 |
| This lineup was the reason why TV was invented. |
I’m going to be honest: I’ve been looking forward to writing this post since I started this blog.
So, remember that story about not having cable but never really having any problems with that? One of the biggest reasons why 7-year-old me had no problems with this was because network TV was, in his mind, actually pretty good and offered some excellent choices. And few were better than TGIF.
So, remember that story about not having cable but never really having any problems with that? One of the biggest reasons why 7-year-old me had no problems with this was because network TV was, in his mind, actually pretty good and offered some excellent choices. And few were better than TGIF.
My love of ABC’s “Thank Goodness it’s Funny” ( which even then I thought was a ridiculous way of making the term “Thank God It’s Friday” a little more family friendly) was two-solid hours of “fun for the whole family,” on Friday nights that I would plan my weekend around. In fact, I remember requesting that TGIF be part of slumber parties at my house, and sometimes my friends’ places when I was over. This would later translate to Saturday Night Live when I was in high school.
The scheduling block started in 1989 with Perfect Strangers, Full House, Mr. Belvedere and Just the Ten of Us. I cannot remember some of these shows, but I think the Dutros were on board from the beginning, and I sat through the program until the very end, and even tried to make it through the reboot in the mid-2000s.
The line-up was extensive, but here are five shows that stick out in my mind:
Full House
Full House was the one that started it all, and was one of my favorite shows on TV for the longest time. I was enthralled by Uncle Joey’s (mostly stupid) jokes, Uncle Jesse’s manly attitude and Danny’s sage words of wisdom. I can still recall some of the adventures of the Tanner family, from the time that DJ tried to lose weight for the big dance, the episode where they met their dog Comet, the heartbreaking tale when their grandfather died and Michelle hid in the boat and Stephanie’s catchphrase, “How rude.” Sadly, Full House just does not hold up today, no matter how often I try to convince myself otherwise. But in my mind, it was just about perfect.
Family Matters
I honestly cannot remember the show Perfect Strangers to save my life, but I adored it’s spin-off Family Matters. Including two of my favorite characters from the 1990s, Steve Urkel and Carl Winslow, Family Matters was a special kind of blue collar comedy that had one of the most profound impacts on my childhood, although in looking back at some episodes I often wonder why. But like Full House, Family Matters was one of the things I would look forward to every Friday night.
Dinosaurs
I love Jim Henson’s productions as much as the next guy, but by far my favorite show produced by the company was Dinosaurs. I still believe this super goofy, crazy 90s show was one of the best that appeared on the TGIF lineup. It was pretty devastating when the show had ended (which I don’t believe was for ratings sake, which gives me hope that it continued quality until the end), to the point where I would later watch Aliens in the Family (another Henson production which was cancelled after a few weeks due to a very poor reception) to try to get that fix.
Boy Meets World
The ongoing tales of Corey Matthews was one of the longest shows on the network and by far my favorite program on the lineup, although I can fully admit that in no way has it held up. Regardless, I watched it through to the very end, including Corey’s awful college years. While there are few episodes I remember vividly (expect the one where Corey’s real life brother Ben Savage was a substitute teacher and hit on Topanga, which has actually led to me not liking the wonder years), it was the cast that kept me coming back. These were the characters I grew up with during my formative years whom I had grown to love. And to this day I wish there was still a show on TV in which Mr. Feeny could offer his wisdom on a weekly basis.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Like Boy Meets World, Melissa Joan Heart’s second major TV performance (many kids from the 90s will remember her as Clarissa Darling from the Nickelodeon show Clarissa Explains It All) was one of the last, and longest running shows on TGIF. It also was one of the few that had life beyond the Friday night block, moving networks for its final three seasons when TGIF got the axe (although I stopped watching it when that happened). A little less of a typical family sitcom than the other shows on TGIF (even Dinosaurs was a fam-com), Sabrina added a different kind of humor into the mix by including the emphasis on the supernatural (although that did at times cause the show to go in strange direction). Sabrina, like many of the other shows on the network block, was a product of its time and has not aged well. But in my youth, there were few things I was as excited for each week.
Full House
Full House was the one that started it all, and was one of my favorite shows on TV for the longest time. I was enthralled by Uncle Joey’s (mostly stupid) jokes, Uncle Jesse’s manly attitude and Danny’s sage words of wisdom. I can still recall some of the adventures of the Tanner family, from the time that DJ tried to lose weight for the big dance, the episode where they met their dog Comet, the heartbreaking tale when their grandfather died and Michelle hid in the boat and Stephanie’s catchphrase, “How rude.” Sadly, Full House just does not hold up today, no matter how often I try to convince myself otherwise. But in my mind, it was just about perfect.
Family Matters
I honestly cannot remember the show Perfect Strangers to save my life, but I adored it’s spin-off Family Matters. Including two of my favorite characters from the 1990s, Steve Urkel and Carl Winslow, Family Matters was a special kind of blue collar comedy that had one of the most profound impacts on my childhood, although in looking back at some episodes I often wonder why. But like Full House, Family Matters was one of the things I would look forward to every Friday night.
Dinosaurs
I love Jim Henson’s productions as much as the next guy, but by far my favorite show produced by the company was Dinosaurs. I still believe this super goofy, crazy 90s show was one of the best that appeared on the TGIF lineup. It was pretty devastating when the show had ended (which I don’t believe was for ratings sake, which gives me hope that it continued quality until the end), to the point where I would later watch Aliens in the Family (another Henson production which was cancelled after a few weeks due to a very poor reception) to try to get that fix.
Boy Meets World
The ongoing tales of Corey Matthews was one of the longest shows on the network and by far my favorite program on the lineup, although I can fully admit that in no way has it held up. Regardless, I watched it through to the very end, including Corey’s awful college years. While there are few episodes I remember vividly (expect the one where Corey’s real life brother Ben Savage was a substitute teacher and hit on Topanga, which has actually led to me not liking the wonder years), it was the cast that kept me coming back. These were the characters I grew up with during my formative years whom I had grown to love. And to this day I wish there was still a show on TV in which Mr. Feeny could offer his wisdom on a weekly basis.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Like Boy Meets World, Melissa Joan Heart’s second major TV performance (many kids from the 90s will remember her as Clarissa Darling from the Nickelodeon show Clarissa Explains It All) was one of the last, and longest running shows on TGIF. It also was one of the few that had life beyond the Friday night block, moving networks for its final three seasons when TGIF got the axe (although I stopped watching it when that happened). A little less of a typical family sitcom than the other shows on TGIF (even Dinosaurs was a fam-com), Sabrina added a different kind of humor into the mix by including the emphasis on the supernatural (although that did at times cause the show to go in strange direction). Sabrina, like many of the other shows on the network block, was a product of its time and has not aged well. But in my youth, there were few things I was as excited for each week.
To tie this into comics (because that's what I do to things) Sabrina was actually a licensed version of an Archie's Comics Group book of the same name. It was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I was little, I thought Dinosaurs was creepy, but the other shows in the block were absolutely fantastic. Steve Urkel was one of the best (and most annoying) characters on prime time, and I loved his little inventions.
I knew Sabrina was based on an Archie book, but I don't really know a whole lot about it (I'm guessing the comic changed to better represent the show, not vice versa), but I feel like they probably could have used some of the Archie stuff to their advantage. I mean, Sabrina's boyfriend basically looked like Archie and didn't a Josie and the Pussycats movie come out around that time (cross marketing, hello?).
ReplyDelete