MATCH #1
Chet Hunter
Contestant: Chet Hunter
Portrayed By: Blake Clark (1995-2000, 2015)
First Episode: "Career Day"
Latest Episode: "Girl Meets Hurricane"
Signature Episode: "Career Day", "I Never Sang for My Legal Guardian", "Janitor Dad", "Brothers", "We'll Have a Good Time Then", "Road Trip"
Episode Count: 13
Claim to Fame: Shawn's father
Occupation: Con Man/Schemer/Overall n'er-do-well
Approximate Age: 50 when he died, late 60s if alive today
Current Status: Deceased
Strengths: Ambitious, Sly, Gregarious
Weaknesses: Irresponsible, Untrustworthy, General scoundrel
VS.
Katy Hart
Contestant: Katy Hart
Portrayed By: Cheryl Texiera (2014-present)
First Episode: "Girl Meets Maya's Mother"
Latest Episode: "Girl Meets Yearbook" (more on the way)
Signature Episodes: "Girl Meets Maya's Mother", "Girl Meets Master Plan", "Girl Meets Hurricane"
Episode Count: 6 (more coming)
Claim to Fame: Maya's mother, Shawn's love interest
Occupation: Waitress at Topanga's/Actress
Approximate Age: Mid-Late 30s
Current Status: Living in Manhattan
Strengths: Selfless, Theatrical, Dedicated
Weaknesses: Too theatrical?, Occasional liar, not always there for her daughter
THIS SET OF MATCHES IS CLOSED.
Chet has defeated Katy with 61% of the votes against 39%.
MATCH #2
Leonard Spinelli
Contestant: Leonard "Lennie" Spinelli
Portrayed By: Willie Garson (1993-1994)
First Episode: "Father Knows Less"
Latest Episode: "The Father/Son Game"
Signature Episodes: Both
Episode Count: 2 (5 for Willie Garson all totaled)
Claim to Fame: Alan's assistant manager at the store
Occupation: Former supermarkert Assistant Manager, then a minister, now maybe an attorney at Topanga's firm?
Approximate Age: 50s
Current Status: Unknown
Strengths: Polite, Means well
Weaknesses: Meek, awkward, assumes people don't remember him
VS.
Alan Matthews
Contestant: Alan Matthews
Portrayed By: William Russ (1993-2000, 2014)
First Episode: "Pilot " (1993)
Latest Episode: "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays" (2014)
Signature Episodes: "Father Knows Less," "I Ain't Gonna Spray Lettuce No More," "Raging Cory," "Better Than the Average Cory"
Episode Count: 131
Claim to Fame: Patriarch of the Matthews family
Occupation: Owns an outdoor-gear store, previously a grocer, maybe retired
Approximate Age: 60
Current Status: Living in Philadelphia
Strengths: A great father, down to earth, generous, hard working
Weaknesses: Set in his ways, trouble maintaining equal relationships with his kids
THIS SET OF MATCHES IS CLOSED.
Alan has defeated Lenny with 96% of the vote against 4%.
Alan. Best television father from my childhood and it's not even close. I also voted for Chet. I really liked Katy in "Yearbook" but....Chet's scenes with Shawn were instrumental to his character.
ReplyDeleteChet. Alan.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's all I have to say about that.
Poor Lenny. As amusing as I found him, he can't hold his own against one of BMW's all-time greats.
ReplyDeleteChet over Katy. For now, at least--let's see where things go. Bonus points for Rider Strong's occasional impression of Chet on BMW. "A cup? Who're you tryin' to impress?"
Chet over Katy. Let me say that I really thought about this. This was a tough out for me, which kinda shows the impact that I believe Katy has already had in this universe. She feels like a very real and honest character to me. Yet, she is no match for Chet Hunter. He's one of my favorite characters ever, no matter the show.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I get for paying attention to what I'm doing.
DeleteAlan over Lenny. One of the greatest TV dads ever. Period. End of story.
It was tough for me too, and I eventually came to the same conclusion. It's like the jelly bean weighing scene in Torn Between Two Lovers. I like Katy but... I can live without her.
DeleteThis is what it was like for me choosing between Lenny and Alan
DeleteLenny forfeited the match against Alan, even brought hot dogs for a barbeque.
DeleteIt wasn't tough, but it wasn't easy either. Chet is just too memorable at this junction. In a 3rd season and even more episodes, Katy might pull it off because of great addition to the BMW/GMW universe she's been.
I think Alan was in "Girl Meets Home for The Holidays", actually, Sean.
ReplyDeleteI don't accept that as canon.
DeleteHuh, any reason why?
DeleteI'm just running away from the fact that I made a mistake. But he really didn't get the treatment he deserved from the writers in that episode. Not as bad as Amy, but still.
DeleteI agree with Sean here that Alan and Amy got the short end of the script stick in their return. They might have been better served having Alan, Amy and Josh return in a holiday episode and then have Shawn return separately. There were too many people trying to be jammed into that episode, and pretty much Amy and Alan were the characters that lost out.
DeleteIt would be nice to see Riley and Auggie go visit their grandparents so we can have a proper episode that shows the new fans how awesome they were/are.
I'm just going to say I voted for Lenny for the same reason why I voted for Aubrey.
ReplyDeleteI went with Alan and Katy.
ReplyDeleteAlan seemed like an easy choice here. As others have said, he might be the best TV dad of all time. The character was written well and William Russ portrayed him so well you could almost accept that any lesson or punishment coming from him was just and well-deserved. I also didn't vote for Lenny in round 1, not gonna start here.
While I also liked Chet the character and Blake's portrayal of him, I'm going out on a limb here and voting for Katy as much for what she might be in the future as much as what she has been so far.
Chet was in a lot more episodes, and with BMW on network TV a lot of times it felt "more real" then the Disneyfied GMW, and that let his character have more freedom to be written in a non-typical TV sitcom way. That was great. Chet may be the most real-life character in the franchise. Having said all that, I love Katy's character and the development they are giving her. Cheryl is also giving us the best performances on GMW out of any adult actor/actress on a consistent basis. With her being Maya's mom and now Shawn's love interest, I can only see her appearances going up over the years to more than Chet's, and her character's importance increasing as well.
I have to admit the Chet/Katy battle was the hardest for me so far. This was a great pairing.
Agreed with Chet/Katy being the toughest out.
DeleteChet and Katy are certainly a tough match-up and probably the most uncertain one in this round. But personally I am a huge fan of katy so far and she is in my opinion a standout in every episode she's been in. I really enjoy the dynamic she brings out in the kids as well as the adults. #Katy2015
ReplyDeleteChet and Katy's actually pretty cut and dry in the votes. There's a clear and overwhelming winner. Others are MUCH closer.
DeleteI also had a hard time picking between Chet and Katy. I ultimately went with Chet, because, while I like Katy, I appreciate more what she represents to GMW as whole than her actual character itself.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Katy showcases exactly what the new series does better than its parent show. And that would be consistent characterization, particularly for female characters. Katy is miles ahead of Amy, Morgan, Lauren, Angela, Rachel, and even post season 5 Topanga. Often with only a fraction of the screen time they had.
But to say I enjoy her character more than Chet would be a lie. Chet's just more entertaining to watch IMHO.
Oh and of course Alan beats Lenny. Alan just might arguably have the most development in the series next to Eric and Shawn.
Can't overlook actors. Would Chet be as popular if it weren't for the mastery that is Blake Clark?
DeleteNot sure. How much say did the actor have in the writing of the character? How much of the lines were improvised?
DeleteTo me an actor doesn't have as much weight as the writing for the character. Even the greatest actors in the world can't fully over come bad writing and it takes an extremely bad actor to ruin good writing.
Most actors on tv are just mediocre, so the writing will reflect their character more so than their acting.
Blake Clark is a good actor (not great, but good) who was handed an extremely well written character. Put another actor of similar caliber in the role, and you'll get something different but not necessarily better or worst.
Similarly good or bad directing can make or break an actor.