Friday is Fun Day here on my blog and today we’re going to take a stroll down memory lane back to the magical 90s and an unforgettable lineup of TV shows that defined a generation.
If you were a kid in the 90s, TGIF didn’t meant “thank God [or goodness] it’s Friday” and it didn’t mean the restaurant chain where servers are required to wear some extra flair. No, it meant TV.
I cannot begin to tell you how many Friday evenings of my childhood were spent in front of the TV watching ABC’s TGIF lineup. As a kid, you only had a few things to look forward to on Friday nights: a home game, a sleepover at a friend’s house, and TGIF.
The shows were wholesome, the theme songs were unforgettable, valuable life lessons were learned, and many a childhood crush was formed on the stars. That’s when TV used to be must see.
Remember the TGIF theme song? “It’s Friday night/And the mood is right/Gonna have some fun/Show you how it’s done, T.G.I.F.!” [Those graphics are amazing and are so back in style again!]
One of the original TGIF Shows was Perfect Strangers [set in Chicago!]. Who could forget Balki Bartokomous and Cousin Larry? I know they were “just roommates” and all, but I still think something funny was going on there.
You can’t mention TGIF without immediately thinking of the incomparable Full House. Danny Tanner, Uncle Jessie, Uncle Joey, the Olsen Twins, the other twins… staples of childhood. Every episode would end with a heart-to-heart teaching moment complete with a synthesizer in the background. Classic. I had a crush on D.J. Tanner. And whatever happened to Kimmy Gibbler?
Then, there was Family Matters [also based in Chicago!]. I really liked it but they lost me after Steve Urkel was able to magically transform into his suave alter-ago, Stefan Urquel. They were really fishing for ratings at that point.
Step by Step never really appealed to me. There was just too much going on there. It seemed like a bad remake of The Brady Bunch to me. I still watched it though.
I can vaguely remember Dinosaurs. I just remember the little baby dinosaur saying “NOT THE MAMA!”
Hands down, though, my favorite show on the TGIF lineup was Boy Meets World. Corey Matthews was a stud. And that Topanga was quite a looker. That show was one of my favorite TGIF shows of all-time.
Being raised in a good Christian home, I wasn’t allowed to watch Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. But that was OK with me because I’d rather think of Melissa Joan-Hart as the teenage heartthrob Clarissa from Clarissa Explains it All than as a witch.
Like all good things, though, it would come to an end with Barbara Walters saying, “…and this is 20/20.”
Oh, TGIF… indeed. What great memories.
What were some of your favorite TGIF shows? Favorite characters? Favorite moments?
Happy Friday everybody!
