Think fast: it’s a Friday night in the early ’90s. Where are you? Chances are pretty good that you were home, sitting around the TV with your family and watching ABC’s Friday night line-up, TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Funny). With a two-hour comedy block that featured hit shows like Full House, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and Step-by-Step, among others, it was television worth staying in for.

Ask any of us Millennials what we get most nostalgic about when considering our childhoods, and invariably you will hear about the television shows. Nickelodeon capitalized on our sense of nostalgia last month when it resurrected some of its hit shows from the 90s for late-night broadcast on its TeenNick station.

“They just don’t make TV shows like they used to,” we say as we shake our heads, the weight of the world’s lame television programming and overabundance of reality shows on our backs.

ABC would be wise to consider a similar move, maybe with its ABC Family station. TGIF, which began as a brand in 1988 and really took off in the early ’90s, is lauded as The Golden Age of television by many Millennials (and a number of Gen X’ers, too). Powerhouse shows in its line up like Full House and Boy Meets World have never really gone away. Family Matters and later hit Sabrina the Teenage Witch hung on in syndication for a long time.

But what about the other shows? I don’t know about you, but I periodically feel compelled to throw a “Not the mama!” out there. Bring back Dinosaurs! Bring back Just the Ten of Us (seriously, I can’t be the only one who remembers that show and liked it). Throw some Perfect Strangers in there. Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper. Sister, Sister. Mr. Belvedere. These are all shows that I would gladly sit down and watch if ABC chose to resurrect and re-image them in a similar fashion.

The TGIF brand fizzled out in 2000 after Boy Meets World ended its run and Sabrina the Teenage Witch moved to The WB Network. ABC resurrected the TGIF name in 2003 and tried to generate interest with shows like George Lopez and Hope & Faith. Hope & Faith was the only show that returned in the 2004-2005 season, alongside 8 Simple Rules. And in 2005, TGIF was put to bed.

What shows do you associate with the TGIF brand? Which were your favorites? Would you like to see an “old school TGIF” resurrection?

Image Source: Wikipedia