Boy Meets World - Season 1
Boy Meets World is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September 1993 and May 2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and family, as he progresses from childhood to adulthood. Episodes chronicle the everyday events of Cory's home and school life; his teacher and neighbor George Feeny (William Daniels) delivers life lessons as Cory learns to cope with social and personal issues of adolescence. Cory has strong relationships with his older brother Eric (Will Friedle), younger sister Morgan (Lily Nicksay), and parents, Amy (Betsy Randle) and Alan (William Russ). Cory's friendship with Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) and romantic interest in Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) serve as central focuses of episodes. Overarching themes include a focus on family and friendships as well as discovering one's identity. Further characters were introduced in later seasons; Jonathan Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn), Eli Williams (Alex Désert), Jack Hunter (Matthew Lawrence), Angela Moore (Trina McGee-Davis) and Rachel McGuire (Maitland Ward).
Boy Meets World - Season 1
Boy Meets World experienced strong ratings for the teenage demographic throughout its seven seasons, and it was later syndicated on Disney Channel. Several cast members were nominated for Young Artist Awards. Savage and Fishel reprised their roles as series regulars in the spin-off Girl Meets World, which aired on Disney Channel from 2014 to 2017, and depicted Cory and Topanga as married parents.
In the second season, Cory, Shawn and Topanga begin high school and are taught by Jonathan Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn), an unconventional English teacher, while Mr. Feeny becomes their principal. Cory and Topanga admit their feelings for each other and begin dating in the third season, while Eric is not accepted to any colleges or universities following his high school graduation. The fourth season includes Eric revisiting his studies and Alan opening a sporting goods store with Eric as his partner. Eric begins college in the fifth season and moves into an apartment with Jack (Matthew Lawrence), who he learns is Shawn's half-brother. Throughout the season, Shawn develops a relationship with a new student, Angela (Trina McGee), and Amy falls pregnant. Topanga is accepted to Yale, but rejects the offer to remain close to Cory, which leads her to propose to him at their graduation.
In the sixth season, Cory and his friends begin college, where Mr. Feeny is offered a teaching job. Rachel McGuire (Maitland Ward) moves in with Eric and Jack and they both develop feelings for her; Jack dates her. The new Matthews baby, Joshua, is born prematurely. Cory and Topanga get married in the seventh season and move into an apartment on campus. The series concludes with Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric moving to New York City, when Topanga secures an internship at a law firm.
Boy Meets World was renewed for a fifth season in April 1997.[4] In the fifth season, Matthew Lawrence joined the cast as Jack Hunter, Eric's college roommate.[5] Daniels' wife Bonnie Bartlett portrays the recurring role of Dean Bolander, the dean of the university, in the later seasons of the show.[2]
Jeff Sherman, who was a producer and writer on the show, advocated to include issues such as vandalism and child abuse in the series, regardless of it being a comedy. An episode in the first season, "The Fugitive", discusses the idea of running away from home.[1] Bob Tischler served as an executive producer alongside Jacobs towards the end of the show's run.[7]
Boy Meets World was renewed for a sixth season in April 1998.[8] Sabrina the Teenage Witch, another series airing on Friday nights, was the only other show to be renewed that year. By this time, the ratings for Boy Meets World had decreased by 14% from the last season, and the TGIF ratings had decreased by 17% overall.[8]
In 2000, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, moved from airing on ABC to the WB; by this stage, it was expected that Boy Meets World would also end its run, causing doubt about the future of the block.[9] By April, production on the seventh season of Boy Meets World had concluded, and Savage was already planning on attending university.[9] The series did not produce a "large-scale" series finale, and there was a possibility the show could return.[9] In the same month, ABC officially announced that the seventh season would be the final season of the show.[7] The hour-long series finale aired on May 5, 2000, in which Cory and Topanga consider moving to New York.[7]
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.[22]
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.[35] Season 4 was released on December 7, 2010.[36] Season 5 was released on May 3, 2011.[37] Season 6 was released on July 5, 2011.[38] Season 7 was released on October 4, 2011, completing the series' run on DVD.[39]
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 (Shawn Hunter), Will Friedle (Eric Matthews), Danny McNulty (Harley Keiner), Lee Norris (Stuart Minkus), and William Daniels (Mr. Feeny). Michael Jacobs returned as showrunner. Girl Meets World ran three seasons before ending in 2017.[41]
The first season of the television comedy series Boy Meets World aired between September 24, 1993 and May 13, 1994, on ABC in the United States. The season was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Touchstone Television with series creator Michael Jacobs as executive producer. It was broadcast as part of the ABC comedy block TGIF on Friday evenings. The pilot debuted to ratings of 16.5 million viewers.
At home, Cory's older brother Eric (Will Friedle) is lately more concerned with girls and his appearance than his younger brother. While Eric would evolve into a truly funny airhead/oddball, his character here in Season One is equally compelling and inherently likeable, even if he's quick to tease his younger brother. Cory's parents aren't always around, and they don't always see eye-to-eye with their children, but their genuine parental love comes through in conversations and punishments. Dad (William "Rusty" Russ) is the manager of a supermarket, who enjoys sports and spending time with his children. He's not perfect, but he is a role model to his son, and their relationship makes for some of the more poignant episodes. Mom (Betsy Randle) is a homemaker who also inspires Cory, and she apparently deals real estate on the side. There's also Cory's younger sister Morgan (Lily Nicksay), who provides a great number of laughs by being more than simply young and cute like other sitcoms, though she is both.With "Boy Meets World", there's no absurd twist or silly gimmick to rely on. Instead, the show entertains with its strong writing and well-developed characters. Cory is just an ordinary boy living in an ordinary suburban world like most American children. The viewer quickly embraces him as an everyman protagonist. We care for him and those around him that we come to know.The young leads of the cast feel real and believable, and not like polished actors in a glossy television universal, even if several would become icons in the world of teen magazines. In the early episodes here, they are carried by their charisma and charm.The first season spent a lot of time in the classroom and Mr. Feeny's lessons always were appropriately significant to what was going on in Cory's life. As the firm sixth grade teacher, William Daniels imparts much wisdom and is the moral center of the show. But rather than feeling like forced provider of values, Daniels sparks laughs and awe with his wry delivery and behavior.The family dynamics also ring of an authenticity, without the painless harmony of early television sitcoms and without the brooding overdramatization that marks less believable shows from the past decade or so, and would even negatively affect "Boy Meets World" in its last couple of seasons. At its heart, though, the show is a situation comedy, and in its premiere season, it never wavers from this format. The show manages to be sweet, but not sappy and ponderous but not overdramatic. Not with gimmicks, but with characters you care for, stories that involve, and genuinely funny comedy, "Boy Meets World" lasted seven seasons in primetime. In the years since, it's built an even greater following with those who are only now catching the show in reruns on Disney Channel and most recently, ABC Family.The show simply excels at being an earnest family sitcom, and in its premiere season, it succeeds with mostly realistic situations that spurn comedy and genuinely interesting stories. No matter what elements connect most with the viewer (comedy or characters, school life or family), there's something about "Boy Meets World" that works and works very well. And now, something that I never thought would come. The first season of Boy Meets World on DVD, in its entirety. This three-disc set from Disney provides all twenty-two episodes from the 1993-94 season in high quality, with care and a few enjoyable bonus features.A star () denotes my ten favorite episodes from the season. Disc 11. Pilot (23:09) (Originally aired September 24, 1993)In the pilot episode, Cory feels abandoned when his brother decides to take a girl instead of him to the most important Phillies game of the year and his parents are okay with that. Cory moves to the treehouse and instead of being at the game, he winds up in detention, being lectured by Mr. Feeny on love, and its unrivaled importance in Romeo and Juliet and in life.2. On the Fence (22:16) (Originally aired October 1, 1993)Everyone at school has a water gun except Cory, but when his parents won't buy him one, he looks for a job to raise the money. Cory learns the working world isn't all it's cut out to be, after agreeing to paint Mr. Feeny's shutters. 3. Father Knows Less (23:12) (Originally aired October 8, 1993)Cory's father wakes him up to watch a momentous late-night no-hitter on television. The next morning, Cory falls asleep and fails a test, and both father and son are quick to blame Mr. Feeny for not being more understanding. 041b061a72