In the 1980's, ABC found great success running family oriented comedies on Friday nights, long considered a wasteland in the world of television. Eager to create a "branded" night of television, ABC decided to promote their 1988-1989 Friday line-up as TGIF, appealing to families and children.
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The first show on the first lineup was Perfect Strangers. Beginning its fourth season, the show had been moved around on ABC's schedule until it found a permanent home on Fridays. The show featured a classic "Odd Couple" situation in which two very distant cousins shared an apartment in Chicago- the straight laced American Larry and the eccentric Greek-ish Balki.
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The show kicked off the night, bringing familiar faces to ABC's new branding concept. It would prove to be a success. TGIF would eventually become greater than the actual sum of its parts.
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