Full House: 10 Things About Stephanie That Would Never Fly Today

Stephanie is the perky middle child of Full House. She is between DJ and Michelle, sharing a room with both and trying to be a good sister to both. Stephanie misses her mom, but she loves her dad, Uncle Jesse, and Joey very much.

The 90s family sitcom would not be the same without the bright, blonde little girl who finishes out the show in middle school. As much as fans love Stephanie Tanner, there are still some things about her character arc that would never fly today. Here are ten!

10 Car in the Kitchen

In the early days, young Stephanie is playing in Joey’s new red car, Rosie. Joey leaves her unattended for just a minute, and Stephanie looks at the gear shift. Thinking “R” means radio, Stephanie puts the car into reverse and slams through the kitchen window and wall. The traumatic event is relived in Fuller House on the final season’s Thanksgiving episode with Joey’s Rosie 2.

These are family programs, and there are standards for what children can safely watch without imitating it at home. This type of thing shouldn’t make the cut today. In both cases, what if someone had been sitting at that table?! Scary.

9 Hairstyles

Jodie Sweetin has naturally straight hair, and this is what we see from the fourth season on. For some reason, the first season starts her off with fake curls, and this continues for seasons two and three in various fashions. Hair and makeup often exist to transform an actor’s look into that of the character, but three years is a long time for a little girl to have to go through an unnatural process all the time.

8 Catchphrases

“How rude!” “Well, pin a rose on your nose.” These are Stephanie’s most famous catchphrases on Full House. The most palatable one is “How rude!” The rose on the nose gets a little old and definitely isn’t fit for thirty-something Stephanie.

7 Judging Gia

When Stephanie gets to middle school, she finds Gia. As the school’s resident bad girl, Gia is pretty different from Stephanie. The two don’t become friends until after they have a fight. There are tears and outbursts, and there is judgment from both sides. Gia and Stephanie both learn not to judge a book by its cover.

6 Dancing Days

Stephanie’s dance career is impressive as far as continuity is concerned. She practices ballet in the beginning, then she branches out into more jazz and modern styles, and Jodie is convincing as she acts out Stephanie’s dancing!

By the fifth season, Stephanie is at a crossroads where she must decide if she wants to take dance more seriously and devote even more time to it. She ultimately decides to stick with dancing for fun, right in the middle of her recital.

5 Nosiness

Stephanie can’t resist a good secret. She likes to keep tabs on everybody and normally is discrete with her interest. She listens in on DJ’s phone calls, spies on DJ and Steve to try and get a good story, and a couple of years later, she and Kimmy wind up breaking and entering Steve’s apartment. Stephanie has seen a mysterious girl, who is Steve’s cousin, kiss him on the cheek. This lesson is hard for Stephanie to learn, and the nosy thing wouldn’t last as long today.

4 Annoying DJ

For reasons already mentioned, Stephanie annoys DJ sometimes. The sisters don’t always see eye to eye, but Stephanie makes it difficult for her teenage sister to have any privacy or independence sometimes. DJ struggles to show patience with Stephanie, but the sisters do love one another at the end of the day.

3 Being Annoyed by Michelle

In turn, Michelle annoys Stephanie sometimes. When DJ takes over Michelle’s old room, Stephanie and Michelle become roomies for the first time. Stephanie gets a taste of her own medicine as she tries to be a good big sister to Michelle. She puts up with constant tap dancing, shadowing, and other craziness from the youngest Tanner girl. This might not go so far today.

2 Rudeness to Kimmy

One of Stephanie’s worst qualities is her rudeness to Kimmy. There could be underlying jealousy on both sides for closeness with DJ. Mostly, Kimmy and Stephanie just love to trade insults. This is childish, and some of the comebacks would not go over well today.

1 Middle Child Syndrome

Stephanie is caught in the middle. It’s normal. It happens to real middle children every day. She wants to be like her cool big sister, and she wants to do a good job mentoring her little sister. She wants to be a good kid and do the right thing, but she wants to fit in and do what other kids are doing. Stephanie’s journey on the show is different from DJ’s before her, and that’s what makes it good. Unfortunately, a middle schooler’s path on TV today would not take on this depth and would probably be more shallow.

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