Sean and I are very excited to announce that Season 3 of "Girl Meets World Reviewed" will be coming your way in 2016! It was touch and go there for a while, but following August Maturo's announcement (if some dumb child can be trusted) that filming for Season 3 is beginning in January, it sounds like we're going to be sticking around.
I'll be free some day.
Some day.
Also, this is the 100th post on this blog. That's sort of fitting. Utterly meaningless, with all the nonsense we've posted, but still.
So hey, Glorious Comrade Anon wants to know what we'd like to see in season 3. That's a great question, and the best answer I have so far is "Girl Meets Grandparents."
Boy Meets World knocked that one out in its first season. We're long overdue. Everybody hates spending time with their grandparents, so it'll be easy to find a relatable access point for the plot. It's not like William Russ and Betsy Randle have their plates full or anything. What the hell are you doing these days Russ? Going fishing six days a week? Just come in for a few scenes, it's easy. And your stupid Christmas episode doesn't count. If they can get Blake Clarke in here for an episode that actually matters, then you need to suck it up and fulfill your destiny.
Other than that, I'd love to see more conflict between Riley and Maya. Conflict between the kids in general is good, but any conflict involving Lucas usually boils down to him sitting there looking morally superior . I'd also like to see GMW's analogue of Danger Boy. "The one where Riley takes some risks," essentially. Her brief goth phase was almost the right idea, but nobody actually took it seriously. It wasn't development, it was just "Oh I was fine the way I was and I don't need to change." I want change. Is it fair to say that Riley has changed the least out of everyone?
Christian? Readers?
I'll tell you one thing William Russ is up to these days - directing episodes of Girl Meets World! He directed "Girl Meets Hurricane." So, if he can show up on set to do that, he can show up to play Alan Matthews. SAME GOES FOR YOU, RIDER. WHERE THE HELL HAS SHAWN BEEN?
My idea for a Girl Meets Grandparents episode is that Cory, Topanga, Riley and Auggie go to visit with them in Philly (if they can do the old house set, that'd be great, but I'm fine with the Matthews having moved, since it didn't feel like they were next-door to Feeny anymore) and Maya tags along with the hopes of interacting with Josh. Riley's dreading it because she thinks Philly is boring and her grandparents are boring, and maybe Lucas, Zay, and Farkle are up to something fun back in New York (offscreen), but eventually she like... learns to appreciate her grandparents or something. And some Cory and Alan scenes might be nice.
It wasn't fair to Alan and Amy that their (one) return episode was Shawn's reintroduction. They deserve an episode of their own where they can get more focus. Also, am I crazy, or did Cory and Eric have a sister?
Any and all returns in Season 3 should be better spread out as well. Shawn and Eric were all over the front half of Season 2 (along with Turner, Harley, Angela, Chet, Jack, etc.) and now it seems that's all disappeared. Nothing concrete seems to be on the horizon except for a return engagement from the Minkii who, let's face it, are not the most exciting returns. I don't need as many returns as last time - I never need to see Harley, Angela, Chet, or Jack again, and I only need Turner/Shawn closure and I'm fine with being done with Turner too) but Shawn and Eric we absolutely need. If you can only do 2-3 episodes a season for each, fine, but spread those throughout the season so there's stuff to look forward to. And, also, try to do more than 2-3 episodes a season for them.
And then just the obvious stuff - I'd like them to give Cory and (especially) Topanga more to do.
I don't know. I don't have any Riley/Lucas/Maya/Farkle thoughts right now. I'm kind of getting bored of them.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
ReplyDeleteGiven the source, and lack of confirmation, seems as much rumour as news. But I'll take it. Poor Sean.
ReplyDeleteEh, I get that he's a kid, but that's a very specific thing to say: "We're going to start filming Season 3 in January." I feel like he's not incorrect about that.
DeleteBut, if he's wrong.... sorry for getting your hopes up!
DeleteSure, it's just weird that if a decision has been made it hasn't been made official. Not sure what the advantage is to keeping it a secret.
DeleteNot meaningless at all! I love to see the blog flourish and am so glad to hear there should be more seasons of it to come. Again, if we can trust some dumb kid.
ReplyDeleteI've heard interviews with Rowan and Michael Jacobs say that filming would begin in January for Season 3 and Auggie's interview was much more recent.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for more. And while I'll wait, I'll Netflix-binge on Scrubs.
Dr. Cox is my spirit animal.
Not a bad way to spend the time waiting. Scrubs was one of the best!
DeleteSounds like a plan Tim. Shipping Wars is currently Netflixing Scrubs as we speak. I think it may be his new favorite.
DeleteAnybody hungry? The news of a third season is cause for celebration.
*Lights grill*
How would you like your steak, Tim? Medium? Shipping likes his steak well-done, so I could cook them together. But that'll take a while.
*Sets up Build-Your-Own-Taco Stand*
We got beans, beef, chicken, four kinds of cheese, three kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, and tortilla chips. Taco? *Points to mouth*
*Sets up Build-Your-Own-Cinnamon-Roll Stand*
Who doesn't love a good cinnamon roll?
What am I forgetting? Oh yes, the burgers from Chubbie's. I got the recipe for the Philadelphia Chubbie's Burgers, the recipe for the wings and ribs from Texas Chubbie's, sandwiches that would do Dagwood Bumstead proud, two dozen T.K. Candy Clowns, three turkeys with stuffing, and sparkling apple cider for everyone.
*Pours three glasses of sparkling cider, hands one to Shipping Wars and another to Tim*
To Girl Meets World Reviewed!
what the hell did i just read
DeleteA barbecue roleplay it would appear.
DeleteA barbecue roleplay? Works for me. I can put some burgers on the grill, or some hot dogs.
DeleteSean, Christian. I was wondering when you'd show up.
*Hands glasses of sparkling cider to the Administrators. Refills Tim's, Shipping War's and my own*
A toast! Here's to Sean and Christian, without whom none of us would be on this blog and none of us who are not already related would know each other!
what
DeleteEh? Guess it made more sense it my head,
DeleteI'll pass on all the food and drink, just get me a T.K!
DeleteThis is great news. I can't wait to see what episodes cover.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to 100 posts and for GMW for S3!
ReplyDeleteUnknown, do you still blog or anything? I think you moved the old one but I haven't gotten any notifications in weeks and I'm wondering what's going on.
DeleteWhat topics/story ideas would you guys like to see covered in season 3?
ReplyDeletehey that's way more interesting than a barbecue. In fact, since we're not doing anything else for two weeks, I'm going to open that discussion in the post. Give me a few minutes after I post this
DeleteI figured this conversation would come up, Sean and Anonymous. I just thought it wouldn't be prominent until we got to "Season 2: A Look Back" or "Season 3: A Look Ahead."
DeleteI've got some ideas of what might work and what I'd personally like to see. It'll take me a little while to articulate them concisely so I'll get back to you.
hey sean I think that if you watch icarly from start to end you can see that spencer is the equivalent of eric and mr feeny sam of shawn Freddie of minkus and Topanga carly of cory
DeleteI knew what we wanted for Season 3 would show up! Some thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIn previous interviews/tweets, Rowan Blanchard says she wants the show to introduce an LGBT character and to have an episode deal with racism. As far as the LGBT character goes, I can't see the show having one of the group members be homophobic. This is Disney where all the main characters are nice to everyone. I also can't see them making any of them gay. I'm interested to seeing what Sean and Christian would think about various plotlines. Have Riley and Maya set up one of their female friends with a girl.
Regarding racism, I'm all for the show going there. Racism is sadly still a very real topic to talk about. That's So Raven did it best with job discrimination. These kids are still too young, except maybe Lucas, to really have any jobs outside of Topanga's. I imagine they'd use Zay or introduce a new character. I'd be very interested to see a girl refuse to go out with Zay because he's black. I'd be interested in seeing what they do if they bring in a Muslim character. The Proud Family did it already but that was nearly 15 years ago.
Who I want to see: Alan and Amy. Feeny. And Eric. Then again, I'd watch Will Friedle do a puppet show. Have Riley and Auggie visit Grandma and Grandpa. We could do something like Corpanga go on second honeymoon and Grandparents come to take care of house. I want to see Jack and Shawn have a little story arc. It's implied that they haven't spoken in a long time with Jack not knowing Cory had kids.
I'd like to see Riley get turned down. Have her ask someone out and have her get turned down. That's very realistic and it will show that sometimes things just aren't meant to be.
I also want to see more Farkle/Smackle. If they continue Farkle's character development, it'll be a great thing.
Some interesting stuff here Shipping.
DeleteI don't think they implied that Jack didn't know that C&T had kids, just that Jack hadn't actually met them. That's why he asked "This is your daughter?" But having Jack come back at some point and see Shawn would be nice.
I do second the grandparents thing. I would like them to start out with some summer episodes next season. Maybe Riley, Auggie and Maya (because they can't ever seem to separate Riley and Maya) visit the Matthews for a week or two, then maybe send them off to Pittsburgh to visit the other family that GMW hasn't acknowledged yet, the Lawrences. Perhaps see Jed and Rhianon actually spend some time together with their grandchildren. Maybe show that divorced doesn't mean perpetually at war. While that is going on the boys can do some summer stuff together in NYC. Maybe go to a Mets game or perhaps get into some legitimate trouble, since they will not let the girls do anything that remotely resembles bad behavior.
Seeing Shawn and Katy spend some time together (if they are still dating) apart from everyone else would also be a treat.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I don't really need to see Eric again unless he is written like he was in "Semi-Formal". I never need to see moron Eric again. Morgan should make an appearance at some point before the show ends as well. There are rumors she appears in "Legacy", but seeing as how she wasn't in the cast shot they did at the end of filming, I'll assume we will not be seeing her this season. Oh, and a little more Harley please. I like this Harley more than the thug Harley. I think we might get T.K. at some point as the actress met with the writers a few months ago. And while the actor that played Joey no longer is interested in acting, it would be nice to bring back Frankie once. Hey, maybe Frankie and T.K. got married and we get them both at once.
I'm glad somebody remembers that Proud Family episode because you learned along with Penny about a new culture you don't know about. I wish Disney did things like that more where they would show more than one culture. Like in Even Stevens they were Jewish and celebrated Hanukkah, the Proud Family had an episode about Kwanzaa, Lilo & Stitch were Hawaiian, Lizzie McGuire had a halloween episode about the day of the dead and American Dragon Jake Long were Asian. There are many different ways to celebrate Christmas, Halloween or any other holiday related a ethnicity. Not saying Disney doesn't have ethnic characters but they're too Americanized don't truly represent people of that race.
Delete1960, that's a great point about the Mets! I want them to actually live in New York. We haven't seen one scene in this season that screams 'New York.' (Although that may change in New Year) Blanchard actually is a Mets fan so they can easily let her improv something like they did with the Knicks scene. And I also agree about the trouble. Let's face it. For a 'bad kid,' Maya doesn't do anything wrong. I know it's not fair to compare the shows this way but Shawn and Cory were always getting into trouble. We need these kids to be real.
DeleteI also say to bring in their hobbies and interests from real life. Fogelmanis loves photography and theater, Meyer seems to be into sports, Blanchard is a feminist activist and Carpenter likes to sing...which could be great in the right setting.
To be fair to the setting, apart from the Phillies stuff in Season One, was there any real indications that Cory and Shawn and Topanga were living in Philadelphia? Sure there was "A Long Walk to Pittsburgh," but that could just as easily be any three-hundred-mile-distance.
DeleteIf Frankie is getting married to T.K., then he needs to knock on Cory's door and ask advice on the hijinks that will ensue. And Harley needs to walk his sister down the aisle.
Cryptid, the only way they showed that they lived in Philadelphia was the sports team memorabilia they had around the house. Hell they didn't even eat cheese steaks on BMW. The only thing more Philly than that is scrapple. If you don't know what that is, be glad. I live close enough to Philly to have tried it once. Never again, that stuff is nasty.
DeleteA thought just struck me. Did the writers ever say why the original high school was "John Adams High"? It was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That was Ben Franklin's territory. John Adams was a Massachusetts man.
DeleteAnd Bill Daniels was John Adams in 1776. Which was apparently awesome, but I still need to see it.
And I guess I just answered my own question. Oh well.
Is there any really regional food for New York City like there is for Philly? The hot dogs? New York-style pizza?
Cryptid, in NYC if you get a hot dog with onions, instead of chopped raw onions like you get in the majority of the country, you get cooked onions in a red sauce like this: http://www.amazon.com/Sabrett-Onions-Sauce-16-oz/dp/B008EF9GEY I've traveled pretty extensively and this is the only area I've seen this. I grew up on that stuff.
DeleteAlso from central New Jersey up to the NYC metropolitan area we eat pork roll and egg sandwich (with or without cheese) for breakfast. That is our regional thing. They don't seem to be on the Menu at Topanga's though. I have looked when we see the bakery menus in the scene. She does seem to serve a thick NYC cheesecake though!
And I believe that John Adams High was indeed a tribute to William Daniels playing him in 1776.
Regarding the introduction of an LGBT character, the show already has the perfect foil in Lucas. A religious male from Texas...even if his stance has evolved since he came to New York, perhaps his parents wouldn't have. Imagine their reaction to Lucas bringing home a gay friend. Now, I'm not saying everyone in Texas is a Westboro Baptist Church type, but having lived here most of my life, there are plenty who feel that LGBT should just stay in the closet. Hell, here is Houston, a very liberal city, we couldn't get an Equal Right Ordinance passed because the Religious Right came out with the attack ads that Transgender people just wanted to dress up as women so they could go into the girls restrooms and molest your daughters.
DeleteHey everybody, I got quite a few ideas about what should happen in Season 3. This gets a little long.
ReplyDeleteWho I would like to see:
Amy and Alan. I want to see Amy and Alan very, very badly. It'd be easy to set up--Cory and Topanga's second honeymoon or even the kids going up for the weekend. And there needs to be at least a little story, and to be honest, I would prefer something beyond "My Grandparents are boring. Oh wait, I was wrong. My Grandparents are cool." There's nothing wrong with that plot in itself, but considering this is Riley we're talking about, I would argue she's a little too old for that. Alan was in the Navy (I refuse to believe Cook in Coast Guard is anything more than Stupid Eric being Stupid). We could use Grandpa Alan for a very somber Veteran's Day special. I don't even remember the last time a kid show did that. "Hey Arnold!" did it beautifully, but that was nearly twenty years ago. Alan and Amy deserve far more than what we've gotten.
Eric. I just want to see him. Use him well. Use him as family. Use him as inspiration. Use him as a motivator. Use him for something. And let Will Friedle write the episode.
Jack has to come back for the sake of Shawn, and for that matter Maya. Maya's got half-siblings who don't know she exists, according to Kermit. Jack and Shawn's distance from each other, despite attempts to bond when they were younger, could be very good.
Alternatively, Jack's a lobbyist, isn't he? Does he have a law degree? It wouldn't be out of the question for him.to face-off against Topanga over, well anything really. Topanga's jumped from Corporate Law, to Criminal Law, to Legal Aid judging from "Cory and Topanga."
Rachel. She's probably due to return because Michael Jacobs is a nice person, but I can't think of any organic reason for a reason. A college reunion? Do they do those for fifteen years? Or maybe just up in New York for whatever reason, and walks into the Topanga's Bakery because the name caught her eye? (A good a reason as any really. How many people are named Topanga?)
Angela. I can't imagine there's actually a reason to see her again. I don't even think she needs to be in a flashback. Frankly, I don't want to see her again. I was never wild about her character in the first place. And as I recall, Angela never had a single scene one-on-one with Feeny. To be fair, neither did Rachel, but Jack got one of the best out of any Feeny scene in the College Years.
Turner's probably going to return, so I'd like him to show a little more teeth. Remember "Me and Mr. Joad" and how he tore into Cory and Shawn for throwing a hissy fit? That could be a worthy lesson--I didn't like the Presentation Scene in "Creativity" and I have similar misgivings about "STEM."
Mr. Williams is rumored to be returning as well. Unless he's being the reporter for some stupid stunt the kids are going to do--like an extreme, killer roller coaster--I can't say I'm actually looking forward to it.
I love Frankie the Enforcer and I love Vader, but there's no reason to bring them back, unless Frankie's become a best-selling poet or short-story writer and is giving a guest speaking presentation in their English class and recognizes Riley as "Cory with Topanga's hair."
Harley works well as an informal, if rougher edged, advice giver. I'd like some more of him. And I'd like him there so Cory has grown-ups to talk to.
Give Mr. Feeny a more memorable scene than he had in "Pluto." What we had was very sweet but I'd like to see him interact with Riley, specifically, rather than interact with Cory's Daughter.
The Core Five:
DeleteRiley/ Riley needs a story. She needs goals and things to reach for. Cheerleading is all well and good but one episode, that may or may not be called back, is not nearly enough. She has to have something to fight for. Riley is very funny, but even with her sunshiny, happy-go-lucky personality, she's still rather bland. She needs to grow and change. She needs to set herself apart from Lizzie McQuire and Teddy Duncan, the last two non-fantastic-plot or non-famous-plot heroines on Disney Channel,.
What does it say, when I have literally read fanfiction that, in five thousand words, develops Riley's character more than anything we've gotten in the last year and a half?
And there needs to be real trouble. Maya and Riley need to get into real trouble at least once. At the very least, have Riley take the blame for something Maya does. Or even something Auggie does. Have her parents be disappointed or even ashamed of her for something she didn't do. Something that breaks the mold of happy rainbows and smiling suns that we’ve had so far.
I want to see Riley actually take an interest in something. Anything. Something that isn't Lucas. Let her want to become an astronaut--the first woman on...well, probably not Mars anymore--that's only a few years away, but there's always Ceres, the dwarf planet in the Asteroid Belt. Let her want to become a lawyer, like her mother.
Maya. Other than Shawn and Katy and the drama that will, rest assured, we are almost certain to see, I want to see Maya get an attitude adjustment. She still sasses Cory and treats him with utter disrespect. That needs to change.
In terms of story, I think it'd be a very good idea for Maya to either learn that even though she's very good at it, she might not want to be an artist for the rest of her life, or else learn that even though she is very good at art, she needs to find something that she can turn into a career. Kids need to learn that too.
Farkle. Just keep doing what they’re doing with Farkle. I have nothing that needs to be changed. Farkle’s grown more this year than the rest of the Core Five put together. Bravo.
Lucas. Give him a spine, have him make his feelings known, or ship him off to military school. Lucas has stagnated and stifled the development of Riley. He either needs to shake up the formula or be cut loose. The actor’s doing a fine job, but the character does nothing for me.
Zay. I’ve grown more fond of Zay than I could have dreamed when he showed up, but I don’t know. He’s due to be in the main casting next year, but unless he’s crucial to the plot, I can’t say that I’ll miss him. I can’t imagine that Disney and Michael Jacobs intend for him to be endgame with either Riley or Maya. He makes me laugh, but at the end of the day, all Zay is, is the class clown. He needs to do more if he’s going to stay around.
Stories I Would Like To See:
DeleteThe stakes have to rise. They have to rise quickly and they can't be tied up in a bow at the end. That's where "Demolition" and "Creativity" and "Cory and Topanga" all fell short. They all had excellent first halves, but their endings were less than good. Part of this is probably on Disney Channel, not so much to do with Content but with a "Kids Rule!" mentality that is nearly omnipresent in children's television.
So, I'd like to see the dynamics be shaken up a bit. The kids have to make real, tangible, consequential mistakes that are not just tied to love triangles--that said, if Riley breaks Charlie's heart, it'd be a gigantic step in the right direction.
As I said before, and indeed way before in "Girl Meets Fish," Riley taking the blame for something one of her friends, or Auggie, did would be an excellent set-up, especially if the stakes are such that it doesn't go away in just one episode.
I don't know if they're going to write in Uriah Shelton's motorcycle accident as a way to bring back Josh. One could rightly argue that would be tactless. That said, a health scare especially for one of the kids--car accident, or subway for that matter--would be gripping.
The world needs to be shown that it can be a beast and that some people can be just plain-up evil. Have Riley get mugged and the crook gets away. Have her be too frightened to leave the apartment.
They'll be in high school next season. Turn the Five from the big fish in a small pond--if one can call a middle school with a thousand students "small"--to small fish in a big pond. There are many ways this can happen--Riley not making the Cheerleading Squad, for example. And real, recurring bullies. The bullies can be redeemed, but it should be over the course of the season.
Cryptid I don't know why you're being so tight lipped. Tell us what you think, man! Also just to tease you a bit, you titled a section ‘Who I would like to see' and then talked about a bunch of people who you said you don't want to see! Get it together young man.
DeleteCorrection, Tim, the only one I do not want to see is Angela. I'm indifferent towards Rachel and Eli, but everybody else deserves to show up again.
DeleteI'm in the middle of cooking dinner. I'll give it some thought and get back to you.
Here you go guys, a few of my more detailed ideas for Season 3.
DeleteGirl Meets College: On a teacher-workshop, Riley shadows Josh at NYU and begins to consider what she might like to do when she grows up. Josh confides that he has no idea what he wants to do.
Girl Meets Fear: Riley is mugged on the subway and is too shaken to leave the apartment.
Girl Meets Mother: It's Take-Your-Daughter-to-Work-Day. We've been asking for it for over a year. Riley goes into work with Topanga at the law firm, and Topanga is awesome.
Girl Meets Snow Day: Who doesn't love a snow day?
Forgot one.
DeleteGirl Meets Scapegoat:
Riley takes the blame for Auggie destroying a valuable something-or-other of Topanga's. Her parents are furious and Riley wilts from the stress of keeping the truth from them.
And c'mon, I'm not that much younger than you, Tim. Only Milestones and 1960 get to call me "young man."
Gee thanks for reminding everyone how old I am.
DeleteSorry, 1960poster, sir. Let the record show that I have nothing but the highest of respect for you, sir!
DeleteYou never disappoint me Tim.
DeleteCryptid, my young friend, feel free to reference my antiquity. I tend to go out of my way to make sure it’s well understood by all and sundry, anyway.
DeleteSeason 2 is proving better than Season 1, and I would hope for continued improvement in Season 3. It would also be nice if the episodes were to air in their intended order.
An episode with the grandparents would be nice. The characters did get short-changed on Home for the Holidays. I didn’t think that before starting to watch BMW. I’m not yet deep enough in the series to have a wish list for anyone else not already part of GMW.
I’m also persuaded from my previous indifference about Cory’s lessons. I will never expect classroom verisimilitude from GMW, and I don’t really expect its storytelling conventions to change either. But it would nice if Cory got something else besides basic facts wrong. Maybe even horribly wrong: Girl Meets FUBAR.
More Katy. If there has been an episode, or even a scene, that wasn’t better for her presence, someone will have to remind me of it.
Katy is a gem. More Katy more Katy. That goes on my list now too.
DeleteAgreed. Katy is the best adult on this show by a mile.
DeleteAlways glad to be at your service, Sean.
DeleteDear Cryptid, I stand corrected. You listed one person you didn't want to see and two you didn't care either way. Still under a topic of Who you wanted to see though, so grant me my feeble minded joke and we can move past this. Also I didn't know you knew how old I was and now the interwebs scare me lol
Tim, I have no idea how old you are. All I know is that you were old enough to enjoy Boy Meets World in its original incarnation, if memory serves from the Character Battle we had over the summer.
DeleteThe only other thing I know is that you, too, love Secondhand Lions, but I don't even remember why that came up.
I agree with @Cryptid456, especially about Riley. I mean, this show is called, "Girl Meets World", it's supposed to be about Riley, and how she deals with her surroundings and herself. But she seriously has NO stories in her life at all. Even Maya's stories are more compelling, even though she's just Riley's supporting best friend. We need to know more about how she's going to grow up into being, she don't even have a sport! Besides Cheerleading, what else are there? What have she ever done, other than her interest in Lucas and cheerleading? We need to see her rebel sometimes in a while too like Cory. She's always been this ray of sunshine, a good girl, good daughter, always obeying her parents' rules, always get an A in her class, and never get in any trouble, while Cory (HER father, who they claimed her being the same as him) was actually just a normal kid with an average family life, had been stumbled into a lot of wrong doings, he was at least a slacker just like his best friend, Shawn. He even did a lot of mistakes like every other kids do. He get in detentions for countless times. He rebelled a lot too, even though he was supposed to be this "good boy" thing in front of everyone else's eyes, especially in front of his parents' eyes. He did everything and took risked into it in order to find himself and see what he's good at, but Riley doesn't go over doing anything that her father ever did. All she did was joining Cheerleading, and she wasn't even good at it, why won't she find something else to find out what she's capable of doing. Cory, on the other hand, was actually good with the things he did, which is the opposite of Riley. I think Riley is even wayyy, wayyyyyyy more boring than the drudgery Cory ever been lol Cory wasn't even the ray of sunshine like she is, even though he is bubbly, dorky, and that, but he wasn't perfect or nearly being a "good boy" that he presented, he was troublesome, somewhat a rebel too, and somewhat could be a playboy which Topanga DID called him that once, he was and still kind of is self-absorbed, he was a slacker and book dumb until his junior and senior years of high where he learned to work harder to keep his grade up, even as he grew up as a young adult he still do more mistakes like hitting a teacher, still has some slacks with his works especially in Feeny's class. But Riley... this girl is just too good, too pure, too innocent, and TOO SAFE, she needs to get herself out there at least. I mean, even her MOM wasn't so good and perfect either. Yeah, she's pretty, she's smart, always get A's in class, and hardly get in any trouble, but she also had her problems like she was too obsessed with getting A's and stuff, she was a school outsider because of her weird and hippy self in 6th grade, she's kissed other guys, her parents divorced and now she's not in contact with them anymore, and she's a control freak. But Riley.... again RILEY! She has NONE of that.
DeleteMaya. They said she's a "bad girl" and a bad influence to Riley. Well, what did she ever do wrong? She doesn't even go as far as Shawn did. All we see her do was not doing her homework, getting herself in trouble in class, and doesn't respect Cory, but what about more? Also, in Upstate episode, in the beginning, Riley said about running away would be the thing that Maya would do, but we don't ever see that from Maya, and the thing is Riley had to be the one to help her run away to find herself. We, at least, saw Shawn did more risks and did more dangerous stuff than Maya ever did and there were proofs, but we don't those proofs from Maya, and we need to see that.
Riley and Maya. These two need to separate from each other sometimes, I mean, look at Cory and Shawn, they were always together and grew up as brothers, but they also did things on their own without each other's help as well, and see, still nothing could and can still break them apart. They're still best friends, or even more. So Riley and Maya should do the same, they need to do some things on their own to find who they are, they won't be able to find themselves with each other cause they are different and they sure do have their own individual goals. They can't always rely or depend on each other all the time, they need some spaces without each other for other things too. They need to know that even though they're not always with each other, they will always still have each other no matter what happens, that's what Cory and Shawn did and they learned it like that, so Riley and Maya need to learn that too.
DeleteEverybody hates visiting their grandparents??? I didn't have the white american experience of having grandparents who lived out of the home. Mine were like parents who knew what the fuck they were doing. They had my back.
ReplyDeleteAs for Season 3...more Eric and Feeny is all I ask for. I say use Daniels for as long as you can.
It went two ways for me. I had one grandmother who was an absolute saint that everyone loved and I enjoyed visiting her every chance I got.
DeleteAnd then I had another grandmother who was a literal sociopath. I wasn't even allowed to be left alone in the same room with her; let alone go visit for an extended stay.
Me, I just never really knew my grandparents. I still have two, but I barely know them and haven't seen them in ten years. We write each other polite birthday cards.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe writers left us this little gem this morning:
ReplyDeleteGirl Meets Writers @GMWWriters · 1h1 hour ago
BMW: Remember the ski lodge game they played?
Girl Meets The New Year:
Lucas: What's The Couple's Game?
Cory: I wouldn't.
But they do.
You know this can't end well. In the pics of New Year they have showed we can see the "Family Game" that they played in "Game Night" as well as the "Friends Game" they alluded to there and the "Couples Game" that they talk about here. I'm quite sure Riley and Charlie know absolutely nothing about each other, Farkle and Smackle know everything and Lucas and Maya are somewhere in between.
What is his favorite fish? Penguin!
If you hadn't seen the pics I was referring to, here are the links:
Deletehttp://girlmeetsworld.wikia.com/wiki/Girl_Meets_the_New_Year/Gallery?file=Newyear10.jpg
http://girlmeetsworld.wikia.com/wiki/Girl_Meets_the_New_Year/Gallery?file=Newyear8.jpg
Could you clarify, 1960 by "can't end well"? "Can't end well" in-universe on behalf of the couples? Or "can't end well" on audiences' part and we still wind up with no advance to the storyline?
DeleteI think it's fairly obvious that Riley knows nothing about anyone who isn't part of the Core Five. Which is a shame. I still think "Rules" could have been much better if Riley had revealed to her silent classmates that she does indeed know their various quirks. It would have given a lot of justification to her popularity.
A better question, to me anyway, is whether or not Charlie knows that much about Riley. beyond the Current Matthews Crisis in the Classroom. He's crushed on her since the beginning of Season 2 at least, if not longer. But when I was in middle school, I didn't know a thing about the girls I had crushes on.
I'm betting Farkle knows everything about Riley, and Maya for that matter. Lucas is a question mark, seeing as he hung out with Riley for an entire year, including basketball season and never noticed she loved the Knicks. Speaking from experience, die-hard fans of sports teams are very vocal about their love.
And Smackle probably knows everything about Farkle, right down to his length and weight at birth.
Why does Cory even still have The Couple's Game? I would have thought he'd have destroyed it after he lost so badly to Eric and Rachel way back when.
I mean it can't end well for the couples. Shit like this in a sitcom always leads to the couples that think they know each other completely surprised when they do so poorly and the couples that aren't thought of as close scoring high marks.
DeleteI also assume that at the end of "New Year" some relationships might end, but I also assume nothing involving Riley/Maya/Lucas will be finalized but we will see some advance to the story.
I am also assuming by his absence that Zay is back in Texas for the holidays visiting family and buying ice cream for Vanessa.
Didn't Topanga actually buy the couples game back in BMW? That was always suprising that C&T did so badly. They knew each other for years and their relationship was so solid that they really should have known more about each other. If Shawn had been playing I could easily have seen him doing poorly as other than Angela he and his 2 week rule on dating really prevented him from getting to really know someone. But with sitcom logic if C&T played the couples game with Shawn and Katy today I have to believe that C&T would lose badly, because its funnier that way.
The way they write those tweets makes me want to beat them up.
DeleteAs it happens, I actually don't mind the trope of the oh-so-compatible couple not knowing each other as well as they think. While I do agree that romantic couples should strive for a high level of intimacy--"the two shall become one," and all that--it would be unnerving, and a little disturbing to see that in middle school.
DeleteDid Topanga buy the couples game? Hold on, let me check. *Runs over to Sean's old blog.*
Ah, found it!
http://boymeetsworldreviewed.blogspot.com/2014/12/episode-6x14-getting-hitched.html#comment-form
Apparently, Topanga bought something called "The Fiancee Game." Not the Couples Game.
Man, I miss the Badges. And man, the stuff they could air on ABC, rather than Disney. Sure, we've all said it, but do you really think they'd show anything like Jack's step-dad paying Shawn's tuition on Disney? And look, there was Character Development. Sweet, sweet character development. And a glorious, beyond glorious Feeny Call. I miss the Feeny Call.
You are correct, the Couple Game was what they were playing with Lauren at the ski lodge. With that legacy how can it not a terrible omen?
DeleteLauren...*terrified, high-pitched scream*
DeleteI loved Lauren. In no small part because of my love of Linda Cardellini. I thought that was one of the best TV show other woman arcs I've seen. They made her likable and real enough that I actually would have liked to see Cory go for it with her.
DeleteMy list is short and sweet for what I want from Season 3. In the premiere, have Auggie ask about going to play basketball with his friends...and then we never see him again. We can just imagine he's with the other Winslow child and the older Cunningham somewhere. As long as we can be done with him on my screen I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteHere is the official Season 3 announcement: http://www.thewrap.com/girl-meets-world-renewed-for-season-3-on-disney-channel-exclusive/
ReplyDeleteNot like there was any real doubt, but now it's official.
Read the article. Pretty generic stuff. One line caught my eye though.
Delete"Uncharted territory of high school." That could definitely mean a big fish-small pond to small fish-big pond transition. Which is good. Riley and Maya being the Queens of Middle School is getting old.
And while I do agree with the executive, that when Michael Jacobs is on his game, he is among the most authentic voices in the business, I do wonder whether he'll have more room to experiment.
I want Riley to loose a friend during this season, (Lucas, Farkle, Maya) whoever, and then gain a new one outside of the core five. I want Riley to retrain her core, bubbly personalities with quirks but I also want her to question Cory, and his teaching. I want Cory to stop teaching and I want a real learning environment. I want big topics like BMW, if there is a real creative allowance on this then we should be able to see this. I do not want every episode to be about who gets with who, obviously they'll start to figure there feelings.
ReplyDeleteI just want realistic stuff, not the peppy Disney stuff where things seem to sort themselves out, start strong and become cheesy and stupid, or are just so unrelated it's like, "Stop. Now."
The Wraps got a clip for "New Year" http://www.thewrap.com/girl-meets-world-nye-sneak-peek-whos-with-who-at-midnight-exclusive-video/
ReplyDeleteSounds like I will not be feeling too bad when Charlie gets kicked to the curb.
Coming through again, like always sir, 1960, sir. Thank you very much for the link, sir. My friend, you are an asset to this community.
DeleteCharlie won't only get kicked to the curb, I wouldn't be surprised if Cory and/or Uncle Josh outright THROWS him to the curb.
Dang, I'm getting a serious...let's say controlling vibe from Charlie. Or at least intimidating. Point is, the charming, respectful, slightly nervous boy from Semi-formal went bye-bye. He wants answers NOW, (can't say that I blame him for that), but something's off.
Charlie might have looked Shawn-ish initially but the first thing he reminded me a bit of Griff Hawkins. Griff had this certain devilish quirk to him that was almost unique. I see a vibe of bad-boy in Charlie now. And honestly, I also saw a little bit of Professor Stuart/Stewart. It was just a very small one, mind you.
Maybe it was just the sense of a lack of personal space there, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of it. It took a few minutes though.
The party is apparently spur-of-the-moment. Interesting. And the entire class is going to be there. So there's no attempt to leave Lucas out. Which could be the straw the breaks the camel's back for Farkle being Secret Keeper.
Nine more days.
Happy Thanksgiving, my American internet friends.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my Canadian internet friend.
DeleteSo, I've taken a few days to think about what I want from Season 3, and I'll give you guys what I've thought of so far.
ReplyDeleteAn honest fight among the Core Four: Look, we know these four kids are essentially inseparable. Especially Riley and Maya. They've pretty much cannonized it. Yet, I don't think that means these kids can't have an argument of actual substance, not the petty, nonsensical "disagreements" that we have seen. Hell, I'd like it last an episode or two. Let it have a fallout and breathe a bit. I'm not saying they have to hate each other for the rest of the show, but friends do fight sometimes.
Dose of Reality for Riley: I love sunshine and roses Riley. I honestly do. Yet, we all had a moment in our lives where we realized just how "life" really is. It's hard, and sometimes grossly unfair. Yet, you deal with it, and move on. I don't think Riley has had that moment yet, and I want us to see her have it. I want Riley to get punched in the gut, figuratively, and see her reaction to not being able to smile her way through it. Let life hit this girl, and let her grow because of it.
Find Lucas' Backbone & Humanity: He has the patient of a saint, he really does. I think it is pretty comical how he allows these two girls to jerk him around like he's a side of beef. Granted, its more Riley than Maya, but my point remains. He's legitimately too nice to be real. I want to see 2 things from him 1) I want to see a real person emerge. I want to see him have ideals, feelings, and opinions outside of "nice guy platitudes". 2) I want him to tell Riley/Maya to back the F off! Hey, everyone enjoys having that kind of attention from someone they are attracted to. That's human nature, but this is ridiculous. No one likes having their own feelings cast aside for another persons agenda, for a lack of a better word.
The Matthews' Family: There are more of them, right? Like, I coulda swore Cory had parents and a sister. Am I wrong? No. Then where are they?! I would love to see more of Amy and Alan, and I want Aunt Morgan at this point. Please. And I would love to see them go back to Philly for an episode. Amy and Alan could have moved out of the house, but remain in Philly, and I think that's realistic. Josh will be in college soon, so downsizing is realistic. Just give me more of the Matthews' Family.
I think that's good for now. Thoughts?
Hey, pwfan, good to see you here.
DeleteAgreed on seeing a fight. Disney's always been terrible with friends fighting. They make up in five minutes. I'm not saying it should be a season long fight but this show is about teenagers. Teenagers are assholes. Source: I was a teenager and I was an asshole.
Agreed on Riley. Her life is perfect. Make it not perfect.
Agreed on Lucas. His life is also perfect. We've been told he had some anger issues in the past. More details please. Did he go to anger management or does he do yoga? He's too relaxed.
More Matthews are needed badly. I imagine they moved out of the house since with only one kid who's on his way out the door and no mention of it when the GMW cast went to Feeny's suggest this.
Thanks for responding Shipping Wars.
DeleteI managed to think of a couple more things.
Auggie, The Role Player: Without spoiling it, the usage of Auggie in "New Year" was perfect for him, in my opinion. He doesn't need to have dedicated stories on the show, because that showcases all his weaknesses. If they cut his screen time down to 2 minutes or less, he'll be much more effective as the cute little brother. Which is all he should be at this age.
The Big Apple: The BMW Universe hasn't been great at letting their respective home cities be playgrounds for them to use. There is so much storytelling potential in NYC that it's criminal they haven't used it more. I think with the kids moving on to high school, they should take advantage of the NYC backdrop moreso than they have.
Beating 1960 to the punch cuz I'm up at this horrible hour before I have to go to work,
ReplyDeleteHow does 50 clips from Meets the New Year sound?
https://www.instagram.com/makeluck/
Yes, even I have to sleep.
DeleteLook, the class lesson takes place in English class and Harper is back! And the interactions between Smackle and Lucas are pretty funny. This may be something they can keep going as a running joke until the end of the series when Lucas finally steals Isadora away from Farkle.
link to new years!! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ft2gc_new-year-2015_tv
ReplyDeleteAlright. We'll have a lot to discuss.
DeleteHey, Christian, did you think of anything you'd like to see for the Core Four in Season 3?
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to see more of Sassy Lucas in the next season. I always enjoy when he comes out to play. Bland, Ambiguous, Point-Out-The-Obvious Lucas is just not worth the trouble. Fighting over him is like fighting over a cardboard cutout--pretty to look at, but ultimately boring and one-dimensional.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Amy and Alan have a story. I like the idea of Cory's parents look after the children while Cory and Topanga take a vacation. Amy and Alan let the kids get away something, and Cory and Topanga are upset when they find out.
ReplyDeleteI would love for Harley to be in more episodes. I want Jack and Shawn to have a scene or two together. An episode focused on Take Your Children to Work Day could be fun. There would be multiple storylines.
I would love a multi-part episode in DC if Eric wins the election.
Kit, Eric already won his election. In "Semi-Formal" he told us he is a US Senator and he even already has a Secret Service body guard.
DeleteOpps! I forgot about that. I still think a multi-part DC episode could be fun.
DeleteI definitely want to see Take Your Child To Work Day. We need to see Topanga be an awesome lawyer. Preferably arguing a case against Jack Hunter. It'd be a relatively easy way to bring him back, if he has a law degree.
DeleteAnd after Topanga squashes Jack like a bug, Shawn calls her up and asks if she knows a good Justice of the Peace.
So, what do I want to see in season 3? I want to touch on things that are not episode specific here.
ReplyDeleteFirst, for the sake of most of you, who seem to hate Cory the teacher (I like his class myself), I want to see Cory be made the principal of the kids high school. That way he still has an excuse to interact with them in school, but it doesn’t have to be in class. The Superintendent of his school district (Turner) is his friend, so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to make this happen.
So now we need some teachers to be recurring characters so we can have class scenes. Well with Cory the new principal, maybe he brings Harper along to fill an opening. The kids seem to like her, and her class scenes haven’t gotten any hate from the commenters here and English class seems to be a good place for some of the lessons that have been covered in History so far. Then maybe Eli Williams is already teaching at this school, because his best friend Mr. Turner got him the job a few years ago. Now they just need to add another teacher and we’re probably good. I’m also sure Cory gets Harley a job at the new high school to ensure we see him as well.
Since in high school kids don’t realistically have the same schedules, they can easily have a few of the recurring kids appear from time to time. If they convinced Smackle to attend school with them then she and perhaps Charlie have excuses to be in a few episodes without going out of their way to create a story that seems crafted just to get them onscreen in an unbelievable way. We should also see a few of the core 4’s current classmates in school just for continuity’s sake.
The backdrop of New York City really needs to be played up more. While BMW pretty much ignored Philadelphia entirely there is no valid reason to at least not pretend to go somewhere that isn’t Topanga’s or Riley’s room. Otherwise they might as well all live in a small town in Iowa.
Topanga has been criminally underused in the series to date, and that really needs to stop. Whether we see more of her at the bakery or at home or even doing her primary job, they need to show her playing more of a role in Riley’s life than we see. Truthfully even though she has been in almost every episode so far, her real contributions feel less than say Frankie Stecchino in the 19 episodes of BMW that he was in. I do understand that Alan and Amy weren’t always involved in the story, but when they were it felt more crucial and while they don’t shy away from making Cory important to almost every lesson/episode, Topanga is almost always used as window dressing and doesn’t ever feel like she is helping her daughter or her friends discover anything important about their lives.
We need to see Riley and Auggie’s grandparents. Both sets. I know BMW didn’t really deal with this, but we weren’t invested in those characters the way we are with Alan and Amy and to a lesser extent Jed and Rhiannon. And then when we see them they need to be utilized as important pieces of the story. “Home for the Holidays” was just the GMW introduction to Shawn and Alan and Amy were used pretty much as props. And so far we haven’t ever heard anyone on GMW talk about the Lawrence side of the family.
I’m all for Auggie getting screen time almost each week as long as it isn’t for an extended amount of time, unless his story line is the primary or he is involved in the primary story. He is a part of the Matthews family and not seeing him for weeks at a time seems unrealistic.
DeleteThis show also need to learn a lesson about the use of recurring characters from Liv and Maddie, Disney’s other good live action show. That show has a recurring cast of about 10 characters that we see between 5-10 times a season each. They always are used in important and consistent ways. And more importantly, we expect to see them because it makes the lives of the main characters more believable. On GMW we see about 4 recurring characters about 3 times a year. Even for a group as tight as this, it seems like they should be interacting with more people more often. (I discounted Zay here since he is being promoted to regular next season)
And last I would like to see the writers separate the stories for Riley and Maya at least a few times. So far, even if the main story is about only one of them, they still are together all the time. Even best friends would have times where they are both dealing with individual problems/stories where the other friend isn’t always going to be there 24/7. Having Riley and Maya work with/spend time with other members of the core 5 while the other is also doing the same thing would seem more like real life.
As for individual stories, I’ll trust Jacobs and the writers to steer the lessons where they need to go. I just think the bigger picture is what I would like to see addressed.
I like the idea of Smackle going to a different school. It seems slightly more realistic that way. People often have friends who go to other schools. Plus, it allows them to do an episode where the characters can pretend to be someone else.
DeleteSets are expensive. They build sets, and then use them again and again. "Girl Meets World" isn't shot in New York, so unless the budget has money for a short location shoot ("West Wing" called it field trip week, where they would go to DC and shoot all of the exteriors/specific DC stuff they needed), you're not going to see them in iconic New York locations.
The writers need to find something interesting to do with Topanga. It shouldn't be that hard. A mother/daughter spa day while Maya and her mother are at a doctor's appointment would work well.
Totally understand sets are expensive. Sets have been the downfall of a couple DC shows, but that's another story for another time. My thing is they could at least make an episode or two where we feel the impact of the city on the kids. The best way to do that is for them to film a couple of episodes in NYC, like they did with Texas. It'll cost money, but the benefits outweigh the negatives in my opinion. To have all that history and culture that NYC is known for, and not use it is a travesty.
DeleteSets are expensive, I agree. But it does dilute the story a bit. And then the Matthews' apartment feels a bit more a set then the two-story houses that were the homes on other Disney shows, but that tends to be something I see in all shows with apartment sets compared to house sets.
DeleteI think the original unaired pilot was meant to have the Matthews living in a house. They had a staircase and everything.
That's one of the nice things about Blue Bloods on CBS; it is filmed on location and feels far more immersive.
I also get that they wouldn't be doing location shoots (though they could for an episode or 2 as pwfan has suggested), it's just that they could easily say they are going (insert place) then substitute whatever local LA place could pass for it. If they want to say the boys are gong to see the Mets play, I'm sure they could use some stock footage of a Dodgers-Mets game in LA for instance. Any LA museum can pass for any NYC museum. The point being that they have the largest most diverse city in the US as their backdrop, and pretty much use none of it. That is the disappointing part. As bad as Jessie was, it at least tried to make us feel as if they were actually in NYC, and that was filmed in the same studio as GMW.
DeleteActually, as of 2012, Houston is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States.
DeleteIronically, Season 1 of Girl Meets World did a much better job with this. Riley and Maya rode the subway everywhere, which is a very metro thing to do. Has the subway been shown once at all this season?
1960poster-"t's just that they could easily say they are going (insert place) then substitute whatever local LA place could pass for it." That makes total sense. Shows do that all the time. I was really into "Mad Men," and it was always interesting to read about location shoots, and what places in L.A were used to mimic places in N.Y.
DeleteReturns from characters are cool, but not the important thing. The important thing is what you said: You're getting bored with the main characters.
ReplyDeleteUh-oh.
At least three of the mains are fine characters - Riley, Maya, and Farkle. So what is the problem here? It's not them. It's the plot.
As I've said, more stuff needs to go WRONG. What happens if, in high school, Riley is suddenly unpopular? What happens if the group aren't in the same classes so they need to try extracurricular stuff to keep in touch? What happens if something happens to Maya's Mom? What if she and Sean don't get along? What if Farkle starts getting seriously bullied...like Corey and Sean?
They're professional writers. There are tons of possibilities. The fact is, conflict creates plot, suspense, and interest by viewers. And the show just hasn't had enough of that.
Malcolm! My friend from Monster Hunter Nation! It's been ages, man! How the heck have you been? Finish "Hard Magic" yet?
Delete*Slaps Malcolm on the back*
I was wondering if you'd show up. It's great to hear from you. You've got some good ideas here--especially the part about how things need to go wrong.
And yeah, I agree. Riley, Maya. and Farkle are fine characters, when they're allowed to bounce off each other.
Heck, they're probably enough to carry the show themselves. The original series operated with a Power Trio in Cory, Shawn, and Topanga and I think it was better for it.
I'd like it if Corey wasn't their teacher in high school anymore. Mean and simple. He can still give advice from home. Just leave the official teaching to others. He's never really done it anyway.
ReplyDeleteJack and Rachel are unneeded. I want see Morgan cause really weird to not have aunt Morgan when both uncles show up. I use Aunt Morgan cause Riley is are main character.It is weird she hasn't shown up as she was always close to her older brothers.
ReplyDelete