Full house the miracle of thanksgiving trivia

Many kids growing up in the '90s watched a lot of Full House and became instantly attached to the wacky, giant Tanner family. Who didn't grow up wishing they were apart of the large and fun brood? But, although the '90s sitcom often tackled the themes of family and being thankful for what you have, Full House only had one Thanksgiving episode throughout its eight season run. However, true to the show's roots, that one episode, "The Miracle of Thanksgiving," taught the Tanners, and those watching in the audience, plenty about the true spirit of the fall holiday.

Table of Contents Show

1. The Miracle Of Thanksgiving Definitely Does Exist
2. Tradition Can Be Important
3. "If You Can Read English, You Can Cook"
4. Everyone Pitches In
5. Money Doesn't Fix All Problems
6. "Smiles Are Free, So Give Them Away"
7. "People Break Things All the Time"
8. Thanksgiving Isn't About Turkeys

After re-watching the classic Season 1 episode (yes, it aired all the way back during the show's first run in 1987) I picked out eight important lessons to be learned from the Tanner's first Thanksgiving experience after the passing of Danny's wife, Jesse's sister, and the girls' mother. It's a sad episode at first glance, but it also really tugs on the heartstrings of all those watching and reminds us what's truly important come the fourth Thursday in November: Love and family. (Although turkey is pretty great too.) Here's what the Tanners taught us all about the special day.

1. The Miracle Of Thanksgiving Definitely Does Exist

Despite Jesse's protests that there's no miracle of Thanksgiving, the Tanners prove it does exist. When it seems Thanksgiving is ruined (for the first, second, and third times), the Tanners pull together and make the best of the situation, proving that you can make your own miracle of Thanksgiving.

2. Tradition Can Be Important

Every family may have different traditions, and it can be fun to incorporate something new, but sometimes it's best to stick to what you know. For instance, the Tanners always have a home-cooked meal. That means no going out to dinner or buying turkeys from random strangers.

3. "If You Can Read English, You Can Cook"

The Tanners do their best to prove this lesson wrong by under-cooking, then over-correcting and burning the turkey. But, the lesson holds true that cooking is a fairly simply process that anyone can master, even for a complicated meal like Thanksgiving dinner.

4. Everyone Pitches In

Without Danny's wife, Pam, there to help cook the Thanksgiving meal and with his mother stuck in Washington, the whole Tanner family pulls together to help make dinner. Although the results are pretty disastrous, working together can lessen the burden — and spread out the blame.

5. Money Doesn't Fix All Problems

Danny tries to save Thanksgiving by buying a perfectly-cooked turkey off two women that accidentally drop in on the Tanners. However, the women leave before taking Danny's deal, and even DJ knows that offering money to cover up a mistake is a bad idea, even if it means potentially saving the day.

6. "Smiles Are Free, So Give Them Away"

This piece of advice comes from Pam Tanner and is retold by DJ to Danny. It may seem simple, but the lesson of smiling often is one that everyone could use on Thanksgiving.

7. "People Break Things All the Time"

This simple, but wise, lesson from Jesse is a reminder that everyone makes mistakes. If something doesn't seem fixable, chances are it actually is. Even if that something is a ruined pie, you can always bake another.

8. Thanksgiving Isn't About Turkeys

Of course, the biggest lesson from Full House's Thanksgiving episode is that the holiday should be more about family, and being thankful for them, than the actual meal. (That's not to say you can't be thankful for the food, too, though.)

Images: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy (8)

It is Thanksgiving morning and Danny’s mom is snowed in and can’t make it out of Tacoma. This leaves the Tanner’s without any Thanksgiving food, so the men decide to take the girls out to a restaurant. But DJ will have none of it.

She’s all like Thanksgiving should be spent at home! We always had Thanksgiving with mom at home! (Yep, this is one of those rare episodes where we admit the girls once had a mom and that she died tragically). Also, Joey walks around randomly saying the “Miracle of Thanksgiving” and making a trumpet noise. Was he also the voice of Face on Nick, Jr.?

DJ says that she can handle the meal because her grandma was going to put her in charge of the turkey, so she can handle the whole thing. Plus, last year her mom taught her how to make a “picture perfect pumpkin pie.” So in honor of the late Pam Tanner, the family decides to stay home and let the ten year-old cook.

The first season of this show is just so great. I still cannot understand why Joey is a necessary addition to this family, but at least when the girls were younger it made sense that they needed an extra hand (maybe). Anyway, this episode is super cute because everyone is adorable and dancing around the kitchen while setting the table.

Everything is really shaping up into an excellent Thanksgiving. Only, DJ did not remember to defrost the turkey and so they somehow end up with a frozen yet browned bird. This is amidst a large pre-dinner speech in which DJ asks Danny if her mom would be proud of her for making dinner. And how she wasn’t sure she could do it, but things really turned out great.

So how can they possible tell this little girl who is trying to impress her dead mom that the turkey she made sucks? Well, they don’t exactly…they shove the turkey back into the oven, crank it up as high as it will go, and try to purchase a turkey off of a couple of lost travelers who ask if they can use the phone. None of it pans out though, and the non-defrosted turkey catches on fire. Then Stephanie drops the “picture perfect pumpkin pie” and everything is ruined.

Danny takes DJ aside and tells her that her mom would have been proud of her for bringing everyone together to make the Thanksgiving meal because Pam knew that the important thing about Thanksgiving is family. But the really heart-wrenching stuff (and yes, I’m already tearing up by this point) happens when

Jesse goes to talk to Stephanie (who is hiding in her closet because she dropped the “picture perfect pumpkin pie). At first things start off with the run-of-the-mill “everyone makes mistakes” lesson, but Stephanie is very adamant that not everyone makes “pie mistakes.” So Jesse decides to tell her a story about when he was a kid and did something very stupid to show that sometimes kids do stupid things and it is okay. He takes her to his room to show her a childhood photo album, specifically a haircut that he allowed her then ten year-old mother to give him when he was five. Stephanie feels better after hearing the story and enjoys seeing childhood pictures of her mother, but Jesse ends up being very upset by the whole interaction.

I guess it is easy to forget as the series goes on that Jesse is Pam’s kid brother and spends a lot of the first season being arguably more affected by her death than anyone else. I guess it’s less depressing on a sitcom to show the grieving brother rather than the grieving children or spouse, but nevertheless his performance is very effective. Danny and Jesse realize that they will never get over losing Pam, and that some bad feelings just stay with you. But Danny tells Jesse that it’s important for him to keep sharing his memories with their family because that is what will keep her a part of their lives and is probably the only thing that will ever make him feel better.

Very Special Lesson: Don’t let the children cook the turkey.

Very Special Activity: Share all of your great (and not so great) stories with your families this season. And if they’re driving you nuts, then you can post them here!