ABC To Bring Back TGIF with Tim Allen and Reba McEntire
Tim Allen
Back in the 1990s, ABC ruled Friday nights with young viewers, thanks to its TGIF-branded shows like Full House, Family Matters and Step by Step. Jaleel White — who played Urkel on Family Matters — recently returned to ABC via Dancing with the Stars, and now it looks like TGIF might be making a comeback too.
As TV Guide Magazine previously speculated, insiders say ABC will announce a schedule today that will include the move of Tim Allen's Last Man Standing to Fridays, paired up with the new comedy Malibu Country, starring Reba McEntire.
ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee has previously expressed an interest in getting back into the comedy game on Friday nights. But ironically, his biggest competitor for young viewers may be a fellow Disney network: The Disney Channel airs live-action comedy on Fridays, such as Jessie, that performs well with kids and teens.
ABC has previously struggled with attempts to get back into the Friday-night comedy game, most recently airing shows like 8 Simple Rules and Hope & Faith there in the mid-2000s. ABC will also face another network competitor getting into the Friday comedy game: NBC announced this week that it will move Whitney and Community to Fridays, starting at 8/7c.
Insiders add that ABC probably won't resurrect the TGIF name immediately (perhaps feeling it's a relic of the 1990s).
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