ABC considers bringing TGIF block back

[TMC1982]

Now if only Nick will seriously consider bringing back SNICK!

http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/abc-picks-up-multicamera-family-sitcom/

ABC Picks Up Multicamera Family Sitcom
By NELLIE ANDREEVA

ABC has greenlighted another comedy pilot, Other People's Kids. The
project, from ABC Studios and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, was
written by Hunter Covington and centers on a 32-year-old guy with no
responsibilities who suddenly finds himself with an insta-family when
he falls in love with an older woman who has 2 kids, an ex-husband,
and ex-in-laws. Stacy Traub and Peter Traugott are executive
producing. New ABC programming chief Paul Lee has said that he
believes in the multicamera sitcom form (He set out to prove it while
at ABC Family with Melissa & Joey, which has done pretty well for the
cable channel) and that he is mulling a return of ABC's Friday TGIF
sitcom block. He is certainly backing his words up with comedy pilot
orders that have skewed heavily towards multicamera comedies so far
with Other People's Kids, Jack Burditt's The Last Day of Man, Work It
and Smothered, both from Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, and Marisa
Coughlan's Lost and Found. And yet, ABC's flagship comedy series that
have been renewed for next season: Modern Family, The Middle and
Cougar Town, are all single-camera.

The original TGIF worked because it targeted audiences for whom you wouldn't normally think would be out on a Friday night, families/little kids. However, back then (late '80s-early '90s), there most likely weren't as many entertainment options. I do think that there is a severe lack of traditional, "old-fashioned", multi-camera (all of the sitcoms outside of those on CBS seem to be shot with one camera sans a laugh track) sitcoms on TV. The last attempt at TGIF didn't work because it seemed like ABC was either putting in shows that didn't really fit the "TGIF model" (e.g. Less Than Perfect), were on their way out to begin with (e.g. 8 Simple Rules), or weren't very remarkable to begin with.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

i remember the good old days of TGIF - Step By Step, Hanging w/ Mr. Cooper, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, etc.

 

[Prison Mike]

I miss TGIF. I loved watching Boy Meets World, Step by Step, and Family Matters on Friday nights.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

I loved that one week where the had Salem crossover to every show and each show ended up in a different time period. That was fun.

 

[Prison Mike]

[YT]Qsf6l6uMS_8[/YT]

 

[Dr. Evil]

Does ABC really need a second night of comedy? They already have Wednesday Night. If they wanted a second night of comedy, just replay all of the Wednesday night shows.

TGIF had magic. Boy Meets World, Step by Step, Family Matters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hanging with Mr. Cooper among others. I think Perfect Strangers and Dinosaurs were a part of that block. TGIF had a not so great ending, although 8 Simple Rules was good during the John Ritter years (although the show's quality decreased when they added David Spade).

You knew that Less than Perfect wasn't all that good when they cast Andy Dick. And I had forgotten that Mr. Superspy himself, Zack Levi was on that show. After they canceled TGIF, they tried to have a series of successful sitcoms on one night. The had Less than Perfect, 8 Simple Rules and Spin City, but those shows ended in thuds. Their acquisition of Scrubs worked well for only one season, which should have been enough for that show. It went one season too long (as did for that matter, Spin City).

Then in the last few years, ABC tried the single camera comedies with no laugh track in The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town. That has worked out well for them.

 

[Sawyer]

Multicamera sitcoms are dead! You hear me? DEAD!

 

[Donut]

There are no Comedy Shows on ABC currently airing that are worthy of TGIF

 

[Robin91939]

They'll probably put some of the crap original ABC Family shows like Melissa & Joey, stuff like that.

Nothing worthy of the TGIF brand. Nothing in the league of Full House (8 Years on air), Perfect Strangers (8 Years on air), Boy Meets World (7 Years on air), Family Matters (9 Years on air), Step-by-Step (7 Years on air), or even Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (5 Years on air).

I wasn't even a huge fan of Perfect Strangers or Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, or even the last couple years of Family Matters....but they are ALL shows that are infinitely better than what is out there for kids. Kids are honestly better off watching re-runs of these sitcoms than watching the new programing aimed at them.

-R

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

TGIF played a huge role in my childhood. my Friday nights were fun - had some cousins over, pizza, TGIG, and then Super Nintendo t: and Saturday morning cartoons the next day!

man, i feel bad for kids today. they don't know what they missed.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Even though I am a fan of Modern Family, I agree that show would not fit into the TGIF lineup. Yes, Modern Family is about a family, but its not for children. I wouldn't call Sophia Vergara in revealing outfits as "child friendly."

 

[Asgard]

Step by Step day by day...

The chick that played Dana was pretty hot. Got even hotter when I read she was bi.

 

[Sawyer]

Eh. I prefered the youngest girl. What was her name? Al, or something?

 

[superhero]

i rember dinsouras being on their so was full house. i don't know if you rember these show i rember teen angle about this best friend who dies by eating bad hambugr so he watches over his best frien as a angle ialso rember you wish about thisfamily who finds this jennie. i rember brothyl love it was good. i didn't know haning with mr cooper was on tgif. they need to bring back family night now comdeys are getting more dirty . wwe need more good clean comdeys.

 

[Asgard]

Yeah I think it was Al.

 

[WildChild]

While I think an all sitcom night is risky.I loved TGIF growing up and I hope that they give it a shot.

 

[Dr. Evil]

While I think an all sitcom night is risky.I loved TGIF growing up and I hope that they give it a shot.

NBC has an all night sitcom block.

 

[Evelisse]

when worlds collided on tgif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u63T2iLOl8s&NR=1

 

[Catman]

Times have changed. You can't pull off TGIF because the nature of children's television has changed. Back in the day, it made sense for parents and their kids to watch TV together because children didn't really have any new episodes of their favorite shows to watch. Nowadays, Saturday Morning is dead and so are the After School blocks. All the shows for kids pretty much air their new episodes on Friday and Sunday night. They're not gonna give that up to watch a show with their parents.

I like the effort to bring back TGIF, but I don't see it working. It's gonna be tough to compete with Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. And, let's not forget, the INTERNET. I don't think parents and kids even watch TV together anymore.

 

[WildChild]

NBC has an all night sitcom block.

I know, but none of those shows are traditional multi-camera sitcoms.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Times have changed. You can't pull off TGIF because the nature of children's television has changed. Back in the day, it made sense for parents and their kids to watch TV together because children didn't really have any new episodes of their favorite shows to watch. Nowadays, Saturday Morning is dead and so are the After School blocks. All the shows for kids pretty much air their new episodes on Friday and Sunday night. They're not gonna give that up to watch a show with their parents.

I like the effort to bring back TGIF, but I don't see it working. It's gonna be tough to compete with Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. And, let's not forget, the INTERNET. I don't think parents and kids even watch TV together anymore.

i agree.

the majority, if not all, of shows nowadays are aimed at certain demographics and appeal to certain age groups only.

i think what made shows on TGIF unique was they appealed to people of all ages. i remember my parents would never miss an episode of Step By Step and Family Matters. Boy Meets World was a huge favorite for young kids/teens. those shows had a bit of everything for people of all ages.

 

[Drizzle]

Even though I am a fan of Modern Family, I agree that show would not fit into the TGIF lineup. Yes, Modern Family is about a family, but its not for children. I wouldn't call Sophia Vergara in revealing outfits as "child friendly."

I would say Modern Family is child friendly (assuming we're talking ages 10 and up), it's just not aimed at children.

 

[Catman]

the majority, if not all, of shows nowadays are aimed at certain demographics

That has always been the case. "Family-Friendly" is its own demographic. And, really, as successful as TGIF was, it didn't feature the most popular shows. The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and Home Improvement were cash cows of the genre. Then, there was Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for the urban audience. And, really, those shows were not that different than Modern Family. So, I understand why they want to bring back TGIF. Modern Family is their current cash cow.

 

[BlackLantern]

I know, but none of those shows are traditional multi-camera sitcoms.

so? back in the day, tv was filled with musical and variety shows and the viewing publics taste changed

plus....I don't know any families that watch tv together anymore, not to mention all of the other options available on tv now

 

[Catman]

I don't know any families that watch tv together anymore

It's rare, but not extinct. I'm sure the entire family can sit down to watch American Idol together. That show is popular with various age groups.