'Fuller House': Missing Olsens becomes a joke about Michelle

Where's Michelle?

That's one of the big questions surrounding Netflix series Fuller House, because Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen refused to revisit their Full House character for the revival. So how does the show deal with Michelle's absence? That question gets asked and answered right away.

In fact, the show pauses to break the fourth wall and laugh about the whole thing.

About four minutes into the pilot, Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) enters the Full house, delighted to reconnect with her family. She sees her father, Danny (Bob Saget), older sister, D.J (Candace Cameron Bure), uncles Joey and Jesse (Dave Coulier and John Stamos) and aunt Becky (Lori Loughlin). But someone's missing.

"Where's my little sis?" She asks about Michelle.

Danny has the answer:

"Well, Michelle sends her love, but she's busy in New York running her fashion empire."

After Saget delivers the line, the entire cast looks at the camera and pouts.

When we asked Saget earlier this year about the Olsens' decision to skip Fuller House, he said he didn't want to convince the actresses to return:

"It's like dragging a family to a reunion. You know, you don't want to see your second cousin anymore," he said.

At the Fuller House premiere, series creator Jeff Franklin said that though he made light of the situation, he hopes the character Michelle won't be forced to stay in New York forever.

"How we  handle the question of 'Where's Michelle?' is really cool. I love it. I'm still hoping (the Olsens) will come back and play with us."