I don't think I'm alone when I say that I only watch Girl Meets World because it is a "sequel" to Boy Meets World. If it weren't a sequel to BMW, and it were as good as Boy Meets World with regard to lessons, character arcs, and humor, I still wouldn't watch it. I watch this show because I want to see what my old friends are up to these days, and I watch the episodes lacking those characters because I take pride in my reviews and in what we've all built here on this blog.
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| Pictured: The best character. |
In light of that, it seems almost pointless to continue evaluating Girl Meets World as a distinct, standalone show. I will continue that, I'm just realizing now how odd this all is, given that I wouldn't watch it under any circumstances were it not the sequel to a show I love very dearly. Can I even be objective when this show only exists in my mind in reference to something else? I think that's the definition of subjective...
As I have already treated the entirety of this season as a standalone show, comparing it to Boy Meets World very rarely in each review, I think we've all earned a Looking Back that does compare it to Boy Meets World, especially since that's why we're all here in the first place. Doesn't that sound nice?
And that leads us to the main event. The critical, crippling wound of this show that I promised I'd reveal, that until now no one has put into words. The reason none of us are invested in Riley, Maya, Lucas, and Farkle, in one sentence. Are you ready?
We have never seen these characters having fun.
How fucked is that? I've said in the past that we don't know what the characters' hobbies are, but that problem is really a subset of this one. This is the most general and complete problem I can come up with. Let's talk about why.
I've been seeing a lot of gifs on reddit lately of like, baby elephants playing in a mound of dirt or with a streamer, things like that. Playing purely for the sake of having fun is exclusively reserved for high thinking species. It's extremely humanizing and makes anyone, human or animal, immediately sympathetic. So let the gravity weigh on you when I say that I have seen elephants have more fun in the last two weeks than I've seen of Riley Matthews in the last two years.
Meets Rah Rah was the closest we ever came, and I gave it the praise it deserved in the review. That was a strong episode. But Riley's fun ended up serving as a vehicle for plot, Cory's lesson, and saccharine friendship speeches. Not only do I want to see the characters having fun for fun's sake, I want the writers writing it for fun's sake, for the sake of bringing a character to life.
And that's where we start to compare to Boy Meets World, in particular the second season, to be fair to Girl Meets World. Almost every episode has a scene at Chubbie's, where the kids are hanging out, on dates, playing pool, or whatever. Not because we're going to learn a lesson about treating minimum wage employees with respect, not because we're going to learn about the dark side of hustling at pool, not because we're going to learn about the dangers of eating high fat fast food. We're there because the kids are out having fun. They were at home and thought "I want to have a good time."
Okay, to be fair, most of the time, the dates are vehicles for plot, and I am going to address that specifically. But Shawn, Cory, Eric, and Topanga also do a lot of other things. They play sports and video games. They watch movies and TV. Does the Matthews apartment even have a TV in Girl Meets World? Or a computer? Who the hell knows! Because when Maya and Riley have free time, they don't want to have fun, they want to sit in the god damn windowsill. And try to say as many pseudo philosophical things as they can in sixty seconds before they go to school. And then they cry.
These characters will never be real to me until they actually start to enjoy their lives. I can't imagine that any one of them honestly enjoys life. All they ever do is go to school and talk about drama. The only thing we know of that Riley and Maya enjoy is shopping, and that's fine, that's as good as playing billiards or whatever, but look at what we've seen. Demolition. Shopping turned into an escapade with mustache twirling villains and a life lesson. And then the one with Shawn buying clothes for Maya, which of course was a vehicle for emotion and drama. Why oh why oh why can't we get the opening from Demolition and then have it lead into literally any other story from this season? The girls are out shopping and then the UNRELATED TO SHOPPING plot develops. There's no lesson about shopping, they were just there because they're human beings. That could honestly change everything, if they just did it once, just show us Maya and Riley having fun without fucking using it for some other contrived purpose. It could change everything.
Okay... so... that's what I wanted to say. That's what's been on my mind. A slightly unrelated problem is that we still haven't really seen the kids make any mistakes. You learn from mistakes, not from Cory Matthews shoving lessons in your face. Especially when it comes to romance.
To quote the immortal Alan Matthews, "You're supposed to date around, that's how you find out who you're compatible with." And I don't want to hear any excuses about high school or age differences. Season 2 of Boy Meets World is seventh or eighth grade, despite being at a high school, that is canon, they are the same age as Girl Meets World in season 2. Like I was saying (and like Alan said) you learn so much about yourself from your romantic mistakes. You learn in The Beard, and Sister Theresa, and Boy Meets Girl, and Pairing Off, Turnaround, Cyrano, Breaking Up Is Really Really Hard To Do, Fear Strikes Out, Notorious (with Desiree), even By Hook or By Crook a little bit. THAT IS ALL IN SEASON 2! Season 2 is the "dating" season of Boy Meets World. Maybe the reason I like it so much is because of how much I've learned about myself and how much I've grown as a person as a result of my (mostly) failure with women.
We were so close to hitting that note with Charlie Gardner, and that's why we were all excited about him in the first place. But the best we got was a reference to a date that happened off camera and I'm honestly not convinced Riley grew or learned a damn thing about herself from the Charlie arc other than "I like Lucas." And maybe that's the most disappointing thing of all.
I don't think there's much reason to do a Looking Forward. Do the shit I just talked about and bring Shawn back.
Woah, not that Shawn.
Slightly related, check out this interview with Rider talking about his new movie. http://ktla.com/2016/03/18/365040/ Man, Rider is just the coolest guy.
And I'd like to say, to my esteemed colleague Christian, regain your strength for season 3. I urge you to revisit your second comment thread on my Epilogue post. In particular, "In Season 1 for GMW I slacked off when I got busy or disappointed in the quality or just lazy. You never did. And this kind of endeavor needs that level of devotion. You were a shining example of how a blog like this need be run." Be the shining example you want to see in the world.
Nailed it.
ReplyDeleteIt goes beyond "having fun" to just plain "being human," really. Everyone in this show is a cardboard cutout, even Cory and Topanga on most days.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the main reason GMW is lackluster is because the writers lack self-awareness. Boy Meets World was a great show, but it was an incredibly flawed show. It had problems. And those problems have just amplified in Girl Meets World. Every time I complain about GMW, I get someone telling me, 'Well, BMW had the same flaw.' Yeah, but BMW didn't have that flaw up to 100 like GMW does. And the writers should have learned from their flaws. GMW lacks the subtlety BMW had, and BMW wasn't even subtle! I also feel like those fans who idealize BMW and treat if as if it was Shakespeare are the ones the writers are noticing, and why they think they're doing a good job with GMW. Every time I see the writers interacting with the fans on Twitter, it's always some fan with the name RowanSabrinaForever or something like that.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me most is whenever I complain about GMW, people call me a hater or negative or whatever, and I'm not. I complain about this show because I want it to be good. I want it to compare to Boy Meets World, the show I love so much, but it doesn't. I have completely lost interest now. I don't rewatch the show. I've seen BMW about a dozen times. But I've only seen the second half of S2 of GMW once. The last episode I watched more than once was Semi-Formal (I think?). I haven't even seen Legacy. I've been saying "I'll get around to it" for the past two weeks and I still haven't done it yet. I skipped Fish, World of Terror 2 and Communism with no intention to watch them. It's just sad that new episodes featuring Cory and Topanga are being made, and I'm completely uninterested.
This is my first time commenting. I've been following since Boy Meets World Reviewed and I'm really enjoying this. Hopefully Christian hasn't completely lost interest, because I enjoy the banter between you two. Without this blog, I honestly don't know if I would still be watching GMW.
Since you guys did me a favor in creating this blog, I'm going to do you guys a favor in getting you hooked on another TV show. Freaks and Geeks. It's another high school comedy. It only lasted 18 episodes, but it is still one of the greatest television shows ever made. And Linda Cardellini is the lead role. That alone should inspire you to watch it. Watch it. It's on Netflix (hopefully you have it), watch it! At least watch the pilot, I promise you will not regret it. Maybe post your thoughts about it in the off-season.
Sincerely, Anon Guy.
Delete"Freaks and Geeks" is fantastic. There's an emotional honesty that's so rare in television.
DeleteI'm with you on this one, I can't remember a GMW episode I've re-watch ed more than once but BMW on the other hand. I've been rewatching BMW for about a decade now. Ever since it came on Disney Channel in 2000 I have a love for the series just anyone who's been watching since it was on ABC. I definitely remember finding out in 2012 when they announced a sequel to BMW was coming to Disney Channel because I had previously watched the WHOLE BMW SERIES in the summer of 09 and also I was about to stop watching Disney as a whole but the interest of the sequel brought me back to the channel. Hopefully this show can pick back up in season 3 but if not I don’t see a season 4 happening.
Deletethe main girl meets world episodes that i re watched were the ones with shawn and eric in them. i love boy meets world i think iv watched every episode i million times. i hope season 3 of girl meets world is good :) maybe if they make it to season 4 they will change to the freedom channel or something
DeleteI'm not sure if you're the first person to think that, Sean (in fact, I believe you or Christian said something very similar in the season one review), but you're definitely on the money. These kids don't do ANYTHING together outside of talk about why they're friends and go to school and learn about things. Even when they go to Topanga's or sit by the bay window, it's mostly out of convenience for whatever it is they are up to that week. In season two, I still feel like I barely know about these characters and what they like to do. That's really saddening because scenes like them just going to the movies or watching TV would add a lot to the dynamic between the characters.
ReplyDeleteUnknown and I are currently working on our own review of season two, and I'll be writing it with what you said in mind. I would love for you and Christian to keep going and share your opinions with us. Do it for the culture.
Elegant. Good word for it.
ReplyDeleteHi Milestones. Cryptid here.
DeleteLast time we spoke, my friend, you were well into Season Six. How goes your search to Meet the World?
Also, my father told me what the plot of "The Graduate" was. He apparently did not remember Bill Daniels being in it. He also told me what the Simon and Garfunkel song "Mrs. Robinson" meant. It did not mean what I thought it meant. I am going to be teased about this for the rest of my life.
Cryptid, my young friend, I crossed the event horizon at work a week or so ago and had to suspend my BMW odyssey. I made it as far as the unpromising early episodes of Season Seven. Might have made it further, but the Community Season Six DVDs showed up and asserted priority, those episodes not previously being available for viewing up here, and least not legally (and even if I were inclined to piracy, posting comments on this blog represents the upper limit of my computer savvy).
DeleteFortunately, I did watch the wedding episode, so was able to bookmark it on a high note.
Regarding "The Graduate," the song and the movie aren’t as tightly connected as you’d think. It was work in progress that was adapted for the soundtrack, the title changing to match the character’s name. And it wasn’t finished then. What you hear in the movie is different than the record they later released. That was something else I had forgotten.
Cryptid456 here, computer is in the shop still. Poor thing's practically in a coma.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Sean. Really, really right. I don't think I've agreed this much with you in the entire year you've been here. These kids just don't have very much fun. Which is bizarre, considering how much fun Cory and Shawn and Eric had. Topanga didn't have much fun, but it was her job to make sure Cory and Shawn didn't accidentally destroy themselves.
The closest we got to fun here, I think, may have been "Brother." Riley invited Maya over to watch some...I think they said it was a sci-fi soap opera...thing. A "Firefly" expy, perhaps? And Riley and Auggie play Pirates. It was sculpted to fit the plot, but it still felt genuine.
There are plenty of structural problems with the show, but more than anything else, it's missing a soul. And a huge part of a soul is leisure. And ironically, I think it's gotten worse in Season 2, which is especially jarring, considering the acting has gotten so much better.
Also, I can no longer read the words "bay window" and not think about this show.
oh yeah I forgot about playing pirates. season one is all a blur to me.
DeleteStill Cryptid.
DeleteThere was also Sneak Attack, where the kids, including Farkle, watched Mr. Googly while they ate their breakfast.
And Popular established Farkle as a sci-fi fan. But that episode is the most frustrating for me.
I had never thought about it Sean, but you're absolutely right. These kids aren't even realistic kids. They don't talk about sports, movies, go shopping, or even in the middle of a romantic angle, boys/girls. I really hope that high school fixes this. They can't keep off screening the social stuff that makes kids, well kids. They're basically guided robots at this juncture.
ReplyDeleteHave them win tickets to a Knicks game. Make that the entire episode. Show Riley being a psycho fan and how the others don't see that side to her often. Make it so over the top that she gets tossed out of Madison Square Garden. That would a be a fun episode for the sole reason of being a fun episode. We need that to break up the serious ones. I feel like they bring up Maya's artistic talent only when they want to. Maybe have an episode with just her trying to find a place to draw. A little thin, I know, but could have some fun comedy in it. Or, how about we see Lucas actually in a sporting event at school. Something that gives us a peak in to their actual daily life that doesn't involve the Bay Window. I just want something that will be an actual change of pace.
I like the idea of her being psychotic sports fan, but not her getting tossed out. That'll eventually lead to some lesson about controlling your temper using the Battle of Waterloo or Nikla Tesla experimenting with X-Rays. She just cheers and chants and taunts the players and refs. Later she becomes the cheering section for one of her friends doing some dumb shit that isn't sports related, inappropriote for the setting, and she's kicked out. Maybe carried out in a comical fashion.
DeleteThis may be off topic but I wanna know you guy's opinion on this ranking by EW.com ranking Girl Meets World 11th on the 25 Best Disney Channel orignal series of All time. I don't know if Sean will agree or disagree after reading this blog. Link to slideshow: http://www.ew.com/gallery/best-disney-channel-original-series/2530233_best-disney-channel-original-series-all-time
ReplyDeleteAmerican Dragon: Jake Long at Number 23? This list sucks.
DeleteAD:JL definitely should have been in the Top 5. I love Lizzie, but it didn't deserve #1. That honor should have went to either Even Stevens or Kim Possible.
DeleteAnon Guy
CORY IN THE HOUSE
DeleteOVER AMERICAN DRAGON? PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
I didn't watch most of these shows, but I'm glad Raven is up high.
Gravity Falls and Good Luck Charlie should rank higher than GMW. Gravity is more clever than any of these shows (there's a reason it had a huge adult fanbase) and Cory and Topanga will never share a simple moment/plot like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmvc95KJVo
DeleteThis list of garbage! Half of these rankings are ridiculous!
DeleteSean.
ReplyDeleteSpot. Fucking. On. I award you 50 points.
I've realized why this show sucks. We don't see these kids do ANYTHING fun. We don't see THEM anything. They sit at their fucking bay window. Riley and Maya cry. And Lucas just sits there. I don't care about these characters because they suck. I've taken shits more interesting than these kids.
In Season 1, there were a few episodes where they had fun. Popular-despite Cryptid's hatred of it-showed a party...but it relied too much on BMW callbacks...Smackle...Rilaya give Smackle a make-over...That was actually decent...World of Terror..Haven't seen it. Heard it blows. Any fun had is disgarded.....Brother-Pirates are fun. I will fight anyone who says otherwise....Game Night...whiny Cory? Oh God, next......looks like First Date. Wow. That's like 5 episodes? That's atrocious.
Season 2...Demolition...Billionaire ex machia? Garbage. New World? More garbage. Awkward date. Cory wasn't awkward on his dates. Why is his kid so bad at it? Secret of Life...Water fight but it wasn't very fun. Pluto was fun cuz Shawn and Cory reunited with Feeny...Tell-Tale Tot? Sneak out-good! Creepy crush on Uncle Josh-Yawn. Rules was stupid. Yearbook and Semi Formal...Both them epseically Semi-Formal were great. Then came the "After School Specials"...nope, nothing. Tower of Terror 2. NOPE! Rah-Rah? Fun...but it was a plot device. Texas Part 1? Probably the best episode of the series when it came to fun. Texas Part 2-Kids go out and they actually do stuff!! Yes! Then....nothing. Wow. So that's like 10 episodes total where they have fun and half the time when they have fun, the episode sucks.
This show needs to make me want to hang out with the characters. Otherwise, why are we watching? For Cory, really. Topanga is non-existent. Shawn's been in like 4 episodes total. That's not enough. I never believed for a second this show would be anywhere near as good as Boy Meets World was because simply, no William Daniels, no Will Friedle. I'm only watching the show for this blog's community. That's all I got for now.
Oh, and Corey Fogelmanis came to my town yesterday. One of my friends at one of the other television stations (that's right, I'm just like Eli. Except I don't go on camera) met him. Says he's a nice kid.
rider strong prefers to direct than act in girl meets world we will see him in girl meets upstate in season 3
DeleteYes, I only watch GMW because it's a sequel of BMW. I miss the BMW casts, so I watch it. I only watch it for Cory and Topanga, and every episodes that has Shawn and Eric in it. The kids in GMW are really just so boring, they don't even do ANYTHING. All they ever do is "bay window" and "talk" and "cry", but nothing else besides those.
DeleteAlso, Riley. This girl HAS NO STORY at all! Her character was "supposedly" being like Cory, but sorry man, I have to say, she hardly has nothing in common with Cory. Other than her quirky, neurotic, bubbly, status quo, and insecure personalities that are similar to Cory, everything else, she is not close to being the "Cory" at all. Cory was not shy nor he was awkward to dating or talking to his dates and crush, aside from the time he had to ask Topanga out in the first episode of Season 3. Cory was not all so "good boy", he rebel at times, he fight and argue with his parents sometimes, he went against his parents and didn't listen to them sometimes, he broke rules sometimes too, he was even a slacker too, and he even once was a bad influence to Shawn for the first time too when he peer pressured Shawn into drinking alcohol that he stole it from his father's basement, he plays sports, he's good with things he do, and as he grew into his young adult age, he did more mistakes too. I mean, Cory had A LOT of eventful stories in BMW, but Riley, GMW is basically about her but she has NO STORY at all. WHAT IS SHE GOOD AT? WHAT ARE HER GOALS? She never rebel, even when she tried, people around her aren't even convinced, not even her parents, which was the opposite of Cory, at least Cory didn't get doubts from his peers when he actually did something wrong or when he hardly obeyed his parents. Cory was also not a ray of sunshine like Riley. I mean, what are the common things she actually have with Cory other than her quirky, neurotic, insecure, good girl (but she's TOO GOOD), status quo, bubbly, awkward, and her good family life, and was invited to the geek party? I mean, her life is I would say, even better than Cory, his self, because Cory's life wasn't so perfect, he was just a normal "average" kid, always confused with many things, he slacked off in half of his school years and just began to worked hard on his school work in his junior and senior years of high school, he caused troubles before and rebelled before, he's not a book smart, he wasn't awkward with girls, in fact he was smooth. He's what you called, a Cool Loser. He's good with any sports. He was not as innocent, not as pure, and not as naive as Riley. Riley need to break rules sometimes. She needs to find what's out there. She needs some hobbies! And how could she be so awkward with her crush? Even Cory wasn't! How could she even be Cory and Topanga's kid?! Even her parents had more interesting stories than she ever have, well, Cory, in this case, but yeah, it's Topanga's job to make sure Cory and Shawn didn't accidentally destroy themselves or fall off.
And Maya. As for a "bad girl", we don't see her do anything wrong! Aside from her having her dysfunctional family life, she hardly do anything far like Shawn ever did. Her life is actually not as broken as Shawn's life was. Also, all her interest was art, but Shawn had to do everything to find his true interest, and it took him almost his whole high school year to finally find it. But all she did was art, what if there are other things out there that she's good at other than drawing. She's also good at singing, why won't she try that out too to see if that would fit her or not.. I also saw in one episode where she might be good with basketball too since she could throw the ball into the beaker in the science class. She needs to prove more of her "bad influences".
DeleteThese kids need to have fun! And they need to experience more things outside of the world, instead of always having Cory Matthews shoving his lessons in their faces without them experiencing it on their own. I mean, that's what BMW did, why won't GMW do that too? This is why GMW cannot compete and cannot be compared to BMW. BMW had more realistic experiences and life, and impact to it, and the characters were more realistic and had more stories in them, also they had more FUN.
This thread is actually really depressing. It's a shame what this show has turned to (or what it never was--fun).
ReplyDeleteBrother is one of my favorite episodes because it shows the Matthews family--NO MAYA!--interacting and there's no classroom lesson scene as the cherry on top. And we do see Riley and Maya being fans of this weird sci-fi show. And Auggie's plot isn't irritating.
This seems to be an unpopular opinion but I also liked Demolition a lot? Cut out the resolution (when Crazy Hat lady comes in) and it's a very good episode. Lots of genuine laughs and--look! No classroom, Farkle, or Lucas! Brother had no Lucas and barely any Farkle.
I don't hate Lucas and Farkle, but when I see Riley, Maya, Farkle, and Lucas as a group, I just see them as a group of classmates. Because that's all we see. And obsessed with love/philosophy... Yawn.
Honestly, I think the show has been overpraised on Twitter by fans with names like "RileyxMaya" "RucasLover" that the writers /think/ they're doing this right, but they're... not. It's really a shame.
Cryptid here,
DeleteUp until the ending, I actually think Demolition is a perfectly fine episode. I like Riley and Maya getting into trouble, since even setting aside that Riley pretty much says she often plays dumb for Maya's sake, Riley is easy to fool.
And I like Cory trying to get them out of trouble. And pretty much making it worse, because he's Cory. It's not like he's savvy enough to exploit loopholes.
I like Topanga yelling at Riley, because it actually is deserved. When Cory gets moralistic, sometimes it feels like he's making a mountain out a molehill. But here, Topanga has every right to bring down the Wrath of God on Riley, who quite frankly, really blew it.
I even like the idea of Topanga being outfoxed by Aubrey and her abuse of the loopholes, because they're loopholes. There's only so much a parent, even a really smart one, can protect you from. Sometimes, you'll make a mistake that Mom and Dad can't make go away.
Really, it's the ending. What should have happened? I'd say Topanga drags Riley back to Demolition to make the returns, and Aubrey insults Riley. Topanga goes full-on Mama Bear. Or at least something along the lines of "Riley, even though you made a mistake, I still love you. You're still my little girl and nothing will ever change that. Oh, and you're grounded until you're Feeny's age."
I despise Lucas, largely because he's the most defining aspect of Riley's story and now Maya's story. But I don't mind Farkle--I can buy that he and Riley and Maya are friends. And let's give credit where credit is due--Michael Jacobs deserves IMMENSE credit for allowing Farkle to have an arc rather than leave him as the comic relief that never ever changes.
I see what you're getting at, and I definitely agree. However to say they *never* are seen having fun is not quite accurate. There is the water fight scene in Secret of Life. I think the scene all resonated with us because it was a scene that we needed to show that these kids are real people, and then nothing like that was done again.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you gotta go for the drama over the accuracy. Plus, being slightly wrong tricks people into commenting about how I was slightly wrong.
DeleteI honestly couldn't think of any scenes, but I figured there'd be at least a few.
Hi. AirbendingBookworm123 here. I only stick around with the show because the kids I babysit love the show (they're eight and ten) and the fact that I am a bit curious to see what's up with this show.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem was definitely nailed when it was said that the four central characters don't have fun, at all. I was in eighth grade several years back (two or three, can't remember exactly) and though my own middle school experience is my own, I can say that the amount of drama to fun ratio, those numbers should be switched.
Seriously. Middle school was not that drama packed, it was more hysterical. Life didn't also go around love triangles-- in middle school, I did encounter those, but they were very low-key and didn't span this long. Kids actually had a life outside of school-- sports clubs, theatre, music lessons, the library. Let Riley have an actual lesson alone with her fam-- okay, never kind, that idea tried and failed before. Heck, I miss the subway train somewhat from Season One because at even though the characters rose the subway to get to school, it gives their surrounding of NYC more depth, like they actually went out.
Speaking of season one, the character actually seemed to have fun. BMW (I watched the episodes that used to circulate on before ABC Family turned into Freeform) was more relatable, and I'm not a 90s baby. And, no, I haven't seen all the episodes, so my knowledge on BMW isn't that great. If season three were to go up a notch of what we had of the two previous seasons, then this is one thing that needs to happen.
Okay, what about the theme, growth? There literally was very little growth this season. The only person out of the four which I saw some growth was Farkle. There should have been a more substantial arc for each character rather than this love triangle. It's kind of like a novel series-- the characters should each have their own goals and whatnot, yet all we receive are caricatures. Some of the best novels have a romance SUBPLOT, not having it as the actual plots. Maya paints, Lucas does sports, Farkle's interest lies in science...
(Had to split it because of the character limit)
DeleteBut that's it. Their personalities need to be more defined. Yeah, Farkle likes science, but specifically, what kind? What's the sport Lucas is best at? They can't be that bland or generic. Riley's supposed to be the lead, and besides her happy and rather naïve (to the point where she looks like a lunatic) personality, we get nothing. Give the characters their own troubling plots that don't just span one episode, and no I don't mean that crappy love triangle. Bring someone like Missy back to get Riley to fend for herself and grow. Let Riley become more independent and self-reliant on Maya. Let's see the characters get into actual trouble and see Mama Bear Topanga emerge again. Ooh! Or maybe get them each to be caught up in an after school activity that makes it more difficult for the four to hang out and slowly drift away, while they all try to get back together (okay, probably not an over spanning plot, but that could work for an episode).
Also, tying back quickly to my point about the kids having fun and Cory's lesson. Cory can be in the episodes WITHOUT the writers integrating him as a teacher in. Every. Single. Episode. You want a lesson for the fun episodes? Let the lesson be while lessons are important, but they don't appear in everything. Sometimes, you just have to enjoy life and have fun.
Show and tell has been a big problem, but I think that you all hammered down that subject already, so I'll just leave it be...
I'm kind of scared for season three because there should be growth. High school isn't all about "feelings" (they seem to allude to the romantic sort seeing how the writers have ended season two) and everything relating to that. If they're going to go with feelings, they should go more with the types of feelings you get in friendships or family members, and less of the romantic ones. Topic wise, I'm not sure what they should cover, because a lot of the more adult themed stuff isn't allowed on Disney Channel. But if they need to, have them approach more fleshed out topics regarding to friendship.
The writers really need to stop looking through their nostalgic all "look-I'm-so-great" colored 3D glasses that are distorting their vision, because they're still stuck in this dreamlike fantasy running around in circles. Nothing in this show feels genuine anymore.
I have more thoughts, but that's all I can muster for now.
You are definitely not the first person to say this. IMDB users, including myself, said the same thing a few weeks back.
ReplyDeleteThey simply need to stop with the damn lessons already. Not every episode was Mr. Feeny teaching the kids something as much as people try to say that now. Some episodes were just Cory and Shawn doing dumb stuff and they either learned something from it or they didn't.
i think people are focusing way too hard on the "never been said" thing. the point is that no one used the word "fun" in the comments here that i can remember.
Deleteshawn hunter and katy will be in girl meets upstate not sure what other episodes he will be in and i think we will most likely get to see Eric to in season 3. im hoping to see Morgan i dont understand why she wasnt in season 2 when Micheal Jacobs said she would be. im also hopping for a mr turner and shawn to be in and episode together and mr feeny and eric too. i would also like the to see alan and amy more they were only in one episode in season 1.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree. The show can work just fine in plenty of episodes, but it keeps trying to hard and forgets some key elements to making an actually memorable product....But it's still better than Jessie or whatever.
ReplyDeleteCryptid456 here. My regular computer is still in the shop.
DeleteI think you have a good point--this show probably misses more than it hits, so to speak, but when it's good, for the channel, it's phenomenal. "Yearbook" and "Semi-formal" are two of the best, if not the best, episodes of their archetype--yearbooks and school dances--that have ever aired on Disney Channel.
Two of my favourites too, Cryptid. Seems like a long time since GMW has been that good.
DeleteMan, I love that first gif. Shawn spent his childhood living in a trailer park and is able to see the potential in cory and topanga's place. Perfect use of his character to teach a life lesson.
ReplyDeleteMe too lol It was awesome that they had Shawn talking it out to Cory's complaint there. That's right, for someone who spent his childhood living in a trailer park finally living in a nice place, he totally understand Cory and Topanga's situation there the best out of all. Well, it was Cory and Topanga's chance of experiencing living in a not-so-good place then, to understand Shawn's life living in a trailer park since his whole childhood to half of his teenage years.
DeleteSo, Will Friedle tweeted this
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to one of the best mentors any young actor could ever ask for. Thank you @MrBillDaniels. Here's to many more wonderful years.
Awww.
Heh, I did say something a bit similar. I said they never actually do stuff and experience things, in stead pretty much all they do is talk. =P
ReplyDeleteNice post though. And true. I hope it will get more realistic as they go to high school.
DeleteBtw they sometimes chill at Topanga's, but that place needs something more than coffee, some games or sth for it to count.
Wanted to say, my wife and I started streaming Season 2 as a "back ground" show, and there are some issues.
ReplyDeleteBoy Meets World is clearly flawed, and at times, obviously bad, from beginning to end. It's hard to not watch it with a sense of nostalgia, and there are some parts that clearly don't hold up.
That being said, Boy Meets World was a show on Prime Time that was made for families to watch, and typically featured the 90's cliche of a "moral" a'la Full House.
Girl Meets World, has the presentation value of modern Nickelodeon/Disney channel shows, that take place in bright stages with bright clothing, and nothing is really made in an attempt to "move" the audience.
We're watching this episode where Riley and Maya get "ripped off" at a store, but the lesson is that the girl doing her job at the consignment shop is the evil one and your billionaire friend will bail you out? I feel that BMW would have ended with Cory working his debt off to the store. Riley on the other hand, has an emergency credit card that she abuses the power of and is taught what? To be mean to people with jobs?
We also have the really off putting episode where Maya expresses her feelings to the older uncle of Riley (his name escapes me) and all the college girls surrounding her support her. THIS IS NOT OK.
And the episode where Topanga inherits a bakery? What the hell was this? Do people not understand that lawyers make good money?
This is a show starring women that doesn't seem to be interested in being progressive with its cast.
I completely agree with you guys, when analyzing this show by itself, it seems very lesson heavy and we don't see much of characters in a different kind of set up. Looking at this show in context, however, I see that it there is a lot of pressure on it which is why it is lesson heavy. It wants to stand out in juxtapose to other Disney Channel shows out there. I have a little cousin whose 13 and I watch shows with him, and it is obvious to me at least that most other shows aren't as relatable or impactful to him as this one. When he wants to watch something fun and goofy, he was other shows he watches to get that fix.
ReplyDelete