Can someone please tell me what ever happened to great weekend programming like ABC’s ‘TGIF’ and CBS’ Saturday night lineup?

Granted, being a twenty-something in this great city, I don’t spend many weekend evenings in front of the television, but as a ‘tween’ I spent every Friday and Saturday night sitting at home, watching TV with my family.

On Fridays, it was ‘TGIF’ on ABC. The comedy block featured ‘classics’ like Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Step by Step, Family Matters, Sister Sister, and, for the puppet lover in all of us, Dinosaurs. Seriously, could you ask for a better way to spend your Friday night? And as a special bonus, your TV was already queued to ABC’s Saturday morning lineup. Fudge anyone?…

And then Saturday night, you hit the primetime jackpot on CBS. You had Kyle Chandler and his orange cat saving the world one newspaper at a time on Early Edition; Roma Downey and Della Reese inspiring hope on Touched By an Angel. Then, you traveled out West and spent some time in Colorado Springs with everyone’s favorite doctor/mom/civil rights activist Jane Seymour on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and the night ended with the show that spawned a million Chuck Norris jokes, Walker, Texas Ranger. I rarely stayed awake for the whole episode, but don’t worry, I know the theme song by heart.

That was my weekend – every weekend. For a long time I thought this ritual was normal. Then I went to college. I met people who didn’t sit around watching TV with their families (gasp!). I met people who had never even seen these shows (double gasp!). But whether you watched these shows or not, you have to admit there isn’t much family friendly programming on the tube these days.

Have you looked at your Friday and Saturday primetime lineups lately? Aside from a handful of comedies, it is littered with drama, mostly of the crime fighting variety (ie Ghost Whisperer, CSI, Law and Order, Medium). Little Bobby and Sally love those shows, right?!

And if you think you are better off going the ‘reality’ route, you can choose from Dateline, 48 Hours, America’s Most Wanted, or Cops. Now, I know my parents used to always let us watch the Cops intro (hands down, best TV theme song ever), but that was after we had already had our fill of entertainment elsewhere. What’s a kid supposed to watch these days? Supernanny?

Now, I don’t have any children (only a somewhat obedient dog who perks up when he hears barking on TV), and so perhaps I am overreacting. I guess you could always switch over to Disney Channel and watch Jonas, right? Does the family TV night even still exist? What would you watch? Inquiring minds need to know.

Danielle is the Television and movies Editor  for Girls Guide. You can check out her personal blog, Addicted to Television, where she talks about her television obsession. If you want to give her free movie passes she wouldn’t be shy in taking them, so you can email them to her at danielle [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and you can follow her on Twitter – @daniellesmyname.