Now, let me just say that by no means is Girl Meets World the worst thing put on tv. There are a few good moments, which I will get to later.
The first major problem I have with Girl Meets World is the channel that it's on. Watch a Disney Channel show that's been made in the past decade or so, and they're pretty much all the same. You automatically know a Disney show when you see one, from the styling of the show to the over the top/hokey antics that occur in them. Most of the characters are the same, trust me you can pull a character out from one show, drop them in another, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Plus, let's admit it, most of the child actors on Disney now are...well, not that good...or maybe they are, and it's just the material they're working with.
The reason I bring this up for Girl Meets World is that I don't think it is going to have as much substance as if it were on a different channel. I could be wrong, since it's only been a few episodes, but I don't feel like they're going to have those kinds of dramatic scenes and episodes that Boy Meets World had. Even, though I don't really like the original shows on it much better, I feel like Girl Meets World would be better on a channel like ABC Family, because I think they'd be able to take more risks with the show.
It's easy to see that GMW is not actually aimed at the 20s/30s crowd that grew up on BMW, even though I can guarantee that most of the people who watched the episode were in that demographic, which is maybe why a lot of what happened in the episodes wasn't actually very funny. So, I went back and re-watched the pilot episode of BMW, because the show started out with the characters in middle school too. Let me tell you, BMW's pilot episode still stands.
Since this post is titled Boy VS Girl Meets World, I suppose I should start on the VS part.
ROUND 1. PLOT
(I'm only going off the pilot episodes for this)
BMW: The pilot episode of BMW centers around love. Cory's class is learning about Romeo and Juliet while he's listening to the Phillies game, and relaying what's happening to his best friend, Shawn. He's caught by Mr. Feeney who gives him detention. Eric, Cory's older brother, gets a date with a girl that he likes, and decides to take her to the Phillies game, rather than Cory, which leads Cory to 'move out' and into the tree house. Being a sixth grade boy Cory's doesn't understand the importance of love. He believes that it's turned his family against him, hence his moving into the tree house. It's not until he's in detention with Mr. Feeney that he starts to grasp just how important love is." I live on the other side of the fence from you, Cory. And it’s impossible not to face your direction and notice people in the next yard. And in the time I’ve gotten to know them, it is apparent they are fine individuals. But their real strength comes from being a family. And do you know why they’re a family, Cory? Because at one time, a man and a woman realized that they loved each other. And pursued the unlimited potential of what may come from that love. And here you are! There is no greater aspiration than to have love in our lives, Mr. Matthews. Romeo knew it and died for it. Others know it and [pause]… prepare salads. And those who don’t know it will sit in detention for the rest of their lives. This particular detention is over." After this Cory decides to move back into the house, and even encourages Eric to call the girl he likes, after feeling like he was a bad date. From the pilot episode I don't think Cory, or any of us, knew just how important love would become over the years to the characters of the show.
GMW: The pilot episode of GMW centers around being true to yourself. It starts out with Riley, Cory and Topanga's daughter, and her best friend, Maya talking about sneaking past Riley's parents to go on the subway. They decide to climb out the window, only to be stopped by her dad aka Cory. He tells her that she's still living in his world, but he wants her to go out and make it her own. While on the subway Riley claims she wants to be exactly like Maya, so after seeing a cute boy, Maya pushes Riley towards him, and she literally falls into his lap. At school we learn that Cory is a history teacher, US History I believe from looking at the text book, and that the boy on the subway is a new student from Austin, Texas, named Lucas. It's also here that we meet Farkle, a boy that has a crush on both Riley and Maya, and whom I'm fairly certain is Minkus' kid. Cory, or Mr. Matthews in this case, gives the homework assignment of writing a 3 page essay on any topic, but it has to be something they believe so strongly in that they'd fight for it. Maya states that she fights for no homework. She leads most of the class into chanting "No homework more freedom" before she, Riley, and a few of the other students walk out of the class. The next day at lunch Lucas comes to sit with the girls, and Cory acts the way most fathers do when their daughters get into that 'liking boys' stage. In his class Maya tells 'Mr. Matthews' that she didn't do her homework, and Riley claims not to have done hers either, because she's 'just like Maya now' to which her father informs her that that doesn't make them the same. Maya tells everyone who did the homework to take their essays out, which she collects, and then proceeds to try and burn with a sparkler from Farkle's diorama. The sparkler gets too close to the sprinkler, setting them off in the class. Cory gives Maya detention, to start with, and when Riley tells him she deserves it to he lets her know that, "No, you don't. You didn't do anything, and because you didn't do anything your friend is in very deep trouble" and shortly after that she'd been trying so hard to be Maya that she'd forgotten to do the best thing for Maya and be herself. The two girls believe that he's going to make Riley stop seeing Maya, so Riley and Maya go to her house, where she tells her father what she believes in fighting for is her friendship with Riley. The episode ends with them in the subway station, Riley getting her own subway pass. A symbol that she's going to go out and make the world her own. The way love seemed to become an over all theme for BMW, it's easy to see that the breaking away and finding out who you are is more than likely going to be an over all theme for GMW, and understandably so.
THE WINNER
Boy Meets World
The reason I choose BMW over GMW here is because of the way that the theme of the plot was handled. In essence both themes are good ones, the importance of love, and the importance of finding out who you are, and staying true to yourself, are both valuable lessons that both kids and adults need to learn. However, in BMW Cory learns his lesson in a believable way as opposed to the over the topness of GMW. Real life younger siblings often do feel abandoned by their older ones, once that grade gap hits. (In BMW's case middle school vs high school...wanting to goof off and play sports vs girls.) How many times as a kid did you threaten to run away? Now, let me ask, how many times you staged a walk out of your classroom because you didn't want to do homework? How many times did you attempt to burn homework essays with a sparkler? I'm guessing none. I get it, Disney Channel, these things are supposed to be 'funny' but one thing that made BMW so good was that it was relatable. Even as an adult one can go back to BMW and relate to a feeling of abandonment by people we're close to because of love. It might not be family, but it could be friends getting married, having kids, and leaving the part of their life that included you, behind.
Also, while there were other characters involved in the pilot episode of BMW, such as Eric and Mr. Feeney, it was still mainly focused on Cory, whereas I feel that the pilot episode of GMW focused a little more on Maya than it did Riley. This isn't to say that there weren't BMW episodes focused more on Shawn, but not the first one.
ROUND 2: CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
(for the sake of this I will be using relationship focus when it comes to Cory and Riley, since they are the center of their shows)
BMW: While throughout the seasons the Cory's relationship with his friends becomes more and more important, the major relationship focus in the beginning is the one that he has with his family. The pilot is mainly about the relationship he has with his brother. I feel like the focus in BMW is more on family because back in the 90s it seems like people thought family was important. Think of all the family centered shows that came on in the 90s. BMW, Full House, Step by Step, Family Matters...and these were shows that were actually geared towards family, and had many of their main characters being kids. We see Cory interact with every member of his family, dad, mom, Eric, and Morgan, his little sister. In just the 30 minute pilot we get a small glimpse into Cory's relationship with each one of them, and each is given their just amount of time.
GMW: The major relationship focus of GMW seems to be the friendship side of it, mainly the friendship between Riley and Maya. We can probably assume that they've been best friends since elementary school, same as Cory and Shawn. Riley is the goofy/awkward one that usually does what she's told, while Maya is the cool one that's a bit of a rebel. It seems like from the pilot episode that their relationship is going to majorly consist of Maya either talking Riley into doing something, or Riley having to figure out how to get Maya out of a situation.
We do see Riley interact with other characters mainly her father and Lucas, who I'll get to in a little, but we rarely see anything between her and her mom, Topanga, and her little brother, Auggie...honestly, you could completely forget she has one in the pilot.
THE WINNER
Boy Meets World
Yes, once again BMW beats GMW in this. Obviously I've seen more episodes of BMW, and I know the relationships from that show a lot better, but once again I'm only looking at the pilot episodes. Also, once again, the reasoning behind this verdict is not the relationships themselves, but rather how they are handled. The interactions between Cory and the others on BMW seems to be a bit more natural. They seem like conversations one might have had growing up. The relationships make more sense to me, and I don't feel like anything is being forced.
The opposite is true for GMW. I felt like the main relationship focus, Riley and Maya, was being forced down my throat. We barely know these characters and already we're supposed to not want their friendship to be threatened? We're already supposed to be rooting for them? It took seasons of development for the love of the Cory/Shawn friendship to become what it is. The audience needs to get to know the characters better before an episode about possibly having to lose your best friend takes place. It makes it more meaningful.
The next point I have isn't a VS category per se, but rather another problem I have with GMW. I feel like GMW is trying too hard to be BMW. Not with the plots per se, but rather with the characters. Maya is obviously the female Shawn knockoff, and Lucas is the love interest, aka male Topanga. There wouldn't be anything wrong with this, except the fact that Maya seems a little too much like Shawn in some aspects, such as it became easier for Shawn to talk to girls than Cory (it's easy for Maya to talk to boys), or the fact that they both seem to come from homes where their parents aren't really around.
Then there's Lucas...Lucas, isn't actually a bad character, but he's there for one thing and one thing only...for Riley to have a crush on. From the first time she lays eyes on him, she has a crush. In the third episode she's jealous of a girl who likes Lucas too. Maybe sixth grade girls think differently now than when I was in sixth grade, but it just seems ridiculous that after just seeing a boy one would be completely gaga over them. Also, I want to point out that, like the Riley/Maya friendship, the Riley/Lucas thing is being pushed in your face. We all know that at some point Lucas is going to ask Riley on a date....with Cory and Topanga it wasn't that obvious. It had its hinted moments, but it was such a good steady build up that when it finally happened it was like, YES! What made it even better was how at the beginning Cory just saw Topanga as that weird, hippie girl. While Lucas first appears in the pilot episode, we actually don't see Topanga until the fourth of BMW.
With all this being said, there are some good things about GMW.
1. Cory and Topanga: This is the most obvious one, but the C and T relationship is still strong, and the on screen chemistry between Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel is still as strong as it was all those years ago on BMW.
2. Cory as a teacher at Riley's school: I like to see that Cory followed in Mr. Feeney's footsteps and became a teacher. The scenes between Cory and Riley at the school are some of the better ones, and it's going to be interesting seeing how their relationship at home will effect things in the classroom and vice versa. Plus, Cory is cute when he's in 'dad' mode when it comes to Riley and Lucas.
3. Farkle: My god, Farkle. He's the character that is actually meant to be annoying, but still he's probably my favorite of the GMW original characters. He's the new Minkus...what more is there to say? I just hope they don't toss this character aside, and actually develop him past being what he is right now.
4. Jackee Harry as a guest star. She was one of the best parts of the pilot, and I hope they bring her back for more episodes, even if it's just scenes on the subway.
5. The fact that they will be bringing in characters from BMW from time to time to help bridge the gap between BMW and GMW.
6. GMW is still trying to teach the lessons that BMW taught us, but for the next generation.
So, yeah, all in all I feel that GMW has some obstacles it needs to over come. It needs to stop trying to automatically make us care about these new characters, rather than developing them and letting it happen naturally, and I do hope that they aren't afraid to have more serious episodes, rather than just the hokeyness that Disney Channel is known for these days. Already, the other episodes have been a little better than the first in some aspects. If it can keep up with this, and doesn't succumb to what it means to be a stereotypical Disney Channel show, then I think maybe it'll stand a chance.
P.S
The best part of the GMW pilot was definitely the Mr. Feeney cameo
GMW: The pilot episode of GMW centers around being true to yourself. It starts out with Riley, Cory and Topanga's daughter, and her best friend, Maya talking about sneaking past Riley's parents to go on the subway. They decide to climb out the window, only to be stopped by her dad aka Cory. He tells her that she's still living in his world, but he wants her to go out and make it her own. While on the subway Riley claims she wants to be exactly like Maya, so after seeing a cute boy, Maya pushes Riley towards him, and she literally falls into his lap. At school we learn that Cory is a history teacher, US History I believe from looking at the text book, and that the boy on the subway is a new student from Austin, Texas, named Lucas. It's also here that we meet Farkle, a boy that has a crush on both Riley and Maya, and whom I'm fairly certain is Minkus' kid. Cory, or Mr. Matthews in this case, gives the homework assignment of writing a 3 page essay on any topic, but it has to be something they believe so strongly in that they'd fight for it. Maya states that she fights for no homework. She leads most of the class into chanting "No homework more freedom" before she, Riley, and a few of the other students walk out of the class. The next day at lunch Lucas comes to sit with the girls, and Cory acts the way most fathers do when their daughters get into that 'liking boys' stage. In his class Maya tells 'Mr. Matthews' that she didn't do her homework, and Riley claims not to have done hers either, because she's 'just like Maya now' to which her father informs her that that doesn't make them the same. Maya tells everyone who did the homework to take their essays out, which she collects, and then proceeds to try and burn with a sparkler from Farkle's diorama. The sparkler gets too close to the sprinkler, setting them off in the class. Cory gives Maya detention, to start with, and when Riley tells him she deserves it to he lets her know that, "No, you don't. You didn't do anything, and because you didn't do anything your friend is in very deep trouble" and shortly after that she'd been trying so hard to be Maya that she'd forgotten to do the best thing for Maya and be herself. The two girls believe that he's going to make Riley stop seeing Maya, so Riley and Maya go to her house, where she tells her father what she believes in fighting for is her friendship with Riley. The episode ends with them in the subway station, Riley getting her own subway pass. A symbol that she's going to go out and make the world her own. The way love seemed to become an over all theme for BMW, it's easy to see that the breaking away and finding out who you are is more than likely going to be an over all theme for GMW, and understandably so.
THE WINNER
Boy Meets World
The reason I choose BMW over GMW here is because of the way that the theme of the plot was handled. In essence both themes are good ones, the importance of love, and the importance of finding out who you are, and staying true to yourself, are both valuable lessons that both kids and adults need to learn. However, in BMW Cory learns his lesson in a believable way as opposed to the over the topness of GMW. Real life younger siblings often do feel abandoned by their older ones, once that grade gap hits. (In BMW's case middle school vs high school...wanting to goof off and play sports vs girls.) How many times as a kid did you threaten to run away? Now, let me ask, how many times you staged a walk out of your classroom because you didn't want to do homework? How many times did you attempt to burn homework essays with a sparkler? I'm guessing none. I get it, Disney Channel, these things are supposed to be 'funny' but one thing that made BMW so good was that it was relatable. Even as an adult one can go back to BMW and relate to a feeling of abandonment by people we're close to because of love. It might not be family, but it could be friends getting married, having kids, and leaving the part of their life that included you, behind.
Also, while there were other characters involved in the pilot episode of BMW, such as Eric and Mr. Feeney, it was still mainly focused on Cory, whereas I feel that the pilot episode of GMW focused a little more on Maya than it did Riley. This isn't to say that there weren't BMW episodes focused more on Shawn, but not the first one.
ROUND 2: CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS
(for the sake of this I will be using relationship focus when it comes to Cory and Riley, since they are the center of their shows)
BMW: While throughout the seasons the Cory's relationship with his friends becomes more and more important, the major relationship focus in the beginning is the one that he has with his family. The pilot is mainly about the relationship he has with his brother. I feel like the focus in BMW is more on family because back in the 90s it seems like people thought family was important. Think of all the family centered shows that came on in the 90s. BMW, Full House, Step by Step, Family Matters...and these were shows that were actually geared towards family, and had many of their main characters being kids. We see Cory interact with every member of his family, dad, mom, Eric, and Morgan, his little sister. In just the 30 minute pilot we get a small glimpse into Cory's relationship with each one of them, and each is given their just amount of time.
GMW: The major relationship focus of GMW seems to be the friendship side of it, mainly the friendship between Riley and Maya. We can probably assume that they've been best friends since elementary school, same as Cory and Shawn. Riley is the goofy/awkward one that usually does what she's told, while Maya is the cool one that's a bit of a rebel. It seems like from the pilot episode that their relationship is going to majorly consist of Maya either talking Riley into doing something, or Riley having to figure out how to get Maya out of a situation.
We do see Riley interact with other characters mainly her father and Lucas, who I'll get to in a little, but we rarely see anything between her and her mom, Topanga, and her little brother, Auggie...honestly, you could completely forget she has one in the pilot.
THE WINNER
Boy Meets World
Yes, once again BMW beats GMW in this. Obviously I've seen more episodes of BMW, and I know the relationships from that show a lot better, but once again I'm only looking at the pilot episodes. Also, once again, the reasoning behind this verdict is not the relationships themselves, but rather how they are handled. The interactions between Cory and the others on BMW seems to be a bit more natural. They seem like conversations one might have had growing up. The relationships make more sense to me, and I don't feel like anything is being forced.
The opposite is true for GMW. I felt like the main relationship focus, Riley and Maya, was being forced down my throat. We barely know these characters and already we're supposed to not want their friendship to be threatened? We're already supposed to be rooting for them? It took seasons of development for the love of the Cory/Shawn friendship to become what it is. The audience needs to get to know the characters better before an episode about possibly having to lose your best friend takes place. It makes it more meaningful.
The next point I have isn't a VS category per se, but rather another problem I have with GMW. I feel like GMW is trying too hard to be BMW. Not with the plots per se, but rather with the characters. Maya is obviously the female Shawn knockoff, and Lucas is the love interest, aka male Topanga. There wouldn't be anything wrong with this, except the fact that Maya seems a little too much like Shawn in some aspects, such as it became easier for Shawn to talk to girls than Cory (it's easy for Maya to talk to boys), or the fact that they both seem to come from homes where their parents aren't really around.
Then there's Lucas...Lucas, isn't actually a bad character, but he's there for one thing and one thing only...for Riley to have a crush on. From the first time she lays eyes on him, she has a crush. In the third episode she's jealous of a girl who likes Lucas too. Maybe sixth grade girls think differently now than when I was in sixth grade, but it just seems ridiculous that after just seeing a boy one would be completely gaga over them. Also, I want to point out that, like the Riley/Maya friendship, the Riley/Lucas thing is being pushed in your face. We all know that at some point Lucas is going to ask Riley on a date....with Cory and Topanga it wasn't that obvious. It had its hinted moments, but it was such a good steady build up that when it finally happened it was like, YES! What made it even better was how at the beginning Cory just saw Topanga as that weird, hippie girl. While Lucas first appears in the pilot episode, we actually don't see Topanga until the fourth of BMW.
With all this being said, there are some good things about GMW.
1. Cory and Topanga: This is the most obvious one, but the C and T relationship is still strong, and the on screen chemistry between Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel is still as strong as it was all those years ago on BMW.
2. Cory as a teacher at Riley's school: I like to see that Cory followed in Mr. Feeney's footsteps and became a teacher. The scenes between Cory and Riley at the school are some of the better ones, and it's going to be interesting seeing how their relationship at home will effect things in the classroom and vice versa. Plus, Cory is cute when he's in 'dad' mode when it comes to Riley and Lucas.
3. Farkle: My god, Farkle. He's the character that is actually meant to be annoying, but still he's probably my favorite of the GMW original characters. He's the new Minkus...what more is there to say? I just hope they don't toss this character aside, and actually develop him past being what he is right now.
4. Jackee Harry as a guest star. She was one of the best parts of the pilot, and I hope they bring her back for more episodes, even if it's just scenes on the subway.
6. GMW is still trying to teach the lessons that BMW taught us, but for the next generation.
So, yeah, all in all I feel that GMW has some obstacles it needs to over come. It needs to stop trying to automatically make us care about these new characters, rather than developing them and letting it happen naturally, and I do hope that they aren't afraid to have more serious episodes, rather than just the hokeyness that Disney Channel is known for these days. Already, the other episodes have been a little better than the first in some aspects. If it can keep up with this, and doesn't succumb to what it means to be a stereotypical Disney Channel show, then I think maybe it'll stand a chance.
P.S
The best part of the GMW pilot was definitely the Mr. Feeney cameo
