Great American Family CEO Wants Post-Jail Lori Loughlin to Be a Face of the Network: ‘She’s America’s Sweetheart’

Great American Family is already the home for “Full House” and “Fuller House,” so it only makes sense that the cast is also migrating over. Candace Cameron Bure and Andrea Barber are both set for Christmas films this year, and CEO Bill Abbott is hopeful that Lori Loughlin will join the network.

“We talk three times a week. We have two scripts that she really likes, one of which we’ll greenlight for this year or next year. Lori’s a good friend and somebody who we would love nothing more than to do a movie with, and we’re hopeful,” Abbott tells Variety.

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The actor has a longstanding relationship with Abbott. When he was CEO of Hallmark Media (then called Crown Media), she led 16 “Garage Sale Mystery” films for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and starred in 56 episodes of “When Calls the Heart.” The network cut ties with her amid the college admissions scandal in 2019.

Abbott notes that the goal is absolutely to make Loughlin one of the faces of Great American Family, which recently welcomed Bure as an executive at the company.

“She’s America’s sweetheart, regardless of whatever happened,” he says of Loughlin. “At the end of the day, she represents all that is positive about entertainment, and has had a stellar career — not only on screen, but also the way she’s conducted herself personally, in terms of being someone who has a track record of doing the right thing in the world at large, aside from whatever happened. I don’t know the details. She’s beloved and for good reason. We’re very proud of our association with her and we want to make her part of the fabric.”

Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the 2019 scandal; her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, also pleaded guilty, admitting to paying $500,000 to have the couple’s two daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella, enrolled at the University of Southern California as crew recruits, despite never playing the sport. She spent two months in prison while Giannulli served five months.

Last December, Loughlin made her return to TV on Great American Family, reprising her role of Abigail Stanton on an episode of “When Hope Calls,” the “When Calls the Heart” spinoff.

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