Secrets of TGIF

TGIF: the oasis of family-friendly TV in the late 80s / early 90s. Perfect Strangers boldly laid the foundation. Soon, our newfound friends - Uncle Joey, Urkel, and countless others - were paraded out to delight and tantalize the imagination. Nonetheless, the seas of time have obscured some interesting revelations - which I present here for the first time:

#1: Just the Ten of Us was a spin-off of Growing Pains.

Not quite as smooth as Harriet's transition from Perfect Strangers to Family Matters (arguably the smoothest TV transition since York and Sargent), but decent enough.

#2: The kid sister character in Family Matters was secretly assassinated in 1991.

Was it not strange that Judy Winslow "mysteriously" disappeared after a couple seasons? (Is it not more strange that Jaimee Foxworth later went on to appearing in adult films under the name "Crave" - as opposed to slightly changing her name, undergoing a sex change operation, and starring in Collateral, as was previously assumed?)

#3: "Balki" was actually an imaginary manifestation of Larry's extroverted self.

In this post-Fight Club era, aspiring pop culture revisionists are eager to opine that every single Odd Couple pairing in entertainment history is actually just one regular, boring guy with bipolar disorder. His outgoing, lovable superego (or id, or combination thereof) is embodied in a physical foil (Bronson Pinchot) so that a casual viewer can grasp the dark comedy that laces the human condition. It worked with Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off; it can certainly work with Larry Appleton (pictured right).

This interpretation also suggests that Larry was a devout bigamist by the end of the series' run.

#4: Contrary to popular belief, Danny Tanner was not actually all that cool.

Still, Bob Saget did end up as Stephen Colbert.

#5: There was a show on at 9:30pm that starred Alan Ruck and Heather Locklear. And it was amazing.

No, it wasn't Spin City. It was Going Places. This sitcom centered around four young, attractive, and witty adults (two men, two women) working together in a TV studio. The twist: they all happened to be roommates sharing the same condo! Hilarity ensues, indeed. A show truly ahead of its time; were it to air just five years later, Alan Ruck would be eating Matthew Perry's lunch right now, dammit.

#6: Several shows have erroneously been ascribed to the TGIF family.

If you weren't: on ABC Fridays between 8pm and 10pm, produced by Miller-Boyett Productions (the best production company in the world), or awesome*, you weren't on TGIF. The list includes:

• The Hogan Family
• Small Wonder
• The Facts of Life
• Head of the Class
• Red Shoe Diaries
• Punky Brewster