5 Fictional Schools Everyone Wanted To Attend

 School's back in session for most of the country, with just a few lingering districts holding out until after labor day. In the spirit of school being back in session, I started thinking about fictional schools. And here we are with a new list, 5 fictional schools everyone wanted to attend.

Bronson Alcott High

Bronson Alcott High seemed like a college campus in the world of Clueless. I mean my high school and the campus was pretty big, but nothing compared to this high school.

While the student body was a melting pot of rich and middle class. Everyone at the school seemed to be fashionable, chic, and trendy. Which made it a cool school to be at.

Greendale Community College

The College thats the focus of the hit comedy Community, was for everybody. With its open admission policy, anyone who wanted to go there could. The school also aimed to be affordable never raising the cost of credits higher than $64. It also offered some real abnormal courses. Perfect for people who enroll in school with no real idea what's next.

Greendale Community College was quirky and was for just about everyone's. Making it a school folks wanted to attend.

John Adams High School

John Adams High School wasn't the most trendy school, a great deal of mystery didn't go on there. And it wasn't littered with a bunch of "cool" kids. What it did have was a hallway and classrooms with mentors like Mr. Turner, Mr. Williams, and the legendary Mr. Feeney in Boy Meets World.

At John Adams you knew you would learn the books, but more importantly you would gain valuable life lessons along the way. 

Bayside High

Bayside High, the fictional school from Saved By The Bell. Which if you google it there are several real Bayside High School's across the country. As I wrote this I wondered, did people want to go to Bayside because the school seemed "cool". Or Zack Morris and his friends made the school seem cool, I think it's the latter. Zack and friends were the popular kids in school, trendy and always up for a good time. Which made the school seem like the place you needed to be. 

Hillman College

Hillman College the fictional HBCU in A Different World, bought Black college life and HBCU's to the forefront of mainstream TV. Showcasing dorm life, greek life, being broke hanging out in the student union or local campus hangout. Gave people an idea that college could actually be a good time alongside the work. Many students have said they went to HBCU's because of the classic sitcom. To this day there is merchandise for the school as if it was a real university. 

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The Pop Culture Icon That Was TGIF

 September 22nd, 2024 marks 35 years of TGIF, the ABC Friday night block of sitcoms that ran originally for 11 years ending in 2000. It was so successful though it was revived on two different occasions first in 2005 and again in 2018, but neither was nowhere near as successful as the original run.

TGIF which most people know as "Thank God It's Friday" was instead known in this instance as "Thank Goodness It's Friday". The 2 hour block is well known for gracing our screens with sitcoms such as Full House, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Step By Step, Boy Meets World and the list goes on and on.

While rival network NBC had it's Thursday night block of sitcoms called Must See TV for the adults, TGIF was the place to be for everyone else. Especially as a kid during the 90's where on demand wasn't a thing, and the internet was in its infancy. Sitting in front of the TV watching those sitcoms was the place to be.

Oh man if my mom had errands to run and I had no choice but to tag along. I always mentioned TGIF comes on tonight, like I had any real control of anything lol. For most people it was a routine, order takeout after a long week of school or work sometimes both, visit Blockbuster to get a newly released movie for the weekend and get home before 8:00 pm.

The night usually started of the catchy TGIF theme song to get the mood right. The block would have cast members from the sitcoms being "hosts" for the night. With interstitial between commercials commenting on the line up for the night. They even had occasional crossover episodes between the sitcoms. Looking back some of the storylines and acting were definitely on the cheesy side a very 90's staple, but we as audiences cared about the characters in the sitcoms and not just for one or two shows, but usually all that aired in that block. 

When a sitcom on a different night wasn't successful but the network had hopes for it, they found a way to get it on Fridays. When ABC cancelled Family Matters and Step By Step, CBS scooped them up and kickoff their own Friday block of sitcoms, hoping to replicate the success of TGIF.

It's really hard to quantify in words just how much TGIF ruled back in the 90's. Even in the late 90's and early 2000's when it was starting to fade, it still had it's loyalist who tuned in to whatever was associated with that block. The heavy hitter sitcoms that were known for being on TGIF are still heavily played on syndication and streaming, which is a testament to how successful those shows were and the legacy of the block. 

It truly was a special time in TV land, and with the way networks and streaming services are now will never be replicated. TGIF was a pop culture icon and you had to be there to truly appreciate it. 

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TV Thanksgiving episodes

 Thanksgiving that holiday the middle of Halloween and Christmas/New Years. A day of giving thanks for what you have, although we love our spread, big plates, and football it doesn't get a ton of love. Some folks find the holiday boring, others are just waiting to fully kickoff the Christmas season, then there are those that try to educate you on why you shouldn't celebrate the holiday as you try to enjoy your meal in peace.

For reasons like that, there aren't many movies considered Thanksgiving classics, but there are several TV shows that have produced classic Thanksgiving episodes. 

Thanksgiving is covered a bit more in TV land as opposed to film. Likely because in the TV landscape, November is also sweeps month. A big money making time for networks. Since the actor's strike just ended a couple weeks and there won't be any  Thanksgiving episodes this year. I figured I'd share some good depisodes. 

This article covers some of  to me the best Thanksgiving episodes in TV. So there are likely damn good episodes of sitcoms or dramas I've never seen that's not on this list.

5. Boy Meets World-Turkey Day

Everyone's favorite 90's teen sitcom Boy Meets World taught us some important life lesson's in this season 4 episode. It provided some insight into Cory and Shawn's friendship that for as long as they have been friends, their families likely never meet before this day. 

Cory and Shawn win a turkey and stuffing as a reward for donating the most cans in their class. They decide to have their families come as one for Thanksgiving and break bread together. Problem is the social class difference between the two sides may derail that plan. With a lot of bickering over small differences in taste occurring between the families. 

Eventually the adults get it together when Cory and Shawn have their own moment discussing what they are thankful for. A light episode with laughs, it also has a strong message.

4. Living Single-Thanks For Giving

This season 2 episode of Living Single features a Friendsgiving dinner before that was a thing as the focal point of the episode. Highlights include the debut of Heavy D as a frequent guest star on the series, as a love interest of Regine. The rest of the episode focuses on Khadijah being on edge wondering if her beau Scooter will propose to her, while also getting jitters about him taking a job in Tokyo.

This episode is hilarious and touching at the same time, and is a shining example of why the show is a 90's sitcom classic.

3. Fresh Off The Boat-Huangsgiving

The season 2, episode 8 of Fresh Off The Boat focused on the Huang family hosting Thanksgiving after Jessica's overbearing mom decided who was hosting that year. Determined to outdo her sister Connie who hosted in previous years, Jessica and Louis devise a plan for Huangsgiving to make it the best holiday dinner yet.

With ideas like switching up the menu (I personally am never opposed to that). The Huang's plan to serve individual cornish hens as opposed to Duck, which they serve instead of Turkey. To me that is interested as I'm always curious what Thanksgiving meals look like for other cultures. Of course nothing goes as planned, and it's revealed Connie and her husband Rick are divorcing. Throwing some plans out the window, and Rick and Louis to get pissy drunk. In the end it all come's together and proves the holidays are all about family.

2. This is Us-Pilgrim Rick

First thing's first, damn I really miss this show and this episode is a big reason why. Tugging at our heart strings in this season one episode. It follows the big three getting prepared for turkey day while reminiscing about how they're annual tradition of watching Police Academy 3 and the Pilgrim Rick hat for Thanksgiving came to be.

Per usual it's because Jack saved the day one year when holiday plans were derailed and he had to make the best out of a tough situation. Besides the feel good moments of family traditions, Randall also learns in this episode that Rebecca and William had met previously...the show wasted no time bringing out the heavy hitters.

The episode is about traditions, which many people consider Thanksgiving and most holidays in general to be about. Now that I have a child of my own I look forward to finding something that can be our yearly tradition for the holidays.

1. Martin-Feast or Famine

In this season 3 Thanksgiving epsiode, Martin ever the over confident big mouth boasts that he and the fellas could make a better dinner than the ladies. Gina and pam take them up on the challenge and a battle of the sexes for Thanksgiving dinner ensues. Martin, Cole, and Tommy have some unconventional  methods for they cook the dinner. Leading to a hilarious scene featuring some underwear.

Meanwhile Gina and Pam are aided by Mama Payne and her friend Florine (Millie Jackson) who take a liking to Pam over Gina. Who is still trying to get on Mama Payne's good side, they end up doing a rendition of Pass The Peas . The episode ends with a faceoff dinner, but everyone suspecting some fraudulent activity.

Leave it up to Bruh Man to end the episode on a high note lol.

Welp here's my 5 favorite Turkey Day episodes. Hope everyone eat's good, enjoys time with friends and family and relaxs. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 

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Underrated TV Dads

 

It’s Father’s Day Weekend and around this time you’ll see articles about the best TV dads. Frequent names that make the list are often familiar, like James Evans, Mike Brady, Cliff Huxtable (regardless of the man who played him transgressions), Phil Banks, Carl Winslow, Randall Pearson, Jack Pearson, Andy Griffith, and Richard Cunningham. Throughout the history of TV there have been several great dad characters, here is a list of ten underrated TV dads in my opinion.

10. Rome Howard-A Million Little Things

Since A Million Little Things is still on the air Rome’s story as a father isn’t over, but so far, he has done an exceptional job as a foster parent to Tyrell. Rome wanted nothing more to be a parent, in case you haven’t seen the show and want to I won’t give away too much. I will say though Tyrell came into Rome and his wife’s Regina lives at the right time. Rome has shown foster parents are just as important and influential as biological parents.

9. Alan Matthews-Boy Meets World

Alans Matthews wasn’t a hard-nosed dad by any stretch, but he was a realistic, likeable and caring dad. He worked hard to provide for his three kids. He even showed them that when your hard work isn’t appreciated, sometimes you have to step out and take a chance on yourself. Alan also took a role as a father figure for Corey’s best friend Shawn when he would need it the most.

8. Keith Mars-Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars overall is a very underrated and underappreciated show, think it had a lot to do with being ahead of it’s time and airing on UPN. That’s another story for another day, anyway Keith Mars is a very underrated dad. A county sheriff who later transitioned to a private investigator, he encouraged Veronica to use her sleuth skills for causes that were important. He always stressed to be safe and did everything he could to protect Veronica. Veronica’s mom left the family before the series started and it did a good job covering single dads and how hard it can be at times.

7. Graham Lubbock-Just The Ten Of Us

Just The Ten Of Us is a often forgotten sitcom that was a spin-off of Growing Pains. The series featured a high school basketball coach along with his wife raising their eight children. Four of them being teenage girls. Graham’s daughters also attended the school he coached at which gave him new headaches. He had to juggle catering to his wife, his children they’re varying personalities and needs. Budgeting for his family and so much more. Graham Lubbock does not get talked about enough in the land of TV dads.

6. Phillip Drummond-Diff'rent Strokes 

Phillip Drummond was the archetype of the white savior trope often used in television. That doesn't mean he wasn't a damn good dad though. Taking in his former housekeepers sons as her dying wish, he instantly took to the boys and raised them as his own. Providing them with love, care, and guidance as if they were his own. He also was stern when he needed to be, never letting the kids including his daughter get too mischievous.

5. Floyd Henderson-Smart Guy

Floyd Henderson often is overlooked when it comes to TV dads. That man had a lot on his plate, the widowed father of three kids. He juggled running a small roofing company, and three very different children with very different personalities. Child Genius TJ, popular but always looking to get rich quick Marcus, and activist daughter Yvette. Somehow Floyd kept it all together, always there for his children to help them in their time of need and provide advice.

4. Eddie Sutton-Lincoln Heights

Eddie Sutton is an LAPD police officer who moves his family into his old neighborhood hoping to make a difference. His family doesn’t initially approve of the move from their comfortable suburban home. Throughout the series, Eddie helps his family navigate through many challenges while navigating throughout challenges of his own. Always levelheaded and rarely losing his composure despite his stressful job and environment. Eddie Sutton is a very underrated TV dad much like the show is underrated.

3. Pops-The Wayans Bros.

Pops played by the legendary John Witherspoon was often a highlight of the Wayans Bros. He loved both his son’s and supported them every step of the way but was not afraid one bit to let them know they were being stupid etc. Pops also was known for his outlandish style which everyone made fun of, but he didn’t give a damn. He also felt his sons were never too old for an ass whipping and often pulled his belt out to beat two grown men.

2. Julius Rock-Everybody Hate's Chris

Julius Rock is probably the father many wouldn’t care to have as a child, but as an adult would appreciate. He’s one of the cheapest mofos you ever would want to meet but did what he had to do to support his wife and three kids. Working multiple jobs to make ends meet and counting every penny, he does not let a thing go to waste. He may not get you the things you want, but he will get you the things you need. At the end of the day when you look at what’s important that’s all that matters. 

1. Robert Peterson-Parent'Hood

Robert Peterson is a father of four who is a college professor. He is a caring but strict father and his imagination is just as vivid as any child. He often dreams of elaborate scenarios and stories in his head. A very good and caring man overall he took in a trouble youth and helped steer him towards a better path. Along with his wife they did the best they could to give their kids what they could without spoiling them rotten. Parent’Hood is an underrated sitcom and Robert Peterson is the most underrated TV dad in my opinion. 

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