The five stages of Twitter grief, as displayed by fans of 'Fuller House' - Los Angeles Times
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The five stages of Twitter grief, as expressed by fans of ‘Fuller House’

Andrea Barber, left, Jodie Sweetin and Candace Cameron Bure are back in "Fuller House," streaming on Netflix beginning Friday.

Andrea Barber, left, Jodie Sweetin and Candace Cameron Bure are back in “Fuller House,” streaming on Netflix beginning Friday.

(Michael Yarish / Associated Press)
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Friday’s release of “Fuller House” on Netflix has offered the perfect opportunity to re-examine pop culture’s increasing fascination with nostalgia. The series, a revisitation of family-friendly, lovingly cheesy ‘80s sitcom “Full House,” has struck a particular chord on Twitter, where thousands of anxious fans nervously awaited the show’s release.

“Full House” is merely the latest series to find new life on modern screens, with “The X-Files” revival airing on Fox earlier this year and “Heroes: Reborn” premiering in 2015. Which says nothing of the film adaptations finding their way to television, with “Uncle Buck,” “Rush Hour” and “Cruel Intentions” TV adaptations all in the works.

In a world where networks feel unsettled by perpetually falling ratings, reboots make sense. If people liked something once, they’ll surely like it again. And judging by social media reactions, they’re not necessarily wrong.

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People are passionate about their childhoods and the entertainment they hold dear from them, to the point where having those memories withheld or modified in any way spurs emotions that are unprecedented, given the circumstances.

For confused fans who expected “Fuller House” to arrive on Netflix at midnight Eastern time -- only to learn that the series was being released at midnight Pacific -- being forced to wait a few more hours for their candy-colored sitcom favorite was appalling.

It was like watching people work through the stages of grief, nostalgia style.

Denial

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The thought of staying up until 3 a.m. to see the revival of a show they watched as mere children struck many who were doing so as strange, yet they persevered, confident that their faith would be rewarded, if only they could manage the strength of will (and reserves of caffeine) to make it so.

Anger

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Time zones are hard. They’re particularly difficult when you’re so amped for the return of “Full House” that you can’t be bothered to check what time your new favorite show of all time is returning. Fans felt betrayed that Netflix didn’t roll out the show piecemeal as midnight spread across the world, despite the streaming provider’s custom of always operating on Pacific time. From this frustration, came anger.

Bargaining

Despite evidence to the contrary, people awake at 2 a.m. on a Thursday night in a frantic attempt to see the first evidence that the “Full House” universe is truly alive and well, still had normal lives to live come sunrise, which led to some trying to make anxious deals with the universe, begging for just a little more time with the show they loved before letting go and returning to school or work or life in general.

Depression

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At some point, some tweeters fell into the depths of despair at the realization that “Fuller House” still wasn’t available to stream. They had waited so long, only to be thwarted by Greenwich Mean Time, and the desolation they felt in its wake could only truly be captured by emoji.

Acceptance

But ultimately, the passing of time is immutable and come midnight (Pacific Standard Time, of course) “Fuller House” was released and all of the passion and patience paid off and audiences were welcomed back with an updated version of the theme song they loved so much, as sung by Canada’s sweetheart, Carly Rae Jepsen. Finally, it happened. Their moment was upon them. So what else was there to do, but give in to the inevitable?

The entirety of the first season of “Fuller House” is available to stream on Netflix.

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