Boy Meets World


Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom created and produced by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly. The show aired on the ABC network from September 24, 1993 to May 5, 2000, lasting seven seasons.
The show chronicles the everyday events and life-lessons of Cory Matthews. It also stars Cory's teacher George Feeny, best friend Shawn Hunter, brother Eric, and love interest Topanga. The show also features Cory's father Alan, mother Amy, and sister Morgan, while introducing the characters Angela Moore, Rachel McGuire, Jonathan Turner, Eli Williams, and Jack Hunter during its later seasons.

Synopsis

Series overview

Season 1: Middle school

The first season begins with Cory Matthews and his best friend Shawn Hunter, two average sixth-graders. They do not care about schoolwork, despite the efforts of their longtime teacher George Feeny. Initially, their main interest is sports, though later Shawn and then Cory begin to express an interest in girls. This season focuses specifically on Cory's relationships with the other characters in the show. He begins to understand his parents more and respect them for all that they do. His relationship with his elder brother Eric becomes confusing as Eric's constant obsession with girls is foreign to Cory, and he becomes more protective of his younger sister Morgan. Cory begins to show interest in Topanga, a smart outsider in his class, though he often hides this by insulting and berating her. Cory and Topanga have known each other since they were kids, making romance in their relationship even more predictable. Cory and Shawn's friendship is tested for the first time, and Cory must often choose between doing what Shawn wants him to do and doing what is best for their friendship.

Seasons 2–5: High school

During the second season, Cory, Topanga, and Shawn start high school and meet Jonathan Turner, an unconventional English teacher. Although they initially view Mr. Turner as cool, they soon realize that he is a teacher above all else, which earns him the nickname "Feeny with an earring" from Cory. Throughout the second season, Cory and Shawn try a variety of ways to become popular with their classmates. In doing so, they nearly get into fights with school bullies and in trouble with Mr. Feeny. Eventually, though Shawn becomes more popular, he maintains his close friendship with the less popular Cory. Shawn's mother Virna deserts her son and husband Chet, which upsets Shawn greatly. Chet then leaves to find Virna. After this occurs, Shawn lives briefly with Cory and his parents, but soon figures out that it's just not the right fit for him, and later moves in with Mr. Turner. Cory tries at some points to begin a relationship with Topanga, but this is mostly because he does not want to be left out of the dating game. Sensing this, Topanga is wary of his advances, and despite the mutual attraction, the two do not date during this season.
During the third season, Cory finally admits that he wants to ask out Topanga but cannot work up the courage to do it. Consequently, his best friend Shawn asks her out. Although Cory was hurt, he soon realized Shawn set the whole thing up so he could unite Cory and Topanga and make Cory confess his feelings for her. He tells her how he feels, and they become a couple. Later in the third season, Cory and Topanga are worried that their relationship has hit a rut, and decide it would be best to break up while they are still able to keep the friendship. They get back together a few months later when Cory follows her to Disney World to win her back. Eric spends this season desperately trying to make up for his first three years of slacking off in high school. He makes progress, but it is not enough; he is not accepted to any colleges or universities as of his high school graduation. He decides then to take a year off and figure things out, beginning with a summer road trip. After finding out in the season finale that Cory feels estranged from him, Eric invites Cory along for the ride. Shawn nearly makes several life-changing blunders this season, but Cory and then Mr. Turner help him to make the right choices. Cory endures several tests of character this season—everything from being credited for a great deed, to being insistently pursued by another girl while he is with Topanga. Sometimes Cory makes the right decision, and sometimes the wrong one, but he learns from each.
The fourth season opens with Cory and Eric's return from their road trip. In this season, Eric finds himself confronted with life after high school. After having a couple of jobs and meeting people that teach him some interesting lessons, Eric decides to retake the SAT and give college another try. The Matthews' patriarch Alan decides to quit his job and open a sporting goods store with Eric as his partner. Topanga's mother is transferred at her job to Pittsburgh, which is over from Philadelphia. The news devastates Cory, but Topanga runs away from her new house and returns to Philadelphia. Topanga's parents decide that she can live with Aunt Prudence in Philadelphia until she graduates. Shawn's mother returns for a brief period but then leaves again under unknown circumstances at some point between season 4 and season 6.
Later that school year, Mr. Turner gets into a severe motorcycle accident in which he almost dies. The next year Eric moves out of his parents’ house and begins college at the fictional Pennbrook University. He moves into an apartment with Jack, who turns out to be Shawn's half-brother. Shawn clearly shows his hatred toward Jack and refuses to live with him because he was upset that Jack never called or checked to see if Shawn and his dad were doing okay. However, after being convinced by his father and others around him, Shawn moves in with them but finds he has nothing in common with Jack, which causes a lot of tension. A new student, Angela, moves to Philadelphia and begins to date Shawn. Over winter break, the students go skiing on a school trip. Cory sprains his ankle and Lauren, a ski-lodge employee, takes care of him. The two kiss, but Cory lies to Topanga. When Topanga finds out that he lied, they break up. Cory, upset about the break-up, gets drunk and is arrested, along with Shawn. The two agree never to drink again, but Shawn breaks the promise and shows up at school drunk. With the help of Angela and Jack, Shawn realizes that alcoholism runs in his family and that he needs to stop drinking.
Topanga forgives Cory after encountering her own kiss with an old friend from grade school. She realizes no kiss means more than the ones she shares with Cory. Cory and Topanga reunite and attend the prom together, where they are named King and Queen. On prom night, Cory's mother Amy announces that she is pregnant. Mr. Feeny decides to retire at the end of the school year and move to Wyoming; however, he soon returns from retirement and goes back to teaching. Topanga is accepted to Yale, but Cory does not want her to leave him. At graduation, Topanga tells Cory that she decided not to go to Yale because she wants to be with him; then she proposes. The couple's parents are upset that they got engaged so young, but Cory and Topanga decide to elope. However, at the last minute, they decide that they want to get married "the right way," in front of family and friends.

Seasons 6–7: College

Shawn, Cory, Topanga, and Angela join Jack and Eric at Pennbrook. Rachel McGuire, a new student from Texas, moves in with Eric and Jack, causing tension as both boys have crushes on her. Angela and Shawn break up due to his claim that they should meet new people and, despite Cory's efforts, decide to stay just friends. They eventually are brought back together by way of Angela's father during his visit to the college, recruiting students for his R.O.T.C. program of basic training in the army. Mr. Feeny returns to take some classes but then is offered a teaching job at the university. During their freshman year, Stuart, one of their professors, makes inappropriate—and unwelcome—sexual advances towards Topanga, causing Cory to shove him through a glass door at the Student Union. Cory is suspended but for only one day; the Dean believes that Stuart had crossed the line. Mr. Feeny and the Dean eventually gain feelings for one another and begin dating.
Cory and Topanga face a major obstacle in their marriage plans when Topanga's parents go through a divorce, and she decides to call off the wedding. She breaks up with Cory completely and tells him that she doesn't believe in love. Topanga is convinced that she is doing what is best for herself and Cory until her mother comes to explain everything and tell her that love is worth the risk.
Chet dies of a heart attack, and Jack reacts by admitting feelings for Rachel. They start dating, which causes problems for Jack and Eric. Crushed, Eric decides to move out of the apartment so that he doesn't get in the way of Jack and Rachel and later sleeps in Mr. Feeny's car. Shawn goes on a road trip to deal with his father's death, saying he won't come back. He does return however when the new Matthews baby, Joshua, is born prematurely and has a small chance of survival. Shawn receives a letter from his mother, confessing she is not his biological parent. Shawn unsuccessfully searches for his biological mother. Alan offers to adopt Shawn, but he decides that it was not necessary because Shawn knows that he is already part of the family.
Shawn and Cory have challenges in their relationship throughout the season, including on the day of Cory's wedding. Shawn admits that he is no longer Cory's best friend and gives him away to Topanga. Despite this, their friendship remains intact, but Topanga sometimes feels left out. Cory and Topanga get married and move into a shabby apartment for married couples on campus. They struggle for a while, wondering why Alan and Amy refuse to help them, but Alan later admits that he didn't want to deprive of them of the joy and bonding that comes with building a life together when you're new to marriage. They eventually make it a wonderful home and realize that they are capable of doing things on their own as a married couple. The group is growing up—they have to start thinking about what to do with their lives. In one episode, the newer friends get involved in a prank war with the originals which ultimately results in an ill-considered prank that exposes a very private secret of Rachel's. The friends are almost completely torn apart by all of this, until Eric and Mr. Feeny intervene by reminding them of the importance of their relationships and, as a result, everyone makes up.
In the series finale, Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric all head to New York City, where Topanga has been offered a dream internship at a law firm. Angela decides to move overseas with her father, and Jack and Rachel join the Peace Corps in Guatemala. The final scene has Cory, Topanga, and Shawn having a final meeting with Mr. Feeny in their old sixth-grade classroom, along with Eric, with each one telling him how important he is in their lives and to cherish each other forever.

Characters

Theme music and introductions

Boy Meets World used a number of theme songs and opening title sequences over its seven-year run. Season one was the only season of the series that incorporated the names of the main cast and series creators within the opening title sequence, while those credits were shown along with the credits for producers and that episode's director and writers during the show's cold open for the remainder of the series. Every episode of seasons one and four through seven utilized a single theme song for every episode; however, the entire second season and part of season three used various instrumental themes composed by Ray Colcord. This practice ended with "The Last Temptation of Cory" as one of the cycled themes became the sole opening title music for the rest of that season. The final theme, written and performed by Phil Rosenthal, of the band Twenty Cent Crush remained for seasons five through seven, though the visuals changed from seasons 5 to 6 to include Trina McGee-Davis and Maitland Ward.
ABC Family was the first network since ABC to show all the accurate introductions for each of the show's seven seasons. For the broadcast syndication and Disney Channel airings between 1997 and 2007, the opening title sequence from season four anachronistically replaced the title sequences for the first three seasons, while the opening titles for seasons four through seven were kept intact.

Philadelphia references

It is one of many television shows to take place primarily in the Philadelphia area and makes multiple local references. These include Cory's love for the Phillies and Morgan often wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jacket. Eric mentions that he and his father always talk about the Eagles, 76ers, Flyers, and Phillies, the four major sports teams in Philadelphia, and his attempts to be accepted into Swarthmore College—finally ending with Cory and most of the cast attending Pennbrook.
The name of John Adams High School is an homage to William Daniels' long-running role in the Tony-award-winning Broadway play 1776, in which Daniels played Founding Father John Adams.

Syndication

currently handles the syndication rights to the series.
Boy Meets World reruns began airing on various Fox, WB, UPN, and independent affiliates from 1997 to 2000. During the latter month, Disney Channel assumed syndication rights, with the series running on the cable channel until 2007. To the consternation of some longtime fans of the show, Disney Channel edited many episodes that contained scenes with suggestive content deemed inappropriate for the channel's target audience of 7- to 14-year-olds. All 158 episodes aired during the series' initial run on the Disney Channel, however, due to the adult subject matter and complaints from parents, Disney Channel omitted three episodes from later airings: season five's "If You Can't Be with the One You Love..." and "Prom-ises, Prom-ises", and season six's "The Truth About Honesty". On May 5, 2014, the show temporarily returned to Disney Channel after a seven-year absence to promote Girl Meets World.
ABC Family has aired Boy Meets World from June 21, 2004 to August 31, 2007 and again from April 12, 2010 to December 2, 2015. Though the network in a way inherited the syndication rights to the show from Disney Channel, the episode prints broadcast by ABC Family differed from those seen on Disney Channel and in broadcast syndication as it incorporated scenes cut from the Disney Channel broadcasts and featured the three episodes that Disney chose not to air, incorporated each season's corresponding opening title sequence, and restored the placement of the teaser scenes during the season one episodes to running before the opening titles in the manner that they were shown in the original ABC telecasts. However, the program was dropped once ABC Family was rebranded as Freeform. The series also began airing on MTV2 since November 14, 2011, again with the original opening title sequences intact.
On April 18, 2016, Nickelodeon's sister channel TeenNick began airing the series. The series, TeenNick's only acquired program as of 2017, airs as a lead-in to the channel's classic programming block, NickSplat.
Internationally, reruns of the series have been broadcast on Canada's YTV, Family Channel, and ABC Spark; the Canadian version of ABC Family. In Brazil, the show was aired by SBT and Disney Channel Brazil until 2005.
On September 29, 2017, Boy Meets World became available for streaming on Hulu along with fellow Disney–ABC television properties Dinosaurs and Home Improvement, in addition to fellow TGIF programs Family Matters, Full House, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Perfect Strangers, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Step by Step. On April 11, 2019, It was confirmed that Disney+, a new streaming service owned by Disney, will be carrying the series upon its November 2019 launch.

Cultural impact

Angela's interracial relationship with Shawn was a relative rarity for a major network television show targeting youths at the time. Trina McGee-Davis once remarked that the typical reaction she received from young fans regarding the relationship was overwhelmingly positive and encouraging, often inquiring as to when the characters would reconcile after a breakup. She expressed her personal wish that her character's relationship would serve as an example of color blindness for the world, in lieu of a less positive reaction a similar relationship had received on Ally McBeal at the time.
Eric and Shawn both wore a popular 1990s hairstyle called curtained hair.
The show also addresses the cultural issues of child abuse, sexual harassment, and underage drinking/alcohol abuse.

Home media

released the first three seasons of Boy Meets World on DVD between 2004 and 2005. Because the sales figures did not meet the company's expectations, no further seasons were released. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print.
On August 4, 2008, it was announced that Lionsgate Home Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series. They subsequently re-released the first three seasons on DVD on September 7, 2010, with the same special features from the original releases. Season 4 was released on December 7, 2010. Season 5 was released on May 3, 2011. Season 6 was released on July 5, 2011. Season 7 was released on October 4, 2011, completing the series' run on DVD. Ultimately, Lionsgate was able to release all seven seasons in almost a year's time. All seven seasons of the series are available for download at the iTunes Store.
On November 5, 2013, Lionsgate released Boy Meets World: The Complete Collection on DVD in Region 1. The 22-disc set features all 158 episodes of the series as well as new and previously included bonus features from the original sets.
DVD nameEp#Release dateBonus features
The Complete First Season22August 24, 2004
Re-release: September 7, 2010		Bonus Episode from Season 4: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow & Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew
The Complete Second Season23November 23, 2004
Re-release: September 7, 2010		Bonus Feature: "Fear Strikes Out" Video Commentary & Audio Commentary with Cast and Crew
The Complete Third Season22August 23, 2005
Re-release: September 7, 2010		"The World According to Boy" Pop Quiz – Answer these quiz questions correctly and you'll graduate from John Adams High with honors
The Complete Fourth Season22December 7, 2010
The Complete Fifth Season24May 3, 2011
The Complete Sixth Season22July 5, 2011
The Complete Seventh Season23October 4, 2011
The Complete Collection158November 5, 2013Boy Meets World: Back to the Beginning featurette, Boy Meets... World Fandom Featurette

Awards and nominations

Sequel series

In November 2012, Disney Channel announced that it had greenlit a pilot for a sequel/spin-off series, Girl Meets World. This series picks up nearly fifteen years after Boy Meets World ended, and follows Cory and Topanga's daughter Riley as she navigates the challenges of her adolescent years along with her best friend Maya.
Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel reprised their roles as Cory and Topanga, while several other cast members from Boy Meets World made recurring appearances, most prominently Rider Strong, Will Friedle, Danny McNulty, Lee Norris, and William Daniels. Michael Jacobs returned as showrunner. Girl Meets World ran three seasons before being canceled in 2017.