The creator of ABC‘s “TGIF” is setting the record straight.
Jim Janicek created the popular programming block back in the 1980s, and it has featured such shows as Roseanne, Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, Boy Meets World and more.
While many thought it stood for “Thank God It’s Friday,” Jim reveals that the Friday night block’s acronym actually stood for something else!
Keep reading to find out more…
“[TGIF] is not ‘Thank God It’s Friday,’” Danielle Fishel said on a new episode of her podcast, Pod Meets World.
Along with her Boy Meets World co-stars and co-hosts Rider Strong and Will Freidle, they cleared it up that TGIF stands for “Thank Goodness It’s Funny.”
“We were [first] talking about things like the ‘Friday Fun Club,’” Jim revealed. “There’s a whole list [of brand names] somewhere I probably could dig up, but I remember that one. You know, ‘It’s Friday Night.’ Lots of little short-isms.”
“I don’t recall exactly where [‘TGIF’] came from. That was on our list!” he added.
Jim also noted he was skeptical of using that when it was first pitched as it could have caused a legal dispute with the restaurant chain TGI Friday’s.
“We were animating the open. And then, [ABC executives] Stu Brower and Bob Iger called and said, ‘We’ve landed on TGIF. We wanna call it TGIF,’” Jim shared. “So that’s where we got the name, and we started animating those letters into the open and went from there.”
“Bob, I believe, came up with ‘Thank Goodness It’s Funny,’ to avoid any conflict with any restaurant,” he added.
“TGIF” was retired after the 1999-2000 season, with Boy Meets World, The Hughleys, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Making the Band as the final lineup of shows.
If you missed it, see all of the cancelations and renewals on ABC in 2025 so far!
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