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Hulu Grabs 90s Nostalgia Crown with TGIF Streaming Rights

Welcome back to Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and more.
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Not a day goes by without another network or streaming platform announcing a new reboot or reimagining meant to appeal to one of the most potent money-drivers there is: 90s nostalgia. But while your Fuller Houses and Girl Meets Worlds might ping the nostalgia-meter, Hulu is about to blow the needle all the way up by announcing that for the first time in history, the classic 90s kid-friendly programming power block known as TGIF will be available to stream.

Not every TGIF show is part of this deal; the Disney-owned likes of Boy Meets World and Dinosaurs are being left out of the package. But heavy-hitters owned by Warner Bros., including every episode of Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, Perfect Strangers, and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, will premiere on the streaming platform September 29th. The nostalgia-friendly debut comes on the heels of the 30th anniversary of Full House and the 25th anniversary of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. In other words, the original audience is all grown up and ready to re-visit its youth.

But if you want to be a completist on this trip down memory lane, you’ll have quite a binge in store. Hulu will own a library featuring 800 episodes T.G.I.F. programming, including the adventures of the Tanners, Steve Urkel, Balki Bartokomous, the Foster-Lamberts, and the coolest gym teacher in Oakland, California.

It’s a bold programming move from an increasingly muscular platform. Hulu just grabbed its first Emmy nominations in seven years of original programming. With prestige dramas, its own Marvel series—The Runaways—and the Tanner family in its stable, Hulu appears to be gunning directly for its competition.