John Stamos: Fox’s ‘Grandfathered’ Similar to ‘Full House’

John Stamos is sticking with what he knows best.

The in-demand actor, who is balancing Netflix’s Fuller House with Grandfathered, told reporters Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour that the Fox freshman comedy has the same basic DNA of Full House.

“I acted in the first two episodes of Fuller House, and we’re doing 13 episodes for Netflix. I don’t want to talk too much about this show, but I’m excited to be bringing it back.

“Full House was one of the early unconventional family shows, and now we’re writing Grandfathered, which is a very relatable high-concept show,” said Stamos. “Early on, we were trying to find the tone of [Grandfathered], and … it fits on Fox; the comedy is sharp, edgy and contemporary, but it has a whole lot of heart, which are shows I like to watch and be a part of.”

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Stamos executive produces Grandfathered and stars as Jimmy, a version of himself: a longtime bachelor whose life is upended after he learns he’s a father and a grandfather. Josh Peck plays his long-lost son, Gerald, while Paget Brewster is his former flame Sara.

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“This is the show I’ve been waiting for for 10 years,” said Stamos, recalling a meeting with his agent, who encouraged him to just do what he does best. The actor noted he was looking for something edgier when Grandfathered came along. Showrunner Daniel Chun (The Office) pitched him the character, whom Stamos described as a “swinging dude,” like George Clooney “before he turned against everything he believed in.”

Family, said Stamos, is something missing in Jimmy’s life — the show is autobiographical in that capacity. “I still hope to be a father,” he said.

Grandfathered — like Full House — features a set of twin girls playing his granddaughter, with the actor joking that if he can’t have children, he’ll “cast them.”

“I feel like I’m the baby whisperer now,” he said with a laugh. “I was watching the pilot the other night and thought, ‘Is this the pilot or an E! True Hollywood Story about my life?!’ ”

Stamos also confirmed he’ll be returning to guest-star on season two of ABC’s Galavant, which, like Grandfathered, hails from exec producer Dan Fogelman. (The latter also confirmed that most of the guest cast will be back for season two of Galavant.)

As for the wave of Full House revivals — there’s also a Broadway play and a Lifetime tell-all in the works — Stamos said he finds a lot of humor in all of them. When asked specifically if the actor would like to address an early clip of the Lifetime unauthorized movie that shows the actor portraying Stamos upset about the crying Olsen twins (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen), Stamos cleared the air. “It’s true that the Olsen twins cried a lot, and it was difficult to get the shot,” he said, joking that the twins were replaced with a pair of redheads before the Olsens eventually were brought back.

If the twins on Grandfathered cry, Stamos joked, “I whisper in their ears that I made other twins a lot of money!”

Brewster, meanwhile, also is juggling two shows and noted that she had hoped to return to Criminal Minds, but the timing with Grandfathered didn’t work out. She currently co-stars on Comedy Central’s Another Period, in which she also plays a grandmother. The actress hopes to be able to juggle both the Fox and Comedy Central shows, should Another Period earn a second season.

Grandfathered premieres Tuesday, Sept. 29.