Thank Goodness It’s Funny

If you ask a millennial which sitcoms they most associate with 1990s television, you’re likely to get a variety of answers.

Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends, and The Simpsons have a good chance of being mentioned, or maybe even some rerun darlings like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Saved by the Bell. However, any discussion of 90s sitcoms - especially when that discussion includes nostalgic millennial reminiscing - is not complete without a mention of ABC’s legendary TGIF line-up.

The original TGIF programming block overlapped almost perfectly with the 1990s - it premiered on September 22, 1989, and ran through September 8, 2000 (in its first run). TGIF was a perfect example of how television viewing can transcend beyond individual shows and be more about the experience itself. Watching TGIF was inherently tied to the act of gathering around the television set on a Friday night (ideally with friends or loved ones) and watching shows that fit a certain brand and style of family-friendly entertainment.

Strategically curated programming blocks like TGIF generated a clear upside for both the networks and the viewers. For networks, they get the benefit of having folks tune in for (ideally) an entire lineup of programming. Sure, if you were a viewer of TGIF in the 1990s, there were probably some shows in the lineup that you liked better than others. But in a lot of cases, you probably stuck around for most of the lineup, because it was clear what you could expect from it - fun, maybe a little cheesiness, and some wholesome laughs. For viewers, the upside was simple - reliable, familiar entertainment.

The graph above is my celebration of TGIF; it takes a look at data around TGIF’s scheduling throughout its original run. Specifically, I wanted to take a look at the shows with the most seasons on TGIF (plus a few short-lived-but-interesting ones) and their timeslots over the course of their time on TGIF.

One of the first things that caught my interest in looking at this data was the fact that, of the three shows that had the longest runs on TGIF (Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step by Step), they each aired in three different timeslots during their respective runs on TGIF. The only seasons during which all three shows were on the TGIF schedule together were ‘93-‘94, ‘95-‘96, and ‘96-‘97- arguably the heyday of TGIF, and its most stable years scheduling-wise! The lineup for TGIF was relatively consistent during this mid 90s time period - Family Matters starting off the night at 8 p.m., followed by Boy Meets World at 8:30, Step by Step at 9:00, and then capping things off with Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper at 9:30. Are you feeling nostalgic yet?!? (Small disclaimer: there were a few weeks throughout these three seasons that featured slight deviations in this otherwise steady schedule, such as when ‘On Our Own’ - the sitcom starring the real-life Smollett siblings! - snuck into the lineup for a few episodes during the ‘94-‘95 season).

You’ll also likely notice from the above graph that there were only two shows (of those that aired on TGIF for multiple seasons) that stayed in the same TGIF timeslot throughout their time on TGIF (aside from summer months) - Full House at 8 p.m. and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper at 9:30 8 p.m. Both shows had seasons that were not a part of TGIF (e.g. airing on other nights of the week),  but their timeslots were steady during their years on TGIF.

One of the most interesting aspects of the graph above is not in the shows that ran for multiple seasons on TGIF, but rather in the shows that aired for one season or less on TGIF (shown at the bottom of the graph). The titles of these short-lived shows are been color-coded on the graph to correspond to their TGIF timeslots. You may notice that only one of these shows - the Olsen Twins vehicle Two of a Kind - aired for a full season in that 8 8 p.m. kickoff slot. This isn’t altogether surprising - that 8 p.m. timeslot was crucial for TGIF, and so there likely weren’t many shows that ABC trusted to start off the night. A show with proven star power from the Olsen Twins was the rare exception of something ABC was willing to take a gamble on. Unfortunately, Two of a Kind was axed after just one season due to low ratings.

The buzz was high for Two of a Kind, which aired on TGIF from September 25, 1998 to July 9, 1999 in the coveted 8 p.m. timeslot - but the ratings didn’t quite deliver.

By contrast, the 9:30 p.m. timeslot (corresponding with the color orange in the graph) saw an abundance of these short-lived shows, as that was where ABC was most likely to stick its not-yet-proven sitcoms. Several shows had their shot at that tricky end-of-the-evening timeslot, generally without much success. Here are a few of the more interesting ones that had their go at that 9:30 p.m. slot (bonus points if you remember watching any of these!):

• Camp Wilder: A show featuring names like Hilary Swank, Jay Mohr, and Jared Leto, revolving around a single mom who dispenses ongoing advice to the friends of her younger siblings

• Just the Ten of a Us: A Growing Pains spin-off that ran for three seasons (but with only the last season being a part of the TGIF lineup)

• Billy: A spin-off of Head of the Class that only lasted 13 episodes

• Where I Live: A sitcom starring Doug E. Doug about a Trinidadian-American teenager growing up in Harlem (based on Doug’s own early life experiences) that received critical acclaim but couldn’t quite pull in solid ratings

• Teen Angel: A fantasy show featuring a high school student whose best friend dies (from eating an old hamburger, of course!) and then returns to Earth as a guardian angel. Oh, and Maureen McCormick (aka Marcia Brady) is also there.

While shows like these may not have had the lasting cultural impact of, say, Boy Meets World or Full House, they still played their part in the overall feel of TGIF. It often felt like there was always that one not-yet-popular show in the lineup that you watched only half-heartedly (but eventually ended up sort-of enjoying, at least in a guilty pleasure sort of way).

While the original iteration of TGIF came to a natural close at the end of the 90s (well, at least until its unsuccessful and brief 2003 revival), it is hard to dispute that there are some beloved TGIF characters that have stood the test of time in pop culture history. A final quick glance at the above graph will hopefully jog your memory on some of the biggest shows across TGIF’s decade-long history that helped spawn these legendary characters. I couldn’t help but make my own list of who I consider the most memorable characters across this programming block:

Here are my picks for the six most iconic characters across all of the ABC TGIF lineups over the years. Which do you agree (or disagree) with?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on which of these characters you thought were truly iconic and which other characters you might advocate for squeezing onto the list. I’d also be curious to hear any particular personal memories that come up for you while looking at the TGIF schedule graph (and which lineup do you remember most?).

And finally, I’ll leave you with this absolutely insane (but awesome) TGIF promo that perfectly encapsulates the pure 90s fun that made TGIF so legendary. Happy nostalgia-ing, everyone (yeah, I know, it’s not a verb… but it should be).