TGIF - A Tribute

The last day before the weekend (worthy of its own well known acronym) means for some, simply the on set of the weekend. (WOOP!) For others, like the working force, it might mean payday, for the university student, it might mean no classes, and for the Catholics, it could mean fish sticks.

But for us kids who grew up in the 90’s, it meant only one thing- ABC TV baby, from 8:00-10:00pm.

That’s right, two solid hours of enjoyable television. Sure, there were those few shows that only made their way into the coveted line up for a season, (i.e. - Dinosaurs, from which all I can recall is that baby dinosaur whacking Daddy dinosaur's head with a frying pan, screaming “Not the Mama!”) But ,for the most part, the elementary school mentality (including my own) deemed these shows puh-retttty sa-weet!

My personal favourite line up: the Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Step by Step, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper sequence that ran steady from ’93 - 95.

• The funniest program came first, (“Hahaha, Did IIIII do that?).


• The two shows with the cute guys came in the middle, (Rider Strong as Sean Hunter & Brandon Call as J.T made TGIF mean That Guy Is FINE).


• And well, the least of my favourites came last, so if I drifted off early, no biggie!

TGIF ruled – all the cool kids were watching it…until 1999- that is. As I ventured into my first year of highschool, this Friday night prime time phenomenon came to an end! (Blessing in disguise? I guess staying home on Friday nights might have been social suicide, but still - I was ticked)

Seriously though...why did TGIF get the boot?

Was it bad ratings? Was it a higher demand for cash flow to the casts of the show? Was it simply a loss of interest? My hypothesis: As TGIF grew older, so too did its viewers. Like myself, we graduated grade eight and made an attempt to leave our kiddy habits behind. What I (and presumably others) might not have realized at the time was that…by no longer watching these shows, we ourselves played a part in driving them off air! (Well that, and there was satellite).

... (*Thank god for re-runs*)

When TGIF did come back in 2000, it was a major flop. I tried watching the new shows…but after one episode of Hope and Faith, I seriously opted for the Disney Channel. Two seasons later, TGIF was over for good. And to be honest, I was not unhappy. The new shows just did not compare to the forgotten sitcoms of the early to mid 90’s.
So - YES, in some ways I totally miss TGIF, but in others I’m glad that what it turned into is gone. To better grasp why this is so, check out the 2004 show line up.

Thank God It’s Friday? More like…Thank God It’s Finished!!!