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TGIF was back in a big way at 90s Con 2025!
The event, held in Hartford, Conn., featured some of the most beloved stars from the iconic ABC programming block, looking back at that time in their lives.
Appearing on the panel, moderated by Sabrina the Teenage Witch alumna Jenna Leigh Green, was Family Matters star Jaleel White, Boy Meets World‘s Rider Strong and Will Friedle, and fellow Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Soleil Moon Frye.
The group reminisced about some of their favorite scenes to film. For White, it was not one, but two major food fights that were part of Family Matters.
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“When I first did the first season of the show made an episode called ‘Baker’s Dozen.’ I remember they had his big food fight with pies, and I wasn’t in the scene the way it was originally written,” he recalled.
“I went, and I begged. I was, like, ‘I’m 13, Please, let me do it. I’ll do anything,’ ” he said. Later, when he got the script, he learned to be careful what he wished for.
When he got a rewrite of the episode, Urkel was in it, but not as White had hoped.
“Steve Urkel shows up at the end of the food fight and the entire Winslow family just pelts him with pies,” he said with a laugh.
“I have a feeling those lies at that time came extra hard, and I just got pummeled, and I took it. And I remember that was the first week that I ended up as the promo that they ran throughout ABC all week. It was just me walking into the door and getting hit by the pie.”
When another food fight came up a season later, not only did Urkel get his revenge, but the whole cast and crew got in on the fun — in front of a live studio audience.
“At this point, I’m 17. It is one of my favorite pictures inside the cover of my book, right before we started filming. I started noticing all of my writing staff is just dressed horrible. And they were all very well paid, stylish people,” he shared.
“They were ready for us. They had pies down in video village. They couldn’t even yell cut before the writers and producers and actors of the cast just went at it.”
The popular 1990s Friday night programming block on ABC, fondly known as “TGIF,” was a staple in American households. But according to the man behind the concept, the acronym did not mean what you think it did.
Speaking to Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle of Boy Meets World fame on their rewatch podcast, Pod Meets World in February, producer Jim Janicek said “TGIF” did not, in fact, stand for “Thank God It’s Friday,” but “Thank Goodness It’s Funny.”
ABC’s “TGIF” began in 1989 and ran through 2000. In its time, it featured family favorites like Full House, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Step by Step, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Perfect Strangers and Sister, Sister, among others.
From Friday through Sunday, stars of beloved 1990s shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, Charmed, Saved by the Bell and more are reuniting in Connecticut to celebrate all the things fans love about that era.
Stars caught up with old castmates, opened up about one of the biggest eras in television and enjoyed meeting fans at the nostalgic event.
90s Con is running through Sunday, March 30, at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
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