Editing TGIF (TV programming block) (section)

===First run (1989–2000)===

====Brand debuts====
[[Image:TGIF89.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Animated mice in the first ''TGIF'' opening sequence]]
As a result of ABC and Jim 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 [[falsetto]]-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!" right in the way of an older mouse. The sequence concludes with the older mouse breaking a [[grandfather clock]] with a mallet, which cut to the hosted interstitial.

For the first time, another show's cast assumed hosting duties for the interstitials in place of the stars of ''Perfect Strangers''. [[Dave Coulier]], [[John Stamos]] and [[Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen]] (alternating as [[Michelle Tanner]]) all appeared on the set of ''Full House'' 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 hosting responsibilities along with them on a week-to-week basis, would begin. Rotating with ''Full House'' that season were the casts of new arrival ''[[Family Matters]]'', ''Perfect Strangers'' (whose first night its cast members hosted the Friday lineup under the ''TGIF'' banner occurred on October 13, 1989) and ''Just the Ten of Us''. On the premiere night of ''TGIF'', the new (and ultimately short-lived) comedy ''[[Free Spirit (TV series)|Free Spirit]]'' aired as a preview telecast at 9:30&nbsp;p.m. Eastern Time, with ''Just the Ten of Us'' reclaiming its time slot the following week.

[[File:TGIF-ABC.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Larry Appleton ([[Mark Linn-Baker]]) and Balki Bartokomous ([[Bronson Pinchot]]) during an [[interstitial program|interstitial]] for TGIF (1989)]]
During the inaugural season of the format, the ''TGIF'' logo was only featured at the start of every hosted segment, appearing in a design where each letter was encased in a tall gray box (as pictured to the right); the boxes would flip in at the bottom of the screen, stand still for a few seconds, and then turn out. One of the animated mice from the ''TGIF'' title sequences was featured on some weeks within the live-action host segments, and was introduced by the actors as the lineup's mascot, known as "Friday the Mouse". Custom bumpers would appear after the final scene of each program, where normally a short cut of the show's title logo and theme would play, denoting the final commercial break.

During the first season of ''TGIF'', the bumpers featured additional animations of the mice, including variants that featured the taller mouse popping out of the grandfather clock, a small mouse being dragged around by a running [[chainsaw]] around it, the taller mouse walking towards the grandfather clock, thinking it over, and then backtracking, and the taller mouse popping up from the top and bottom of the screen on both sides of the show's title logo. The official title logo for the respective program (as opposed to the logo designs used mainly in network promotions for each show that were used in the block's bumpers in later years) was displayed 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 theme music, albeit with the lyrics, "See you next week... here for a good laugh", followed by a few instrumental notes. One such animation involved the taller mouse holding what looked like a parade float likeness of himself, as it flies out of control and he flies around with it. Another shows the mouse walking with a blowtorch and mask on, but he doesn't know that the plug comes lose, so he angrily walks back.

====Explosive success in the 1990s====
With the ''TGIF'' moniker permanently in place, more changes in presentation occurred as the lineup grew in popularity. On September 21, 1990, the animated mice opening and accompanying theme music were dropped from the Friday block, in favor of a new graphics package that officially incorporated the new ''TGIF'' name 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 1998–99 season, at least one series on the lineup was produced (and in some cases, developed) by the team of [[Miller-Boyett Productions|Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett]], whose relationship with ABC traces back to the premiere of ''[[Love, American Style]]'' – produced by Miller and former producing partner Edward K. Milkis under a development deal with Paramount Television – in 1972. The first two series were ''Perfect Strangers'' and ''Full House'', both of which were produced through Miller-Boyett's development deal with [[Lorimar Television]] (absorbed into [[Warner Bros. Television]] in 1993) and aired on the network's Friday night schedule prior to the launch of ''TGIF''. (The latter premiered in September 1987 as part of the network's Friday schedule, while the former concurrently was moved from Wednesdays to Fridays that month.)

''Family Matters'', a spin-off of ''Perfect Strangers'' that debuted in September 1989 as part of the inaugural ''TGIF'' lineup, originally centered solely on the family of Harriette Winslow ([[Jo Marie Payton]]), who began as a recurring character on its parent series (where her cop husband, Carl ([[Reginald VelJohnson]]), was also first introduced). Earning modest ratings early on, the series evolved into a major hit following the addition of breakout character [[Steve Urkel]] ([[Jaleel White]]) midway through its first season; the character's promotion to the main cast in its second season (gradually becoming the primary focus of the show), resulted in ''Family Matters'' shifting from a "down-to-earth" family sitcom to a mix of conventional family comedy and [[slapstick comedy|slapstick]]-driven storylines (with [[science fiction|sci-fi]] elements being weaved into plots in later seasons as Urkel was further developed from a proud nerd who served as the Winslows' annoying neighbor into a budding scientist and inventor).

By this point, Miller-Boyett and Lorimar had ownership stakes in the block and were therefore responsible for the majority of programming duties. All four ''TGIF'' shows featured as part of the block's [[1990–91 United States network television schedule|1990–91 Fall schedule]] were produced by them (a move that resulted in the cancellation of ''Just the Ten of Us'', despite it maintaining fairly decent ratings in its Friday slot), with ''Perfect Strangers'', ''Family Matters'' and ''Full House'' being joined by ''[[Going Places (American TV series)|Going Places]]'', a comedy centering on the lives of four roommates ([[Alan Ruck]], [[Heather Locklear]], [[Jerry Levine]] and [[Hallie Todd]]) who write for a ''[[Candid Camera]]''-style [[hidden camera]] show. Being a more adult-targeted entry in the 9:30/8:30 ''TGIF'' slot, ''Going Places'' initially lagged behind its sister shows; a mid-season retool, one that placed an equal emphasis on juvenile characters and saw the adult leads' job setting switch to a [[late-night talk show]], improved ratings. (Ironically, ''Perfect Strangers'' maintained a similar, virtually exclusive focus on adult characters even after moving to ''TGIF'' and had abandoned plans to add child actress [[Alisan Porter]] to its cast as a young neighbor to lead characters Balki and Larry after one episode that same season.)

''Going Places'' was cancelled after one season in spite of its ratings increase, and was replaced in the [[1991–92 United States network television schedule|1991–92]] season by ''[[Baby Talk (TV series)|Baby Talk]]'', a sitcom based on the film ''[[Look Who's Talking]]'' that initially scored high ratings as a [[mid-season replacement]] – temporarily occupying ''Going Places''{{'}}s time slot – in the Spring of 1991; however, ratings for the show collapsed in its second season, resulting in its cancellation. Also added as a midseason replacement in April 1991 was ''[[Dinosaurs (TV series)|Dinosaurs]]'', a [[The Jim Henson Company|Jim Henson Television]]-produced live-action comedy using [[Audio-Animatronics|audio-animatronic puppetry]], centering on the Sinclairs, a family of [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] dinosaurs living in prehistoric [[Pangaea]]; often touching upon sensitive topical issues (such as [[environmentalism]], [[women's rights]], [[sexual harassment]], [[LGBT rights by country or territory|LGBT rights]], censorship, [[body image]], [[drug abuse]], [[racism]] and [[peer pressure]], sometimes through satire) seldom dealt with on family sitcoms of the time, ''Dinosaurs'' spent much of its four-season run on ''TGIF'', up through the conclusion of its third season in 1993.{{NoteTag|ABC aired ''Dinosaurs''  on Wednesdays for most of its second season (1991–92, returning to Fridays for the remainder of the season in late Spring 1992) and its abbreviated fourth season (June–July 1994), during which ABC cancelled the series. Unaired fourth season episodes would later air in 1995 on [[Disney Channel|The Disney Channel]], through its cable syndication rights to the series.}}

Also joining the lineup for the 1991–92 season was another Miller-Boyett series, ''[[Step by Step (TV series)|Step by Step]]'', a [[star vehicle]] for [[Suzanne Somers]] and [[Patrick Duffy]] (the latter having come off an eleven-year run as [[Bobby Ewing]] on the [[CBS]] prime time [[soap opera|soap]] ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'') that went on to become a ''TGIF'' mainstay for the next six seasons. The ''Brady Bunch''-inspired comedy centered on two single parents (Duffy and Somers), each with three children (two of them played by former ''Going Places'' co-stars [[Staci Keanan]] and [[Christopher Castile]]), who create a [[stepfamily]] after marrying each other in the midst of a whirlwind romance while on vacation. (As a result of picking up ''Step by Step'' and renewing ''Baby Talk'', ABC decided to move ''Full House'' from Fridays to Tuesdays for 1991–92, having it lead off the latter night's lineup that included hit series ''Roseanne'', ''[[Coach (TV series)|Coach]]'' and freshman offering ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]''.)

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 series that did not air on the Friday schedule would appear to host. For example, in January 1996, [[Daniel Hugh Kelly]], [[Betsy Brantley]] and other stars from the short-lived drama ''[[Second Noah]]'' served as one-time-only guest hosts of ''TGIF'' as a cross promotion for the new Saturday series. Occasionally, the hosts for the evening would find a common thread between each show. Each Fall from 1989 to 1996, cast members from various ''TGIF'' shows co-hosted ABC's annual [[Saturday morning preview specials]], outlining the new programs being added to the network's [[Saturday-morning cartoon|children's program lineup]]. (After [[The Walt Disney Company]] began programming the Saturday morning lineup in 1997, in the wake of its prior acquisition of ABC, these preview specials were hosted for the remainder of ''TGIF''{{'}}s run by the hosts of ''[[ABC Kids (TV programming block)#Disney's One Saturday Morning|Disney's One Saturday Morning]]''; ABC ceased producing annual Fall preview specials for its children's programming slate—becoming the last of the [[Big Three television networks|Big Three]] networks to discontinue the practice—after the 1999–2000 season.)

When ''TGIF'' officially launched, weekly promos for the lineup were voiced by actor and resident ABC announcer [[Robert Ridgely]], who had mainly been voicing sitcom promos (including those for Fridays) for a few years before the brand was incorporated. Veteran television personality and announcer [[Gary Owens]] (who had been with ABC since 1985 as a primetime promo voiceover) became the sole announcer for weekly ''TGIF'' promotions beginning with the 1990–91 season. Owens remained as the "voice of ''TGIF''" until the end of the 1995–96 season. During the 1995-96 season, fellow voice actor and resident ABC announcer [[Brian Cummings]] shared announcer duties with Owens (doing weekly promos for the lineup whenever he wasn't available). Also during the 1990–91 season, [[SkyBox International|Impel Marketing]], in partnership with ABC, released a series of [[trading cards]] featuring publicity shots featuring the stars of ''Perfect Strangers'', ''Full House'' and ''Family Matters'' to promote the block.

After trying out three new series during the [[1992–93 United States network television schedule|1992–93]] season that were canceled either because of poor ratings (''[[Camp Wilder]]'' and ''[[Where I Live]]'', the latter's occurring weeks after its October 1993 move to Saturdays for its short-lived second season) or network politics (''[[Getting By]]'', which moved to NBC for its second and final season), the [[1993–94 United States network television schedule|1993–94 season]] saw the additions of three new comedies to the block, two of which would provide some needed stability to the lineup for most of the time up through the end of the 1995–96 season. The first was ''[[Boy Meets World]]'', a sitcom from ''Dinosaurs'' co-creator [[Michael Jacobs (producer)|Michael Jacobs]] with similar underlying themes as the then-recently concluded ABC dramedy ''[[The Wonder Years]]'', centering around [[Cory Matthews]] ([[Ben Savage]], the younger brother of ''Wonder Years'' star [[Fred Savage]]) as he navigates life with his family, friends and ever-present teacher and neighbor George Feeny ([[William Daniels]]); the series—which was the longest-running ''TGIF'' comedy series not produced by Miller–Boyett, and the only long-running sitcom to air on the block for the series' entire run—was a breakout ratings success and received favorable reviews from critics for its humor and handling of the complications surrounding the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Moving from Tuesdays for its second season that year was ''[[Hangin' with Mr. Cooper]]'', a series from ''Full House'' creator [[Jeff Franklin]] that debuted in September 1992 as a starring vehicle for comedian [[Mark Curry (actor)|Mark Curry]] (playing [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] player-turned-teacher—and eventually, high school basketball coach—Mark Cooper), and co-stars [[Dawnn Lewis]] (previously of ''[[A Different World]]'') and [[Holly Robinson Peete|Holly Robinson]] (previously of ''[[21 Jump Street]]''). The concurrences of ''Cooper''{{’}}s move to Fridays and Lewis's departure saw it retooled from a series about three adult roommates into more of a family-oriented comedy, which saw Curry and Robinson being joined in the main cast by [[Raven-Symoné]] and [[Saundra Quarterman]] as Cooper's cousins, [[Marquise Wilson]] (who recurred in the first season) as his pre-teen neighbor, and [[Nell Carter]] as his childhood friend-turned-high school principal and boss.{{NoteTag|Longtime Miller-Boyett collaborators William Bickley and Michael Warren, who wrote for ''Perfect Strangers'' and created ''Family Matters'', ''Step by Step'' and ''Getting By'', would later serve as ''Cooper''{{’}}s showrunners for its last three seasons beginning with the 1994–95 season.}} Serving as a Spring replacement for ''Cooper'' in 1994 and [[1994–95 United States network television schedule|1995]] was ''[[Sister, Sister (TV series)|Sister, Sister]]'', starring [[Tia Mowry|Tia]] and [[Tamera Mowry]] as identical twins adopted at birth to parents with polar-opposite personalities ([[Tim Reid]] and [[Jackeé Harry]]) who are reunited during a chance encounter at a clothing store.{{NoteTag|ABC aired ''Sister, Sister''  on Tuesdays for the final four episodes of its first season (which ran from April–September 1994) and on Wednesdays for most of its second season (1994–95), before returning to Fridays in March 1995 for the latter's final five episodes.}} Despite scoring decent ratings over its two seasons on the network (particularly among teenage viewers), ABC canceled ''Sister, Sister'' in May 1995, a few weeks after its second season concluded. (It was subsequently picked up by fledgling “netlet” [[The WB]], where it ran for four additional seasons.)

====Summer months====
During the first few years of ''TGIF'', the host interstitials varied 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, stars performed 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 Locklear (''Going Places''), [[Telma Hopkins]] (''Family Matters''), [[Jodie Sweetin]] (''Full House'') and [[Melanie Wilson (actress)|Melanie Wilson]] (''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. Those that were chosen were instructed to videotape their own segments from home, giving commentary on the shows that would air on the week they were scheduled to be featured. 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, a rotation of stars would simply voice previews over upcoming episode scenes. As with the "TGIF Trivia" format in 1991, a single star – among them, [[Brandon Call]] (''Step by Step'') and Jo Marie Payton (''Family Matters'') – would handle the duties each week. Payton, in particular, had the distinction of having one of the weeks she did segment narrations on August 6, 1993, when ''Perfect Strangers'' (where her ''Family Matters'' character Harriette Winslow originated) aired its series finale. From 1994 to 1999, it would either be one (original on-camera host segments) or the other (voiceover narration format) during the summer months.

====Spin-off concepts====
In the spring of 1991, with ''TGIF''{{'}}s meteoric success, ABC president Bob Iger and Senior Vice President of Marketing of ABC Entertainment, Mark Zakaran appointed Jim Janicek to expand his branding work to other portions of the ABC entertainment schedule.

=====''The Hump'' (1991)=====
Janicek's first attempt to replicate the success of ''TGIF'' came in August 1991, when ABC launched a three-hour comedy block on Wednesday nights for the 1991–92 season. Loosely known as ''The Hump'', via the tagline "Over the hump!" used in advertisements ("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 1970s funk-flavored background jingle which chanted, "I've got to get over the hump", the format came complete with promos that used 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 Years'', ''Growing Pains'' (in the month leading to its move to Saturday nights), ''[[Doogie Howser, M.D.]]'', ''[[Davis Rules]]'' (which had been cancelled in May 1991), ''[[Anything but Love]]'' and ''[[Married People]]'' (both of which were cancelled in March 1991), which were all in summer reruns. For the new fall season, the lineup changed to feature ''[[Dinosaurs (TV series)|Dinosaurs]]'' at 8:00&nbsp;p.m. ET (in ''The Wonder Years''{{'}} former slot), ''The Wonder Years'' at 8:30 (replacing ''Growing Pains''), new sitcom ''[[Sibs]]'' at 9:30, and the new sitcom ''[[Good & Evil (TV series)|Good & Evil]]'' at 10:30. The sitcoms that aired between 9:30 and 11:00 (''Sibs'', ''Anything but Love'' and ''Good & Evil'') were separately marketed from the first three ''Hump'' shows as "comedies made specifically for adults". The "adult" promos for ''The Hump'' exclusively featured the funk-styled song, whereas promos for the 8:00–9:30&nbsp;p.m. shows, and the entire lineup in general, used the instrumental version of the 1991 jingle for ABC's "America's Watching" campaign. Unlike ''TGIF'' and its future one-off concept ''I Love Saturday Night'', ''The Hump'' did not use hosted interstitials or customized bumpers for the last commercial break of each show.

With the cancellation of ''Good & Evil'' in late October, which the network claimed was entirely due to its low ratings in its 10:30&nbsp;p.m. slot (although many advocacy groups claimed it was due to the controversy surrounding the defamatory portrayal of a blind 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 10:00&nbsp;p.m. slot on Wednesdays back to an hour-long drama, the upcoming legal series ''[[Civil Wars (TV series)|Civil Wars]]'', 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'' went on hiatus, and ''Anything but Love'' was moved back into its former 9:30&nbsp;p.m. Eastern slot on Wednesdays. For the weeks of November 6 and 13, 1991, specials aired in the 10:00&nbsp;p.m. slot, prior the premiere of ''Civil Wars'' on November 20.

=====''MCTV: More Cool TV'' (1991–93)=====
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; this block ran from September 7, 1991, to January 23, 1993. Live-action stars of the network's Saturday morning lineup, most notably including the cast of ABC's ''[[Land of the Lost (1991 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'' 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. The latter music continued as a part of the ''MCTV'' scheme in its second year, despite ABC having launched the "It Must Be ABC" image campaign at that time.

Also notably airing on ''MCTV'' was the cartoon ''[[Hammerman]]'', whose star, [[MC Hammer]], gave even more meaning to the Saturday morning lineup's moniker. Hammer himself appeared as host of ''MCTV'' on a few occasions. ''Hammerman'' was cancelled by the end of the 1991–92 season. In the fall of 1992, while the ''MCTV'' branding continued in use during the Saturday morning schedule, promos for the lineup no longer referenced the "More Cool TV" tagline.

=====''I Love Saturday Night'' (1992)=====
Seeing how ''TGIF'' dominated prime time on Fridays in the face of typical decreased television 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 demographic, resulted in most networks airing shows with older demographics, those with family appeal, or programs faltering 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 1990s, with an eclectic mix of family-themed shows and sophisticated comedies aimed at an older audience (such as ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', ''[[227 (TV series)|227]]'', ''[[Amen (TV series)|Amen]]'' and ''[[Empty Nest]]''). ABC, however, had continued to struggle on Saturday nights. Through the end of the 1990–91 television season, recent programs such as ''The [[ABC Mystery Movie]]'' and ''[[China Beach]]'' had experienced a quick death after moving to Saturdays, leading to such bold decisions as moving the nationwide phenomenon ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' 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 ABC's aging sitcoms, ''Who's the Boss?'', ''Growing Pains'' (both of which had been comprising the Saturday 8:00–9:00&nbsp;p.m. block since September 1991) and ''Perfect Strangers'' (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 Bochco]] cartoon ''[[Capitol Critters]]''. Premiering on February 1, 1992, the two-hour comedy block of ''I Love Saturday Night'' coincided with [[Western (genre)|Western]] drama ''[[The Young Riders]]'', which had been airing Saturdays in the 9:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern hour, going on a three-month hiatus. Freshman dramedy ''[[The Commish]]'', meanwhile, remained at 10:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern.

''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 lineup 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—with the lyrics ''S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y../ Saturday Night! / I Love Saturday / Saturday Night''—even had a [[calypso music|calypso]] sound to it, with [[Jamaica]]n-style male vocals. The last two lines of the theme were often sung over the show bumpers that led into the last commercial break of each show.

The ''I Love Saturday Night'' lineup received heavy promotion, as ABC was valiantly trying to achieve any remaining life out of ''Who's the Boss?'' and ''Growing Pains'' especially, although both series had fallen out of the Nielsen Top 30 following their move to Saturdays (dropping to #76 and #75, respectively, in the ratings for 1991–92). Such efforts to revitalize both series had been undertaken at the start of the season; ''Boss'' resolved the “will-they-or-won’t-they” plotline between lead characters Tony Micelli ([[Tony Danza]]) and Angela Bower ([[Judith Light]]), transitioning from an employee/boss relationship to a couple, while ''Pains'' (which dealt with a showrunner change spurred by creative disagreements with series regular [[Kirk Cameron]], who became a [[born again|born-again]] [[Protestantism|Protestant Christian]] four years earlier, over plot material he considered inappropriate) added a new character, homeless teen Luke Brower ([[Leonardo DiCaprio]], whose character was taken in by the Seaver family at the insistence of eldest son Mike, played by Cameron), in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to appeal to teenage female viewers. Those in the industry suspected that ''Perfect Strangers'' was moved to Saturdays 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 did not fit the new ''TGIF'' demographic, youth aged 10–18).

Cast members from all three of the live-action shows hosted ''I Love Saturday Night'' in rotation during the five-week run:
* February 1, 1992: Mark-Linn Baker and Bronson Pinchot, ''Perfect Strangers''
* February 8, 1992: Kirk Cameron, [[Jeremy Miller]] and Leonardo DiCaprio, ''Growing Pains''
* February 15, 1992: Judith Light, ''Who's the Boss?''
* February 22, 1992:† Mark-Linn Baker and Bronson Pinchot, ''Perfect Strangers''
* February 29, 1992: Kirk Cameron, Jeremy Miller, [[Ashley Johnson (actress)|Ashley Johnson]] and Leonardo DiCaprio, ''Growing Pains''

† ''Capitol Critters'' and ''Perfect Strangers'' did not air on this night, although Pinchot and Linn-Baker did host. ''The Jaleel White Special''—an hour-long variety special starring the ''Family Matters'' actor—aired from 8:00 to 9:00&nbsp;p.m., followed by ''Who's the Boss?'' at 9:00 and ''Growing Pains'' in its regular 9:30 slot.

Ultimately, the block was neither able to alleviate ABC's struggles with its Saturday prime time lineup or replicate ''TGIF''{{'}}s success. 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 single-season ratings decline for a series. After five dismal weeks in the [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsens]], ABC had a rapid loss of faith in ''I Love Saturday Night''; the branding concept for the Saturday lineup was used for the last time on February 29, 1992.

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. ''Capitol Critters'' was cancelled in March; this caused the remaining three shows to switch slots in order to provide a choice time period for the ''[[Head of the Class]]'' 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 one-hour finales on Saturday, April 25, 1992, along with the series finale of ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'', which aired on this night for one week only. Both ''Perfect Strangers'' and ''Billy'' would remain part of the lineup after ''Boss'' and ''Pains'' relocated.

Two new sitcoms premiered on Saturdays that spring and summer: ''[[Julie (TV series)|Julie]]'', starring [[Julie Andrews]] (with a future ''TGIF'' star, eventual ''Boy Meets World'' cast member [[Rider Strong]], as Andrews's stepson), and the [[David Lynch]]-produced comedy ''[[On the Air (TV series)|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 (concluding its run in the summer of 1993 with an abbreviated six-episode eighth season), halted attempts by ABC to program comedies or family fare – outside of movies – on that night. (''The Commish'' would run for four additional seasons, ending in January 1996.) Once every few years, ABC would again try to program such shows on Saturday nights with no success; for example, during the [[1995–96 United States network television schedule|1995–96]] season, it scheduled ''[[The Jeff Foxworthy Show]]'' and the [[Marie Osmond]]–[[Betty White]] vehicle ''[[Maybe This Time (TV series)|Maybe This Time]]'' during the 8:00&nbsp;p.m. ET hour on that night (the former was replaced in February 1996 by the adult-skewing Tony Danza–[[Lori Loughlin]] romantic comedy vehicle ''[[Hudson Street (TV series)|Hudson Street]]'', which was moved to Saturdays from its original Tuesday slot). The lone exception in this case was ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', which ABC revived after it was bought by Disney and eventually moved to Saturday nights in 2003 (replacing a more general-audience movie showcase that had been airing since the 1999–2000 season, after the network stopped offering first-run series on that night), where it ran until it was discontinued as a weekly film showcase in 2008.

====Special events====
On November 23, 1995, ABC scheduled a music special for ''[[The Beatles Anthology]]''. To promote the special on the previous Friday (November 17), the respective opening theme songs for all of the ''TGIF'' sitcoms were replaced with [[The Beatles|Beatles]] songs, regardless of the individual shows' plot with the exception of ''Boy Meets World'', which used a song by [[The Monkees]] as its theme that week (as the episode featured a guest appearance by the group's members).

On May 9, 1997, ''TGIF'' aired special episodes of two series (one on its regular lineup and another normally scheduled on Sundays) as part of ABC's "3D Week", a week-long event (running from May 6 to May 12) intended to promote the two-part miniseries ''[[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997 miniseries)|20,000 Leagues Under the Sea]]'' (which aired on May 11 and 12) featuring special episodes of ABC shows incorporating [[3D television|3D effects]] viewable with the aid of [[3-D glasses|special glasses]] available at [[Wendy's]] restaurants. (''Boy Meets World'', ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' and ''Step by Step'', the latter of which ironically was preempted, did not feature episodes utilizing the 3D gimmick.) Hosted by Brandon Call and [[Jason Marsden]] (as their ''Step by Step'' characters J.T. Lambert and Rich Halke), it featured the eighth season finale of ''Family Matters'' ("A Pirate's Life For Me", also the last new episode to air on ABC due to the show's planned move to CBS for the 1997–98 season) and a new episode of ''[[America's Funniest Home Videos|America’s Funniest Home Videos]]'' at 9:30&nbsp;p.m. ET, which was original host Bob Saget's penultimate episode and featured appearances by most of his former ''Full House'' castmates, sans the [[Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen|Olsen Twins]]. (Saget's final episode as host, the $100,000 eighth season finale, aired nine days later on May 18.)

On May 16, 1997, the block aired an hour-long [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]] special, ''All-Star TGIF Magic'' (which aired in place of ''Family Matters'' and ''Boy Meets World'' in the 8:00&nbsp;p.m. ET slot that week), coinciding with the May 19 airing of the special ''[[David Blaine]]: Street Magic'' (the first of several magic specials featuring Blaine—who co-hosted that night's block with Call, as his ''Step by Step'' character—that ABC aired into the 2000s). The special, hosted by [[Caroline Rhea]] (who played [[Hilda Spellman]] on ''Sabrina'' at the time), featured current and past ''TGIF'' stars performing magic acts including Bronson Pinchot (of ''Perfect Strangers'' and, at the time of the special's broadcast, ''Step by Step''), [[Jodie Sweetin]] (of ''Full House''), Ben Savage (of ''Boy Meets World''), Raven-Symoné (of ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper''),  Tia and Tamera Mowry (of ''Sister, Sister'', which by then was airing on The WB) and Jason Marsden (of ''Step by Step''); along with appearances by [[Donna D'Errico|Donna D' Errico]], [[Jonathan Lipnicki]] and R&B group [[All-4-One]].

On November 7, 1997, all four ''TGIF'' shows that night had a storyline (TGIF Time Machine, "Time Goes Insane Friday") in which Salem from ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' (voiced by [[Nick Bakay]]) caused the characters in each show to travel back to a different point in time – the result of the [[warlock]]-turned-[[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] cat having swallowed a "time ball". On an episode of ''Boy Meets World'' aired the previous week (October 31), [[Melissa Joan Hart]] made a second cameo, as an aside, due to the episode in question ("The Witches of Pennbrook") featuring a plot involving a coven of witches—led by a character played by former ''Full House'' co-star [[Candace Cameron Bure]]—being thwarted from taking the soul of supporting main character Jack Hunter (played by [[Matthew Lawrence]]); the cameo featured fellow main character Eric Matthews ([[Will Friedle]]) describing the event and swearing off witches, not realizing that Sabrina is one.

Musical group [[Hanson (band)|Hanson]] hosted ''TGIF'' on November 28, 1997 (during Thanksgiving weekend) as a tie-in to their half-hour music special ''Meet Hanson''. Between each show and leading up to the special's 9:30&nbsp;p.m. ET broadcast, segments showed the group in the studio, "commanding" the shows to come on, and at one point even incorporating ''TGIF'' into their mega-hit song "[[MMMBop]]".

====Change/end of first run (1996–2000)====
The Walt Disney Company purchased ABC corporate parent [[Capital Cities Communications]] in September 1995, and, after finalizing the sale the following year, began reshaping ABC to its preferences beginning in 1996, refocusing its attention towards programming toward teenagers and adult audiences.<ref name=LAT4-20/> After a couple years with nearly the exact same lineup, ABC finally changed up its Friday night lineup to jump start the fading TGIF by holding ''Step by Step'' and ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' on the back burner (until the Spring of 1997) and launching two new shows that were bookended by popular veterans ''Family Matters'' and ''Boy Meets World''.

The first was ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'', a fantasy sitcom based on the [[Archie Comics|Archie]] comic book character starring [[Melissa Joan Hart]] (who had made her name earlier in the 1990s as the star of [[Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[Clarissa Explains It All]]'') in the [[Sabrina Spellman|titular role]].{{NoteTag|Hart had played the Sabrina character—given the adaptational surname "Sawyer", later changed to "Spellman" for the series—earlier that year in a [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] [[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (film)|made-for-TV movie]] that acted as the series' unofficial pilot.}} Becoming a breakout hit out of the gate, it was ABC's most successful Friday comedy launch since ''Boy Meets World'' debuted three years earlier (in September 1993), and helped breathe new life into the lineup. With its mix of supernatural and conventional teen sitcom elements, ''Sabrina'' was a buzzy show among ABC's target audience for the night and fit nicely with the lineup's other teen-centered shows. The second new show was ''[[Clueless (TV series)|Clueless]]'', which was based on series creator [[Amy Heckerling]]'s hit 1995 teen comedy film of the same name, and had many of the film's cast members reprise their roles (albeit with [[Rachel Blanchard]] and [[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]] replacing [[Alicia Silverstone]] and [[Dan Hedaya]], respectively, as lead character Cher Horowitz and her widowed attorney father, Mel). ''Clueless'' was the more anticipated show among ABC's two new Friday comedies, though, despite pulling reasonable ratings, it was not as successful as ''Sabrina'' was. ABC pulled ''Clueless'' from the lineup in February 1997, and cancelled it at the end of the 1996–97 season. (It would subsequently be picked up by [[UPN]], where the sitcom would run for two more seasons.) ''Step by Step'' took over ''Clueless''{{'}}s timeslot when it returned for its 24-episode sixth season in March; the abbreviated fifth (and final) season of ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', however, was pushed to June and burned off all 13 episodes primarily on Saturday nights (although that August, three episodes from the season's back half would air in ''Cooper''{{'}}s former Friday slot).

As a result of the overhaul to cater to a new audience, longtime ''TGIF'' staples ''Family Matters'' and ''Step by Step'' – both of which had been experiencing steadily declining ratings since the 1994-95 season – were cancelled. Warner Bros. Television quickly cut a deal to move the two shows to CBS for the [[1997-98 United States network television schedule|1997–98 season]], where they would serve as the linchpins for a new, competing family-oriented block managed with Warner Bros. and Miller-Boyett airing on the same night, the ''[[CBS Block Party]]''.{{NoteTag|Because ABC chose to delay its sixth season to accommodate ''Sabrina'' and ''Clueless'' on the ''TGIF'' lineup, the seventh (and final) season of ''Step by Step'' premiered on CBS only five weeks after the show’s sixth season finale—and final original ABC broadcast—aired on August 15.}}<ref name=goober>{{cite news|title=He's A Goober But CBS Has A Lot Riding On Urkel TV|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1997-07-18-9707170555-story.html|first=Hal|last=Boedeker|newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|date=July 18, 1997|access-date=June 4, 2022|archive-date=June 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622211530/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1997-07-18-9707170555-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> That block failed to boost CBS's fortunes on Friday nights, with both the lineup and all four of its shows (including the Bronson Pinchot vehicle ''[[Meego (TV series)|Meego]]''—which joined the two fellow Miller-Boyett series that were central to the new lineup—and ''[[The Gregory Hines Show]]'') only lasting one season.

The success of ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' prompted ABC to surround it and ''Boy Meets World'' with two other supernatural-themed shows as part of "the new TGIF" for 1997–98. The fantasy sitcoms joining the lineup that fall were ''[[You Wish (TV series)|You Wish]]'', a series from ''Boy Meets World'' creator/showrunner Michael Jacobs about a genie ([[John Ales]]) living with a family; and ''[[Teen Angel (1997 TV series)|Teen Angel]]'', centering on a teenager ([[Mike Damus]]) who died during an eating challenge that returns to Earth as his best friend's ([[Corbin Allred]]) guardian angel. Neither show was as endearing with audiences as the ''TGIF'' shows that earned long runs in previous years, and were also disliked by critics, even with the return of [[Maureen McCormick]] (known for her earlier role as [[List of The Brady Bunch characters#Marcia Brady|Marcia Brady]] on ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'') and the addition of established sitcom star [[Jerry Van Dyke]] (coming off his role as Luther Van Dam in the long-running ABC comedy ''[[Coach (TV series)|Coach]]'' and who, unusually, had supporting roles on both new shows) to the network's Friday night lineup.

The ''TGIF'' lineup began to experience sagging ratings throughout 1997–98 in part due to the audience fracture caused by its new competition from CBS{{'}}s ''Block Party'', which was enough to hurt ABC's ratings dominance on Fridays even though the rival block itself was a failure. Even ''Boy Meets World'' and ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (despite both shows reaching their peak viewership averages during that season) started to experience declining ratings due to strong competition from ''[[Dateline NBC]]'' and three successful midseason replacements to the ill-fated ''CBS Block Party'': ''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]'' (which moved to CBS after a nine-season run on NBC), the [[Bill Cosby]]-hosted ''[[Kids Say the Darndest Things]]'' and the revival of ''[[Candid Camera]]''; with the more formidable competition, after eight years, ABC ended the season dethroned as the top-rated network on Friday nights ironically by CBS, which recovered from the ''Block Party''{{'}}s initial failure by the Spring of 1998, with the help of the three aforementioned midseason replacements as well as the [[Don Johnson]] police procedural ''[[Nash Bridges]]''.

Although ''You Wish'' and ''Teen Angel'' were designed in concept to mesh with ''Sabrina'' on the lineup (while conversely making ''Boy Meets World''{{'}}s usually "down-to-earth" concept seem out of place with the other three shows), neither of the two freshman comedies lasted a full season: ''You Wish'' was pulled in November after seven episodes (six additional episodes produced before its removal from the network's schedule were burned off from May to July 1998), while ''Teen Angel'' lasted 17 episodes before ending in February (both shows returned to the lineup on May 22 for a summer run, which ended in September). With no additional family-oriented sitcoms ordered for that season to replace the cancelled shows, save for a two-week run of the more adult-skewing family comedy ''[[Hiller and Diller]]'', ABC simply aired repeats of ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' and ''Boy Meets World'' for the rest of that season (at 8:00 and 9:30&nbsp;p.m. respectively, leading into new episodes of those series) until May 15, 1998 (season finale of TGIF’s 1997-98 season). As part of a network-wide rebranding toward a simplified graphics package, ABC retired the traditional ''TGIF'' logo and phased out the theme song.

After a moribund 1997–98 season, the [[1998–99 United States network television schedule|1998–99 season]] saw two promising shows in ''[[Two of a Kind (American TV series)|Two of a Kind]]'', a starring vehicle for [[Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen]] centering on a widowed college professor ([[Christopher Sieber]]) who hires one of his students ([[Sally Wheeler]]) to help take care of his twin daughters, and ''[[Brother's Keeper (1998 TV series)|Brother's Keeper]]'', an "[[The Odd Couple (1970 TV series)|Odd Couple]]"-style sitcom centering on a widowed college history professor ([[William Ragsdale]]) who agrees to let his irresponsible pro-football player brother ([[Sean O'Bryan]]) move in with him and his son ([[Justin Cooper (actor)|Justin Cooper]]), per a stipulation in his brother's contract with the [[San Francisco 49ers]]. ABC thought that the Olsen twins' return to ABC would help boost the block's foundering ratings, and decided to have ''Two of a Kind'' lead off the night in the 8:00&nbsp;p.m. slot. Both shows had respectable ratings throughout the season, although viewership for ''Two of a Kind'' gradually declined as the season progressed after a promising start; however, it and ''Brother's Keeper'' were both cancelled in May 1999 (repeats of both shows ran until July 16; ''The Hughleys'' & ''Home Improvement'' filled their spots from July 23 to September 17), marking the second season in a row that the block failed to generate a hit among its freshman shows. The cancellation of ''Two of a Kind''—which was the last series to be produced by the studio until the 2016 debut of ''Full House'' reboot ''[[Fuller House (TV series)|Fuller House]]''—also marked the end of ABC's 27-year relationship with Miller-Boyett Productions and its various iterations,{{NoteTag|''Two of a Kind'' and ''Meego'' were the only series produced under the Miller-Boyett-Warren partnership formed the previous year that saw longtime collaborator Michael Warren join the company as co-partner.}} and therefore any involvement with the block they had left (Miller-Boyett and Warner Bros. had their stakes terminated by then). With the block continuing to struggle to generate new hits and ratings for ''Boy Meets World'' and ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' continuing to fall, it seemed that the end of the original TGIF was in sight.

What would become the final season (1999–2000) of ''TGIF''{{'}}s original run saw additional changes: the hosting segments and skits were officially dropped, and the "TGIF" name was only used for the promos and bumpers; adult-skewing family sitcom ''[[The Hughleys]]'' (starring comedian [[D.L. Hughley]] as the Black owner of a successful Los Angeles vending machine business, who moves his family to a predominantly white middle-class neighborhood) was moved from Tuesdays to Fridays for its second season, while the new comedy ''[[Odd Man Out (American TV series)|Odd Man Out]]'' (a vehicle for then-rising teen actor [[Erik Von Detten]], about a teenage boy navigating life with his widowed mother, aunt and three sisters) joined the lineup after being heavily promoted in the summer of 1999 as a last-ditch effort to save the dying block. In March 2000, ABC launched the reality music competition series ''[[Making the Band]]'' (acting as a mid-season replacement for ''Odd Man Out'') in the midst of the late 1990s–early 2000s [[boy band]] craze. The show featured boy-band impresario and eventual convict [[Lou Pearlman]] putting together a new boy band that became [[O-Town]], which would go on to have a couple of successful songs. All four sitcoms that ABC aired on Fridays that season experienced varied fates: ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' and ''The Hughleys'' were both cancelled by ABC and revived by The WB and UPN, respectively (''Sabrina'' ended its seven-year run in 2003, while ''The Hughleys'' was cancelled after four seasons in 2002); ''Boy Meets World'' voluntarily ended its run after seven successful seasons; and ''Odd Man Out'' was cancelled outright by January 2000 after 13 episodes.

The final night of new programming aired on May 5, 2000: that evening featured the hour-long series finale of ''Boy Meets World'', followed by what was billed as "ABC's series finale" of ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (as it had just been picked up by The WB for a fifth season), which aired as a two-episode block consisting of the series’ fourth season finale—the final original episode of ''Sabrina'' to air on ABC—and a repeat episode. Repeats of both series continued throughout the summer, with repeats of ''Sabrina'' continuing to air until August 25, and repeats of ''Boy Meets World'' continuing until September 8, 2000 (when ABC aired the first and only original network rerun of that show's series finale) along with the finale of ''Making the Band'' (which was later revived on [[MTV]] in 2002, following its cancellation by ABC). ABC retired the "TGIF" brand shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite news|title=On Friday nights, the networks try anything|first=Alex|last=Strachan|newspaper=[[The Vancouver Sun]]|date=September 8, 2001<!--|access-date=January 19, 2014 -->}}</ref>