WarnerMedia is hoping to the growing crowd of TV streaming services with reboots of Warner Bros. TV's library of TGIF shows. The TGIF lineup was a block of family-friendly programs aired on Friday nights on ABC in the '90s. For most of the decade, the TGIF lineup was what teens and younger audiences were watching on Fridays.
Cashing in on '90s pop culture nostalgia has become one of the most lucrative businesses in recent years, particularly when it comes to TV programming. When Netflix revived the TGIF hit Fuller House, it created a brand new hit almost entirely through nostalgia. Its success also caused production companies to reevaluate how they were using their old TV series. Before the wave of reboots and sequel series, TV production companies, WarnerMedia included, were fine with letting Netflix and Hulu have the streaming rights to their shows. Now, those production companies are considering trying to cash in on the nostalgia themselves.
series, and revivals of its TGIF comedies.
This is a notable change from WarnerMedia's past strategy of simply letting other services stream their old programs. It lent its hit series new original content.
Millennials are the ones using streaming services like Netflix the most frequently. For them, it is their TV. Bringing back TV shows from their childhood is a smart move, especially when those shows were on the TGIF lineup. Of course, while WarnerMedia can reboot its TGIF shows, it probably can't recreate the actual experience of watching the TGIF lineup. One of the major upsides of streaming services is that it allows viewers to watch any program at their own pace whenever they want. There is no more gathering around a TV on a Friday night to watch something and knowing that your friends down the street are all watching the same thing at the same time. Between streaming and DVRs, there's a sense that whatever's there will still be there after Friday.
That said, there's no denying the appeal of reliving some of TV's best years. Even without the full experience, the shows that made up the TGIF lineup were perfect family-friendly comedies. If WarnerMedia does decide to reboot or continue some of those programs, they will undoubtedly find an audience.
Source: Deadline