched 20 series and got 12 pilot scripts ordered. I shot six pilots, and exactly none of them went to series. I thought this dream was just not in the cards and it was time for something new.

So I started writing movies and my first script became a hit teen comedy, “Summer School,” directed by Carl Reiner. I signed a screenwriting deal with Lorimar, who meanwhile managed to release six bombs in a row and decided to exit the movie business and concentrate on TV. Rather than pay me what they owed me, they asked me to work off my movie deal on the TV side and try to sell a sitcom. I politely explained I was now a “movie guy,” and they politely explained they didn’t care. So, to get my paycheck, instead of a lawsuit, I came up with possibly the laziest idea for a sitcom ever, a show called “House of Comics” about three single guys sharing a house trying to make it as stand-ups. The Lorimar TV guys asked me who are the characters? I said whoever we cast because they will be playing themselves. (Told you it was lazy.) ABC wanted to meet with me, but asked if I could please come in with a family show. So I made one guy a widower with three kids, and thought let’s make one a baby, because hey, that’s one less character to write. The three “dads” morphed into a comic, a sportscaster and a rocker, because I like comedy, sports and rock ’n’ roll. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized my lazy idea had accidentally turned into a very strong premise for a TV comedy.

I named the show “Full House.” Three Mr. Moms raise three little girls, young men explore and embrace their maternal side, creating an oddball family that overcomes the tragic loss of the girls’ mother through the healing power of love, all served up a la Garry Marshall. ABC loved the pitch and ordered a script the next day. I turned in a draft, and they ordered a pilot the next day. Next came the tricky part: casting.

The roles that went to John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron, Jodie Sweetin and the Olsen twins fell into place quickly. But finding the father, Danny Tanner, was problematic. I wanted Paul Reiser or Bob Saget. Paul Reiser opted to star in the other single dad show that season, “My Two Dads.” (Obviously, a hit show needed three dads — not two). Bob Saget was under contract to “The Morning Program” on CBS. So after auditioning hundreds of actors, we ended up casting an unknown [John Posey, father of “Teen Wolf” star Tyler Posey] the day before we started production. At the first table read, I thought Jodie Sweetin was going to be the breakout star. At age five, she had the comedy chops of a young Shirley Temple. But it turned out our seven-month-old baby, played by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, was about to steal the show. The sequence where John Stamos and Dave Coulier discover the baby needed to be changed and then improvised their first diaper change was the highest testing scene for a sitcom ever at the time. ABC ordered 13 episodes.