Entertainment

Do Kids Today Know '90s Sitcom Theme Songs? (No.)

by Jamie Kenney

"TGIF" used to be more than an acronym of "Thank God It's Friday" and a crappy chain restaurant — it was a weekly entertainment institution. I speak, of course, of ABC's TGIF lineup that dominated TV from 1989-2000. TGIF and a handful of non-TGIF, but equally wonderful, often corny, and usually formulaic '90s shows provide cultural touchstones for those of us born in the '80s. But do kids today hold sacred Saints Steve Urkel and Michelle Tanner, Our Lady of Perpetual Hijinks? The Fine Brothers wanted to find out if teens knew '90s TV theme songs. The result? I feel like I should basically just start eating dinner at 4:30 and mixing up my grandkids' names, because I'm clearly elderly for loving these shows that are entirely foreign to today's youths.

The crew tested the teens — all of whom seemed very sweet and clever, by the way — on the following shows: Family Matters, Home Improvement, Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Step By Step, Roseanne, and Full House. You know, the important sh*t. For starters, these little punks thought eeeeeeeeeverything was Full House. WE HAD MORE THAN ONE SHOW, YOU HOOLIGANS! Though, to be fair, as one kid pointed out, "Does the same guy make every single sitcom theme song?" because, yeah, okay, they mostly sound a lot alike. But that was the beauty of the '90s, kid. We know what worked, so why reinvent the wheel? They were simpler times. So this was the final tally...

I was absolutely horrified that no one knew the songs for Martin or Roseanne (two of my favorites). But at least this one kid appreciated them...

I was impressed (but not surprised) that all of them knew Fresh Prince, many of them down to the lyrics.

(Honestly, you have me beat here, Youngs. My shameful confession is that I have never seen an episode of Fresh Prince. It's basically the one crazy popular show among people in my age group that I didn't catch for whatever reason! DON'T YELL AT ME! THAT I MISSED OUT IS PUNISHMENT ENOUGH!)

Check out the full video below. If you want me, I'll be in this rocking chair... crocheting... if my arthritis doesn't flare up...

Images: YouTube