D.J. Tanner's Day Off is episode twenty-two and the finale of season one of Full House. lets sing
Synopsis[]
D.J. hears that Stacey Q will be at a local mini-mall to give out autographs; and knowing that it would mean meeting Stacey Q in person, she badly wants one and will do absolutely anything, no matter what it takes, to make it happen. The problem is the signings are scheduled to take place during school hours. So D.J. decides to secretly skip a day of school to get her autograph by pretending to be sick. She gets Jesse to mention how he once secretly and successfully skipped a day from school, and D.J. pulls that same trick on both him and Joey.
D.J. and Kimmy head to the mini-mall and get in line to get their autographs. As they start to leave, they see Joey and Michelle come through the door, so they hide. Joey planned to get the autograph for D.J. and surprise her with it after school. Michelle (who is on a "leash") spots D.J., which leads to Joey finding her. He figures out that she did fake her sickness after all, snatches the autograph out of her hand, and takes her home (by the leash; see Quotes).
After Jesse comes home from his exterminator gig, Joey explains what happened, and they talk about what their dads (Nick Katsopolis, Colonel Gladstone) did to them when they got in trouble. They both consider punishing her, but immediately change their minds and decide to keep what D.J. did a secret so Danny thinks that they can take care of the girls on their own. But when Danny comes home from a trip to L.A. and hears about "D.J. Tanner's Day Off" (hence the episode's title), he is not happy about it at all. After sending D.J. upstairs, he lectures the guys again about their parenting skills – or lack thereof (see Trivia and Quotes). It is this moment when both realize that they should have stuck to their guns when they had the chance.
In the end, Danny finds out what D.J. did because of Stephanie (who tells D.J. that she got her homework for her; see Quotes), and scolds D.J. for skipping school and involving her sister in the mess (as the inspirational music plays), saying that what she did was selfish. However, she remarks that she did not want to be selfish or hurt other people's feelings (see Quotes). He reminds her to think things through more carefully next time. D.J., agreeing to do that in case there is a next time, apologizes to her father and sister for lying. They all gather for a group hug (as the audience applauds and the EP credits appear).
Quotes[]
[D.J. and Kimmy are talking about Stacey Q when Stephanie enters the room.]
Stephanie: Hi. What are you doing? What are you talking about? Can I play? [waves in Kimmy's face] Hello? [waves in D.J.'s face] Hello?
D.J.: Steph, let me explain this one more time. [using her arm] Your world is down here [lowering her arm to Steph's height]. Our world is up here [raising her arm to her and Kimmy's height].
Stephanie: [grabbing a chair from their little table and standing on it so to appear she's now in their world] Okay, now can I play?
D.J.: Kimmy gets to go. Why can't I?
Danny: Because you're not Kimmy. I don't know why Kimmy's missing school... but there's a lot of things about Kimmy I don't understand.
D.J.: If I don't get this autograph, I'll die.
Danny: D.J., no one has ever died from lack of autograph.
[At the mall...]
Joey: D.J.? What are you doing here?
D.J.: Getting busted. ... What are you doing here?
Joey: I was so impressed with your honesty that I came down here to get you an autograph. D.J., this is not cool. I trusted you. [He snatches the autograph out of her hand as he says...] Give me that autograph. [He puts Michelle's leash on her jacket.] Come on, let's go. We're going home.
D.J.: This is so humiliating.
[Jesse comes home from his job as an insect exterminator.]
Jesse: Joey, what's the emergency?
Joey: D.J. cut school to get Stacey Q's autograph.
Jesse: I left work early for that? Joseph, do you realize I was this close to finally figuring out where that line of ants actually begins?
Joey: She did more than cut school, Jess. She completely faked me out.
Jesse: You? No. [He laughs.]
Joey: Jesse, this plan was diabolical. She faked the flu. I called in sick for her. Then boom, she's better, and she takes off, just like that. The conniving little sneak.
Jesse: Oh, Joey, she's not a conniving little sneak. I gave her that plan.
Joey: You what?
Jesse: Well, she was interviewing me for her essay on the person she admires most. [Joey laughs.] There's no essay. [bangs the table] That conniving little sneak!
Joey: Danny's gone. We're in charge now. What are we gonna do?
Jesse: All right, let's think about this. See, when I was a kid and I got in trouble, my dad showed me no mercy. In fact, he took so many privileges away that to this day, when I go visit my parents, I gotta go straight to my room – no TV, no dinner.
Joey: Well, whenever I was bad, my dad would sit me down... talk about right and wrong, and good and bad for hours and hours, on and on... until finally I just beat the hell out of myself.
Jesse: The worst part, though... The worst part was when my dad gave me the dad face. You know, it was... It was like this: [He folds his arms and gives a mean look.]
Joey: The 'dad face'. That's good. Let me try it. [He does, but his lower lip sticks out.]
Jesse: No, no, Joey. That's the 'I-just-ate-bad-chili face'.
[In her bedroom, the guys consider their punishment for D.J. as they give her the 'dad face'.]
D.J.: You don't have to do that. I feel bad enough. I really blew it. I'm really sorry and I'll never do anything like this again.
Jesse: Regardless, Joseph and I must deal with your misconduct, young lady. ... 'Misconduct'? 'Young lady'? I really am turning into my father. [to Joey] If I start wearing a white belt and shoes to match, throw me down the stairs.
Joey: I'd be honored. D.J. we're going to have to punish you. So, no TV for two weeks.
Jesse: You call that a punishment?! No TV and no music for two weeks!
Joey: Oh yeah?! I say no TV and no music for two weeks and I raise you (see Trivia): no friends over for a month!
Jesse: I call (see Trivia)! No TV, no music, and no friends over for a month! Are we agreed, young lady?
D.J.: Sure. I deserve to be punished. Dad trusted me and I let him down. I hate myself.
Jesse: Excuse us. [He and Joey step aside to discuss with each other.] Joey, I think this kid is sorry. I think when Danny comes back from L.A., maybe we shouldn't tell him about this.
Joey: Don't you think he has a right to know exactly what happens?!
Jesse: Yes. But I don't want him thinking we can't take care of the girls.
Joey: You're absolutely right. I forgot about that. He may never want to leave the house again. [They go over to D.J.] D.J., we're not going to tell your Dad what happened.
D.J.: Well, alright. [Excitedly, she goes and hugs them.] Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Stephanie: D.J., since you missed school today, your teacher asked me to give you your homework.
D.J.: [knowing she's busted again; this time, by her dad] Oh, no. [She does a facepalm and Danny does his 'dad face' as her homework slowly gets passed down from Stephanie to Jesse, to Joey, to D.J.] [sarcastically] Thank you so much.
Stephanie: [smiling] You're welcome. [...] [after hearing the truth:] You liar! You made me a liar, too! I lied to Joey, to your teacher, and everybody! I thought I knew you, but I don't! I share my rinse cup with a stranger. [...] I even made you a 'get well' card. [forcefully hands it to her] Here! Get well! [She goes upstairs.]
[After Danny sends D.J. upstairs, the guys think that they're off the hook.]
Jesse: You know, Joey, I'm starting to feel hungry.
Joey: Me too.
Danny: [stopping them as they head for the kitchen] Guys, come back. [They do.]
Jesse: I'm not that hungry.
Joey: No, me neither.
Danny: [wagging his finger at them] I wanna know everything that goes on in my daughters' lives! Look, I don't expect you to be perfect parents, but I do expect you to be honest! I don't know why... I don't know why... I don't know why I'm wagging my finger at you like this! [calmly, as he finally stops wagging] Look, I don't wanna lecture you guys. I'd be lost here without you. But did you have to lie to me?
Joey: We just didn't want you to think that we couldn't handle things while you were gone.
Jesse: Yeah. See, we wanted you to know you could go away and everything would be cool with your kids.
Joey: And if there's ever a problem, we should get it right out in the open.
Jesse: That's right. We should work things out together as a family. In fact, Joey, say you're sorry and mean it.
Joey: I'm sorry. Now you say it.
Jesse: OK. I'm sorry. OK?
Joey: OK.
Jesse: Thanks for the talk.
Joey: Yeah. [Danny smiles as his way of saying "You're welcome"]
[In D.J. and Stephanie's room...]
D.J.: Steph, what are you doing?
Stephanie: I'm making a 'get sick' card.
D.J.: I said I was sorry.
[Danny enters.]
Stephanie: Uh-oh. Lecture time. See ya.
Danny: Steph, I think you should stay.
Stephanie: Why do I get a lecture? I didn't do anything.
Danny: But you will so take accurate notes. D.J., come over here [as he sits on the toy chest (see infobox photo)]. Why did you do what you did today?
D.J.: Because I wanted that autograph more than anything.
Danny: Do you know what the worst part is about what you did?
D.J.: That I cut school?
Danny: No.
Stephanie: [fuming mad] That you tricked Stephanie?!
Danny: That you were selfish. All you cared about was D.J. You did whatever you had to do to get D.J. what she wanted, even if it meant lying and hurting other people.
D.J.: I don't wanna be selfish. And I don't wanna hurt other people's feelings.
Danny: I know you don't. I think you really care about other people.
Trivia[]
According to Andrea Barber and Jodie Sweetin on their podcast "How Rude Tanneritos" they state (in the episode dedicated to this episode) that Full House producers had wanted Tiffany and not Stacy Q for this episode, but Tiffany's management did not tell her about the offer, so producers went with Stacy Q for the cameo.
- lets sing The episode title is a take on the title of the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- This is the first episode to deal with honesty.
- The first episode to feature the "dad face."
- The first time Danny goes out of town overnight.
- The third time Danny lectures Jesse and Joey about their parenting skills (first was "Our Very First Show" and again in "Our Very First Night")
- The song that plays in the background when D.J. and Kimmy go in to get an autograph from Stacey Q. is her 1988 hit "Don't Make a Fool of Yourself"; D.J. also sings and dances to the song in the episode's first few minutes while using a hairbrush as a microphone.
- The only known episode where poker terms are being used aside from the show's title ("call" means to match a previous bet [or raise], and "raise" means to match a previous bet and add additional money to the pot).
Goofs[]
- When Michelle dries off the cup, the rag jumps from her left hand to her right between shots.
- When D.J. and Kimmy start to leave the record store, they stand about shoulder to shoulder. In the next shot, Kimmy is about a step behind.
- When D.J. is trying to convince her father to let her skip school, he insists on a hug. After Danny hugs D.J., you can clearly see the stain of Bob Saget's makeup on her sweater. The stain disappears in the next scene.