I would figure that it would be more logical for Saget to be first billed since it's his house after all, and Jesse and Joey are coming to help him raise his kids. Thus, by default, Danny is the main/lead character.

Of all the cast, John Stamos was the best known at the outset. He'd had a hugely popular daytime gig on General Hospital in the early 80s and a co-starring role with Jack Klugman on the short-lived sitcom You Again?. Bob Saget had been doing standup for quite some time but at that point was a virtual newcomer to series TV. That's my theory, anyway.

Stamos was the star of the show because he was famous from GH and playing with the Beach Boys. He was basically the only person known by any audience before the show started.

The billing would have already been set up earlier anyway when the even more unknown John Posey was playing Danny in the original pilot, so either way Saget was not getting top billing.

I've never even heard of John Posey. :confused:

Here's a photo of John Posey and the Full House Cast.

There was actually only one pilot. It was shot with Posey because Saget wasn't available. The pilot with Posey sold the show but before they started production Saget became available so Posey's scenes were reshot to make the first episode.

I always thought that Bob should have gotten first billing. He seemed more like the core of the show. John did kinda seem like he had his lead story for us to follow but at times, it didn't seem like it was enough to stand out from everyone else as the star. It was shadowed by Bob Saget, IMO.

And I woud say Saget is better looking than Posey!

Of all the cast, John Stamos was the best known at the outset. He'd had a hugely popular daytime gig on General Hospital in the early 80s and a co-starring role with Jack Klugman on the short-lived sitcom You Again?. Bob Saget had been doing standup for quite some time but at that point was a virtual newcomer to series TV. That's my theory, anyway.

I agree, Monika!

I thought they we're all stars.John was the biggest but not by much.They we're all great.With out any one of them the show couldn't of been as good.

Of course, the phenomena is not entirely unique. On Full House sister show Family Matters, despite JoMarie Payton playing main character Harriet Winslow, she was always billed second behind Reginald VelJohnson, who played on-screen husband Carl. In addition, Full House's other sister show, Step By Step, despite Staci Keanan playing intended lead character Dana Foster, she was always billed third behind co-stars Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers, who played on-screen parents Frank and Carol Lambert. Also, on Punky Brewster, despite Soleil Moon Frye playing the title character, she was always billed behind George Gaynes, who played on-screen adoptive father Henry Warnimont.

I never heard of John Posey but it would have been interesting to see Full House with John Posey instead of Bob Saget

I agree about Stamos being the biggest star early; I wonder if any show has ever changed the order of billing after a few seasons. I don't pay attention to that part.

I wonder if the Michelle and Friends books having the principal named Posey was a tip of the hat to the actor who almost was Danny tanner.

Why did John Stamos get top Billing ? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092359/board/flat/215007860?p=1)

Of course, the phenomena is not entirely unique. On Full House sister show Family Matters, despite JoMarie Payton playing main character Harriet Winslow, she was always billed second behind Reginald VelJohnson, who played on-screen husband Carl. In addition, Full House's other sister show, Step By Step, despite Staci Keanan playing intended lead character Dana Foster, she was always billed third behind co-stars Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers, who played on-screen parents Frank and Carol Lambert. Also, on Punky Brewster, despite Soleil Moon Frye playing the title character, she was always billed behind George Gaynes, who played on-screen adoptive father Henry Warnimont.

Well that's b/c Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers were Big Time Names

Patrick for his role on Dallas and Suzanne for her roles on Three's Company and She's the Sheriff and Stacey was best known for My Two Dads

George Gaynes was best known for Police Academy

and Reginald VelJohnson was best known for Die Hard

I thought they we're all stars.John was the biggest but not by much.They we're all great.With out any one of them the show couldn't of been as good.

Full House didn't become successful until they added Lori Loughlin and that's when the show became popular

IMO, w/o Lori Loughlin, Full House would've never been that successful

and plus, they wanted to avoid being called a rip-off version of Three Men and a Baby

Should have been Saget over Stamos, I agree.

From what I've read about "Full House", in 1987 John Stamos was the most experienced actor on the show and the best known one- I think those factors are why he got top billing. And his character also became one of the most popular, so it probably worked out pretty well. In any case, it doesn't really matter to me- I just enjoy the show.

From what I've read about "Full House", in 1987 John Stamos was the most experienced actor on the show and the best known one- I think those factors are why he got top billing. And his character also became one of the most popular, so it probably worked out pretty well. In any case, it doesn't really matter to me- I just enjoy the show.

IMO, Jesse sucked until Rebecca was introduced. When the twins were born, he sucked again. Danny made that show.

Somehow I don't buy that John Stamos was billed first because of his tenure on a soap opera therefore he had a small fanbase, how much ratings do daytime soaps get anyways?

But some sitcoms are known to have another cast member billed first, Diff'rent Strokes for example had Conrad Bain billed ahead of star Gary Coleman in all it's 8 seasons.

Somehow I don't buy that John Stamos was billed first because of his tenure on a soap opera therefore he had a small fanbase, how much ratings do daytime soaps get anyways?

But some sitcoms are known to have another cast member billed first, Diff'rent Strokes for example had Conrad Bain billed ahead of star Gary Coleman in all it's 8 seasons.
John Stamos was a teen idol in the early 1980's because of GH. His face was on all of the magazine covers at the time. In 1984 CBS gave him a lead on a short lived sitcom called Dreams hoping to build on his fame. It failed. In 1986 NBC tried again with him, teaming him with Jack Klugman in a sitcom called You again? It lasted 2 seasons. This was John's third attempt at a sitcom. Nobody had ever heard of Bob Saget at the time unless you watched the Morning Program on CBS .

Conrad Bain was a bigger star than Gary Coleman when the show premiered. He had been on Maude for 6 years. Gary had done just a few guest spots. They could have done what they did with Silver Spoons though. They put Ricky Schroder first in the credits and billed Joel Higgins as his father last with an and put in for good measure.

Full House didn't become successful until they added Lori Loughlin and that's when the show became popular

IMO, w/o Lori Loughlin, Full House would've never been that successful

and plus, they wanted to avoid being called a rip-off version of Three Men and a Baby

I think Lori Loughlin was added (besides giving the previously womanizing Jesse, a stable love interest) to give the girls a surrogate mother/big sister figure w/o having Danny get remarried (thus, still keeping the basic idea of the show intact).

John Stamos was a teen idol in the early 1980's because of GH. His face was on all of the magazine covers at the time. In 1984 CBS gave him a lead on a short lived sitcom called Dreams hoping to build on his fame. It failed. In 1986 NBC tried again with him, teaming him with Jack Klugman in a sitcom called You again? It lasted 2 seasons. This was John's third attempt at a sitcom. Nobody had ever heard of Bob Saget at the time unless you watched the Morning Program on CBS .

Conrad Bain was a bigger star than Gary Coleman when the show premiered. He had been on Maude for 6 years. Gary had done just a few guest spots. They could have done what they did with Silver Spoons though. They put Ricky Schroder first in the credits and billed Joel Higgins as his father last with an and put in for good measure.

You can make the argument that even Dave Couiler was more well known than Bob Saget at the time that FH premiered. I remember Dave's show on Nickelodeon called Out of Control, which only lasted for a season but was in reruns for a good portion of FH's run.

You also have to remember that ratings for Soaps were different in the 1980's then they are today. Soaps were big time and nothing was bigger than GH in daytime in the early 80's. I think most people knew the Luke and Laura story, even those that didn't watch GH. I was in HS at the time and everyone was talking about it. Also thanks to Dallas and Dynasty, primetime soaps dominated the ratings. It's not the same nowadays as soaps are an endangered species.

Of all the cast, John Stamos was the best known at the outset. He'd had a hugely popular daytime gig on General Hospital in the early 80s and a co-starring role with Jack Klugman on the short-lived sitcom You Again?. Bob Saget had been doing standup for quite some time but at that point was a virtual newcomer to series TV. That's my theory, anyway.

Agreed...I'm sure the producers wanted to make the show a success and if you get a well known person to star in it you get a even bigger chance to become a hit.

I think Lori Loughlin was added (besides giving the previously womanizing Jesse, a stable love interest) to give the girls a surrogate mother/big sister figure w/o having Danny get remarried (thus, still keeping the basic idea of the show intact).

Exactly, Aunt Becky became more than just a friend and later the Aunt, she became more like the mother to the girls and she was more understandable when it came to the girls' problems

You can make the argument that even Dave Couiler was more well known than Bob Saget at the time that FH premiered. I remember Dave's show on Nickelodeon called Out of Control, which only lasted for a season but was in reruns for a good portion of FH's run.

I do remember Out of Control and I have never heard of Bob Saget and I certainly haven't seen too much of The Morning Program which was CBS' failed attempt to compete against The Today Show and Good Morning America

There was actually only one pilot. It was shot with Posey because Saget wasn't available. The pilot with Posey sold the show but before they started production Saget became available so Posey's scenes were reshot to make the first episode.

https://screenrant.com/full-house-danny-recast-bob-saget-john-posey/

Producers cast actor John Posey in the Full House role instead, and filmed the pilot with him. Posey told Yahoo! Entertainment that ABC actually picked up the show with him in the role of Papa Tanner. "And everything was fine, until about a month or so later when I heard otherwise," he said.

Posey told Yahoo! Entertainment he felt he had done a "decent" job in the Full House pilot, but later got wind of the fact that producers had originally hoped to cast Saget or Paul Reiser, who were both obligated to other shows at the time. "How you go from those guys to me is kind of a mystery, because we couldn't be more different," Posey said. "I'm this stocky, ex-football player, ex-wrestler, who's like 5' 9", 180 pounds, and Saget's like 6' 3", 110 soaking wet. He's an urban Jewish guy, and I'm this Irish guy from Florida and Georgia."

In his autobiography, Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian, Saget admitted he felt guilty about taking the role from Posey after seeing his version of the pilot. "I thought he had done a really good job in it," Saget wrote. "I actually didn't understand why they wanted to replace him."

Posey ultimately did alright for himself, even without Full House fame. While he noted to Yahoo! that, had he kept the role on the ABC comedy he would have never had to work again, he went on to log an impressive TV and movie résumé with roles on Seinfeld, Cheers, How to Get Away With Murder, and Teen Wolf (which stars his son, Tyler Posey), per his IMDb page.

And yes, that "Unaired Pilot" for Full House is listed, too, but maybe he'd rather forget that one.

John Posey recalled the moment he found out he lost the show to Yahoo!. According to Posey, he was on his way to California to begin his new life as a sitcom star, when he got a page. When he called his agent, he was informed that they were testing another actor for the pilot that he had just shot. He said his agent told him they were testing someone else out. He recalled saying; “What are you talking about? Why would they do that?” Posey went on to recall; “I didn’t know at the time that he was the guy that they originally wanted, that he was just unavailable. I guess something opened up for him.”

In the weeks that followed, Posey attempted to follow up. After all, he figured, the second pilot had only been filmed. He assumed he was still in the running, but silence followed each follow-up phone call. Eventually, Saget would go on to star on the show that would become a classic.

Simply put, Posey was never the network’s first choice. According to industry rumors, they had wanted to work with either Bob Saget or Paul Reiser on the show. Reiser had already committed to My Two Dads by the time the Full House pilot was being shot, according to Pop Sugar.

Admittedly, Posey had minimal experience on sitcoms at that point. The syrupy-sweet nature of the show didn’t jive with his expertise either, but regardless, the team liked him. He was going to be good enough until Saget’s schedule opened up. Once the second pilot was filmed, it became apparent that Saget was a better fit.

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And I woud say Saget is better looking than Posey!

The crazy thing is that I could more plausibly believe John Posey to be the father of DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle in real life than I could with Bob Saget. I don't mean this to be taken the wrong way especially in light of his recent passing, but I even before, find it a bit of a stretch that we were supposed to buy the notion that to paraphrase John Posey's words (https://screenrant.com/full-house-danny-recast-bob-saget-john-posey/), a dark haired "urban Jewish guy" like Bob would be the biological father of three blonde haired, fair-skinned, blue eyed girls. Especially when John in comparison, is an Irish guy from Florida and Georgia. For the sake of the argument, here's a photo (https://imgproxy-ohio.amomama.xyz/SceN6Egp0g0AxNwydcTub5-I_SbzF38gZm3P3jbo2zY/fill/1200/0/no/1/aHR0cHM6Ly9jZG4uYW1vbWFtYS5jb20vYjMxZGUyMGM5MmIxMGI2NTBhNmViZmNkZTI0ODk2ZjI5ODk3MDExNTY2NjEyMjM4LmpwZz93aWR0aD0yMDE1JmhlaWdodD0zMDAw.webp) of Bob with his actual three daughters.

I've never even heard of John Posey. :confused:

If you don't know John Posey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Posey_(actor)), then you may have heard of his son, Tyler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Posey), who was on MTV's Teen Wolf. Incidentally, here's a photo (https://ibb.co/wQscrnF) of Tyler Posey with John Stamos.

I could be wrong, but I believe that the original plot of the show was John's character coming in to help Danny out with the girls. Bob was the next person to be shown when the names were given. To me, that is nothing to scoff at because at the end of the day, someone has to be shown first.

God bless you and each remaining cast member always!!!

Holly