In one fell swoop, John Stamos' Jimmy goes from single bachelor to proud grandpa. Such is the premise of FOX's new sitcom, Grandfathered , which follows a restaurateur (played by the former Full House star) as he learns that he has a son he never knew about, who has a daughter he also never knew about. I'm sure this made for a relatively easy elevator pitch for the writers to give to FOX executives: "John Stamos... on primetime... with an adorable baby." Sold! But, while Uncle Jesse may certainly be the star of the show and the focal point of all the advertising (and rightfully so — just look at that thousand-watt smile), he's certainly not the only member of Grandfathered 's very talented cast.
There are five other series regulars who will find themselves orbiting around Stamos' Jimmy ever week. There's his son, Gerald; his son's mother and Jimmy's former flame, Sara; his granddaughter's mom, Vanessa; his head chef, Ken; and his restaurant's manager, Annelise. And then, of course, there's the little twin girls playing Jimmy's granddaughter — a set-up Stamos should be exceedingly familiar with, after eight years of acting opposite the Olsen twins as precocious youngster Michelle Tanner on Full House .
Now here are the names to go with the faces you'll meet during this Tuesday's premiere of Grandfathered:
John Stamos As Jimmy
Stamos' name will forever be synonymous with Full House 's swoon-worthy Jesse Katsopolis, but that beloved show is far from the actor's only claim to fame. His second-most-famous starring role was as Dr. Tony Gates in the final three seasons of ER. Since then, he has had recurring roles on the likes of Glee (as handsome dentist Carl Howell), The New Normal (as Ellen Barkin's love interest, Brice), and Necessary Roughness (as sports empire magnate Connor McClane). And, Stamos is about to be busier than ever: Apart from headlining his own sitcom, he'll also be reprising his role as Uncle Jesse on Netflix's revival series Fuller House , and he'll be returning to ABC's Galavant in Season 2 as pompous jouster Sir Jean Hamm.
Josh Peck As Gerald
You probably remember the former child actor from his days starring on Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh , which ran from 2004-'07. (The series was a semi-spinoff of the popular program The Amanda Show, which was itself a spinoff of All That.) For several years after his eponymous show ended, Peck continued putting in appearances on Nickelodeon, in made-for-TV movies like Drake & Josh Go Hollywood and Merry Christmas Drake & Josh, and in guest starring roles on shows like iCarly and Victorious. In the past couple of years, Peck finally made the shift over to primetime with roles on the likes of The Mindy Project and The Big Bang Theory. In the meantime, he has also appeared in several films like the Ice Age 2-4 (as opossum Eddie), this year's Al Pacino movie Danny Collins, and the 2012 action film Red Dawn alongside Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki), and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Paget Brewster As Sara
Brewster's very first television role was as Joey's (and then Chandler's) girlfriend Kathy on Friends. Eight years later, she landed the defining role of her career, as Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds. She starred on the CBS procedural for six seasons, before announcing her departure in 2012. Grandfathered will be Brewster's first regular live-action role since saying goodbye to Agent Prentiss; her biggest roles between those two gigs were as "aggressively boring" consultant Frankie Dart on the most recent season of Community, and as matriarch/morphine addict Dodo Bellacourt on Comedy Central's Downton Abbey/Keeping Up With The Kardashians spoof Another Period .
Christina Milian As Vanessa
Milian is both a singer and an actress, yet you may be most familiar with her from her co-hosting gig on NBC's The Voice, where she served as the competition series' Social Media Correspondent for three seasons; or from her appearance on Season 17 of ABC's Dancing With The Stars, where she partnered with Mark Ballas and was eliminated in Week 5 (despite having received the highest score of that episode). Otherwise, you may know her from her R&B albums (her self-titled 2001 debut, 2004's It's About Time, and 2006's So Amazin'); from her guest starring TV roles on the likes of Charmed, Smallville, and CSI; or from her starring role on the 2009 sequel Bring It On: Fight To The Finish.
Ravi Patel As Ken
This is Patel's first main role on television, after years of guest starring in all of your favorite comedies, including (but not limited to) Scrubs, The New Normal, Super Fun Night, The Michael J. Fox Show, Trophy Wife, Childrens Hospital, and Another Period (as Mohandas Gandhi). You'll be seeing more of Patel than ever, now; in addition to Grandfathered, the actor will also co-star in Aziz Ansari's Netflix comedy, Master Of None , coming this November. Patel is also an accomplished filmmaker, having written, directed, edited, and starred in the 2014 documentary Meet The Patels , a look at his own attempts to find a wife through traditional Indian methods, which won the Audience Award at last year's Los Angeles Film Festival.
Kelly Jenrette As Annelise
Jenrette is the token newcomer of the Grandfathered cast: Her only prior experience on primetime television has been one-episode guest appearances in Happy Endings and Weird Loners. But, she's far from an amateur. Jenrette worked on both seasons of the Adult Swim cartoon Frisky Dingo, voicing the sidekick (and later the enemy) of the villainous Killface. Plus, she has appeared in commercials for K-Mart and has long worked as a standup comedian.
Grandfathered premieres on FOX this Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Images: Robert Trachtenberg, Tommy Garcia (6)/FOX
