The shows that aired during TGIF had a slightly shorter running time than other ABC programs to provide room for the interstitials.
In the early years, the interstitial segments were shot at the end of the night, after the casts had finished filming their respective shows. TGIF producers had to work closely with the crews of all of the shows and know precisely when they would air in order to keep continuity. After the acquisition of ABC by Disney in 1996, the interstitials became less episode-specific and they were often shot on-location or in front of bluescreens.
The official meaning of TGIF is "Thank Goodness It's Funny". In later years, they began announcing different meanings such as: "This week TGIF stands for That Girl Is Floating", "The Gouda Is Fried", and "Time Goes Insane Friday".
The original mascots for TGIF were a set of animated mice, who would emerge from a grandfather clock as a theme song declared, "Time for fun!"
Although some TGIF hosts were featured more than others, they originally rotated hosting duties with the stars on the sets of the evening's respective shows. In the 1992 season, Camp Wilder (1992) star Jay Mohr was made the resident host. Appearing as himself on a new off-kilter TGIF set, Mohr's intros were wacky and specifically geared toward a youth audience. After thirteen weeks, TGIF reverted back to the original format.