TGIF was the name of an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
family-friendly
prime timePrime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programming block on the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
network. The name comes from the initials of the popular phrase "
Thank God It's FridayTGIF is an initialism for the phrase "Thank God It's Friday", celebrating the last day of the work/school week before the weekend. Its origin dates to the 1960s. It was first popularized by the restaurant T.G.I. Friday's which was founded in 1965. However, it became mainstream by the late 1970s,...
". However, the stars of the lineup touted the acronym as meaning "Thank Goodness It's Funny."
ABC Friday night legacy: 1950s to 1970s
Family-friendly comedies, which featured families with children as major characters, were a staple of ABC programming going back to the network's earlier sitcoms from the 1950s onward, such as
The Adventures of Ozzie and HarrietThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
(premiered 1952),
Leave It to BeaverLeave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
(moved to ABC in 1958 after its first season on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
),
The Donna Reed ShowThe Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...
(premiered 1958),
The FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
(premiered 1960, but was largely an adult-oriented comedy until the birth of
PebblesPebbles Flintstone is a fictional character, the red-haired daughter of Fred and Wilma Flintstone...
in 1963),
The Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
(premiered 1969), and
The Partridge FamilyThe Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
(premiered 1970; this and
The Brady Bunch became part of the Friday night lineup at that time). All of these shows are considered television classics today.
Enter Jim Janicek
TGIF was created and executive produced by Jim Janicek. Before
TGIF’s success, Janicek was a writer and producer for
ABC EntertainmentABC Entertainment is a network production company owned by ABC that was created in 1982.The company was previously known as ABC Television Network Productions, ABC Circle Films, and ABC Productions...
in charge of promoting Tuesday and Friday night comedies. Recalling his childhood when his family would gather to watch
The Wonderful World of Disney, he was inspired to create a family-oriented comedy block. In 1988, Janicek began gaining support for his concept by approaching the studios and talent of independently-produced ABC shows, promoting the synergy and potential success of the family block brand. With four ABC family comedy programs on board, and the backing of network president Bob Iger, the initial lineup for the block was created.
Before ABC experienced its 1990s fame on Friday nights, its Friday night schedule consisted of hit comedies such as
WebsterWebster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...
,
BensonBenson is an American television sitcom which aired from September 13, 1979, to April 19, 1986, on ABC. The series was a spin-off from the soap opera parody Soap ; however, Benson discarded the...
and, for its final season,
Diff'rent StrokesDiff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
. The block of predominantly family-friendly situation comedies was inaugurated in the 1988-89 season with
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
,
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
,
Mr. BelvedereMr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
, and
Just the Ten of UsJust the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...
. Since the 1987-88 season,
Perfect Strangers actors
Mark Linn-BakerMark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
and
Bronson PinchotBronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
(in character as Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous, respectively) had been doing program block hosting
interstitialsIn television programming, an interstitial program refers to a short program which is often shown between movies or other events, e.g. a cast interview after movies on premium channels...
on the
Perfect Strangers set, originally during the two-hour Wednesday sitcom block that
Perfect Strangers was part of as that season began. In March 1988,
Perfect Strangers moved to Friday, and the interstitials went with them. On Fridays, the hosting interstitials concept gained more traction before the family-friendly concept on that night took effect. Pinchot and Linn-Baker would remain the sole hosts of the Friday lineup throughout the 1988-89 season.
Meanwhile, ABC began reformulating its Tuesday night lineup which, for the past several seasons, had consisted of an 8-9 p.m. comedy block followed by two hour-long dramas, most notably with the hit series
MoonlightingMoonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
airing at 9/8c.
Moonlighting, then in its fifth season and starting to fall in the ratings considerably (greatly thanks to the 1988
WGAWGA is a three-letter abbreviation for:* Writers Guild of America, an American union** Writers Guild of America, East** Writers Guild of America, West* Web Gallery of Art* Western Golf Association...
strike, which delayed the premiere of many programs for the fall of 1988), was removed from the ABC schedule temporarily in February 1989 when the network decided to expand the Tuesday comedy offerings to two hours. Janicek, in response, came up with the idea promote the restructured lineup under a unified brand name,
Terrific Tuesday, to draw audiences to the changes, to reference the two additional sitcoms being offered, and especially as a nod to
Who's the Boss?Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992...
and the freshman smash hit
Roseanne, which now served as a strong anchor for the expanded comedy lineup.
The
Terrific Tuesday branding was a success, and ABC urged Janicek to continue the banner name for the following season. At the time of fall schedule upfronts in May 1989, Janicek, as well as ABC, devised the notion of further promoting their family fun-themed Fridays with a brand name. Over the summer months, ABC began promoting the Friday sitcoms under the experimental title, "The Friday Fun Club". While
Terrific Tuesday and
What-a-Wednesday were both on tap for the 1989-90 fall season, the Friday branding concept was to undergo a revision in time for September.
TGIF brand debuts
As a result of ABC and Janicek's plan for Friday brand familiarity, definitive changes occurred to the lineup on Friday, September 22, 1989. An opening sequence for the two-hour block was introduced, featuring animated mice against a gray background. The theme music, featuring a male vocalist and a
falsettoFalsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
-tuned backup chorus, sang the lyrics,
"Time for fun (thank goodness!)/Time for a good laugh (it's funny!)/Time, time, time, time for fun! (T-T-T-Time!)". The mice held up title cards containing the selected theme lyrics "Thank goodness" and "It's funny!". The sequence concludes with a tall mouse breaking a grandfather clock with a mallet.
Following this was a cut into the hosting interstitial. For the first time, another show's cast assumed hosting duties in place of
Perfect Strangers.
Dave CoulierDavid Alan "Dave" Coulier is an American stand-up comedian, impressionist, television and voice actor, and television host. He is well-known for his role as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995....
,
John StamosJohn Phillip Stamos is an American actor, singer and musician best known for his work in television, especially in his starring role as Jesse Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. Since the cancellation of that show in 1995, Stamos has appeared in numerous television films and series. From 2006...
and
Mary-Kate and Ashley OlsenMary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen are American actresses and entrepreneurs.Both have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have continued their celebrity through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements...
(alternating as Michelle Tanner) all appeared on the set of
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
introducing the season and series premieres that night. As they began their first segment, the
TGIF name was officially introduced, in which its meaning, "Thank Goodness It's Funny", was re-emphasized from the theme lyrics. Coulier and Stamos also announced that a new policy, in which stars from the other three
TGIF programs would rotate in hosting along with them, would begin. Rotating with
Full House that season was new arrival
Family Matters,
Perfect Strangers (whose first night hosting under the
TGIF banner was October 13, 1989) and
Just the Ten of Us. On the premiere night of
TGIF, the new (and ultimately short-lived) comedy
Free SpiritFree Spirit is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran on ABC during the 1989-1990 television season. The series was originally produced by ELP Communications. It ran from September 22, 1989 to January 14, 1990.-Overview:...
was previewed at 9:30/8:30, with
Just the Ten of Us reclaiming its time slot the following week.
During this inaugural season for the format, the
TGIF logo was only featured at the start of every hosting segment, appearing in a design where each letter was encased in a tall gray box (as pictured above); the boxes would flip in at the bottom of the screen, stand still for a few seconds, and then turn out. Custom bumpers would appear after the final scene of each program, where normally a short cut of the show's title display and theme would play, denoting the final commercial break. In the first season of
TGIF, the bumpers featured more animations of the mice. Two variants were run: the tall mouse popping out of the grandfather clock, and a small mouse being dragged around by a running chainsaw around the clock. The show's in-show logos (as opposed to the shows' logo designs used in network promos) were seen on either side of the clock. The closing animation, which ran after the credits of the 9:30 program (usually
Just the Ten of Us), consisted of the same notes, but of the lyrics,
"See you next week..here for a good laugh", with the last few notes instrumental.
1990s explosion
With the
TGIF moniker permanently in place, more changes in presentation were ahead as the lineup grew even more popular. On Friday, September 21, 1990, the animated mice opening and accompanying theme music was dropped, in favor of new graphics which used the new
TGIF name in them officially for the first time. With these new visuals came the "classic"
TGIF theme ("
It's Friday night/And the mood is right/Gonna have some fun/Show you how it's done, TGIF..").
For most of TGIF's run until the 1999-2000 season, at least one series on the lineup was produced by the team of Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett; the first two were
Perfect Strangers and
Full House, both of which aired on Friday nights prior to the launch of
TGIF. In subsequent years two more
Miller/BoyettMiller-Boyett Productions was an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s...
series,
Perfect Strangers spin-off,
Family Matters and the
Brady Bunch-inspired
Step by Step joined the line-up. During the 1990-91 season, all four
TGIF shows were produced by Miller/Boyett;
Perfect Strangers,
Family Matters and
Full House were joined by the short-lived
Going Places.
During the most successful years of
TGIF, the main characters of one of the Friday prime-time sitcoms would "host" the two-hour block of episodes for that week. Always in character, they would introduce each show and comment on the proceedings afterward. Sometimes, characters from a sitcom that did not air on a Friday night would appear; one time,
Daniel Hugh KellyDaniel Hugh Kelly is an American stage, film and television actor. He may be best known for his role on the 1980s ABC TV series Hardcastle and McCormick from 1983-1986 for which he also wrote and directed...
,
Betsy BrantleyBetsy Brantley is an American actress.Brantley was born Rutherfordton, North Carolina. She is the older sister of producer/screenwriter Duncan Brantley, and formerly married to Simon Dutton and Steven Soderbergh....
and other stars of the drama
Second NoahSecond Noah is a television drama that was broadcast in the United States on ABC television from February 5, 1996 to June 8, 1997-Premise:...
hosted
TGIF for a week in January 1996, mainly as a cross promotion for their new series. Occasionally, the hosts for the evening would find a common thread between each show. In the late 1980s-early 1990s Fall Seasons, various casts would host
Saturday Morning Preview SpecialsSaturday morning preview specials were aired on television annually to present previews of each network's fall lineup of Saturday morning children's programming....
, which previewed much of new
Saturday morning programmingA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
which would air the following day prior to the Disney acquisition of ABC Saturdays.
Also during the 1990-91 season,
TGIF was promoted with a series of trading cards featuring publicity shots from
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
,
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
, and
Family MattersFamily Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...
.
Summer months
Within the first few years of
TGIF, the hosting interstitials went through variations in on-air activity during the summer months. The regular hosting rotation continued with new segments during the summer of 1990, the final months of the "mice" motif. For the late spring and summer of 1991, ABC decided to relieve the
TGIF stars of filming/taping segments from their respective sets. Instead, they had stars do voiceovers for
TGIF Trivia, game-like segments made up of episode scenes and multiple choice questions. The trivia quiz provided "A", "B" and "C" choices of events that the home viewer was supposed to choose from for a supposed "single" correct answer; in reality, all choices were correct in each round, as every scene featured was from an actual episode inclusion. Stars that narrated
TGIF Trivia included
Heather LocklearHeather Deen Locklear is an American actress best known for her television roles as Sammy Jo Carrington on Dynasty, Officer Stacy Sheridan on T.J...
(
Going Places),
Jodie SweetinJodie Lee Ann Sweetin is an American actress, best known for her role as Stephanie Tanner on the long running television sitcom Full House.-Career:...
(
Full House) and
Melanie WilsonMelanie Wilson is an American actress best known for her co-starring role as Jennifer Lyons-Appleton in the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers. Her other television credits include Family Matters, Step by Step, Simon & Simon and The A-Team...
(
Perfect Strangers).
For the late spring and summer of 1992, ABC ran a promotional contest that chose winners from around the country to host
TGIF for a week from their own homes. The chosen ones were instructed to videotape their own segments from home, giving commentary on the shows that would air on the week they were scheduled to have themselves featured on. Families, individuals, groups of friends, couples, and most prominently teenagers were among the winners.
The voiceover narration format from
TGIF stars returned for the late spring and summer of 1993. This time, however, rotating stars would simply voice previews over upcoming episode scenes. As in the 1991
TGIF Trivia, a single star would hold the duties per week.
Brandon CallBrandon Spencer Lee Call is an American television and film actor.-Early life and career:Born in Torrance, California, Call began his career as a child actor in 1984 appearing in guest roles on Simon & Simon and Hotel. In 1985, he landed a recurring role on the NBC daytime drama, Santa Barbara...
(
Step By Step) and
Jo Marie PaytonJo Marie Payton is an American television actress, and singer, who starred most notably as Harriette Winslow on the ABC sitcom, Family Matters, and its parent series Perfect Strangers. From 2001 to 2005 Jo Marie Payton provided the voice for Suga Mama Proud on Bruce W. Smith's The Proud Family,...
(
Family Matters) were among those who took turns; Payton had the distinction of doing one of her segment narration weeks on August 6, 1993, the series finale night of
Perfect Strangers. From 1994 onward, original on-screen hosting segments returned to
TGIF for the summer months.
Spin-off Concepts
In the spring of 1991, with
TGIF’s meteoric success, Bob Iger, then President of the
ABC networkABC Network may refer to any of the following:*American Broadcasting Company, a private television network in the United States.*Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, regional radio and television broadcaster in Japan....
, and Mark Zakaran, then Senior Vice President of Marketing of
ABC EntertainmentABC Entertainment is a network production company owned by ABC that was created in 1982.The company was previously known as ABC Television Network Productions, ABC Circle Films, and ABC Productions...
, appointed Jim Janicek to expand his branding work to other nights and dayparts at ABC.
The Hump
Janicek's first attempt to replicate the success of
TGIF came in August 1991, when ABC rolled out a three-hour Wednesday night comedy block for the 1991-92 fall schedule. Loosely known as
The Hump, via the advertising tagline
"Over the hump!" (
"Three hours of non-stop laughs are guaranteed to get you over the hump!", "
That'll get you over the hump!") and the use of a '70s funk-flavored background jingle which chanted, "
I've got to get over the hump", the format came complete with promos that had a special graphics scheme, differing from
TGIF and ABC's nights of regular, non-concept based lineups. The concept title was another play on a popular catchphrase, in which Wednesday is typically referred to as "hump day" (being the middle of the work week, thus making it "over the hump" toward the weekend).
From August to September 1991, the formation of
The Hump consisted of
The Wonder YearsThe Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
,
Growing Pains (in the month leading to its move to Saturday nights),
Doogie Howser, M.D.Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
,
Davis RulesDavis Rules is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC in 1991 and on CBS in 1992. The series was produced by Carsey-Werner Productions.-Synopsis:...
(which had already been cancelled in May 1991),
Anything but LoveAnything But Love was an American television sitcom, which aired on ABC from March 7, 1989 to June 3, 1992, spanning four seasons and 56 episodes. The show starred Richard Lewis as Marty Gold and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hannah Miller, coworkers at a Chicago magazine with a mutual romantic attraction to...
and
Married PeopleMarried People is an American television situation comedy that aired on ABC as part of its 1990-91 schedule.-Synopsis:The series follows three couples in different stages of their relationships who lived in the same building in New York City...
(cancelled in March 1991). For the new fall season, the lineup changed to
DinosaursDinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
replacing
Growing Pains at 8:30/7:30c, new sitcom
Sibs at 9:30/8:30, and the new sitcom
Good & Evil at 10:30/9:30c. The sitcoms that aired between 9:30 and 11:00 (
Sibs,
Anything but Love,
Good & Evil) were separately marketed from the first three programs on
The Hump as "comedies made specifically for adults". The "adult" promos for
The Hump exclusively featured the funk-flavored song, whereas promos for the 8:00-9:30 shows, and the entire lineup in general, used the instrumental version of ABC's 1991
America's Watching jingle. Unlike
TGIF and its future one-off concept
I Love Saturday Night,
The Hump did not use hosting interstitials or customized bumpers for the last commercial break of each show.
With the cancelation of
Good & Evil in late October, which the network claimed was entirely due to its low ratings in a 10:30/9:30c slot (although many advocacy groups claimed it was due to the controversy surrounding the defamatory portrayal of a
blindBlind may refer to:* The state of blindness, being unable to see* A window blind, a covering for a windowBlind may also refer to:-Electronics, engineering, and science:...
character), along with the lackluster first-month ratings for
Sibs, ABC was convinced that the three-hour comedy block was a failure. The network opted to give the 10/9c slot on Wednesdays back to hour-long dramatic series during November sweeps.
The Hump concept aired for the last time on October 30, 1991, and ABC resumed promoting the Wednesday lineup in standard fashion.
Sibs was relocated elsewhere on the schedule, and
Anything but Love was moved back to into its former 9:30/8:30c slot on Wednesdays. For the weeks of November 6th and 13th, 1991, specials aired in the 10/9c slot, but the official replacement for the time period came with the new series
Civil Wars on November 20, 1991.
MCTV: More Cool TV
At the start of the 1991-92 season, Janicek also brought the hosted programming block format to Saturday mornings, under the title
MCTV (
More Cool TV). This title indicated that after
TGIF on Friday nights, there was "more cool TV" just hours away on Saturday morning. Live action stars of the Saturday morning lineup, most notably including the cast of ABC's
Land of the LostLand of the Lost is a half-hour Saturday-morning children's series that debuted on ABC in the fall of 1991. The series was very popular, ranking #1 on Saturday Mornings during its first season, and ran for an additional season. Re-runs were later picked up by Nickelodeon...
revival, hosted interstitials every half hour. The
MCTV segments at times were several seconds shorter than those shot for
TGIF. While an opening sequence and custom last-segment show bumpers were included, the theme music used was the instrumental version of ABC's 1991
America's Watching campaign.
MCTV was soon abandoned, although not as quickly as
I Love Saturday Night, the Saturday primetime concept block which premiered on February 1, 1992.
Also notably airing on
MCTV was the cartoon
HammermanHammerman is a Saturday morning cartoon, produced by DIC Entertainment and starring pop rapper MC Hammer, which aired for thirteen episodes on ABC.-Synopsis:...
, whose star,
MC HammerStanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
, gave even more meaning to the Saturday morning lineup's moniker. Hammer did show up himself to host
MCTV on a few occasions. By the end of the season,
Hammerman, as well as the
MCTV branding, was cancelled.
I Love Saturday Night
Seeing how
TGIF dominated primetime on Fridays in the face of typical decreased TV viewership on that night, Janicek and company felt that the same marketing power could translate into success for Saturday night. Saturday, as an even heavier social night not spent at home by viewers in the 18-49 demographics, resulted in most networks airing shows with older demographics, those with family appeal, or programs falling in the ratings on other nights (or in the most political cases, shows that a network no longer has confidence in). NBC had claimed dominant victory on Saturday nights throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, with an eclectic mix of family-themed shows and sophisticated comedies aimed at older-age-group viewers (
The Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
,
227227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...
,
AmenAmen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s...
,
Empty Nest, et al). ABC, however, had continued to struggle on Saturday nights. Through the end of the 1990-91 TV season, recent programs such as
The ABC Mystery Movie and
China BeachChina Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans...
had experienced quick death after moving to Saturdays, leading to such bold decisions as moving the nationwide phenomenon
Twin PeaksTwin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
to Saturday in order to shore up the lineup. After reformatting the Saturday night lineup for the 1991 fall schedule to include an hour of comedy followed by another established drama and a freshman drama, ABC announced plans for a Saturday
TGIF offshoot to premiere at mid-season.
Titled
I Love Saturday Night, it launched to provide a new night and time for three of
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's aging sitcoms,
Who's the Boss?Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992...
,
Growing PainsGrowing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...
(both of which had been comprising the Saturday 8-9 p.m. block since September 1991) and
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
(which was still highly rated, but moved to Saturday to help the declining ratings of
Boss and
Pains). The newcomer that rounded out the lineup was the
Steven BochcoSteven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....
cartoon
Capitol CrittersCapitol Critters is an animated television series about the lives of mice, rats, and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C...
. Premiering on February 1, 1992, the two-hour comedy block of
I Love Saturday Night caused
The Young RidersThe Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War...
to move elsewhere on the schedule from Saturdays at 9/8c, while freshman drama
The CommishThe Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
remained at 10/9c.
I Love Saturday Night was structured exactly like
TGIF, with hosts from each show rotating every week, down to its own set of branding graphics and a theme song. The intro to the evening began with a red ABC logo encased inside an animated heart, which bounced around, and then off, the screen. Set against various-colored backgrounds (but most commonly blue), the lineup's title was then spelled out in the opening alongside views of animated suns, moons and palm trees. The theme song itself even had a calypso sound to it, with Jamaican-style male vocals. The lyrics consisted of:
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y../ Saturday Night! / I Love Saturday / Saturday Night. The last two lines were often sung over the show bumpers that led into the last commercial break of each show.
There was heavy promotion for
I Love Saturday Night, as ABC was valiantly trying to achieve any remaining life out
Who's the Boss? and
Growing Pains especially. Those in the industry suspected that
Perfect Strangers was moved to this night not necessarily since it could have bolstered the lineup's performance, but because it was part of an ABC agenda to kill the series (ABC's explanation in its move from Fridays was that it didn't fit the new
TGIF demographic, ages 10–18). Saturday night on ABC, especially up against NBC's powerhouse lineup of the evening, seemed a surefire place to send even a popular show into considerable ratings decline. This is exactly what happened, as ratings during the entire February sweeps period were the lowest of the season for ABC that night (save for
The Commish, which had become successful in its first season), with
Perfect Strangers experiencing the largest ratings fall for a series in a single season. After five dismal weeks in the Nielsens, ABC had a rapid loss of faith in I Love Saturday Night
; on Saturday, February 29th, the branding concept was used for the last time.
Cast members from all three of the live-action shows hosted I Love Saturday Night
in rotation during the five-week run. The schedule was as follows:
- February 1, 1992: Mark-Linn Baker & Bronson Pinchot,
Perfect Strangers
February 8, 1992: Kirk CameronKirk Thomas Cameron is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy Growing Pains , as well as several other television and film appearances as a child actor...
, Jeremy MillerJeremy James Miller is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Ben Seaver on Growing Pains and its two reunion movies...
& Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, Growing Pains
February 15, 1992: Tony DanzaTony Danza is an American actor best known for starring on the TV series Taxi and Who's the Boss?, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards...
& Judith LightJudith Ellen Light is an American actress. Her television roles include Karen Wolek on the soap opera One Life to Live, Angela Bower on the sitcom Who's the Boss?, Claire Meade on ABC's TV series Ugly Betty and Judge Elizabeth "Liz" Donnelly on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.-Early life:Light...
, Who's the Boss?
February 22, 1992✝: Mark-Linn Baker & Bronson Pinchot, Perfect Strangers
February 29, 1992: Kirk Cameron, Jeremy Miller, Ashley JohnsonAshley Suzanne Johnson is an American actress, best known for her two-season role as Chrissy Seaver in the TV show Growing Pains, and for her voice work in television series such as Teen Titans and Ben 10 Alien Force....
& Leonardo DiCaprio, Growing Pains
✝Capital Critters
and Perfect Strangers
did not air on this night, although Pinchot and Linn-Baker did host. The Jaleel White Special
aired from 8-9:00pm, followed by Who's the Boss?
from 9:00-9:30 and Growing Pains
in its regular 9:30 slot.
Beyond the quick demise of I Love Saturday Night
, the same lineup, more or less, continued on ABC for the remainder of the 1991-92 season. Capital Critters
was canceled in March; this caused the remaining three shows to switch slots in order to provide a choice time period for a mid-season sitcom, the Head of the ClassHead of the Class is an American sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program at the fictional Monroe High School in Manhattan, and their history teacher Charlie Moore...
spinoff Billy
, which moved to the lineup (Billy
had previously been a part of TGIF
from its January 31, 1992 premiere until March). Boss
and Pains
, meanwhile, had announced the end of their runs in the spring of 1992, but both would remain on Saturdays until summer reruns. These shows aired their 1-hour finales on Saturday, April 25, 1992, along with the series-ending episode of MacGyverMacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, airing on this night just once. Both Perfect Strangers
and Billy
would stay with the lineup after Boss
and Pains
relocated.
Two new sitcoms premiered on Saturdays that spring and summer: Julie
, starring Julie AndrewsDame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
(with a future TGIF
star, Rider StrongRider King Strong is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Shawn Hunter on the 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World.-Early life:...
, as Andrews' stepson), and the David LynchDavid Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
-produced comedy On the Air
. The failure of these programs, along with ABC's decision to not renew Billy
for a second season and the announcement that Perfect Strangers
was going on a long hiatus, marked the end of any attempt by ABC to program comedies or family fare on that night. Once every few years, ABC would again try to program such shows on Saturday nights with no success. The lone exception in this case was The Wonderful World of Disney
, which ABC revived after its was bought by Disney and eventually moved to Saturday nights in 2003.
Special events
In 1995, ABC scheduled a music special for The Beatles AnthologyThe Beatles Anthology is the name of a documentary series, a set of three double albums and a book focusing on the history of The Beatles. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all participated in the making and approval of the works, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the...
. To promote the special on the previous Friday, all of the TGIF sitcoms' opening theme songs were each replaced with Beatles songs, regardless of the individual shows' plot with the exception of Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
, where the theme was a song by The MonkeesThe Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
.
Change
In 1997The year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
, Family MattersFamily Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...
and Step by Step
left TGIF and aired on CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for the same night (which would be the final season for both). Both shows appeared on CBS Block PartyCBS Block Party was a programming block that aired on the CBS television network during the 1997-1998 television season. The block was similar to, and was intended as direct competition to, ABC's TGIF lineup and aired on Friday nights from 8pm-10pm ET...
, a similar sitcom programming block with four sitcoms, but failed with both the lineup and shows only lasting one season. As their Friday evening programming evolved, ABC retired the traditional TGIF
logo and phased out the theme song.
ABC began to see sagging ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
in the TGIF lineup in part due to the audience fracture from the Block Party, which was enough to hurt TGIF even though the Block Party itself was a failure. Popular programs such as Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
started experiencing declining ratings. New shows joined the lineup, including the likes of Teen Angel
and You Wish
, which lasted only a season (or less) before they were dropped.
On November 7, 1997, Salem from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
appeared on all four shows in the TGIF lineup and caused the characters in each show to travel back to a different point in time. On a later episode of Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
, Melissa Joan HartMelissa Joan Catherine Hart is an American actress, writer, television director, television producer, singer and businesswoman...
made a second cameo, as an aside, due to the episode in question involving a coven of witches being thwarted from taking the soul of one of the characters. The cameo features Boy Meets World
character Eric describing the event and swearing off witches, not realizing that Sabrina is one.
Musical group HansonHanson are an American pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac , Taylor , and Zac Hanson . They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations...
hosted TGIF
leading up to their special Meet Hanson. Between the shows it showed them in the studio, "commanding" the shows to come on, and at one point even incorporating TGIF into their mega-hit song "
MMMBop"MMMBop" is a song written and performed by the American pop rock band Hanson from their 1997 album Middle of Nowhere. The song was nominated for two Grammys at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards in February 1998, and is the band's most successful single to date.By any measure, "MMMBop" was phenomenally...
".
Return
By
2000The year 2000 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2000.For the American TV schedule, see: 2000-01 United States network television schedule.-Event:-Debuts:-1940s:...
, ABC had discontinued the Friday prime time programming block entirely, with the exception of a
Working Comedy comedy block during the fall 2000-2001 season of fading comedies:
Two Guys and a GirlTwo Guys and a Girl is an American sitcom created by Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. It ran on ABC from March 10, 1998 to May 16, 2001. 81 episodes were transmitted over four seasons....
and NormThe Norm Show is an American television sitcom that ran from 1999 through 2001 on the ABC television network.-Synopsis:...
, and freshman sitcoms The Trouble With Normal
and Madigan MenMadigan Men is an American television comedy that premiered on ABC in the U.S. on October 6, 2000. The show performed poorly in the ratings and among critics and was canceled on December 18, 2000.-Cast:*Gabriel Byrne as Ben Madigan...
, which underperformed. This lineup only lasted one year; ABC then reverted to dramas and reality shows like The Mole
(which only lasted three weeks). By then Friday nights were the weakest rating night of the weekThe Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the concept that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is destined for imminent cancellation....
, with only a few shows receiving attention, such as CBS' CSICSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, which premiered on Friday.
TGIF returned to the air in Fall
2003The year 2003 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2003.For the American TV schedule, see: 2003-04 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
with heavy promotion. This included a promo spot employing the pop tune "
YMCA"Y.M.C.A." is a song recorded by American disco group Village People. It was released in 1978 as the only single from the album Cruisin. The song reached No. 2 on the U.S. charts in early 1979 and reached No.1 in the UK around the same time, becoming the group's biggest hit...
" (sung as T-G-I-F), featuring all four family comedies’ casts seated on a living-room couch.
Alex TrebekGeorge Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
briefly served as host and spokesman for the block, but for the majority of the TGIF revival the block aired without a host. That season’s lineup met with only moderate success, seeing a consistent second- or third-place showing against a popular
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
lineup that included
Joan of ArcadiaJoan of Arcadia is an American television fantasy/family drama telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi , who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays, 8-9 p.m...
and JAGJAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
. By early 2005The year 2005 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2005.For the American TV schedule, see: 2005–06 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
, ABC had stopped actively promoting the TGIF
name, and once again dropped the TGIF
block in the fall of 2005.
In Fall of 2005, Hope & FaithHope & Faith is an American sitcom that aired for three seasons on ABC from September 26, 2003, to May 2, 2006. For its first two seasons the show was part of a revived TGIF comedy block....
continued to air on Friday nights, Less Than PerfectLess Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers...
was renewed for midseason 2005-2006 airing (April 2006), and George Lopez"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
was moved to a Tuesday comedy block, then back to its original night of Wednesday. CBS canceled both Joan
and JAG
in May 2005.
Today
Today, Friday nights on ABC are primarily used to air reality programs such as SupernannySupernanny is a reality TV programme which originated in the United Kingdom about parents struggling with their children's behaviour. The UK version has aired on Channel 4 with E4 showing repeats since 2004. The program returned in 2010...
and Wife SwapWife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
and occasional encores of popular dramas, such as Grey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
and Desperate HousewivesDesperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
.
After finishing syndicationIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
periods, remnants of TGIF
now occupy the daytime and afternoon lineup on ABC FamilyABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
. The cable network airs hour long blocks of the sitcoms, Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
and Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
. Step by Step
aired on ABC Family from 2001–2010; Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
aired on the channel from 2004–2007, and returned to ABC Family on April 12, 2010. Family Matters
currently airs on Nick at NiteNick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
, and Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
and Hangin' with Mr. CooperHangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...
have recently aired on ION Television, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
airing from 2007-2008 and Perfect Strangers airing only during the month of October 2007 (though neither one of these two shows are currently syndicated on television as of October 2009).
TGIF lineup history
| Season |
8:00 PM |
8:30 PM |
9:00 PM |
9:30 PM |
10:00 PM |
10:30 PM |
| Pre-TGIF |
| 1985-1986 The year 1985 involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1985.For the American TV schedule, see: 1985-86 United States network television schedule.-Events:*January 1 – VH1 launches in the United States....
|
Fall |
WebsterWebster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...
|
Mr. BelvedereMr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
|
Diff'rent StrokesDiff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
|
BensonBenson is an American television sitcom which aired from September 13, 1979, to April 19, 1986, on ABC. The series was a spin-off from the soap opera parody Soap ; however, Benson discarded the...
|
Spenser: For HireSpenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
|
| Spring |
| 1986-1987 The year 1986 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1986.For the American network television schedule, please see 1986-87 American network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:*September 6 –...
|
Fall |
WebsterWebster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...
|
Mr. BelvedereMr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
|
Side Kicks |
Sledge Hammer!Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character,...
|
Starman Starman is an American science fiction television series, starring Robert Hays and Christopher Daniel Barnes. The series ran on the ABC network from September 19, 1986 to May 2, 1987...
|
| Spring |
| 1987-1988 The year 1987 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1987.For American TV schedule, see: 1987–88 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
|
Fall |
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
|
Mr. BelvedereMr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
|
Max HeadroomMax Headroom is a British-produced American science fiction television series by Chrysalis/Lakeside Productions that aired in the United States on ABC from March 1987 to May 1988. The series was based on the Channel 4 British TV pilot Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future...
|
20/20 |
| Spring |
| Original Run |
| 1988-1989 The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
|
Fall |
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
|
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
|
Mr. BelvedereMr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...
|
Just the Ten of Us Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...
|
20/20 |
| Winter |
| Spring |
| 1989-1990 For the American TV schedule, see: 1989–90 United States network television schedule.The year 1989 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1989.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
|
Fall |
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
|
Family Matters |
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
|
Just the Ten of Us Just the Ten of Us is an American sitcom starring stand-up comedian Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher and the head of a large Catholic family with eight children living in Eureka, California. The series was a spin-off of Growing Pains, in which Kirchenbauer portrayed the same...
|
20/20 |
| Winter |
| Spring |
| 1990-1991 For the American TV schedule, see: 1990-91 United States network television schedule.The year 1990 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1990.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
|
Fall |
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
|
Family Matters |
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
|
Going Places |
20/20 |
| Winter |
| Spring |
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
|
Family Matters |
Baby Talk and Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
|
| 1991-1992 For the American TV schedule, see: 1991-92 United States network television schedule.The year 1991 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1991.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
|
Fall |
Family Matters |
Step by Step |
Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...
|
Baby Talk |
20/20 |
| Winter |
Baby Talk |
Billy |
| Spring |
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
|
Baby Talk |
| 1992-1993 The year 1992 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1992.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:*Hallmark Hall of Fame .*Guiding Light .*The Today Show ....
|
Fall |
Family Matters |
Step by Step |
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
|
Hangin' with Mr. CooperHangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...
|
20/20 |
| Winter |
Camp Wilder Camp Wilder is an American sitcom about a family living in suburban Los Angeles, California, airing as part of ABC's TGIF lineup for half a season ....
|
| Spring |
Getting By Getting By is an American sitcom produced by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett, with the format created by William Bickley and Michael Warren. The show debuted on ABC's TGIF block, running its first twelve-episode season from March 5, 1993 through May 21, 1993. Shortly after the spring season...
|
Where I LiveWhere I Live is an American sitcom that premiered in 1993 as part of ABC's TGIF lineup. The series was created and executive produced by Michael Jacobs and Ehrich Van Lowe.-Synopsis:...
|
| 1993-1994 The year 1993 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1993.For the American TV schedule, see: 1993-94 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
|
Fall |
Family Matters |
Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
|
Step by Step |
Hangin' with Mr. CooperHangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...
|
20/20 |
| Winter |
| Spring |
Sister, Sister Sister, Sister may refer to:* Sister, Sister , a TV movie starring Diahann Carroll* Sister, Sister , a thriller starring Eric Stoltz* Sister, Sister , by Andrew Neiderman...
|
| 1994-1995 The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
|
Fall |
Family Matters |
Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Step by Step |
Hangin' with Mr. CooperHangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...
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On Our OwnOn Our Own is an American sitcom that aired on ABC during the 1994-1995 season. The series starred six real life siblings: Jazz, Jocqui, Jake, Jojo, Jurnee, and Jussie Smollett....
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| 1995-1996 The year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
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Family Matters |
Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Step by Step |
Hangin' with Mr. CooperHangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...
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Muppets Tonight Muppets Tonight is a live-action/puppet television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight was a continuation of The Muppet Show, set in a television studio, rather than a theater.-Format:The...
and Family Matters |
Aliens in the Family Aliens in the Family is an American sci-fi/fantasy sitcom that aired on ABC, conceived as part of its TGIF lineup.-Premise:The show was about single dad Doug Brody , who is abducted by single alien mom Cookie . The two fall in love, get married, and try to live a normal life on Earth as a mixed...
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| 1996-1997 The year 1996 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1996.For the American TV schedule, see: 1996-97 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
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Family Matters |
Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
/ Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Clueless Clueless is a television series spun off from the 1995 teen film of the same name . The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season...
/ Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
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Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
/ CluelessClueless is a television series spun off from the 1995 teen film of the same name . The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season...
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Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
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Clueless Clueless is a television series spun off from the 1995 teen film of the same name . The series originally premiered on ABC on September 20, 1996 as a part of the TGIF lineup during its first season...
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Step by Step |
| 1997-1998 The year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
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Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
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Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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You Wish |
Teen Angel Teen Angel is an American fantasy sitcom that aired during ABC's TGIF Friday night lineup from 1997 to 1998. The series was created by Simpsons writers/producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss.-Synopsis:...
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Step by Step |
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Unknown |
| 1998-1999 The year 1998 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1998.For the American TV schedule, see: 1998–99 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
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Fall |
Two of a Kind |
Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
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Brother's Keeper Brother's Keeper is an American television series that was originally broadcast from 1998 to 1999 on ABC. It was produced by Axelrod-Widdoes Productions and Donald Todd Productions in association with Studios USA Television....
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| 1999-2000 The year 1999 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1999.For the American TV schedule, see: 1999-00 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
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Fall |
The Hughleys The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L...
/ Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
/ Odd Man OutOdd Man Out is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC television network as a part of the TGIF lineup. It aired from September 24, 1999 to January 7, 2000. Created by Ed Decter and John J...
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Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
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Odd Man Out Odd Man Out is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC television network as a part of the TGIF lineup. It aired from September 24, 1999 to January 7, 2000. Created by Ed Decter and John J...
/ The HughleysThe Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L...
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20/20 |
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Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
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Odd Man Out Odd Man Out is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC television network as a part of the TGIF lineup. It aired from September 24, 1999 to January 7, 2000. Created by Ed Decter and John J...
and Unknown |
The Hughleys The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L...
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The Hughleys The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L...
and Unknown |
Making the Band Making the Band is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each iteration focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang...
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| Second Run |
| 2003-2004 The year 2003 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2003.For the American TV schedule, see: 2003-04 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
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Fall |
George Lopez"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
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Married to the Kellys Married to the Kellys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 2003 to 2004 with a run of 22 episodes. Set in a suburb of Kansas City, the series stars Breckin Meyer and Kiele Sanchez. The show was a part of the TGIF Friday night line up, after Hope and Faith, airing at 9:30 EST...
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Hope & FaithHope & Faith is an American sitcom that aired for three seasons on ABC from September 26, 2003, to May 2, 2006. For its first two seasons the show was part of a revived TGIF comedy block....
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Life with Bonnie Life with Bonnie is an ABC television sitcom that originally aired from 2002 to 2004. The show outlined the life of character Bonnie Malloy, who juggled her personal life and a TV talk show position. The series was created by Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake, and produced by Miss Hunt's company, Bob &...
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20/20 |
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The Big House The Big House is an American prime time television sitcom starring actor/comedian Kevin Hart. It ran on the ABC television network in April 2004, lasting for only six episodes....
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The D.A. and 20/20 |
| 2004-2005 The year 2004 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2004.For the American TV schedule, see: 2004–05 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
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Fall |
8 Simple Rules8 Simple Rules is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 17, 2002, to April 15, 2005, with 76 episodes produced over three seasons. It is based on the self-improvement book of the same name. The show starred John Ritter until his death on September 11, 2003...
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Complete Savages Complete Savages is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 2004 to June 2005. It was part of ABC's final TGIF comedy line-up. The show was created by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker and executive produced by Mel Gibson...
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Hope & FaithHope & Faith is an American sitcom that aired for three seasons on ABC from September 26, 2003, to May 2, 2006. For its first two seasons the show was part of a revived TGIF comedy block....
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Less Than Perfect Less Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show was about a young female office employee and her co-workers...
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