Boy Meets World

**Boy Meets World** is a live-action television series created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly. The series premiered on September 24, 1993 and aired for seven seasons until May 5, 2000.

## Plot

Cory Matthews is a witty eleven-year-old middle school student who speaks his mind and has an interest in sports. He shares a love-hate relationship with his sixth-grade teacher and neighbour George Feeny, and often finds himself in trouble during class. Cory's relationship with his older brother Eric becomes strained when Eric's obsession with dating girls, which is a foreign concept to Cory, begins to take precedence over the time they spend together. Cory shares a strong bond with his parents, Amy and Alan, and his younger sister Morgan. His classmates include his best friend Shawn Hunter, the intelligent Stuart Minkus, and the nonconformist Topanga, who he gradually begins to develop feelings for.

In the second season, Cory, Shawn and Topanga begin high school and are taught by Jonathan Turner, 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, who he learns is Shawn's half-brother. Throughout the season, Shawn develops a relationship with a new student, Angela, 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 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.

## Episodes

See Also: List of Boy Meets World Episodes

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Ben Savage as Cornelius A. "Cory" Matthews
* Will Friedle as Eric Randall Matthews
* Lily Nicksay as Morgan Matthews (Season 1-2)
	+ Lindsay Ridgeway as Morgan Matthews (Season 4-7)
* Rider Strong as Shawn Patrick Hunter
* Danielle Fishel as Topanga Lawrence (Season 2-7)
* Lee Norris as Stuart Minkus (Season 1)
* Betsy Randle as Amy Matthews
* William Russ as Alan Matthews
* William Daniels as Mr. George Feeny
* Anthony Tyler Quinn as Mr..Jonathan Turner
* Alex Désert as Eli Williams
* Matthew Lawrence as Jack Hunter
* Trina McGee-Davis as Angela Moore
* Maitland Ward as Rachel Kimberly McGuire

### Recurring

* Linda Cardellini as Lauren
* Blake Clark as Chet Hunter
* Daniel Jacobs as Joshua Matthews
* Ethan Suplee as Frankie Albert "Frankie the Enforcer" Stechino
* Blake Sennett as Joey "The Rat" Epstein
* Danny McNulty as Harvey "Harley" Keiner
* Adam Scott as Griffin "Griff" Hawkins
* Peter Tork, Michael McKean and Mark Harelik as Jedidiah Lawrence
* Annette O'Toole and Marcia Cross as Rhiannon Lawrence
* Jason Marsden as James Marsden
* Bob Larkin as Janitor Bud
* Bonnie Bartlett as Lila Bolander
* J. B. Gaynor as Tommy

## Production

### Development and Casting

Boy Meets World was created to air on the TGIF programming block which had been airing on ABC since 1989. The series was created by Michael Jacobs, who produced Dinosaurs for the same block. Jacobs was approached by a Disney executive after the conclusion of Dinosaurs, to write a new series for the 12 to 14-year-old demographic. Jacobs noticed how other sitcoms focused on the oldest child of a family, which led him to create Boy Meets World with the middle child as the central character.

Ben Savage was already under a contract at ABC at 11-years-old and Jacobs chose to include him in the series, which became known as The Ben Savage Project. Jacobs wanted to work with William Daniels, but Daniels was apprehensive about acting in a sitcom and initially rejected the offer before asking for the pilot to be re-written. Daniels had threatened to quit, and told Jacobs he did not want the role of Mr. Feeny to make fun of teachers, but knew the character would be respected when Jacobs stated it was based on a mentor of his. Rider Strong was the first actor to audition for the role of Shawn and was successful. Strong's older brother Shiloh Strong was shortlisted to play Eric alongside James Marsden and Will Friedle; Friedle secured the role, however, a different actor portrayed Eric in the unaired pilot. Danielle Fishel was not the original actor cast as Topanga, but she assumed the role before the character's first episode; Jacobs also threatened to fire Fishel during the filming week.

In the fifth season, Matthew Lawrence joined the cast as Jack Hunter, Eric's college roommate. Daniels' wife Bonnie Bartlett portrays the recurring role of Dean Bolander, the dean of the university, in the later seasons of the show.

### Writing and Filming

During the writing of the pilot, network executives removed the episode's references to Shakespeare, considering these elements as too mature for the audience. The episode was poorly received at the table read, and Jacobs re-wrote the pilot overnight. Part of the rewrite was to ensure that Mr. Feeny was portrayed in a way that was respectful of teachers and did not make fun of them, at Daniels' request. Strong later commented on the difficult atmosphere of filming on-set, which he described as a "damaging" environment that was cultivated by Jacobs, who had high expectations of the cast. Director David Trainer stated that Jacobs used "emotional manipulation" on the younger cast.

The chemistry between Savage and Fishel led to producers developing a romantic relationship between Cory and Topanga. Jacobs was told by an ABC executive that marrying the pair would be irresponsible, before a favourable Internet poll led to the decision being approved. As the series progressed, Eric's characterization became more foolish and unintelligent to accommodate Friedle's comedic abilities.

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. Bob Tischler served as an executive producer alongside Jacobs towards the end of the show's run.

### Conclusion

In 2000, another series from the TGIF block, 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. By April, production on the seventh season of Boy Meets World had concluded, and Savage was already planning on attending university. The series did not produce a "large-scale" series finale, and there was a possibility the show could return. In the same month, ABC officially announced that the seventh season would be the final season of the show. The hour-long series finale aired on May 5, 2000, in which Cory and Topanga consider moving to New York.

## Release

### Syndication

Boy Meets World reruns began airing on various Fox, WB, UPN, and independent affiliates from September 8, 1997 to September 1, 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 long-time 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..." (due to its depictions of underage drinking) and "Prom-ises, Prom-ises" (whose main storyline involves Cory and Topanga contemplating losing their virginity on the night of their prom), and season six's "The Truth About Honesty" (due to its sexual references). On May 5, 2014, the show temporarily returned to Disney Channel after a seven-year absence to promote Girl Meets World.

ABC Family 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 (though small portions of certain scenes from episodes during the earlier seasons were cut due to time constraints) 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 (instead of having the cast and creators' names shown during the teasers). 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 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.

### Home Video

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (as Buena Vista Home Entertainment) released the first three seasons of Boy Meets World on DVD between 2004 and 2005.

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.

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.

## Reception

Boy Meets World experienced strong ratings for the teenage demographic. However, by the airing of the seventh season, the ratings had declined as the audience for the TGIF block decreased.

### 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 ("Dangerous Secret"'), sexual harassment ("Chick Like Me", "Everybody Loves Stuart"), and underage drinking/alcohol use ("If You Can't Be With the One You Love…").