(#1) Teen Angel
- Tim Curry, Maureen McCormick, Conchata Ferrell, Yeardley Smith, Ron Glass, Jerry Van Dyke, Corbin Allred, Tommy Hinkley, Jordan Brower, Mike Damus, Katie Volding
What Was The Setup?: A teenager named Marty loses his life after eating a months-old burger on a dare and becomes a guardian angel to his best friend, Steve. Marty has a mentor in the shape of a disembodied head named Rod, who identifies himself as God's cousin and often talks directly to the audience. Maureen McCormick (of Brady Bunch fame) was cast as Steve's mom, but left the series about midway through its run.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, 17 episodes
Why Did It Fail?: Teen Angel was one of several series in the '80s and '90s with angels as main characters, and the concept was starting to wear thin. Although ABC tried to capitalize on the show's fantasy elements by pairing it with Sabrina the Teenage Witch, few viewers tuned in.
(#14) Going Places
- Heather Locklear, Staci Keanan, Holland Taylor, Alan Ruck, Philip Charles MacKenzie, Jerry Levine, Steve Vinovich, Hallie Todd, Christopher Castile, J. D. Daniels
What Was The Setup?: Four young writers (two women and a pair of brothers) live together in a rented house and work together on a hidden-camera show called Here's Looking at You. Both brothers are attracted to the sexy Alex, while Kate's sarcastic attitude causes occasional friction with the other three. When the hidden-camera show is canceled, all four get jobs on The Dick Roberts Show, a daily talk show hosted by an unlikable egomaniac.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, 19 episodes
Why Did It Fail?: Going Places was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions, a company that was already responsible for three of the tent-pole shows for ABC's TGIF lineup (Full House, Perfect Strangers, and Family Matters). The pilot based the characters of Jack, Charlie, and Alex on the leads from The Fabulous Baker Boys, but with them being writers instead of musicians. In the pilot, Jack and Alex are romantically involved, and the trio moves from Chicago to LA together, where they team up with Kate.
But despite casting Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller) and Heather Locklear (pre-Melrose Place, but post-Dynasty) in starring roles, Going Places struggled to find viewers, coming in at No. 50 in the November sweeps. ABC urged the producers to put more emphasis on preteen characters; a mid-season change in how the main characters were employed and the addition of Kate's young nephew as a featured character helped the ratings and made it more compatible with other shows in the TGIF lineup.
When the show went on hiatus in March, there were hints that ABC might move Family Matters to Tuesdays, with Going Places being slotted into that vacant time slot for its second season. Instead, Family Matters remained in its Friday slot, and Baby Talk, which had outperformed Going Places in the ratings after filling its time slot during the latter show's hiatus, ended up replacing Going Places on the fall schedule.
(#15) Brother's Keeper
- Elizabeth Berkley, William Ragsdale, Sean O'Bryan, Justin Cooper, Bess Meyer
What Was The Setup?: An updated twist on The Odd Couple (Tony Randall and Jack Klugman even made a guest appearance on one episode), the series centered on Porter Waide, an uptight widowed professor raising his young son, who reluctantly agrees to take in his irresponsible younger brother Bobby. Bobby is a pro football player whose contract requires him to live with someone responsible enough to keep his troublesome behavior in check.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, 23 episodes
Why Did It Fail?: ABC canceled Brother's Keeper after one season despite the fact the show was pretty funny and often won its Friday 9:30 pm time slot. So it's not clear why ABC scrapped it.
(#12) Camp Wilder
- Jared Leto, Hilary Swank, Jay Mohr, Jerry O'Connell, Tina Majorino, Mary Page Keller, Margaret Langrick, Meghann Haldeman
What Was The Setup?: Ricky, a single mother, raises her young daughter and her two teenaged siblings after her parents' demise, attempting to be both a cool older sister and a strict parental figure. She also serves as a surrogate parent for her siblings' friends, who prefer the laid-back atmosphere of her home to their own stricter ones. The cast included several future well-known actors, such as Hilary Swank, Jerry O'Connell, Jared Leto, Jay Mohr, and Tina Majorino.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, 19 episodes (a 20th episode was produced but went unaired)
Why Did It Fail?: Low ratings were the reason given for the show's cancellation. But perhaps if a show were going to be made about a family or orphans who are raised by the eldest sibling in the late 1980s/early 1990s, it needed to be a drama, like Party of Five, not a sitcom like Camp Wilder or On Our Own.
(#17) The Thorns
- Christine Baranski, Maureen Stapleton, Kelly Bishop, Lori Petty, Tony Roberts, Lisa Rieffel, Mary Louise Wilson, Marilyn Cooper
What Was The Setup?: This sitcom was centered around a wealthy, social-climbing couple in New York and their problems dealing with their children and the husband's mother, who had moved in with them. Kelly Bishop, who later found success on Gilmore Girls, played the wife.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, seven episodes (12 episodes were produced, but five went unaired)
Why Did It Fail?: Meant to be a satire about yuppies, the show suffered from unlikable lead characters, and viewers stayed away. ABC pulled the plug on The Thorns after just seven episodes.
(#3) Muppets Tonight
- Dave Goelz, Kevin Clash, Brian Henson
What Was The Setup?: The idea behind Muppets Tonight was to make an updated version of The Muppet Show, which had been a hit in the 1970s. Kermit and his friends are offered a spot on ABC's TGIF lineup if they can quickly come up with a variety show. But while The Muppet Show is set in a theater, Muppets Tonight takes place at a television studio.
How Long Did It Last?: One season, 10 episodes (it moved to the Disney Channel for a second season)
Why Did It Fail?: Instead of focusing on established characters like Kermit, Fozzie Bear, and Miss Piggy, Muppets Tonight introduced a bunch of new ones like Clifford, who filled Kermit's role as host for the variety show, and Pepe the King Prawn. But these new Muppets didn't have the same appeal for viewers, as shown by the low ratings. Some of the show's problems may also have been tied to the fact the Muppet franchise had not yet recovered from the loss of Jim Henson (who passed in 1990).
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About This Tool
TGIF was a programming module of ABC in the 1990s. From 1989 to 2000, ABC aired TGIF sitcoms on Friday night that make the whole family laugh. The TV show features the most popular sitcoms in the 90s, as well as some TGIF short series that have never been truly famous.
Generations of people have grown up listening to the life experience and vulgar jokes in TGIF performances, but many of the popular sitcoms in the 1990s have long been forgotten. Full House is usually the first show people think of when they think of TGIF. The random tool lists 17 great TGIF sitcoms that have never be a smash hit.
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