WWKSD (What Would Kathy Santoni Do)??

I was reminiscing on my childhood the other day, and for some reason I stumbled upon a memory of Hanna-Barber, especially The Jetsons. This made me think of the little-known "The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones." This was just a crossover of the two popular shows, but it reminded me of a few other failed crossovers. Remember TGIF, and the crossover night they did. I believe at the time , the lineup included Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Step By Step and possibly Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. All I remember is Dana from Step By Step showing up at Disney World and talking to Cory about his relationship with Topanga.

And speaking of TGIF, who didn't love that staple of Friday nights. Maybe I was just a loser and watched too much TV as a kid but TGIF was awesome. I didn't realize that it dated all the way back to 1985-86. The original lineup included Webster, Mr. Belvedere, Diff'rent Strokes, and Benson. My personal favorite lineup was one of the earlier "official" TGIF lineups, which was Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and Just the 10 of U. The only one of these shows that didn't do well was the last one, which was a spinoff of Growing Pains, featuring Coach Lubbock. My other favorite came a bit later on, and included Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Step By Step, and Hanging With Mr. Cooper. This was probably its most powerful lineup, and just looking at these shows, who can really question why? I really doubt there could ever be another successful run of TGIF just because TV is different right now, but people of my generation can no doubt look back on this era of ABC television with the fondest of memories.


This TGIF stuff is just opening the vault to memories. Who remembers Kathy Santoni? If you don't remember, she was a friend of DJ and Kimmy in Full House. She was one of the most influential characters on the entire show, even though she only actually appeared a couple of times. But she was the benchmark of teenage life in the late 80's and early 90's. Whether DJ was losing a boyfriend to her or mimicking her style of dress, she was regularly mentioned on the show. Eventually she graduated high school and got married and had a kid. That was the last anyone heard of her, but she was possibly the most powerful non-character in TV sitcom history.