My Nana recorded an ABC Halloween special in 1996 on VHS for me and my brothers. Little did we know she'd be gone the following October. I'd literally do anything to go back in time and savor my time with her, as well as the Halloweens of my childhood. To the person who uploaded these gems, THANK YOU. 🥹
ABC's TGIF block died beginning in fall 1997, stemming from a combination of aging sitcoms like Family Matters and Step by Step moving to CBS (who started - and ended - their own family-friendly Friday night sitcom line-up in 1997-98 called "The Block Party"), the oversaturation of supernatural/magic type shows (Sabrina the Teenage Witch and new series You Wish and Teen Angel, the latter of which both lasted only one season), the failure of Two of a Kind and Brother's Keeper (which was the last sitcom produced by the previously reliable Miller-Boyett group) starring the Olsen twins the following year (1998-99), and ultimately the ending of Boy Meets World after seven seasons and Sabrina... moving to The WB after the 1999-2000 season. ABC would bring back the TGIF brand for the 2003-05 or 2018-19 seasons, but it never met the same success it had before.
ABC's TGIF Halloween Bash lineup for Friday October 25, 1996. 8pm - Family Matters (new episode: Stevil) 8:30pm - Boy Meets World (new episode: Janitor Dad) 9pm - Sabrina (new episode: A Halloween Story) 9:30pm - Clueless (new episode: Making Up Is Hard to Do) 10pm - 20/20
I’d love to see TGIF back, but the sad truth is that ABC doesn’t believe that lineup and those shows pull in the kind of ratings they want. Shark Tank and 2020 are cheap to make and supposedly get good ratings so they’d rather show them. Also, they couldn’t do it a few years ago due to having Thursday be TGIT and they didn’t want two similarly titled blocks. So that made them say no to bringing it back a few years ago too but now, they just don’t see the value in it. The comedies they show sadly don’t get the kind of numbers that would make them risk bringing back TGIF. They don’t want to go through the trouble of rebranding the night, bringing back a lineup and brand that a lot of people may not know about, and they don’t want to pay for it. I never say never especially since TGIF has been brought back two or three times before, but with the decline of over the air tv numbers, I don’t see it happening. There would have to be a MEGAHIT for TGIF to be brought back once again, when I say Megahit, I mean like Full House, Family Matters or Perfect Strangers numbers. Even something like Sabrina The Teenage Witch, but you have to remember. When the block ended the first time, it was due to Boy Meets World ending, shows like Sabrina The Teenage Witch being canceled though it went to The WB, and the block being considered a risk they felt was antiquated. They brought it back but it only lasted two years then was retired AGAIN! Finally, it would come back for one season but ABC said nope we’re done with it and that’s where we are today. Shark Tank replaced the first hour and 2020 was made a permanent two hours. 2020 was around for two years before TGIF was created so they feel it deserves those timeslots more. So like I said, I never say never, especially with how big of a hit The ‘90s Are All That was for Teennick and that kind of nostalgia proving to be very popular and successful. That being said, ABC doesn’t want to take that kind of a risk unless it’s a big success. Combine that with the fact that traditional programming is becoming a thing of the past unless you can get a Smallville or WWE and it’s very unlikely we see ANY sort of a comeback for TGIF.
