Remember the 1990s television show Full House? It provided a peek into the lives of three men struggling to raise three little girls, the littlest them being Michelle Tanner, played by the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Cut to 2015, and Full House is being remade as Fuller House. The show will follow the lives of the oldest daughter DJ Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure) repeating history after becoming widowed with two sons. Her sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and best friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber) move in to help DJ. Though the Netflix show is being made without Michelle Tanner, she still remains Full House’s most lovable character.
Mary-Kate and Ashley have now moved away from acting to pursue careers as entrepreneurs. Their legacy began with Full House and extended to the slew of television shows, books and movies they did in their pre-teen and teenage years. But living in the limelight has its minus points too. Take, for instance, their detractors who labelled their style statement as “the homeless look” or the amount of flak Mary-Kate faced when she went into rehab for an eating disorder.
That is when Elaine Carroll comes in.
Carroll got the idea for the web series, Very Mary-Kate, when she was doing her impression of the Olsen twins at a party. Created by her and directed by Sam Reich, the series consists of 71 episodes till date. It was so popular that the popular YouTube channel CollegeHumor picked it up for the second season, which meant that Carroll, “could buy lunch for other people”.
Very Mary-Kate features Carroll as Mary-Kate Olsen, a social media-obsessed woman with too much money and too little sense. Add to the mix an overcompensating bodyguard and her temperamental history professor and you have the recipe for hilarious two-minute episodes. Mary Kate’s sartorial sense, the “bag lady look” and her eating disorder are quietly mocked throughout the series, with added references to her being the not-so-smart twin. Here’s a look at Carroll tackling Mary-Kate's diet.
The concept caught on so much, Carroll and College Humor did a two-part British version. Here is part one.
Carroll’s wide-ranging comedic references include Monty Python, Saturday Night Live and Kids in the Hall. The series mocks celebrities as well as our fascination with them. You want to laugh at Mary-Kate’s silliness, but Carroll also has you rooting for her.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!