TGIF

TGIF is the abbreviation for the phrase Thank Goodness (or God) It's Friday. Commonly used in American conversation, it has become a common element for advertising and promotional materials, to connote a sense of partying and the weekend, such as:

• The restaurant chain TGI Friday's.
• The Florida resort Web site TGIF, for Thank God It's Florida.
• The slogan of a programming block on the ABC TV network.

The block originally began with a sequence of TV shows in the 1988-89 season: Perfect Strangers, Full House, Mr. Belvedere and Just the Ten of Us. In the following years, Perfect Strangers spin-off, Family Matters and the "Brady Bunch"-themed Step by Step joined the line-up.

However, as the years progressed, ABC began to see sagging ratings in the TGIF lineup. Shows like Boy Meets World and Sabrina the Teenage Witch started out strong but weakened. Eventually, the programming block became a dumping ground for shows that ABC no longer wished to run during other time slots, including The Hughleys and Sister, Sister (both of which later found homes on other networks). By 2000, ABC had canned the programming block entirely, only to return it to the air by Fall 2003. However, the new lineup has only met with moderate success, seeing a consistent second- or third-place showing against a popular CBS lineup that includes Joan of Arcadia and JAG.

The current shows that run on TGIF are: The George Lopez Show, Married to the Kellys, Hope & Faith; and Life with Bonnie.

Variations

Cadbury's Crunchie chocolate bar ran a commercial of which the slogan was "Thank Crunchie it's Friday". The commercials were followed by more, most of them connecting Crunchie with Fridays.

External links

• ABC: TGIF