Fuller House went out with one final joke about Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s former character, Michelle Tanner. The Olsen twins did not appear on any of the final nine episodes of the Full House spinoff, but their character did score a hilarious mention as the show ended its five-season run on Netflix.
In the newly released Season 5 episode titled “Something Borrowed,” brides-to-be D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Kimmy (Andrea Barber) were in the Tanner attic looking at old items. At one point, Barber’s Kimmy zeroed in on the youngest Tanner sister’s childhood bicycle and looked straight at the camera to deliver a zinger.
“Hey, how long are you going to keep Michelle’s bike?” Kimmy asked D.J. and Stephanie, per Us Weekly . “If she hasn’t come for it by now, she’s not coming.”
The line was the latest – and now final – reference to the long-lost Tanner sister, who hasn’t appeared at all on Fuller House , which debuted on Netflix in February 2016. While the Olsen twins starred as Michelle on ABC’s original Full House from 1987 to 1995, they were the only original cast members who did not take part in the reboot.
Fuller House first mentioned missing Michelle in Season 1, making a joke about the youngest Tanner sister being “busy in New York running her fashion empire.” In real life, the Olsens run several high-end fashion lines. There were several other jokes about Michelle over the years, as it became clear the famous sisters would never be returning to their Full House family.
On social media, Fuller House fans had hoped to see — or at least hear — from Michelle, even after cast members such as Bure and Sweetin repeatedly said they had given up hope for the Olsens’ return.
I hope we have a Michelle appearance or at least a VOICE MEMO @fullerhouse
— dani (@tbhbtr) June 2, 2020
After the final Fuller House episodes aired, some fans were disappointed that Michelle didn’t at least come home for her sisters’ triple wedding alongside their childhood pal Kimmy.
“Okay so I finally finished the last season and I’m glad they explained Aunt Becky but couldn’t they just recast Michelle?” one fan tweeted . “Honestly so disappointed cause they made it seem like Michelle was estranged or something #FullerHouse.”
In addition to the Olsen twins reference, the final Fuller House episodes also mentioned Lori Loughlin’s missing character, Aunt Becky Katsopolis. While Loughlin is facing jail time after pleading guilty in the college admissions scandal, Aunt Becky was said to be “helping out her mother” in Nebraska.