| The Seven-Month Itch (Part 1) | |
| Season 1, episode 19 | |
 | |
| Air date | March 11, 1988 |
| Writer(s) | Jeff Franklin |
| Director | Lee Shallat-Chemel |
| Previous | Just One of the Guys |
| Next | The Seven-Month Itch (Part 2) |
The Seven-Month Itch (Part 1) is episode nineteen of the first season on Full House. It originally aired on March 11, 1988.
Synopsis
Danny, Joey, and the girls prepare to take a plane to Disneyland, and Stephanie is really excited about going on the trip. However, a heavy fog forces them to cancel it. Stephanie becomes depressed and jealous that D.J. went to Disneyland before but she did not. Unfortunately, Jesse had hoped to take advantage of everyone else's absence to spend some quality time with his girlfriend Samantha. Instead, the family has a family fun night but Jesse dislikes it, and Stephanie dislikes it even more, so she goes upstairs to mope in her and D.J.'s room (much to the groans of the studio audience). Her older sister comes in and has to explain to her about the fact that you can't always get you want; namely she mentions the Oat Boats commercial that she wanted but Stephanie got instead that made D.J. herself jealous, subsequently accuse Stephanie of being a thief for "stealing" the part, and chase her younger sister around the kitchen for the cereal box, which Stephanie remembers all too well. That provides little comfort to Stephanie, so D.J. has to play the Tickle Monster to cheer her up, in addition to mentioning that she herself didn't mope after not getting the part (though the events suggest otherwise). As D.J. tickles her roommate, Stephanie points out it's not working. D.J. then asks why she's laughing, and Stephanie says her laughing is "sad laughing" and not "happy laughing".
As Danny comes in and notices, he remarks that he's never seen Stephanie so happy, to which she notes that the Tickle Monster made her laugh. With that aside, he explains the same thing, saying she has every reason to be sad. He goes further (as the inspirational music plays) by saying that if she keeps moping about, missing out on one good thing, she will miss out on many more good things. Then the girls play the Tickle Monster on him, and Stephanie finally realizes she can't mope around forever and she'll have to learn to put the bad stuff (such as her missing the Disneyland trip) behind her and let it go.
That night, Jesse is talking to Joey about his loss of privacy and independence since he has lived there, and whether he should stay or not. Joey says to "sleep on it." Jesse goes to sleep and has a dream about it, in which everyone comes to his room wanting something from him (and at the end, they are all together via a fisheye lens effect) (see Quotes). When he wakes up, he decides to move out and find a place of his own. Danny and Joey go upstairs to Jesse's room (as the inspirational music plays again) and soon find a note on his bed saying that he will be leaving, not knowing where he will go or when or if he will come back (much to the groans of the audience). Joey suggests that Jesse ran away from home. D.J. and Stephanie arrive and are just as shocked at this news (as "To Be Continued" appears, followed by the EP credits, with the scene freezing a second into Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett's credits as the music plays out).
Guest star
Samantha was played by Chelsea Noble. This was one her first (if not the 1st) acting appearances. It was during the production of this episode that Noble and Kirk Cameron (Cousin Steve) met. They began to date, both on screen and off (she appears on 14 episodes of Growing Pains). Three years after this episode aired, they married (and she became Candace Cameron Bure's sister-in-law).
Quotes
[Repeated lines throughout Jesse's dream sequence:]
D.J.: Help me with my homework.
Stephanie: I want a piggyback ride.
Joey: [sing-song] It's your turn.
Danny: [sing-song] You're their uncle.
Samantha: We could be so happy.
Michelle / Michelle: Change me! / Feed me!
Trivia
- The episode title is a take on the 1955 comedy film title The Seven Year Itch (which starred Marilyn Monroe, and was based on the 1952 Broadway play)
- The first two-part episode
- The first time "To Be Continued" is shown at the end of an episode
- The first episode where events of a previous episode are mentioned; namely, "Sisterly Love"
- The Olsen twins, who normally share the role of Michelle, appear together on camera for the first time (and are seemingly talking—voiced by Dave Coulier)
- When Joey asks what could be more fun for Stephanie than the family fun night, she mentions "I'll tell you what: Something that starts with a D and ends with a 'Land'"; at which point the audience laughs, and then moans a second later when she storms off upstairs, with D.J. following her