
This week, Jodie Sweetin takes a seat in The Wayback! ("How Rude Tanneritos" podcast, Full House, Fuller House on Netflix). In this episode, we learn that despite her image as a successful child actor, it turns out Jodie was an absolute hellion...
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A
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B
Detroit, Michigan. I'll be there Friday, November 8th at the Magic Bag, Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'll be there Saturday, November 9th at the Parkway Theater, Madison, Wisconsin. I'll be there Friday and Saturday, November 15th and 16th at Comedy on State. And Portland, Oregon. I'll be at the Aladdin Theater 6 Saturday, November 23rd. Get your tickets to those shows and all shows on my website@ryancickler.com hey baby, we gonna be here all day. We gonna be here all day, baby. I like this kind of body. Welcome back to the Way Back, everybody. I'm Ryan Sickler. I'm starting this episode like I start all my episodes. Thank you. Thank you for supporting this show. It's one of the most fun things I get to do. I enjoy coming in here and talking about the old times and laughing it up. Come see me on tour if I'm in your town when you're around. Tickets are on my website@ryancickler.com Very excited to have my guests sitting here with me in the Way Back today. Ladies and gentlemen, Jody Sweeten to the Way Back.
C
Hello. Good to be back here.
B
Thank you for being back here with me. Please, before we get into anything, plug promote all of it.
C
Uh, you can follow me on Instagram at Jody Sweeten. You can check out my podcast, How Rude Tanneritos. That is a full house rewatch podcast. You can follow us at How Rude podcast. Uh, you can check out my show Family Dinner, which is a live panel comedy show that I do at the Bourbon Room. You can follow us at Fam din show. Um, and I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff you can find me on, but you can start there.
B
Well, I'm very excited to have you here. I always start the episodes by asking if you ever rode in this seat, did you ever ride in the way back seat?
C
I did ride in the way back seat, but not often because I. I seem to remember that my mom didn't like me riding in the way back because I was still pretty little, and so she was always nervous. But we had friends that had pickup trucks, and everybody used to pile in the back of those, and that was a definite, like, absolutely not.
B
Yeah.
C
At least when my mom was looking.
B
Yeah. Got it.
C
Yeah. Yeah.
B
All right. All right. So I ask everybody. We're talking about just the old days and stuff and get into some of your stories here. I'll let you pick what you want to talk.
C
Oh, gosh. Well, I mean, we can start with the water balloons and the sunroof. Yeah, we'll ease our way into, you know.
B
So you grow up where?
C
I grew up in Orange county, just a little bit south of LA here and, like, very suburban, sort of Leave it to Beaver little neighborhood. We had bunch of kids in the neighborhood.
B
We all, like, all the same age.
C
All the same age. We all. It was like, before cell phones and we would ride bikes. We had a tree house. We had, like. It was. It was like the sand lot, sort of like. That was exactly it. But anyway, we would get together and we lived down the street from a. From an elementary school, and we would, in the summertime, get a really great idea to fill up a wagon with water balloons and drag it over to the school and hide in the trees that went along, like, sort of the main street through our neighborhood. And we'd just hide in there.
B
How many kids are doing this?
C
Oh, God. Seven, eight. Like, I mean, it was. It was like, a lot. Oh, yeah. It was like a. Like a tribe of us. Right? And we were. Man. Maybe not. I'm maybe being generous, maybe five or six.
B
Still.
C
Still. It was a. No, no, no. It was a crew. We had a little crew that we ran with and did stupid with and. Yeah. That we would hang out in the trees. And I remember one time we threw a water balloon. I threw it, and this person had their sunroof open, and it went right into their sunroof and exploded in their car. And you. It was these children, like, flew out of the trees, like, just. Oh, my God. And ran all towards, like, one house. And we tried to get in the backyard, but of course, we get in the backyard. The person sees where we went. They pull up. Knock, knock, knock. Parents find out it was all bad. They caught you.
B
They did.
C
Oh, God. Oh, yeah. We're not. Yeah, we're, you know, we're stupid, but. But we did it. So that was.
B
That's a good one.
C
That was a good one.
B
That is a. That's a damn good one.
C
Yeah. And although now if I were the ad, if I. Oh, yeah.
B
Can you imagine just driving?
C
Can you imagine murder? Murder. Just like perimenopausal woman murders. Murders eight children and their water balloons. Yeah, that would be it.
A
Front lawn.
C
Yep.
B
That is bullseye.
C
I once cut the power to my school for a senior prank.
B
How did you even know what to do?
C
We didn't. That was the best part is we sort of thought. So I was in photo class and.
B
And it's photo class. You. You putting the yearbook together and all.
C
No, it wasn't the yearbook. It was like actual photography. Really great teacher that we had, who I still talk to to this day. She's lovely. Anyway, we were doing like industrial photos and so we had to find stuff that was like, you know, sort of meta. Like metal chain link, whatever. So my friend and I were walking around campus trying to find things, and we see the back where all the electrical stuff is, like, kind of out by the shop building. And we were like, oh, let's. That'll be cool. Like all the, you know, the electricity stuff and the chain link fence or whatever. Well, the thing was. Open it. The lock wasn't locked. And so we were like, well, let's go in and take pictures because that'll be really cool. So we were taking pictures and then we were like, I wonder what happens if you pull one of these, you know, things. And we were like, oh, let's do it. So I take a picture of my friend doing it. We're like, oh, ha ha ha. We do it. And we're like, nothing. You know, the shop was still working. We're like, ah, everything's fine. So we come back and we're walking back to class in the middle of the quad, and all of a sudden, like, all these teachers start coming out of their rooms. Everything's dark. All the computers are off. Like, everything.
B
Oh, man, it did work.
C
And we were like, don't say anything. And we had a picture of it. My friend blew it up in his room and had it hanging on his wall at one point. But yeah, we got away with it.
B
Shut the whole power down.
C
It wasn't the entire school, but it was definitely a good, like the front buildings and the. Yeah. And it was a Friday. People were taking tests. It. We did a thing. Yeah, we definitely did a thing. It Was a re. It was an unintentional prank.
B
There'd probably be a terrorist attack on today's campus.
C
Well, today, I mean. Yeah, exactly. It'd be awful. Like. And this was just us being like, I wonder what would happen? And we were like, oh, I guess we've answered that question.
B
Yeah, I wanted to ask you before, too. You. You mentioned. Before we started recording, your dad had a big car. What was it?
C
It was a Mercury Montego. Yeah. With the white top and that and the mirror in the back.
B
Yeah, look at that.
C
Oh, yeah. But it was like an electric blue and like the. Yeah, like the color of the. Of the seat that we're sitting on.
B
Yeah.
C
Anyway, it was what I called the tiny car. It was in no way, shape, or form tiny. But we also had an rv, and so I.
B
You had an R. What kind of rv?
C
Oh, God, I don't even remember.
B
Drivable or.
C
Oh, yeah, Like a drivable. Yeah, yeah. Not like a fifth wheel, but an actual drivable rv.
B
Thank you for knowing.
C
And. And people don't know what a fifth wheel. Right. Oh, my aunt and uncle had a fifth wheel that they traveled all over the country in. But, yeah, my. We had an RV. And so I guess compared to the RV, that car was smaller. And so at 3, I called it the tiny car, completely overlooking the fact that we also had a Volkswagen Bug, which would have really been a tiny car, not even in comparison to an rv, just in general.
B
So your family then held on to cars, then you got a Bug.
C
My dad let me tell you, the Montego, that was that car when we had it and we drove. We drove that car to my first season of Full House. My mom did you really. We had the bench seat like this. I'd sit in the year. Is that 86.
B
Okay.
C
This car was not cool. It was just old. It was not vintage at that point. It was just an old piece of shit car. And that. And my dad would be like, why would I get a new car like, that one is fine. My dad just recently sold the car he got after that. No, he bought a used 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
B
Okay.
C
That we bought in, like, 1992. That always smelled like feet. I don't know why you can't. It was white. Just like that. And when we just sold that, he just sold that. My dad had replaced the. He had probably replaced the engine in that thing two or three times. It. He had a clock that he had taped onto the dashboard because the electrical thing didn't work. Had a Tape player, Right. This thing had a tape player and an AM FM radio. Right. That radio hadn't worked for. I know. How long. No cd, nothing? Oh, God, no. My dad doesn't own his. What would he do with a cd? Yeah, it had an AM FM and a tape player. And the electricity start. Quit working on the clock. So he just taped that to the thing and he. When we bought it, the. The tinting on it was a mess. It looked like a cat had been stuck in that car. Shredded the windows, right. Like it was. I don't know. And we don't even own a cat. Like, I don't know what happened in that car. But my dad also, he was. He was a handyman well into his, like, 70s. That was what my dad did. So this car carried all of his tools and all of his crap. So this was his work. But that was his only truck. That was his only car, but it was his. Also his work truck. And it. He just got rid of it like a couple. A few years ago.
B
Do you know how many miles were on that thing?
C
Oh, oh, well, over a hundred thousand. That thing probably quit counting.
B
I'll bet you more than way more.
C
Oh, I think it was like. Like 500,000 miles because we used to drive it back and forth to Big Bear when we were. When we had a cabin up there.
B
Yeah.
C
And, yeah, my dad, like, dad, why don't you get another how to do that? Yeah. And he would just replace the engine on it. And we're like, you. You could have bought a new car at this point.
B
Yeah. For real.
C
You know, but where are you.
B
Where are you taking the rv? Like, where are you going when you guys take that?
C
When I was little, we took the rv. We did Yosemite. We did Shaver Lake. Yeah, there's Shaver Lake. My aunt and uncle had a boat, and so we'd go out there and go camping, go boating. You know, we just had a kind of a normal. I remember I have a couple pictures of me horseback riding when I was little. One time on a black horse and one on a brown horse, which I named them Blackie and Brownie because that just. It's appropriate. Um, but yeah, that was, you know, what we used to do? I mean, just sit around at the campfire. I still to this day love a campfire. Go camping. It's really. Yeah.
B
When you camp, will you tent? We do.
C
Well, I will. I have a couple times now that I'm older. But my mom was like an rv was as rough as she was going. She Was not. She was like, I'll do this whole camping thing as long as there's a shower and an indoor.
B
So glamping.
C
Yeah. But my husband is getting into, like, backpacking, like, overnight backpacking, so. Yeah, so he's really roughing it.
B
How many siblings do you have?
C
None.
B
None. Well, okay, so what's.
C
Technically, I have. My. My dad was married long before I came along, and his kids. Because my dad's quite a bit older, but his kids were in their late 20s and early 30s by the time my parents adopted me, so I didn't grow up with them. Yeah.
B
All right, so nobody your age.
C
Nobody my age. Growing up now.
B
So what are you doing to entertain yourself around the house? Like, what do you. How are you.
C
I. I read voraciously.
B
You did?
C
I read. I would read all the time. I would go to the library. I would go to the bookstore back when there were, you know, bookstores, and I could be in there for hours picking out books, and I would do that. I would. I see your Nintendo over there. I was an old school Nintendo player. Super Mario Brothers.
B
Yeah.
C
Or Duck Hunt. I did like Duck Hunt.
B
I don't know why I thought you're gonna say Zelda.
C
Not as much. No. I wasn't a Zelda person. I got a little into, like, Sonic when. When Sega came out, but that was, like, kind of the end of my video gaming.
B
Mario was the one, huh?
C
Yeah, Mario was the one. I still will play that. Like, that one's fun. Anything else makes me nauseous.
B
What about in the, like, neighborhood? You guys going out and playing games?
C
Oh, yeah. My. I had. So when I was little, like, 2, 3, 4 years old, we lived in a neighborhood, and my best friend Jeffrey lived across the street, but I wasn't allowed to cross the street, so I would go stand in front of the neighbor's house on the corner, and I would just yell really loud, jeffrey, do you want to come out and play? And I yell out there until either Jeffrey came out or his mom was like, he can't play right now.
B
Yeah.
C
Yeah. But, yeah, so we do that. And then Tommy and Jimmy lived across the street. I mean, you know, such 80s.
B
Yeah.
C
Kid named Tommy, Jimmy, you know, these little kids. But, yeah, we would. Oh, yeah. Ride bikes. And I played a lot of she Ra and he. Man with Jeffrey in. In the front yard. I was very big into she Ra.
B
You were very big into Shera. Yeah.
C
Very big into the Princess of power. Yes. Thank you very.
B
What about Halloween? What kind of costumes?
C
You remember your costumes My mom made several of my costumes. I think I have pictures of them on my Instagram somewhere, of me in as a bunny. My mom made me a bunny costume. Little white bunny. A witch with a green face. But my favorite, probably when I was little, was Snow White. My mom made me a Snow White costume, and I got very into it. I took it very seriously. And when I was at Tot Lot, which was like, our preschool, I was running around in circles, and then I would suddenly collapse on the ground. And my. The other moms were like, oh, no. And my mom was like, no, she's fine. She's just. She ate the poison apple. She'll get up in a second. And so, yeah, basically I was just. Yeah. My mom was like, why would. No, it's fine. Right? But, yeah, Snow White was like, I had a little black wig and the whole thing. And I was telling everyone else who. What part they were in my Snow White story. Yeah. Luckily, Jeffrey always just went along. He was like, okay. He was just happy to be there, you know? So, yeah, he was great, because I could just be like, okay, now you're this. And he's like, okay. Yeah.
B
All right.
C
Yeah.
B
Summer camps. What about a summer camp? Are you going to summer camps? I didn't get to do any kind of camp.
C
I didn't get to do a ton of summer camps because I was always working as a kid. And we would start back in, like, mid July, so it was always hard to go away for summer camps. But I did. I did go to summer camp once in high school for a. It was like church, but it wasn't church. It was like more meditation type camp and whatever metaphysical stuff I managed.
B
Where they send you do, you know.
C
Up to the Angeles National. No, Angeles National Forest. We went for, like, five days, six days by. I believe it was like, day three. Me and five other kids snuck out in the middle of the night and went and hung out and partied, like, in one of the empty cabins, way away from everybody else, and, like, stole cigarettes. And, you know, we were doing. Of course I was 14, 15. Of course I did. Like my mom used to say when I was little, she was like, I always knew I could walk out of the room and you would be doing the thing you weren't supposed to be doing with three other people when I got back. So I always say that's just leadership skills. But. But, yeah, that was pretty much it. So, yeah, it was. And then we had to, like, the next day.
B
How'd you get caught?
C
Because we were 15 for it's stupid. You know, I don't. I don't even remember, but we probably weren't quiet. But the best part was, is that. Because it wasn't. Because it was like very sort of like, you know, more like new wave kind of meditation and, you know, personal responsibility and whatever. It wasn't like they were like, you got in trouble. It was like, we are going to count on the people that we know who it was to come forward because we know that it's gonna really bother them that they've been li. And sure as shit, they were right. Just didn't feel right because we, like, really trusted the people there. And. And we were like, fine, fine. It was me, you know, and then we all came forward. Nothing happened.
B
You know, you're a little hellion.
C
It started with the water balloons. Now it started long before that.
B
I love that you. You didn't mind getting in a little bit of trouble.
C
Oh, no, I got. I got in a lot of trouble.
B
You ever get grounded?
C
All the time.
B
What's the longest and for what did you do?
C
I definitely. I got grounded a lot in high school, usually because I was lying about where I was, who I was with, or I was coming home totally hammered. And so all of those things were very, very.
B
You've been caught coming home fucked up. Tell me about it.
C
I do remember towards the end of my, like, senior year, I think, I. We were out and I got really hammered. I mean, all my friends, we got really hammered. And I was like, we should go toilet paper somebody's house, because that's a great idea. But then I proceeded to get so wasted that I passed out in the car while they pulled off this heist, or not heist, but, you know, stunt of toilet papering. But then because I was so drunk, I managed to somehow pass out in the passenger seat of my friend's mom's minivan and wedge myself against the steering wheel and the horn, which set the horn off in the middle of the night. And they couldn't figure out what was going on and what. And here I am, my idea to do this in the first place, and I'm like, just leaning on the horn. Parents come out, everybody takes off all these cars, we get pulled. We wind up in the fucking grocery store parking lot around the corner. I'm so drunk. We get pulled over by the cops. Cop opens the door, I roll out and puke on his shoe. And it was like, did you. Oh, yeah. And he's Was just like, God damn it. So they call my parents. We had to go home. I. We get back to my friend's house. My car is now missing. I gave my. My car to a friend of mine who, turns out, had a suspended license. He took that shit to San Diego. I didn't know. It was like, this was my. This was me in high school. Okay. My parents were just like, what do you mean, you don't know where your new car is? I was like, I don't know. I don't know where. I don't know where it is. I gave it to Brian. I just don't know where he's. This is a day. No cell phones. No. I couldn't call in.
B
I couldn't be like, oh, yeah, nothing.
C
Yeah, nothing. Nothing. Just my parents came to pick that up.
B
Wow.
C
Yeah.
B
Tell me about Christmases.
C
Oh, my God. Christmases. My mom loves Christmas. And I, too. I'm a. I enjoyed, like, big decorating. Yeah, the decorating and all of that. Like, my mom got very into. My mom was the kind of person who would, like, make handmade bows for the Christmas tree. Like, she's very creative like that and really likes to make everything very matchy matchy and, like, you know, beautiful. Like the kind of rapping on presence where you're like, I don't want to open it. As a kid, I was like, I'm ripping right into that. But, like, now as an adult, I'm like, you took so much time to do that. And I just look at her, I go, why? It didn't matter. Like, she's like. I'm like, well, I mean it. No, sorry. Like, it was nice, but to you.
B
It mattered to her. We just want the damn.
C
I didn't. Yeah. I'm like, throw that in a bag, you know, which is what I do with my kids now. I'm like, that's the same gift bag I've used four years in a row. You're welcome. But no, my mom loved holidays, and we, like. Christmas was a very big deal a lot, but it was involved a lot.
B
Of pictures, a lot of, like, come over here taking.
C
Yeah, a lot of pictures. A lot of. A lot of hairdos and, like, frilly little dresses and things. Yeah, it was a lot of that. Not so much now. Me with my kids, they don't.
B
Do you remember, like, really wanting something and getting it for Christmas and also vice versa, so.
C
Funny story about the thing. Something I never. That I didn't get as a kid. And I was joking about it with my mom, like, in my 20s. She was like, you got everything you ever Asked for. And I was like, not the Barbie motorhome. We had a real R and. Right. And she was like, yeah, here we go. It was the kind that, like, folded out night. Western Fun Barbie.
B
Yeah, Western Fun Bar. There's so much.
C
There's so much Barbie. But my mom was always amazing at pulling off really incredible Christmases. And so it was the one thing that, like, we. She. You know, everyone wanted that year and she couldn't get. And so in my 20s, I. There was a huge box under the tree, and I was like, oh, my God, what is this? But, you know, it was the Barbie motor home. She found it. But my mom was working at a school at the time, so she. I was like, you know, we knew it was going to the school. I'm gonna be donated to. To the kids there. But it was just. It was like. Like now. And she was like, now you can't say anything. But, yeah, my mom, it was. She really did wonderful, wonderful Christmases. And I was very into American Girl dolls and Barbies and Legos.
B
I've been told I'm lucky because the American Girl doll phase passed my daughter already. And I've been told, like, there were. I remember the neighbors next door had two little girls, and she's like, ryan. The mom's like, we're making appointments for them at the Grove, and we do hair.
C
And I'm like, what this American Girl? For me, this was the beginning of it. The beginning of it. It originally started as a company called Pleasant Company, and the woman's name was. Her last name was Pleasant. And it started as that. With, like, three original dolls. And that was what I started collecting before they had a store at the Grove and before they were bought by Mattel and before all that.
B
So I got a question for you as a childhood actress.
C
Yes.
B
Who did you have crushes? Like, when I grew up, the girls would go to, like, Tiger Beat magazines like that. It was Chachi and, you know, Scott Baio and these guys. Like, who were you crushing on? Is it like more boy bands and things like that?
C
Yeah, I wasn't a boy band listener. I. You know who I thought was. Who were the heartthrobs, who I thought was cute? My. My first crushes. I remember there was a show called the Young Riders about the pony Express.
B
And.
C
Yes. And I. This. I was in love with these boys. Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, look, Josh Brolin right there.
B
He looked great there.
C
I mean, my God, look at it shut. You know what I mean?
B
I've never even heard of this show.
C
So my dad. My dad always watched westerns and all that. Like, that was my dad's from Oklahoma. He's, you know, that's his big thing. So this was a show that he and I would watch together. And I liked it because I also liked westerns and all that, and I really liked the lead character on it. But also a side benefit was that these dudes were also really cute. So that was actually who I had a crush on when I was, like, in middle school.
B
And did you put, like, pictures on your walls or anything? Posters? Nothing like that? No, I was never really that girl in your locker.
C
No, I was never really that girl. Like, I think I went through like a. There was like a Romeo and Juliet, Leonardo DiCaprio phase when that. When the Baz Luhrmann movie came out. That was like my high school. It was also, you know, I had my first boyfriend at the time. So of course, you know, we were over dramatic and that was. Oh, my God. We like Romeo and Juliet. Yeah, that's romantic. Kill yourselves. And so I went through that, but, like, not. I wasn't like a. Like, I had like, a Doors poster on my wall at one point. Like, Hendrix. I had. What else did I have? Yeah, like Roman. I had a few things, but I wasn't. I. I was never really that, like. Like, I'm still not. I don't really get impressed.
B
Yeah.
C
Like, with celebrity that much, I'm just like, there's artists I admired because of what they create, but I'm like, I'm not really, like, goo goo gaga over anybody.
B
Before we let you go, what about favorite. Give me a favorite stuffed animal.
C
My favorite stuffed animal is my baby bear.
B
You still have it?
C
I still have it.
B
You do? How old. How old were you when you got it?
C
My parents got it for me when they adopted me. So 14 months old and you still have. I still have it.
B
Wow.
C
It is a koala bear, which is a much discussed point in my house. My mom is like, that's not a koala. I'm like, it's got the little three fingers. Look at the ears. That's not koala. That's just a bear. I'm like, it's not. It's a koala. And he's still got the little soft part. If you lift his ear back right here, the little, like, og Soft fuzzy that didn't get loved, but he is matted down and has seen me through surgeries and. No, that's Mr. Bear. I don't know if there's any pictures of Baby Bear. But yeah, he. I also have Mr. Bear, of course, in my office. But Baby Bear is my personal OG Bear.
B
Thank you for doing this. It's a lot of fun to sit here and talk to you about this.
C
Always good to sit in the way back.
B
Please promote whatever you'd like one more time.
C
You can follow me odysseweetin and you can check out all the stuff I'm doing on there. Family dinner, Hal Rude, Santoritos, podcast, comedy, all of the multiple things. Yeah. Follow me on Instagram, odysseweetin, and I'll see you all around in the way back.
B
You're the best. Thank you so much.
C
My pleasure, my friend.
B
As always. Ryan Sickler on all your social media, come see me on tour. Tickets are available on my website@ryan sickler.com we'll talk to y'all next week.
Podcast Summary: The Wayback #44 | Jodie Sweetin
Released on October 31, 2024
Introduction
In episode #44 of The Wayback with Ryan Sickler, host Ryan Sickler welcomes former child actress Jodie Sweetin for a nostalgic journey through her childhood memories, family life, and formative experiences. Together, they explore humorous anecdotes, heartfelt reflections, and the vibrant moments that shaped Jodie's life.
1. Childhood and Family
Growing Up in Orange County
Jodie Sweetin reminisces about her upbringing in suburban Orange County, just south of Los Angeles. She paints a picture of a "Leave It to Beaver" style neighborhood, filled with friends her age and a close-knit community. "We all had the same age. It was like, before cell phones, we would ride bikes," Jodie recalls (03:13).
Family Vehicles and Trips
Jodie shares fond memories of her family's vehicles, particularly her father's Mercury Montego, which she affectionately dubbed the "tiny car" despite its size. She humorously contrasts it with their Volkswagen Bug and a robust 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee. "My dad just recently sold the car he got after that. He bought a used 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee," she explains (09:01). Additionally, the family's RV adventures are highlighted, including trips to Yosemite and Shaver Lake, which fostered a love for camping and the outdoors. "We did Yosemite. We did Shaver Lake. We just had a kind of normal campfire," Jodie shares (11:45).
2. Childhood Adventures and Pranks
Water Balloon Prank on School
One of the standout stories involves a group of friends orchestrating a water balloon prank targeting their elementary school. Jodie narrates, "We filled up a wagon with water balloons and dragged it over to the school and hid in the trees... I threw a water balloon, and it went right into their sunroof and exploded in their car" (04:53). The chaotic aftermath, including the explosion and the subsequent chase to avoid getting caught, underscores their mischievous spirit.
Summer Camp Escapades
Although Jodie didn't attend many summer camps due to familial responsibilities, she recounts a memorable high school church-related meditation camp in the Angeles National Forest. At 15, she and friends sneaked out to party in an empty cabin, leading to minor repercussions. "We all came forward. Nothing happened," she reflects (17:52). This incident, combined with repeated tales of getting grounded, showcases her rebellious teenage years.
3. Hobbies and Interests
Reading and Early Gaming
Jodie describes herself as a voracious reader during her childhood, often spending hours at the library and bookstore selecting books. Her love for storytelling extended to her gaming interests, primarily enjoying classic Nintendo titles like Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. "Anything else makes me nauseous," she quips about her limited gaming repertoire (13:20).
Neighborhood Games and She-Ra Fandom
Growing up without siblings, Jodie formed strong bonds with neighborhood friends like Jeffrey, Tommy, and Jimmy. Together, they rode bikes, played in the treehouse, and indulged in imaginative play centered around the animated series She-Ra: Princess of Power. "I was very big into She-Ra. Very big into the Princess of Power," she shares (15:08).
4. School Life and Crushes
Educational Pranks and Grounding
Jodie's school years were marked by creativity in pranks and frequent grounding. She recounts cutting power to her school as a senior prank, which inadvertently caused significant disruption. "We did a thing. It was an unintentional prank," she admits (07:09). Her rebellious streak continued into high school, where lying, sneaking out, and excessive partying led to numerous groundings.
Childhood Crushes
When it came to crushes, Jodie wasn't swayed by typical teen idols or boy bands. Instead, she was captivated by the actors in the Western series Young Riders. "I had a crush on Josh Brolin," she reveals, appreciating both their on-screen roles and physical appearances (24:29).
5. Holidays and Traditions
Christmas Memories
Christmas held a special place in Jodie's heart, largely due to her mother's enthusiasm for the holiday. Her mother meticulously decorated the house with handmade bows and coordinated decorations, creating a visually stunning environment. "My mom was the kind of person who would make handmade bows for the Christmas tree," Jodie fondly recalls (21:44). Jodie also cherished receiving and playing with American Girl dolls, Barbies, and Legos during the festive season. A memorable gift story includes receiving a Barbie motorhome, which later was donated to her school: "It was like the Barbie motor home. She found it. But my mom was working at a school at the time, so she knew it was going to be donated" (22:29).
6. Personal Items and Memories
Favorite Stuffed Animal: Baby Bear
Jodie shares a tender story about her favorite stuffed animal, Baby Bear, a koala bear gifted to her upon adoption at 14 months old. Despite debates at home about whether it was truly a koala, Baby Bear remains a cherished keepsake. "He is matted down and has seen me through surgeries. That's Mr. Bear," she says, highlighting the enduring emotional significance of the toy (26:43).
Conclusion
Throughout the episode, Jodie Sweetin and Ryan Sickler navigate through a tapestry of memories that paint a vivid picture of Jodie's early life. From mischievous pranks and family adventures to heartfelt traditions and personal memorabilia, the conversation offers listeners an intimate glimpse into the experiences that have shaped Jodie's journey. As they wrap up, Jodie invites fans to connect with her and follow her various projects, leaving listeners with a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps
"We filled up a wagon with water balloons and dragged it over to the school and hid in the trees." — Jodie Sweetin (04:00)
"My dad just recently sold the car he got after that. He bought a used 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee." — Jodie Sweetin (09:48)
"I read voraciously. I would read all the time." — Jodie Sweetin (13:20)
"I was very big into She-Ra. Very big into the Princess of Power." — Jodie Sweetin (15:08)
"My favorite stuffed animal is my Baby Bear." — Jodie Sweetin (26:43)
Connect with Jodie Sweetin and Ryan Sickler
Thank you for tuning into The Wayback with Ryan Sickler. Join us next week for another episode filled with laughter, memories, and engaging conversations.