If you were a kid, a young teen, or even a parent in the early 90s, there's a pretty good chance I know what you were doing on most Friday nights.

Sitting in front of the TV, watching a two-hour block of programming that included some of the most iconic family-friendly comedies of the era.

Friday, it's a night of moving and shaking on an all-new TGIF.

I'm Kathy Kinsora, and this is History of the 90s, a podcast about a decade that changed the world.

In this episode, we're looking back at ABC's Blockbuster Friday Night lineup. From Full House and Family Matters to dinosaurs and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This is the story of TGIF. Friday Night has long been considered the death slot when it comes to television programming. Networks typically put

shows there that are on their last legs, because of a belief people are out and aren't at home

watching TV. But in 1989, ABC decided to turn that theory on its head. They realized not everyone goes out on Friday night, in particular, parents and kids.

So why not make a block of programming just for them?

Why not put on some shows they can all watch together and make it feel like an event?

Bob Eiger had just become president of ABC Entertainment, and under his guidance,

the network began formulating a new Friday night lineup with a slick new marketing campaign,

and they called it TGIF, which of course is the acronym for Thank God It's Friday.

But the network was worried about pushback from the restaurant chain TGI Fridays.

So when TGIF launched on ABC on September 22nd, 1989,

it actually stood for, thank goodness it's funny.

Time for all. Thank goodness it's funny.

The original two-hour block of shows included Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and Just the Ten of Us.

Full House had already been on the air for two seasons and was a bona fide hit when TGIF kicked off. But the show about a widowed dad with three daughters who shares

his house with his brother-in-law and best friend didn't start out that way. When Full House debuted

in September, 1987, it actually got pretty terrible reviews.

Critics called it predictable, cheesy, and mind-numbing.

Howard Rosenberg from the LA Times wrote,

...