How Rude, Tanneritos!Couldn't get enough of our interview with Full House writer/producer Marc Warren?! Neither could we!! In part 2, Marc tells us the profound impact that Jodie's book had on him (and the trajectory of his career)! Plus, he admits there is ONE episode he wishes he could change in the series... Can you guess which?! It's all here on How Rude, Tanneritos!
He there, Fanaridos, Welcome to part two of our interview with Mark Warren. We can't wait for you to hear even more behind the scenes stories from the person who produced and wrote some of your favorite episodes on Full House.
So let's get right into it.
Here's Mark, if you could go back and if there is anything if you could go back though, is there anything you would change about the show or a storyline that you wish would have gotten written differently that like you had an intention for and then it you know, they got notes and it went sideway.
I think thee was disappointing. We didn't know it was going to be the final episode, and there was so much turmoil around that time. Are we coming back? Are we going to the w B which which was new at the time. Uh, did the guys want to come back? Did? There was so much so, like maybe a week before they said, well, you know, this is it. We gotta we got to wrap things up, and we really rushed through that. We didn't have enough time to properly give it, give it up the send off that it deserved. I felt. So I was always disappointed, and I mean it's an okay episode as an episode.
Now do you mean the last episode that we filmed or the last episode that aired, because that's because the last episodes that aired were the.
Michelle amnesia one, right, that's what I mean, which.
Led to the fan fiction story that all of Fuller House is in that Michelle's in a coma and all of Fuller House is a dream, which is why we never see her in it, which I think fascinating story. That's but no, but yeah, that was the last one that aired. So the last one that we wrote where or the last one you wrote?
Yeah?
Yeah, it wasn't. It was wasn't. Really there was no goodbye.
There was really no goodbye, and and the show deserved some kind of and I don't know what we would have done. We probably would have put a lot of time and effort into really cracking that storyline, you know, and really make interesting and inspired and fun right and and giving in a great and we you know, we it was just there was too much uncertainty time.
I mean, maybe because we didn't get to say goodbye. That's why people wanted for maybe you know what I mean? Have we said good bye them like an hour We're done with them.
We left the morning bore yeah, I mean we could have blown.
Up horrible like that, right, Oh yeah, no, that would be be terrible.
Imagine the whole if you really ended a show like that, How harriful that would be.
I mean, it can't be any it will never be any worse than the Sopranos.
So yeah, screen.
Yeah, gone, right, yeah, yeah, some last episode was always I think a lot of fans tell us too.
They're like, it was kind of we never got to say goodbye.
Out yeah, yeah, yeah, I wonder someone asked us recently where we picture, like what happened after the Michelle amnesia storyline? Like did the guys stay living in the house? Did Jesse and Rebecca stay in the attic for very long? Was Joey always just in the alcove or downstairs in the basement? Like how long do you think the guys lived in that house before they finally moved down.
To TV show? And I kind of moved on myself after that, So I really give it.
You haven't been sitting there for thirty some years thinking about what happened to these characters.
Mark, come on, where's your commitment?
But you would hope that the guys, you know that that Jesse got moved on, had moved on, and Joey got out of the basement. And the other thing was the house. You know, how crazy the geography of the house, how it kept changing. Yard was three acre.
Look.
I have come up with a theory that the full house, that full house, the house was actually uh some sort of a portal to uh like a time traveling uh and and and physics bending existence because nobody in the house really over ages the house itself cannot exist in the shape that it is. The backyard is. We get concrete trucks in there, we get a horse up the stairs there.
Is we do so many things in this house that I am convinced that it's just it's like, uh, yeah, it's.
Like some sort of weird little portal where strange things are possible.
Yeah, so that, you know, but that was we just embraced that, And that was kind of an inside joke that if people are going to notice or not notice, you know, right under the fun of the show.
So oh well, we've noticed, and we it has become a never ending source of entertainment for us to go, oh my god, look how giant the backyard is.
Now, where did that come from?
There was one we recently.
We recently reviewed The Honey I Broke the House where Stephanie drives the car through the kitchen and we were like, yeah, how did a car get back there? Why is this child left unattended with a car with cargies in the.
Ignition was watching all We were like, yeah, this is a lot going on.
And there was one where you where Kimny was at war with the Tanners over the backyard fence.
The Ostriche.
Oh yes, the Ostrich.
And the.
Ostriche the strange who came up with the Ostriche?
Like you want to know?
But the craziness of this switch that.
That was seven or eight. It was at the end I want to see.
You know, we had a really interesting writing staff because when when Dennis and I took over, and I think Jeff had had kind of the same philosophy that if anybody came in and said, oh, a love full house, you know the love of that family, you know how much they care about each other, we didn't really want them. We wanted people with a lot of edge. You know, they would write crazy spec scripts that you know, could never get on the air because you could always dial it down, you know, we had like Chuck, you know, Chuck and Jamie Tatham, Yeah, to a modern family, and Karlyn Omine who had been on The Simpsons for you know, yeah, so we loved that sensibility. Boyd Hailey, Yeah, those those guys were great. All those people were all amazing. So the room was crazy. I mean, oh, I bet and I heard Doug talking about it also, how uh it was off the rail sometimes, you know, it was really really wild.
But that's there's a show the writer's room of a of a family TV show versus what actually makes it on the It's like death to Smoochie.
It's very very.
Much yes, and but you know that you have to channel that that enery and and that kind of off the wall sense of humor and glimpses of it, you know, come out in the show. And that's why I think the show was sharp, because yes, it was a family show, but if you look at a lot of the jokes and a lot of the the the interactions and the and the storylines, they're they're sharp and they're they're they're clever. So I think that's what made it like just this maybe a step above the normal family show, and why it sustains I think, mm.
Hmm, yeah, absolutely.
Now pivoting sort of from your Full House years, You've done a ton of other television. I mean, can we just a short list of what else you have worked on?
The after Full House? We we're supposed to get We're supposed to get a development deal at Warner Brothers. And they called us in and less Moon Beast who you know, right, just the side story when there were a couple of episodes to Less Moon Best said I want to put my daughter in the show, Sarah, And she was like a head taller than everybody else. You would put her in Michelle's class. And I think it was the maybe this Slicky Boy the episode of Yankee Doodle Dandy or something right, yes, And she looked the wrong way into the wrong camera and Moonvest was up in the booth. Who the help put that kid in the show. Don't you ever like kid? You know? But he tried to blame everybody else. But so let's let's move this. Call this in and said, I know you guys have a development deal. You know, you work really harmful house. She's supposed to have a year off. But there's a show called the Parenthood on the WB Robert Townsend, I'm having some trouble with the showrunners there and they you know, tabs and can't get along with them. So we want you to go in and take over the show. And we said, look, Less, you know, we appreciate it, really, but we just you know, this this six year run and we're really tired, and you know, we want to develop for you. He said, okay, you will find your desks and your chairs and everything out in the parking lot. Uh and a box with all your stuff, so please feel free, you know what. Less On second thought, we would love to do the Parent.
This sounds great. Yeah, so we builded.
It over to to the w B to the Parent, which actually turned out the great experience work with with Robert Townsend and uh fais on Love and you know, all the all these people. But it was an interesting job because you know, we were white showrunners kind of coming into a into a black show. But I think because Dennis and I had both been teachers in urban areas and I don't know that which was it was just helpful in terms of including people and accepting people and hearing their voice and kind of understanding what what our role was and not trying to impose anything. And we had a terrific year on The Parenthood. We won awards and we did work that I'm really proud of. So then they gave us. They said, well, you did such a good job on that, now we're going to reward you. You can do whatever show you want. WB said, which happens never in a career, you know, maybe five people. And so we're like, well, we were ex teachers. We want to do a show about the next great you know. So we created the show called Nick Licensed Teacher for the WB. So we did that. We hired this guy named Mitch Mlaney to be the teacher, and we did our dream show about being a teacher. Except they hated it. They hated everything about it. And we were trying to run two shows at the same We were running The Parenthood the second season and running this new show, and they were on back to back when stages right next to each other at Too Sounds stages, and you know, I was we were going out of our minds and they hated, hated everything about it. They hated Sorry I lost you that happened. Oh yeah, so I can't. That was the lowest rated show on television and it got canceled. It ran two seasons. We had two full seasons out of it.
So back in the day when you could get two full seasons of a show that wasn't doing great.
Ye like number eight. You know, it was like three million people watching, but you know, in those days. So then we left Warner Brothers after and you know, we had a great run. We did three years, like eleven year run there, and then we got a call from Disney Channel saying we have the show called Even Stevens and a similar situation. They can't crack at the show. We've shot six episodes. Showrunners don't really know, you know that they haven't really found it. And we said, okay, if you give us, give us eight weeks, let us fire our own staff. And because we loved the two kids. We love Shia and Christy Ramano. Yeah Christy, but yeah, she's terrific and we love that their dynamic, but they kind of missed it in the show. And so we took over that show and we did three full seasons of that show, which was amazing. It was single camera show. They let it just do basically whatever we wanted. Shi was amazing, Christy was amazing, we got to direct, we got to very little interference from Disney.
Amazing, very proud of that.
It's a really fun show and people still still love it.
Oh yeah, people loved Even Stevens.
Yeah. Then the same thing happened Raven was Raven had launched and they were having a problem with the showrunners again. So it's the minute we wrapped Even Stevens and they sent this over to Raven to fix that show.
Right.
Unlike Even Stevens, where we had eight weeks and could hire our own staff, they said, we're shooting tomorrow, so go to the table, read and rewrite the script that night. And so we did. We you know, we jumped in back to singing the multi camera like full house, right, and then we did, you know, one hundred episodes of Raven, and then we just spin off of that called Corey in the House with Little Brother where he his father's the White House chef, right, and that ran again another writer strike came, so we did thirty five episodes of that, and then the writer strike hit and then they canceled that, and so that's when Dennis decided to retire. Had so I did a bunch of more shows for Disney Jonas Brothers and kicking it to you know, a few more bizarre bark Olivia Rodriguez. First, Yeah, that came out of I was running a writer's program at Disney Channel called Storytellers, where we brought in young writers and developed a pilot for each one of them. And so that bizarre bark came out and came out of that. And then since then, I wrote a play that I did out in Thousand Oaks, which is now seen to be a movie. I hope the furniture. The furniture okay, very adult, very furniture kid like about a father and three daughters who's he loses his wife meets who everyone thinks it's a gold digger and calls the kids over to divide up the furniture. So based on kind of ah yes. And then I have another screenplay I'm working on with one of the people from Disney Channel, more more a family oriented thing called One Hit Wonderland, which is a Christmas movie. Yeah, an eighties rocker and his grandson. My relationship with my grandson who which is amazing. So yeah, so I'm staying busy and you know, keeping my my skin in the game a little bit right.
Yeah, I love to hear that.
Wow, it's amazing, you know again, the careers of people that we've known and that you know, have come through our full house family and our.
Full house life. Like it's it's pretty.
Cool when we realize them, the fact that everyone has had, Yeah, it is.
And it's so great to see you guys, and and see you thriving. It's really fantastic. Joe, your book was amazing.
Thank you.
You know, the struggle that you went through, And there was one thing I always wanted to talk to you about this, but is it okay too? Yeah? Yeah, so you told about it. It was life changing for me in a way because I was developing a website to help kids get into show business, right called your Kids in the Biz, and I had investors and I had it people. I mean, it was all kind of there, and I was trying to exploit, really, you know, my my expertise, and I was working with a casting director who worked in kids TV and we were going to have you know, kids send in tapes and all this thing. And then I read the chapter in your book and you talked about when you went back to school and kids would come up to you and say, hey, Jody, tell us a joke. Be funny, and you said, I didn't have and you are funny, But I didn't have I didn't I didn't have writers. You know, he said, where are my writings? And so you, you know, take a little sip of alcohol or something to kind of loosen you up. And I'm like, do I really want to encourage children to get into this business? I mean, you two were one in a billion, and Canvas also the Olsen twins didn't really have it. But I felt like some kids were really inspired and Prodigy is really born into it and self motivated, and it's okay for those kids, but other times, you know, the parents are pushing them in. I mean, I can tell you a million Marble stories about Kew kids and going through those sessions and the comfortableness of it. And so I just I backed out of that project. I was like, I can't, I can't put my heart into something that is ns it.
You know, it's hard, it is it's a it's a hard business to be in it as a kid.
And I think.
Especially now, I mean people always ask now, you know when you get into the business now, and I'm like, I don't know that I do it now now it's so it. You know, to start as a kid with just the amount of exposure that you have would be really really difficult, but it is. And I think I actually really like, I admire that you even considered that, because there are a lot of people in this business who are like, oh, they'll be fine, or it is sorry, you know, and it is. It's a it's a if you love it, you love it. But if it's something that you're being sort of pushed towards, it can really backfire.
Right Andrew, were you pushed into it or did you kind of sels? No?
No, I loved it.
I started at age five, and so I at five, I you know, I didn't really have a choice. At five, my parents like, hey, you're going to go audition for Judy Savage and then she's going to become your agent, and then you're so I loved it. So I eventually chose it. But no, at first my parents are like, here, just try this. But they always had such a positive, healthy attitude about it. They were like, this is your after school start. This isn't like a career. And so once it becomes once it's no longer fun, you can quit as long as you're write under contract. You can quit anytime, just write your agent a letter. And until I got to college, you know, the eight season of Full House, I was like, this is great, I'm not going to leave, and then I did after Full House, So yeah, it was very positive. It's it's very eye opening to be an adult on a sitcom set now and to watch child actors of this day because you can tell the ones that are pushed into it and the ones that have chosen it, and yeah, it's just a completely different it's a completely different set. And growing up with Jody and Canvas on the set, we were just like.
I don't know, I felt like we were so professional.
As kids situation, and it's not necessarily the case now.
I don't think so.
I'm much more unprofessional now than I was then, for sure.
Or your parents were fantastic and supportive and you know, never felt we were exploiting you where they were exploited.
No, they were like normal parents that were like very involved, and it was they they were the parents that didn't want this business for themselves.
And that's not always the case with a lot of I've.
Been on so many shows where because you know, you get pigeonholed, as you know in kids TV and family TV. So you know, every job I pat after the House basically was in that genre. And so many kids and so many awful situations, you know, but a few good ones, yeah, but a lot of really bad ones.
Yeah.
After a while, I started warning, you know, I'd call all the parents and the kids together before, like before we shot the pilot, like of Kicking It or Bizarre Park, the last two Disney shows I did, called all the parents and the kids, and I said, look, it's gonna be an amazing experience. This could go one episode, it could go five years. It could change your life or disappoint you forever. Just embrace it, you know, be humble. What's that song? Always be humble and kind you know, yeah, yeah, be humble, you know, appreciate it, and you know, keep a perspective. Because I felt there was responsibility as a writer, showrunner, creator or whatever. Two. These are kids, you know there. Some of them are there by choice, some are not. And if you've seen all these documentaries.
Coming out now, you know, but that woman. I think one of the things that made working on our show special was that there were we.
Were surrounded by adults like you guys who considered our feelings and our well being and are you know, it was like I would say, all of our parents, the adults on the show, the writer like it was. You know, we were supported as kids and taken care of at like, yes, it was our job, but it was never nobody ever like made us feel, at least in my experience, like comfortable or or like we weren't doing our job well or you know, it was fun.
We loved it and everyone was a family, your kids.
Yeah, but you were also kids in a very unique situation and talented kids, you know, so in a sense, you have an obligation to your talent, you know, to go out there and be professional and do a good job, because not everybody is blessed with that particular ability. So and you guys were amazing, you know, so much better than the adults on the show.
We always yeah.
I know, I know. I talked to John, Yeah, a couple of times a year, you know, we get together, try to do a few projects together and nice. So yeah, it's great.
Well it doesn't go unnoticed by me or Joey.
Just how kind you were to us.
And I love to tell the story about the last season, how I had my senior prom that I was going to miss because it was on a Friday night when we were taping. But you guys ensured that we pre taped all of my scenes as many as we could, and then as soon as I was done with whatever scene I had that tape night, you gathered the cast together.
We took a big.
Group photo with my date, of my prom date, and then sent us off so I could enjoy my my senior prom even though it was a tape end like that. That would not happen now, That would never happen. No showrunner, producer, or anyone would take that into consideration. And that was an example of just how much you guys cared about.
No, I don't think so.
No, I don't even know what episode it was, but the picture in the smash club. It was a smash club set, so yeah, I can see your dress. It was like burgundy. I still have that draw.
Did your date hat?
No, he just had great hair, but he wasn't.
Why didn't I seem to remember I'm thinking of somebody else anyway, Yeah, okay, I have that picture.
We broke We broke up shortly after that because.
He was like, he was, like, there's a meeting family and family, Yeah than like sixteen maybe I was seventeen.
Yeah, it was my senior year.
So I was It's funny because I connect you so much with Jody, but you with DJ's friend and your storyline, Yeah connected with DJ.
Yeah. Yeah.
Now Candice and I are five years older than Jody, which I have to remind myself of all the time too, because yeah, but no, yep.
I got five years on you.
That's all right, my inside field years older. That's okay.
Just this with uh, if you could give one piece of advice to like an up and coming writer or producer, somebody that wants to be a storyteller, what would you say getting into this business?
Well, it's different now. I mean the business is different now, ye, very tough business. Now. It's the models are different. You don't have twenty five episode seasons, you don't have fifteen people writing rooms, you know, so you have to love it. You have to love the process. You know. It's hard to look down the line and say, oh, I'm doing this because I want to create a show and we have a pilot made and all that stuff. But if you don't love the day to day, you know, sitting down and writing and creating and having that kind of as its own reward. Then it's tough. It's a tough life. It's a tough life anyway, and luckily I've had, you know, a good career. Some when I sit down and write now, I really appreciate the process. But I can say that, you know, thirty years ago I would have felt that. But also thirty years ago I feel it like even though there's so much you can do now you have podcasts and you have YouTube, and you know, you can put your your content out there, but it's hard to make a living at it. Yeah, it's just a different system. And things always always change. You know. When I started, there were guys from radio who were complaining, right, I mean, it's just things change, that's it. You got to adapt and you have to believe in your talent and nurture it, you know, and just keep working, working, writing and getting better and better. And if you're good enough, you'll you'll get there. But everybody's good enough, and it also you need the realization that you might not be good enough and maybe it's the right thing for you. So I you know, people always say follow your dream. Well that's not always the greatest advice, you know, especially actors and writers. You may not be good enough. You know, you may be all good enough, which is really cruel. But so yes, follow your dream to a point.
Right, follow your dreams, but know your strengths and your limitations.
That's great.
There we got a sampler. Perfect, perfect, it'll be it be a large pillow. But yeah, well, Mark, thank.
You so much for joining us on the show. It was so much fun. Absolutely enjoyed it. It was so good to see you.
It was fantastic, and yes, I wish you guys the best. I'll just tell you one last story is, yes, maybe not my favorite Full House story, but it's become apocryphill and many people have taken it as their own. But but it was me. So we were sent to a media like a journalistic conference, you know, where all the TV shows would meet all the media. And so it was at a big hotel in Pasadena, and the journalists are all coming up to They're going up to the people from friends and you know, all these kind of hip or news shows, and nobody was coming up to like the Full House. So I'm just getting drunk current. I'm just you know, because we didn't really get the respect from the critic. This was a critics thing. Yeah, the critics yeah thing, and criticston really care about us that much. So finally someone came up and said, oh, you work on Full House. They said, you know, they said, oh, you have the Ulsen Twins. How do you tell them apart? And I said, well, first you got to give it and they were like oh, and I said, I instantly regretted it. But when I came back, when I told the writer's room, they laughed their asses off. People have taken that story, and you know, it's not a story I'm proud of, but it kind of encapsulates the fact that we loved the show and we cared about the show, and we did a great job on the show. But we also had a little kind.
Of edgy yeah.
You too. Seriously, we didn't take ourselves. Yeah.
I mean I made a joke on the on the People's Choice read carpet that I had the Olsen Twins stuff under my gigantic dress. So it's okay, it's right, no disrespect to them either, it's just sometimes.
It's a funny joke to it Sonny.
People always ask about them, and so you're like, let me just give you the most ridiculous answer.
And we did give its.
We love Yes, oh yeah you did.
We really did. But it just you know, you want to be a wise guy because you're guys.
And at the end of like of the upfronts and the media and me, maybe see me at the end of a twelve hour day, just start giving answers where she's like, did you say that? I'm like, yeah, I don't care anymore. Been talking to people for twelve hours asking the same question. They're gonna get a weird answer out.
Weshul got asked questions. I got asked nothing.
So that's what Well, well maybe if you gave it Mark, you know not.
It's still happening to this day.
We still get asked about the old sentuins ye all the time. So yeah, you got to make up answers them at all.
We saw them when Bob passed a few years ago.
But they kind of they I think you know one europe Ones in New York when the other they're doing their their thing.
They're doing their own thing.
I've they've done well.
So I've heard them where it has it Yeah, Mark, thank you so much for joining us today.
We absolutely love this. This was amazing, guys. Yes, good to see you and.
Your great job on the Thank you so much.
Thanks so much, Mark, so great, let's see you to you bye.
I hadn't seen him in such a while. So nice.
What a joy like, What a joy to like, What a gift this is to us to get to reconnect with all of these people.
I love that.
I love it, and I love hearing about the edge of the writer's room.
You know what I mean.
I did not expect that.
I mean I I had a feeling.
I was like, you can't write this kind of stuff all day and not be a bit cynical and dark humored.
Somewhere in there.
It's like Bob True you know, yeah, exactly, exactly.
Well that was such a fun episode. Wow.
Well, thank you guys for joining us and taking a little stroll down memory lane with us and talking to Mark Warren, one of our amazing producers and showrunners for so long.
I forgot he was on the show since the second season. You say that the whole time, crazy, I forgot that too.
Yeah.
Well, thank you guys so much for listening, and.
As always, you can follow us up on Instagram at how read Podcast. You can send us emails at Howard podcast at gmail dot com. We'd love to hear your comments, your questions. We do fan question episodes sometimes, so go ahead and send those in too. And make sure you're liking and subscribing to the podcast wherever you're listening to it so you get all the episodes.
Right when they air.
And uh, we will see you guys next time for another fun recap episode.
And remember the world is small, but the house is full of Oh no, this is happening again.
The house is full of See the joke I want to make I can't make oh because it's the one thing that that we're going to have to bleep out.
But it's it's.
Say it anyways.
Everyone can.
The fans can guess.
I mean the world.
You know, the world is small, but the house is full of whatever. Next now, my kids, we can't say that whatever.
I'm unhinged. Let it go, Let it go. It just way. This week doesn't matter.
You get a path.
Yes,
