Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
We have now spent 227 episodes, 30 years, 11 seasons, and two series with the Tanner family and their assortment of relatives and lifelong buds. Finally, after decades of kid capers and familial heart-to-hearts, it’s time to admit one thing that everyone should agree on when it comes to Full House and its sequel sitcom Fuller House: Andrea Barber is its not-so-secret MVP. Sure, John Stamos has become a TV mainstay and the Olsen twins launched empires of the VHS and fashion varieties, but the secret sauce that adds spice to Full House has only one name on the bottle: Gibbler.
Without Kimmy Gibbler, Full House would be all life lessons and no Day-Glo tights, all hugs and no backyard ostriches, all cute kids and no noxious foot odor. Family sitcoms beg to have an outsider character, someone for them to either get behind or rally against–and Kimmy Gibbler is both of those. As DJ’s best friend and the Tanners’ nosy next door neighbor, Kimmy got a front row seat to all the actually bizarre stuff going on in the “normal” Tanner household (DJ accidentally married a Greek kid, Stephanie drove a car through the kitchen, Michelle bought a donkey, etc.). Still, the rest of the Tanners (especially Jesse and Stephanie) rolled their eyes at the human highlighter every time she burst through the doors with an “Hola Tanneritos!” The show may have mischaracterized a girl that was merely eccentric as totally off the wall bonkers (Joey Gladstone is infinitely more bizarre than Kimmy), but in doing so it gave us a character worth celebrating.
Think about it: female characters rarely get to be the weird ones. All of Kimmy’s outsider peers are dudes: Family Matters’ Urkel, Step By Step’s Cody, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Jazz, Clarissa Explains It All’s Sam, Sister Sister’s Roger–Kimmy’s only real company in this category is Blossom’s Six, and Six doesn’t even compare to the Gibbler. Kimmy didn’t just hold her own in a sitcom role dominated by boys, Kimmy Gibbler was such a larger-than-life character that she honestly made you even forget that the weird neighbor role is usually a guy thing. She is so representative of everything that is good about that stock sitcom character, she should be considered second only to Urkel. And honestly, Kimmy might even have Urkel beat because Kimmy didn’t take over the show the way Urkel did, to the detriment of the other characters (poor lost and forgotten Judy Winslow!).
It’s time we acknowledged Andrea Barber’s performance on Full House as the secretly groundbreaking work that it was. Barber didn’t settle for just being the weird girl. She infused that role, a role that wasn’t even a regular presence on the show until halfway through Full House’s run, with confidence and–let’s get serious–personhood. Kimmy Gibbler exists, sometimes in spite of her many naysayers, fully confident in her polka dot overalls or grungey fringe jackets. She’s totally aware of who she is, and no putdown from Danny (be nicer to your daughter’s friends, dude!) or diss from Stephanie ever phased her. Kimmy could have been a throwaway character that DJ outgrew, or she could have evolved into a love-to-hate’em supporting player. Instead, Kimmy became the comedy gift that kept on giving, whether she was rightfully comparing Jesse to a baboon, killing it on the bagpipes, or proving that she is good enough to date a rich guy, DJ.
What’s even better is that the fates of Barber and Gibbler remain intertwined on Netflix’s sequel series Fuller House, a show that has somehow managed to out-Full House Full House. Barber left showbiz behind after Full House ended in 1995, which is why her performance on Fuller House 20 years later is worth a celebratory Gibbler Gallop. If Barber was at all nervous about coming back to the role, you don’t see it on the show. Now that Kimmy’s one of the show’s leads, we get the full Gibbler experience–and that means dropping a totally game Barber into some of the most elaborate physical comedy routines on TV. In just 35 episodes, we’ve seen Barber slay in full Lucille Ball drag, embrace her flashy dancer side, host a morning talk show, give it her all as the Mouse King in The Nutcracker, and show off some impressive Benihana skills. Fuller House is a weird and wild show that asks its actors to do more than just deliver lines, but it asks Barber to do a lot–and she gives every over-the-top sequence her all.
Unquestionably the best part of Fuller House is seeing Kimmy Gibbler continue to rock that unshakable confidence well into adulthood and motherhood. The show has even redeemed the Tanner family’s totally unjustified annoyance with her, as Stephanie has become as close to The Gibbler as DJ (#SheWolfPack). Up until now, the wacky neighbor character never got to grow, even when they stole the spotlight. Kimmy defied the trend that she also helped define by proving that the wacky neighbor character can mature and take the lead without losing her nerve and verve.
It’s time we recognized Kimmy Gibbler as the trailblazing character she was, and Andrea Barber for the confident comedic performer she is. May her star shine as brightly as her neon orange lipstick.
