If you say the phrase TGIF to anyone between the ages of 22 and 35, chances are they won't think "Thank God It's Friday", they'll think about Boy Meets World, Family Matters, or Step by Step. TGIF was a block of shows between 8 and 10pm on ABC during the late 80s to early 2000s. These shows were normally family-friendly programming and featured some of the greatest shows of all time.
However, there were also some weird-ass shows they tried to push on us but no one watched. This post is honoring those forgotten shows.
And yes I realize this would have been more appropriate yesterday but w/e.
1. Teen Angel
Ok sorry I'm starting with my favorite forgotten TGIF show. This show probably had the weirdest concept of any show ever made: a teenage boy named Marty, on a dare, eats an old hamburger he finds under his best friend Steve's bed and dies. He then becomes Steve's guardian angel and only Steve can see him. Ron Glass played God's brother, Rod, who tried to get Marty to do the noble thing when Marty just wanted to hang out and occasionally sneak into the girls' locker room. While I personally loved this show no one else watched it and it was cancelled after one season.
2. Baby Talk
Did you know that there was a TGIF show for two seasons in the early 90s and it was a complete rip-off of Look Who's Talking? Yeah, I didn't either until I started looking up TGIF shows. But that's what happened in 1991. The second season features George Clooney with his GLORIOUS early 90s hair while the first season starred the much more well-known at the time Scott Baio. However its spot was quickly filled by Step By Step which is part of the TGIF hall of fame.
3. You Wish
When Sabrina the Teenage Witch premiered it was a massive hit almost immediately. So what does a network do when it has a huge hit on its hands? Milk that sucker for all it's worth by making a very similar TV show. You Wish premiered in 1997 and was about a single mom who owned a rug shop and one rug happened to be inhabited by a genie. This show was promoted TO DEATH but was cancelled after just 7 episodes.
4. Aliens in the Family
So this one is one I should remember since it's from the height of TGIF popularity, but I can't remember it at all. Aliens in the Family was a series that premiered in 1996 which was about a man getting abducted by aliens, falling in love with one of the aliens, marrying her and trying to raise a family in the suburbs. Yeah, weird as hell. It was a Jim Henson production so it had a lot of really cool puppets. Check out the clip above with James Van Der Beek.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5