ran eight seasons, producing 192 episodes from 1987 to 1995. The ABC Family program starred Bob Saget, John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Lori Loughlin, Dave Coulir, Andrea Barber, Jodie Sweetin, and Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen.
The show was a big hit, and for the series finale, they had more than 23 million viewers turning in to say goodbye to the TV family.
When the show went off the air in 1995, it seemed like fans of the show, new and old, would only have reruns and DVDs for rewatches.
But, in 2016, , pulling fans back into the world of
follows D.J. Tanner (Bure's character), her sister Stephanie (Sweetin's character), and D.J.'s best friend Kimmy (Barber's character) as they navigate adult life while living together in the Tanner's childhood home in San Francisco.
Almost the entire original cast of returned for . But the Olsen twins were noticeably absent from the show.
When Netflix announced the reboot of the '90s sitcom, fans were excited. Getting to see how the children of the show grew up and what they're doing makes for an endless amount of storylines.
But, when it was announced that the youngest Tanner—Michelle—played by the Olsen twins-wouldn't return, many were sad and instantly started speculating on why.
Some believe it's because the sisters are too busy with their other endeavors like their fashion line, The Row.
Furthermore, neither has acted in a long time. Mary-Kate's last role was in the 2011 movie In comparison, Ashely hasn't acted since co-starring with her sister in the 2004 movie But, she did pop up—uncredited—in the 2010 biopic
Also, when John Stamos announced the spinoff, Mary-Kate told
, "We just found out about it today [the day Stamos announced the show]. I guess we're going to talk to the creators and see what's happening."
The pair said they had no prior knowledge about the reboot before Stamos announced it. Ashley said, "I ran into Bob [Saget] the other day, and we didn't even talk about it. I'm going to call [Saget] and get his perspective."
"I'm shocked I haven't heard from John [Stamos]," said Mary-Kate.
:
"Although Ashley and Mary-Kate will not be a part of , I know how much has meant to them, and they are still very much considered family. It has been exciting to see how they have built their professional careers, and I support their choice to focus on their fashion brands and various business endeavors. I appreciate their support and good wishes towards ."
Jodie Sweetin played the middle child—Stephanie Tanner—on and While speaking to about the show and whether there's bad blood between the cast and the Olsen twins, Sweetin said:
"It wasn't like anything bad ever happened. It was just—they were eight years old when the show stopped, so, you know, their whole life existed after.
All of their memories, they're pre-8 years old. How much of your life do you remember before you were eight years old? Not much."
She continues, "So people are like, 'Why didn't they want [to return for ]?' Because they were so little. For me, I was 5 to 13; that was like my formative years, my middle school, my elementary school. Like that was it, that was my growing up. For them, they barely were in, like, first grade, and they were, like, done.
"
Sweetin further explains how she found it odd people were certain the twins didn't return because something happened:
"So, you know, it's just a different experience, and it wasn't like anything bad ever happened. They went off, and they've been wildly successful fashion designers… They're like, 'We've moved on; we don't want to do that anymore,' and I think it was interesting how, like, hung up on that people were.
That, like, somehow, it had to be a bad thing, or it had to be an experience, and it was like, 'No, dude, they quit doing this when they were young, and they don't want to do it anymore.' It's like, that's OK."
—before season three premiered, that he has stopped personally asking the sisters to reprise their role. "I've stopped asking; really, I kind of gave up... But when somebody rings a doorbell, the girls yell, 'It's always open!' on the show, so that's kind of how we feel about the Olsen twins. The door is open."
When speaking to , said, "I'm not [upset they are not returning]. I'm not because I love them, and I want them to do what they want to do, and everybody should do what they want to do.
"
He continued, "They love everybody; I mean, I love them; people should do what they want to do. I think people that are doing [the new series] are excited that they are doing it. Nobody is feeling anything but happiness that people want to see [these characters] again."
