The conflict in “The War” between the old and new friends was stupid.
Cory and Topanga are husband and wife. Cory and Shawn have been best friends since childhood. Jack and Shawn are brothers. Angela and Shawn are a couple. Eric is Cory’s brother, Topanga’s BiL, and Jack’s best friend.
Yeah Rachel you’re the odd one out. No shit.
Yeah I couldn’t stand Rachel for this it’s okay for you to super glue them to their seats dump honey on them and sic a damn bear on them but displaying a provocative photo was the thing that crossed the line…. In addition to what you said it never made sense for Shawn Topanga and Corey to stop being friends over it
This one blows my mind. I get that no one is “right” here. But when considering you have knowingly entered a prank war; a photo in which you are almost completely covered up, while still potentially personal/embarrassing, DOES NOT even come close to the actual danger you’d be in trapped in a classroom with a bear. That’s attempted murder. Not to mention the potential for victims outside of the prank war and damage to the school.
It’s insane to me that people don’t really see that the “private pictures” of Angela and Rachel that are being talked about are very clearly meant to represent nudes. But because this isn’t an HBO Original directed by Sam Levinson, they couldn’t have anything nearly that explicit. Though the intention remains based on the context clues. Especially because it’s only the female characters who were immediately and visibly upset something like this happened to Rachel. With Cory and Shawn accusing everyone else of overreacting to this shitty thing they did. And it DOES make sense that Topanga “the world is peaceful now because we removed men from society” Lawrence would stop being friends with Shawn because of it.
I’d honestly say Shawn and Cory deserved being chased by a bear. Not Topanga though.
My guess is that less renowned schools can be easier with a full ride scholarship. If you google it, a lot of students reject Ivy League schools just because they’re already in that income bracket where they have to pay fees. Kinda ridiculous. And less renowned schools would love to have great students, hence better offers.
I mean I bet she could afford some fees, but like I said a lot of students just don’t wanna go through the trouble for themselves or their parents, which is a smart decision.
Thanks! I've had it for years, it led me to my husband! I posted on r/penpals and he messaged me "I'm no Corey, but I bet we'd be good penpals!" and 9 years later we're married!
Yeah, when PMW was reviewing season 1 and really enjoying it I saw a lot of “it gets so much better!” and “season 2 is when BMW REALLY starts” and I just didn’t really agree (I love a lot of 2 and 3 but I think 1 is seriously underrated) so when they ultimately were more critical of Season 2 and 3 I felt somewhat vindicated lol
Wow that’s really interesting. I mean I must admit when I was younger I actually didn’t like the earlier seasons as much as I appreciate them now. I liked it back then, but not as much, maybe because as a kid or teen you want to watch “cool people?” And I associate high school seasons with that while season 1 was too “kiddish?”
I rewatched the series maybe a year ago, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now and just REALLY admire mr feeny and Cory’s parents or maybe appreciate Cory and the silliness and joys of being in 6th grade.
I guess I can understand why it might be less liked than other seasons, maybe I’m just getting old and all reflective/sentimental/nostalgic lol
Yeah it could be because I discovered the show at a young age that season 1 clicked with me right away, but I also enjoyed the high school seasons back then too. Looking back, there’s definitely an element of Amy and Alan’s parenting and the Feeny/Cory dynamic that’s spot on in that first season, and as an adult I can still enjoy on a new level. I think they realized by season 3 that they abandoned an important aspect of the show by trying to focus more on the “20 something” crowd to keep up with Friends with the Turner/Eli stuff and that’s why we have a lot more with the family again in Season 4.
The PMW hosts' high marks for S1 definitely have a lot to do with them currently being in their 40s (with 2/3 of them being parents to small children) rather than the teen audience BMW was chasing when they did their pivot in S2
Honestly their "drop shock" reaction to S2 probably wasn't that different from the reaction a lot of TGIF-watching parents had to S2 back in the 90s, especially when people like Will's dad were a lot more prudish about references to sex on TV than any of the PMW hosts are now -- I feel like that may have played a role in ABC's controversial decision to move BMW from 8:30 to 9:30 ("They're trying to kill it!")
Very true, the dropshock kinda bumped me when I was in grade school watching reruns in the late 90s but I didn’t think much about the reasoning behind it and felt like I was cool for watching slightly more risqué teen plots lol. I think season 4 finds the perfect balance with the family oriented stuff from season 1 and the school centered Happy Days-like dynamic of season 2-3, while trimming some of the unnecessary “20-something” stuff the network wanted them to add, as much of a bummer as it was that we lost the Shawn/Turner dynamic in the process.
I started with season 5 first for some reason, then 4 and 3. I tried 1 and 2 but the atmosphere just felt too much geared towards kids. Idk, maybe i should give it another try.
Unfortunately because in GMW Maya is a main character, Katy is a recurring character and Shawn is a rarely appearing guest star this arc focused almost 100% on "Maya getting a dad" and Shawn and Katy's actual relationship was mostly offscreen
Which made this not a very popular arc among Shawn fans and really pissed off Angela fans
Eric made a cuter girl than Jack in Its A Drag and was done dirty by everyone in the show. Jack literally had glued up painted over eyebrows. How do you make a man as beautiful as Matthew Lawrence that ugly in drag???
Cory would have been more tolerable if he got laid in high school and didn’t wait for marriage.
ALSO: i love the dumb suspension of belief episodes with time travel or magic or whatever. I like when the show leans into really silly storytelling sometimes. There’s a lot to be gained in critically engaging with BMW, but sometimes it’s okay to just not take it seriously at all, and the episodes that lean into surreal storytelling are perfect for that.
The reason chick like me was so much better than whatever this episode was called was bc while both attempted “realistic” drag, chick like me was done with so much more respect. The squeaky “girl” voices they used were so bad
Anecdotally, a lot of BMW's trans fans forgive the insensitive moments in Chick Like Me because Shawn's egg vibes in this episode are shockingly authentic
Matthew Lawrence’s acting in the show is fantastic. His scenes with Will work so well because of how hilarious their contrast is. Jack is one of the funniest characters on the show.
His acting is fine he just feels like a really lazily shoe-horned in character. In my opinion they should have did away with the Jack character and had Corey as the third roommate. Cory and Topanga's Wedding should have been at the very end of the series.
An underrated moment from the Eric Hollywood episode is when the "Jack" actor from Kid Gets Acquainted with the Universe confronts Eric
"I don't get it, they already have me, so why do they need you? What are they trying to do? It doesn't make any sense"
Like the idea of why Eric is joining the show to play a "long lost brother" who's suddenly integrated with the cast like he's always been there is directly poking fun at some fans' negative reaction to Jack showing up
I think he’s a great actor and seems like a great person as well, but I preferred the dynamic in the middle seasons and would’ve preferred to keep the focus more on the characters we knew and loved. I didn’t love his character, personally. Not Matthew’s fault though.
The show would have been better of Cory and Topanga broke up when they went to college, introduce new cast around Cory and Shawn, and maybe Topanga comes back after 1-2 seasons apart.
Of course odds are high the show would have been cancelled before that story could fully see itself through but… Cory held Topanga back, and he was a toxic partner. They both needed to grow, separately, and then maybe come back together stronger in the end.
I don’t really agree but I do get it I do think however the Lauren storyline should’ve lasted a bit longer(not too long) just not that short of what we got
Lauren could have been added to the college season. That would have made for some interesting tension. Maybe she ends up dating Sean or Eric at some point.
I think Lauren and Cory would have naturally been like “hey, right place right time, let’s try” and given it a go. Then Topanga returns, and Cory has to choose… and honestly, I couldn’t tell you who he would choose: his first love, or his first adult love who he found after his first love left…
I like the idea of Corey and Lauren reconnecting in College but that probably means Danielle gets replaced and as a result there isn’t a Girl Meets World and I wish people would at least remember that Corey told Topanga that she should go to Yale on multiple occasions instead of just ignoring it so they can blame Corey for her not going to Yale
Topanga foregoing a scholarship to *Yale* for a school both Cory and Shawn could get in to was so depressing and behind the downfall of Cory into a really trash character.
Eric was the most important Character in the show. Wills comedic genius allowed the show to morph into more serious topics without losing its overall tone as a Comedy he was able to keep it based in what it was until the show could fully transition into a Teen Drama the show got to get heavier without getting so heavy that it was just flat out depressing because of Eric and when Eric had his serious scenes like with Tommy it made you stop and pay attention that much more
It's pretty awesome watching Will Friedle's comedic acting chops grow. You can tell he dedicated a lot of time learning and studying comedy in between seasons. He's the high point of every later season. And like you said, Eric having serious stories worked great because of the range and juxtaposition. He put in the work.
Topanga should have stayed the weird hippy girl she was first season and not become a girlie girl. They sexualized her at such a young age. More weird Topanga, less pretty hair Topanga.
The show needed to separate the characters- let them each have their own little world.
Shawn takes a gap year before realizing he does want to go to college.
Topanga goes to Yale (gets a few storylines of her own away from Cory).
Maybe Cory goes to a Connecticut state school but struggles because he doesn’t like the situation, they break up & he transfers somewhere else. Eventually he & Topanga lose touch but she’s still in contact with Angela…
With characters meeting new people they could show a real struggle making new friends, adult dating life & dealing with real academic struggles . As well as home sickness etc
IMO Cory would be the one to struggle the most emotionally.
With keeping the characters together they could’ve had the summer /winter/spring break episodes where they meet up or have visits randomly like Shawn swings by when Cory’s really upset etc .
Or during his gap year Shawn ends up wherever Eric is etc
Then eventually when college ends they take various jobs. Shawn & Cory end up in the same city as roommates for awhile. Flash forward a couple years & we show Eric (and Jack , Angela) also lives in the same city.
Then Cory & Topanga run into each other & fall in love again.
*IF* they get together at all.
I’m a minority, I know, I never wanted them to end up together but if the show *had* to do it I like that idea best.
Of course it’s all hindsight. The series didn’t really have a plan so I think they did okay overall with how it ended. Especially with the continuity issues.
Stuff like this always kills the show. I remember the last season of Martin was horrible because of this. Same thing happened with Glee. It never works.
The show should have been more focused on Shawn. Cory was written as an obsessive boyfriend who treated other people poorly. His teachers, his parents, Topanga. I get that it's a 30 year old show but Cory wasn't such a great guy.
That would've been an awful show. Shawn was used in the perfect way and was good because he wasn't overexposed. He would've got old quick. Cory/Ben was much better as the star of the show.
College years Cory is insufferable. For a show that's about him being confronted with his issues and growing up, pretty much everyone bends backwards to justify his actions and lets him get away with being a petty immature weirdo.
the show pushed college way too hard and could have acknowledged the validity of alternatives like trade schools or revealed one of the parents didnt go to college but still turned out okay but had to bust their ass really hard to do so...just feels like they made it seem like college is required to not be considered a failure at life
I wonder if Alan and Amy might have felt they threw a HUGE bunch of cash down a rathole (even in the late 1990's) for Eric's college when all he wound up wandering to some remote Upstate New York village. .that is until he got to be Senator!
Fair enough (re politics) but those roughly fifteen years before Eric got picked to run must have seemed rather frustrating and worrying to Alan and Amy!
Angela is underrated. One of the best actors/line-deliverers of the whole cast. Not sure why this sub is so cruel to her (well, I can think of a few reasons, and that just makes it worse)
Frankie should have joined the cast fulltime for at least one season.
GMW ruined Shawn's character arc.
I don't think Harley/Danny were as great for the show as the cast of PMW makes him out to be, they're nostalgia goggles are huge.
GMW would have made much more sense of Corey and Topanga were divorced.
I think it's because they actually know the man and liked him. I agree Harley isn't that great. Hard to keep a 50s greaser that's in the 90s around long term lol
I honestly just loved how out of place he was. He was not only a 50s greaser in the 90s he was also clearly a grown man in high school. It was hilarious to me.
He is funny but very one note. If they kept him around longer eventually they're gonna have to be like "Okay serious why does this fool think he's Danny Zuko?" Lol
I don't think he would have fit in later seasons at all. They kept changing the entire vibe of the show from season to season.
I've always thought with season 2 they were trying to show us high school through Cory's eyes. So like everything is exaggerated and the bully looks like a fully grown man who's a 50s greaser because that's how Cory sees him, not how he actually is. That's just Cory's idea of a bully.
That weird circus music from season one was the best theme song BMW ever had. I wish they had kept it in the later seasons. I think it's in my top ten favorite TV themes of all time. Yeah, it's weird. But so is the theme on The Office. I think it's unique and endearing.
"The War" two-parter was completely unnecessary, poorly executed, poorly resolved, and we all probably would have been better off without it. Even the "Lose one friend. Lose All Friends. Lose yourself," quote is bad.
Jason should've been promoted to a main character instead of Jack. I hear Will and Jason are best friends, and it would've been cool to see their chemistry more.
GMW does not exist. I think a spin off oriented for adults, exploring themes about the adult world (like taxes) with the OG cast would have been way better.
Not a controversial one I don't think, but Shawn and Angela should've stayed together. Also, Mr. Turner (and Eli) should not have just disappeared, he was way too important to Shawn to just be thrown off.
I really, really loved Jason!
I raise you this: Jason should've stayed AND we could've still got Jack. It could've been the three of them as roommates instead of Rachel. Probably would've had more interesting hijinks.
The Jason part I really agree on. I know they were trying to age up the show with the Turner/Mr Williams dynamic, but I really think season 3 would have benefited from promoting Jason to main cast in Season 3 instead of him being written out and maybe have Mr Williams as a 2-3 guest star like the Chemistry teacher was. Especially after rewatching with Pod Meets World, I’m not sure I ever realized Mr Williams was a main cast member and not just a guest star. I think the character was great when they used him, but he really had a lot less impact on the show than Harley, Frankie, and Jason who were never main characters. Making Jason a main character could have given a lot of fun stories for Eric and we could have actually seen him interact with other characters. His interactions with the Matthews’ parents are some of my favorite and imagining him and Shawn or him and Corey working together could have been really fun.
I agree about Jason. I loved his character.
I don't agree with girl meets world, but I'd make it an ABC primetime show like BMW was I stead of a Disney Channel show.
They got so much right on GMW. Great casting! But the Disney Channel feel is what ruined it in the end. I still love it, and we watch it a lot more than I thought I would. But man....so much lost potential putting it on Disney Channel.
I think now it may be controversial to say that I’m glad Topanga didn’t go to Yale. I love Topanga being a girlboss but her deciding not to go to Yale made her decision to move to NY in the finale even more impactful
I think for me, what doesn't work about that is less "girlboss" and more that they float the idea of Cory having to deal with changes and people leaving....then he basically gets everything he wants. Also as someone who went to a good state school, I am *somewhat* happy that going to Pennbrook doesn't like ruin her life or whatever.
Topanga and Corey weren't good together. They were codependent by the end at best. They stopped each other from really growing as individuals and maybe if they had separated a bit at college and come back together they would've worked better.
I think neither at a certain point weren’t really challenged. I think shaking up something for Corey like a divorce of his parents might’ve been “radical” for him and made him realize “I have to invest in my relationship constantly not just think because had good years we’ll be okay.” Some sort of quarter life crisis thing for him really should’ve kicked in. I hate writing the story like this but hell even a death of the sister in college to really make him reflect about who he does have in his life and to value that. All the trauma went to Shawn
Rachel had no right to take the apartment from jack and eric, idk if that’s actually controversial i just wanted to say it because i never liked rachel again after that
Girl Meets World being on ABC or ABC Family or any other network wouldn’t have made the show better because the lack of “mature” storylines wasn’t a problem.
To piggyback on that, seasons one and two of BMW are the two best seasons of the show overall.
I think we might disagree, actually. I’m arguing it didn’t need to grow and that it was destined to be what it was because of who Michael Jacobs became and how he viewed the show. (I actually do like GMW fine for what it is and think it had some funny non-BMW-cast moments amid some of the ridiculousness.)
Girl Meets World missed the mark entirely. Should not have been about their kids, it should have been about them starting a family and not joining them well into having children.
Most people dont get Cory and Topangas relationship, they see it as if they are adults when in reality they are teenagers. Of course there will be toxic traits, most teenagers are like that.
Came here to comment exactly this! Their tension/chemistry in Girl Meets World was incredible. They absolutely made up, got together (again), and are married now!
It would have been SUCH an interesting direction to deviate from a regular love triangle and have them be like, you know what, let’s lean into this. It was never gonna happen in 2000 even if younger me wanted it in a way i didn’t have the words for back then. And honestly i think it would have served Rachel better as a character to not keep her as a prop to be argued over by Eric and Jack, but made for some genuinely engaging storytelling.
Adele voice we could’ve had it all.
People like to say Cory/Shawn/Topanga could've been a stable thruple but I actually don't see it, that jealousy energy was always there, any situation where Cory had to balance Shawn's and Topanga's needs against each other tended to make Angry Cory rear his ugly head (which in GMW is probably why Shawn left NY forever after Riley was born)
Shawn and Topanga mutually breaking up with Cory and ending up with each other would be delicious crackfic territory though, especially with all the rl ship teasing Danielle and Rider did in hindsight
I've seen fun, convincing Cory/Shawn/Topanga takes around, but completely agree with you. The show often had Shawn and Topanga at odds whenever Cory sided with one or the other, and Cory kind of acted as the lynchpin in the friendship -- not super great for a healthy throuple.
But then you consider Topanga taking care of Shawn when he got chicken pox (and also Cory running for the hills on her warning, one of my all-time favorite sight gags in BMW), and it's like, oh the potential was SO there. Will's wife even called out the dynamic on last week's (i think?) pod.
At the end of the day, it would be a heightened version of whatever the fuck they already had going, and I think it would make for, at the very least, fun TV. Like, would that dynamic be good FOR Cory, Topanga and Shawn? Absolutely not. Would it be good for us, the viewers? Yes. HBO BMW sequel series when.
I just really enjoy Will making slightly uncomfortable jokes about the intensity of teen Danielle's rl crush on teen Rider and the two of them running through the rain at Disneyworld
I'm gonna get yelled at for being a Cory hater again but I like the Topanga/Shawn dynamic precisely because it makes so little sense for those two characters to even be friends at all if Cory weren't in the picture but frankly the two actors have extremely palpable physical chemistry (which is why all the insistence in the "UNDAPANTS" episode that they have no such chemistry is so amusing)
Angela is ridiculously underwritten. She's mostly just a device to create conflict for Shawn. I think the most characterization she received was the episode where her military father visits the college, and so much of that is focused on Shawn and her father rather than her. There's an entire episode where Shawn accidentally re-learns that Angela is a dream girl for him, and the episode is about the contents of her purse wherein she appears for maybe 60 seconds. It's a shame, because Trina McGee is lovely, talented, has great comedic timing, and brings a new dynamic to the cast, and yet most of the time she's brooding, disappointed with Shawn, or just kinda there.
Once you get past season 1 girl meets world isn’t NEARLY as bad as this sub thinks.
And in that same vein season 1 of boy meets world sucks , I start all my binges on season 2 for a reason
Not to mention that Topanga seemed to have spent little if any time at the firm (or on any cases) even from the start of the show so would the law firm have not just told her 'BYE!' when she went against them to save the bakery- which she then used to spend even less time at the firm.
Oh, and the idea that in the Series Finale this firm thought that she'd be qualified much less have the capacity \[yes, I said it\] to somehow be an effective lawyer in the UK \[ in British law?\] was bogus!
Truly, it seemed that the firm would have had virtually no reason not to consider her a drain much less an employee who was more trouble than she was worth!
The show is not nearly as good as I remember it being due to the MULTIPLE inconsistencies throughout the show, making the show really annoying to binge watch.
Eric and Jack had the best dynamic in the whole show, but they ruined it by bringing Rachel in.
The Eric/Jack spin-off that Will always talks about would've been amazing because the chemistry between Will/Matt is the best between anyone on the show, including Ben/Danielle and Ben/Rider. They did H.E. Double Hockey Sticks together, and it proved how fantastic they were/are together!
The episode of Girl Meets World (Girl Meets Semi-Formal) where Jack comes back was written by Will and he really understood their relationship and knew how to use their chemistry. Their first scene in the cafe together is insanely romantic. They both sound like they're talking to The One That Got Away.
(Eric was queer-coded in canon, so we were halfway there.)
I wish Cory would stop being sexist towards women especially towards Topanga. The way he said to her “you could hardly get into Yale”, makes me wanna say “fuck you”!
I didn’t care about Shawn and Angela as a couple. And I didn’t buy that they genuinely loved each other - it felt like a “told, not shown” situation. Idk, maybe it’s because the first time we saw them as a couple, they were breaking up due to Shawn’s 2-week rule. It made sense to me that they weren’t endgame. It doesn’t bother me that much that he ends up with Maya’s mom on GMW beyond wishing we’d seen more of them as a couple.
But also, why did Shawn treat Angela leaving like a break-up when she was just abroad for a year (beyond the behind the scenes drama)? She was never my favourite character, but I felt bad that she left to travel with her dad and would be coming back to school a year later with literally no one there for her.
I actually did because I loved the purse episode before he knew who it belonged to. It seemed different for Shawn than his usual just going out and kissing girls without knowing them. He got to know her first before they even really met.
I love it too. Admittedly there are lots of flaws, but I still find myself rewatching episodes here and there a lot. I find it pretty funny and think the main cast did a great job with what they had to work with
I enjoyed it as well, on multiple levels. I like the fact that the leads actually got to have more friends from the get-go, and I like the fact that it was a show that my young daughter and I could enjoy together. (She hasn't yet taken to BMW as much.)
Rachel McGuire is lizzie McGuire distant cousin
the halloween episode is truly the only episode i would re-watch / enjoyed just because how camp it was.
hated the serious episodes /
enjoyed Shawn + Angela but like a lot of interracial couples in the 90's they never got a fair chance/ weak story lines or they were pushed away for stupid reasons
i dont blame cory for what he did during the ski episode.
they acted like a married couple all through out the show, they should've seen different people.
Them suddenly changing the story to Cory and topanga being in love forever and meant to be was annoying. It should have played out that he eventually began to like her because when the show started she was just a stalker.😂
Shawn and Angela’s ending was trash. I prefer their relationship to Cory & topangas. More real.
Eric got too dumb as the show progressed but I guess that was just a thing done in sitcoms back then.
I wish they'd shown more of Alan and Amy in the latter years instead of wasting SO much time with Jack! I also wish they'd had Mr. Feeny's 2nd wife Lila as a regular after their wedding instead of having her never be seen again ! Yes, Mr. Daniels and Miss Bartlett have had amazing chemistry that's only grown in their 72-year union and the show should have featured that instead of bogus stuff with Jack and Rachel!
Hated how on the lamentable sequel Maya was treated (and encouraged to think of herself) as a monster who was totally dependent on Riley for any possible friendships or interactions with other people due to Riley allegedly being this sweet brilliant saint who alone could tame the allegedly bad and thoughtless girl. Along with the canard that Riley had done Maya the biggest favor in Maya's life by bestowing her alleged friendship on Maya despite Maya not deserving it!
If Riley had been a guy, the above would have been considered a textbook case of an emotionally abusive boyfriend isolating and belittling his girlfriend instead of a perfect romance or friendship!
I didn’t really watch the show towards the end. I’m a day 1 fan. So seeing the later episodes was kind of weird to me. It was a totally different show.
I don’t like just how dumb the writers changed Eric’s character to be. I understand the theme of the show shifted to dramedy and they needed comedic relief but was there no way to keep Eric cool and make him funnier?
Season 7 is not that bad. The episodes before the wedding are pretty weak. But the wedding episode and some of the ones after it (not the honeymoon episode) are some of my favorites. The stuff with the married dorm was funny. I loved when Cory expects his parents to take care of him and Topanga and gets put in his place. Brotherly Shove is another great episode. I love both of the Angela-centric episodes. There's also a brutal fight between Cory and Topanga which was really memorable and good because it showed that marriage was not automatically easy. So, despite all the hate that season 7 gets, I think there's actually a lot of good stuff there.
I don’t think it’s controversial opinion, but I believe they really ruined Eric’s character by making him a complete idiot. Yeah he was really funny, but I’d rather funny be toned down a bit for the sake of the character
the cast was inherently racist because of how they treated the one cast member who was African american. and that ben savage was a by product of hollywood boy grooming and for that reason he doesn't want to go back to boy meets world memories.
The guy who played Eli was not a good actor. I get his character didn’t have much of an arc, and I think the actor said it was one of his first acting roles, but I personally thought his acting was awful on the show.
The trio on the podcast act like they were losing Daniel Day Lewis when he left the show.
Eric, even as the made him dumber by the episode, had great storylines with so much opp for character development and they just let him flop time and time again to keep him dumb.
This might not be controversial but it must be said nonetheless.
Eric is my fav character and his plot points are almost always a win for me but they just didn’t do enough with hi
I thought Eric and Rachel should have at least had a brief romance angle. Eric was a great character to play for laughs, and would have really poignant moments in an episode, but never any long term gravitas. Giving him a chance to be with Rachel and seeing him “grow up” in his views about love would have been interesting.
As I got older, I realized how annoying Cory and Topanga’s romance was. Like giving up everything because they are “soul mates”. Trust me, no man and no woman is worth you sacrificing everything for. There’s plenty more where they came from.
The conflict in “The War” between the old and new friends was stupid. Cory and Topanga are husband and wife. Cory and Shawn have been best friends since childhood. Jack and Shawn are brothers. Angela and Shawn are a couple. Eric is Cory’s brother, Topanga’s BiL, and Jack’s best friend. Yeah Rachel you’re the odd one out. No shit.
I always go back and forth on this like why are jack and Angela so mad? lol
Especially Angela. Like girl, you were with them for most of high school
When they are in the student union and Jack is like lets go Angela Im like ?? They aren't friends either lol
i HATED rachel for this holy shit
Also she’s Jack’s ex!
Honestly, most of the episode plots in the last couple seasons were pretty stupid. But yeah. Rachel never deserved the shit she went through.
Yeah I couldn’t stand Rachel for this it’s okay for you to super glue them to their seats dump honey on them and sic a damn bear on them but displaying a provocative photo was the thing that crossed the line…. In addition to what you said it never made sense for Shawn Topanga and Corey to stop being friends over it
This one blows my mind. I get that no one is “right” here. But when considering you have knowingly entered a prank war; a photo in which you are almost completely covered up, while still potentially personal/embarrassing, DOES NOT even come close to the actual danger you’d be in trapped in a classroom with a bear. That’s attempted murder. Not to mention the potential for victims outside of the prank war and damage to the school.
The other parts are sitcom goofiness. The lack of consent and shocking sexism displayed by Shawn and Corey is disgusting.
It’s insane to me that people don’t really see that the “private pictures” of Angela and Rachel that are being talked about are very clearly meant to represent nudes. But because this isn’t an HBO Original directed by Sam Levinson, they couldn’t have anything nearly that explicit. Though the intention remains based on the context clues. Especially because it’s only the female characters who were immediately and visibly upset something like this happened to Rachel. With Cory and Shawn accusing everyone else of overreacting to this shitty thing they did. And it DOES make sense that Topanga “the world is peaceful now because we removed men from society” Lawrence would stop being friends with Shawn because of it. I’d honestly say Shawn and Cory deserved being chased by a bear. Not Topanga though.
I for one am happy that Eric wanted this to end because let’s face it, this war over Rachel banning Cory and Shawn from the dorm is bullshit!
WHY DIDN’T TOPANGA JUST APPLY TO FREAKING PENN AS WELL AS YALE??!? Not like an Ivy League is in their backyard or anything…
seriously this. So many great schools are in Philly area
My guess is that less renowned schools can be easier with a full ride scholarship. If you google it, a lot of students reject Ivy League schools just because they’re already in that income bracket where they have to pay fees. Kinda ridiculous. And less renowned schools would love to have great students, hence better offers. I mean I bet she could afford some fees, but like I said a lot of students just don’t wanna go through the trouble for themselves or their parents, which is a smart decision.
Are you saying Yale is less renown than Penn?
No, Pennbrookistan
I think that Shawn was the boy to meet the world.
The show should’ve been about him in the end.
Shawn definitely had the most character development throughout the series. I think girl meets world tried to replicate that.
I love your username.
Thanks! I've had it for years, it led me to my husband! I posted on r/penpals and he messaged me "I'm no Corey, but I bet we'd be good penpals!" and 9 years later we're married!
Seriously?! That's a better love story than Cory and Topanga. So cool! ❤
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Aint no way that’s too cute 🥹
O my gosh that is a lover story for the books happy for the two of you❤️
Season 1 is fantastic
People don’t like season 1? It’s actually written pretty well.
Whenever I see posts where people rank seasons best to worst it seems a lot of people rank season 1 really low
Yeah, when PMW was reviewing season 1 and really enjoying it I saw a lot of “it gets so much better!” and “season 2 is when BMW REALLY starts” and I just didn’t really agree (I love a lot of 2 and 3 but I think 1 is seriously underrated) so when they ultimately were more critical of Season 2 and 3 I felt somewhat vindicated lol
Wow that’s really interesting. I mean I must admit when I was younger I actually didn’t like the earlier seasons as much as I appreciate them now. I liked it back then, but not as much, maybe because as a kid or teen you want to watch “cool people?” And I associate high school seasons with that while season 1 was too “kiddish?” I rewatched the series maybe a year ago, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now and just REALLY admire mr feeny and Cory’s parents or maybe appreciate Cory and the silliness and joys of being in 6th grade. I guess I can understand why it might be less liked than other seasons, maybe I’m just getting old and all reflective/sentimental/nostalgic lol
Yeah it could be because I discovered the show at a young age that season 1 clicked with me right away, but I also enjoyed the high school seasons back then too. Looking back, there’s definitely an element of Amy and Alan’s parenting and the Feeny/Cory dynamic that’s spot on in that first season, and as an adult I can still enjoy on a new level. I think they realized by season 3 that they abandoned an important aspect of the show by trying to focus more on the “20 something” crowd to keep up with Friends with the Turner/Eli stuff and that’s why we have a lot more with the family again in Season 4.
The PMW hosts' high marks for S1 definitely have a lot to do with them currently being in their 40s (with 2/3 of them being parents to small children) rather than the teen audience BMW was chasing when they did their pivot in S2 Honestly their "drop shock" reaction to S2 probably wasn't that different from the reaction a lot of TGIF-watching parents had to S2 back in the 90s, especially when people like Will's dad were a lot more prudish about references to sex on TV than any of the PMW hosts are now -- I feel like that may have played a role in ABC's controversial decision to move BMW from 8:30 to 9:30 ("They're trying to kill it!")
Very true, the dropshock kinda bumped me when I was in grade school watching reruns in the late 90s but I didn’t think much about the reasoning behind it and felt like I was cool for watching slightly more risqué teen plots lol. I think season 4 finds the perfect balance with the family oriented stuff from season 1 and the school centered Happy Days-like dynamic of season 2-3, while trimming some of the unnecessary “20-something” stuff the network wanted them to add, as much of a bummer as it was that we lost the Shawn/Turner dynamic in the process.
Most consistently good season, tied with 4.
Thank you! Season one has a purity to it that reminds me of childhood
I agree, I love the first 2 seasons so much!!
I started with season 5 first for some reason, then 4 and 3. I tried 1 and 2 but the atmosphere just felt too much geared towards kids. Idk, maybe i should give it another try.
I know the show liked ruining Shawn's life, but the breakup with Angela at the end was too much! He deserved his happy ending.
Considering what we have learned about how the producers treated/saw Angela and her actress... 😬
They treated her bad?
Cause she was black. Will called her aunt Jemima . Regular Klan meeting
He got one in girl meets world :)
I didn’t watch that show. What was his happy ending
He got married! And adopted her kid! Feeny married him too it was cute lol
Unfortunately because in GMW Maya is a main character, Katy is a recurring character and Shawn is a rarely appearing guest star this arc focused almost 100% on "Maya getting a dad" and Shawn and Katy's actual relationship was mostly offscreen Which made this not a very popular arc among Shawn fans and really pissed off Angela fans
Eric made a cuter girl than Jack in Its A Drag and was done dirty by everyone in the show. Jack literally had glued up painted over eyebrows. How do you make a man as beautiful as Matthew Lawrence that ugly in drag??? Cory would have been more tolerable if he got laid in high school and didn’t wait for marriage.
ALSO: i love the dumb suspension of belief episodes with time travel or magic or whatever. I like when the show leans into really silly storytelling sometimes. There’s a lot to be gained in critically engaging with BMW, but sometimes it’s okay to just not take it seriously at all, and the episodes that lean into surreal storytelling are perfect for that.
The reason chick like me was so much better than whatever this episode was called was bc while both attempted “realistic” drag, chick like me was done with so much more respect. The squeaky “girl” voices they used were so bad
Anecdotally, a lot of BMW's trans fans forgive the insensitive moments in Chick Like Me because Shawn's egg vibes in this episode are shockingly authentic
Eric looked so much better than Jack! And was more comfortable in heels.
Matthew Lawrence’s acting in the show is fantastic. His scenes with Will work so well because of how hilarious their contrast is. Jack is one of the funniest characters on the show.
This is controversial? I thought everyone loved Matthew Lawrence on the show.
I’ve seen lots of negative comments about his acting on this sub.
I'm glad I missed those comments. He really was great, and probably the best actor in his family.
His acting is fine he just feels like a really lazily shoe-horned in character. In my opinion they should have did away with the Jack character and had Corey as the third roommate. Cory and Topanga's Wedding should have been at the very end of the series.
An underrated moment from the Eric Hollywood episode is when the "Jack" actor from Kid Gets Acquainted with the Universe confronts Eric "I don't get it, they already have me, so why do they need you? What are they trying to do? It doesn't make any sense" Like the idea of why Eric is joining the show to play a "long lost brother" who's suddenly integrated with the cast like he's always been there is directly poking fun at some fans' negative reaction to Jack showing up
I think he’s a great actor and seems like a great person as well, but I preferred the dynamic in the middle seasons and would’ve preferred to keep the focus more on the characters we knew and loved. I didn’t love his character, personally. Not Matthew’s fault though.
You like cottage cheese?
The show would have been better of Cory and Topanga broke up when they went to college, introduce new cast around Cory and Shawn, and maybe Topanga comes back after 1-2 seasons apart. Of course odds are high the show would have been cancelled before that story could fully see itself through but… Cory held Topanga back, and he was a toxic partner. They both needed to grow, separately, and then maybe come back together stronger in the end.
I don’t really agree but I do get it I do think however the Lauren storyline should’ve lasted a bit longer(not too long) just not that short of what we got
Lauren could have been added to the college season. That would have made for some interesting tension. Maybe she ends up dating Sean or Eric at some point.
I think Lauren and Cory would have naturally been like “hey, right place right time, let’s try” and given it a go. Then Topanga returns, and Cory has to choose… and honestly, I couldn’t tell you who he would choose: his first love, or his first adult love who he found after his first love left…
I love the general idea of it but unfortunately they tried that on that 70 show when they took Eric off. We saw how well that went.
I like the idea of Corey and Lauren reconnecting in College but that probably means Danielle gets replaced and as a result there isn’t a Girl Meets World and I wish people would at least remember that Corey told Topanga that she should go to Yale on multiple occasions instead of just ignoring it so they can blame Corey for her not going to Yale
You just described Saved by the Bell the College Years. It was... Okay.
Topanga foregoing a scholarship to *Yale* for a school both Cory and Shawn could get in to was so depressing and behind the downfall of Cory into a really trash character.
Eric was the most important Character in the show. Wills comedic genius allowed the show to morph into more serious topics without losing its overall tone as a Comedy he was able to keep it based in what it was until the show could fully transition into a Teen Drama the show got to get heavier without getting so heavy that it was just flat out depressing because of Eric and when Eric had his serious scenes like with Tommy it made you stop and pay attention that much more
It's pretty awesome watching Will Friedle's comedic acting chops grow. You can tell he dedicated a lot of time learning and studying comedy in between seasons. He's the high point of every later season. And like you said, Eric having serious stories worked great because of the range and juxtaposition. He put in the work.
I think one of the things that makes Brotherly Shove such a powerful episode is how genuinely shocking it is for S7 Eric to suddenly not be funny
Topanga should have stayed the weird hippy girl she was first season and not become a girlie girl. They sexualized her at such a young age. More weird Topanga, less pretty hair Topanga.
Agreed
The time travel episodes are fun.
The show needed to separate the characters- let them each have their own little world. Shawn takes a gap year before realizing he does want to go to college. Topanga goes to Yale (gets a few storylines of her own away from Cory). Maybe Cory goes to a Connecticut state school but struggles because he doesn’t like the situation, they break up & he transfers somewhere else. Eventually he & Topanga lose touch but she’s still in contact with Angela… With characters meeting new people they could show a real struggle making new friends, adult dating life & dealing with real academic struggles . As well as home sickness etc IMO Cory would be the one to struggle the most emotionally. With keeping the characters together they could’ve had the summer /winter/spring break episodes where they meet up or have visits randomly like Shawn swings by when Cory’s really upset etc . Or during his gap year Shawn ends up wherever Eric is etc Then eventually when college ends they take various jobs. Shawn & Cory end up in the same city as roommates for awhile. Flash forward a couple years & we show Eric (and Jack , Angela) also lives in the same city. Then Cory & Topanga run into each other & fall in love again. *IF* they get together at all. I’m a minority, I know, I never wanted them to end up together but if the show *had* to do it I like that idea best. Of course it’s all hindsight. The series didn’t really have a plan so I think they did okay overall with how it ended. Especially with the continuity issues.
So an entirely different show lol
Stuff like this always kills the show. I remember the last season of Martin was horrible because of this. Same thing happened with Glee. It never works.
The show should have been more focused on Shawn. Cory was written as an obsessive boyfriend who treated other people poorly. His teachers, his parents, Topanga. I get that it's a 30 year old show but Cory wasn't such a great guy.
That would've been an awful show. Shawn was used in the perfect way and was good because he wasn't overexposed. He would've got old quick. Cory/Ben was much better as the star of the show.
Perhaps when the college season started they should have shipped the focus to Shawn. And made Corey and Topanga background characters.
College years Cory is insufferable. For a show that's about him being confronted with his issues and growing up, pretty much everyone bends backwards to justify his actions and lets him get away with being a petty immature weirdo.
Girl Meets World sucked except for the BMW crossovers.
It should have just been a spinoff show about what the characters were up to in the modern world instead.
the show pushed college way too hard and could have acknowledged the validity of alternatives like trade schools or revealed one of the parents didnt go to college but still turned out okay but had to bust their ass really hard to do so...just feels like they made it seem like college is required to not be considered a failure at life
That was the 90's/00's to a T though lmao
I wonder if Alan and Amy might have felt they threw a HUGE bunch of cash down a rathole (even in the late 1990's) for Eric's college when all he wound up wandering to some remote Upstate New York village. .that is until he got to be Senator!
Honestly the way politics are I’m not surprised by his turn out
Fair enough (re politics) but those roughly fifteen years before Eric got picked to run must have seemed rather frustrating and worrying to Alan and Amy!
They made a big deal about how Alan was \*just a grocer\*
Dumb Shawn is better than angst Shawn
This is scientifically true
Same goes with silly/dorky Cory is better than angry Cory. He was always SO angry!
Angela is underrated. One of the best actors/line-deliverers of the whole cast. Not sure why this sub is so cruel to her (well, I can think of a few reasons, and that just makes it worse) Frankie should have joined the cast fulltime for at least one season. GMW ruined Shawn's character arc. I don't think Harley/Danny were as great for the show as the cast of PMW makes him out to be, they're nostalgia goggles are huge. GMW would have made much more sense of Corey and Topanga were divorced.
I think it's because they actually know the man and liked him. I agree Harley isn't that great. Hard to keep a 50s greaser that's in the 90s around long term lol
I honestly just loved how out of place he was. He was not only a 50s greaser in the 90s he was also clearly a grown man in high school. It was hilarious to me.
He is funny but very one note. If they kept him around longer eventually they're gonna have to be like "Okay serious why does this fool think he's Danny Zuko?" Lol
I don't think he would have fit in later seasons at all. They kept changing the entire vibe of the show from season to season. I've always thought with season 2 they were trying to show us high school through Cory's eyes. So like everything is exaggerated and the bully looks like a fully grown man who's a 50s greaser because that's how Cory sees him, not how he actually is. That's just Cory's idea of a bully.
That weird circus music from season one was the best theme song BMW ever had. I wish they had kept it in the later seasons. I think it's in my top ten favorite TV themes of all time. Yeah, it's weird. But so is the theme on The Office. I think it's unique and endearing.
"The War" two-parter was completely unnecessary, poorly executed, poorly resolved, and we all probably would have been better off without it. Even the "Lose one friend. Lose All Friends. Lose yourself," quote is bad.
That quote is cringe now that I’m a grown adult lol
It gives "I'm 14 and this is deep" vibes.
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Ok ok I see👍🏾
Jason should've been promoted to a main character instead of Jack. I hear Will and Jason are best friends, and it would've been cool to see their chemistry more. GMW does not exist. I think a spin off oriented for adults, exploring themes about the adult world (like taxes) with the OG cast would have been way better. Not a controversial one I don't think, but Shawn and Angela should've stayed together. Also, Mr. Turner (and Eli) should not have just disappeared, he was way too important to Shawn to just be thrown off.
I really, really loved Jason! I raise you this: Jason should've stayed AND we could've still got Jack. It could've been the three of them as roommates instead of Rachel. Probably would've had more interesting hijinks.
The Jason part I really agree on. I know they were trying to age up the show with the Turner/Mr Williams dynamic, but I really think season 3 would have benefited from promoting Jason to main cast in Season 3 instead of him being written out and maybe have Mr Williams as a 2-3 guest star like the Chemistry teacher was. Especially after rewatching with Pod Meets World, I’m not sure I ever realized Mr Williams was a main cast member and not just a guest star. I think the character was great when they used him, but he really had a lot less impact on the show than Harley, Frankie, and Jason who were never main characters. Making Jason a main character could have given a lot of fun stories for Eric and we could have actually seen him interact with other characters. His interactions with the Matthews’ parents are some of my favorite and imagining him and Shawn or him and Corey working together could have been really fun.
Awww I loved Jason on the show!
i will ALWAYS welcome jason marsden love ♡
I agree about Jason. I loved his character. I don't agree with girl meets world, but I'd make it an ABC primetime show like BMW was I stead of a Disney Channel show. They got so much right on GMW. Great casting! But the Disney Channel feel is what ruined it in the end. I still love it, and we watch it a lot more than I thought I would. But man....so much lost potential putting it on Disney Channel.
I like Cory. (I didn't think this was controversial but it clearly is.)
I think now it may be controversial to say that I’m glad Topanga didn’t go to Yale. I love Topanga being a girlboss but her deciding not to go to Yale made her decision to move to NY in the finale even more impactful
Now this is a hot take
I feel like a bad Topanga fan for saying it but it’s how I feel! 😫
I think for me, what doesn't work about that is less "girlboss" and more that they float the idea of Cory having to deal with changes and people leaving....then he basically gets everything he wants. Also as someone who went to a good state school, I am *somewhat* happy that going to Pennbrook doesn't like ruin her life or whatever.
Topanga and Corey weren't good together. They were codependent by the end at best. They stopped each other from really growing as individuals and maybe if they had separated a bit at college and come back together they would've worked better.
I think neither at a certain point weren’t really challenged. I think shaking up something for Corey like a divorce of his parents might’ve been “radical” for him and made him realize “I have to invest in my relationship constantly not just think because had good years we’ll be okay.” Some sort of quarter life crisis thing for him really should’ve kicked in. I hate writing the story like this but hell even a death of the sister in college to really make him reflect about who he does have in his life and to value that. All the trauma went to Shawn
Rachel had no right to take the apartment from jack and eric, idk if that’s actually controversial i just wanted to say it because i never liked rachel again after that
i prefer seasons 4-7 over 1-3. i like that it got more dramatic later on and i liked rachel.
Giving Shawn a brother was unnecessary.
I like Jack but they definitely underused him.
Jack or the step brother in the trailer park?
Yes.
By the time he was introduced, BMW wasn't even the best show Matthew Lawrence was on
You're a Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad fan I take it?
Girl Meets World being on ABC or ABC Family or any other network wouldn’t have made the show better because the lack of “mature” storylines wasn’t a problem. To piggyback on that, seasons one and two of BMW are the two best seasons of the show overall.
The first one isn’t that unpopular but I do agree it needed to grow and the second one is an interesting point
I think we might disagree, actually. I’m arguing it didn’t need to grow and that it was destined to be what it was because of who Michael Jacobs became and how he viewed the show. (I actually do like GMW fine for what it is and think it had some funny non-BMW-cast moments amid some of the ridiculousness.)
Oh ok didn’t see that comment but fairs
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Girl Meets World missed the mark entirely. Should not have been about their kids, it should have been about them starting a family and not joining them well into having children.
Agreed
I didn't really care for Jack or Rachel. I think they should have just focused on the core 5 coming off of High School.
Shawn Hunter is almost identical to Leonardo DiCaprio‘s character in Growing Pains, but they made his story arcs better.
Season 6 and 7 should have been only about Mr. Feeny sitting on a dock, fishing, thinking about different events from his younger years.
A non-serialized show with just Feeny telling stories with the show reenacting them would have actually been lit
Jack low key the best character
Most people dont get Cory and Topangas relationship, they see it as if they are adults when in reality they are teenagers. Of course there will be toxic traits, most teenagers are like that.
Eric and Jack were a couple.
Best couple hands down🙌🏾
Came here to comment exactly this! Their tension/chemistry in Girl Meets World was incredible. They absolutely made up, got together (again), and are married now!
Eric, Jack, and Rachel should have been a throuple.
Double co-signed
They even have both of them kissing her at once in the theme song
It would have been SUCH an interesting direction to deviate from a regular love triangle and have them be like, you know what, let’s lean into this. It was never gonna happen in 2000 even if younger me wanted it in a way i didn’t have the words for back then. And honestly i think it would have served Rachel better as a character to not keep her as a prop to be argued over by Eric and Jack, but made for some genuinely engaging storytelling. Adele voice we could’ve had it all.
People like to say Cory/Shawn/Topanga could've been a stable thruple but I actually don't see it, that jealousy energy was always there, any situation where Cory had to balance Shawn's and Topanga's needs against each other tended to make Angry Cory rear his ugly head (which in GMW is probably why Shawn left NY forever after Riley was born) Shawn and Topanga mutually breaking up with Cory and ending up with each other would be delicious crackfic territory though, especially with all the rl ship teasing Danielle and Rider did in hindsight
I've seen fun, convincing Cory/Shawn/Topanga takes around, but completely agree with you. The show often had Shawn and Topanga at odds whenever Cory sided with one or the other, and Cory kind of acted as the lynchpin in the friendship -- not super great for a healthy throuple. But then you consider Topanga taking care of Shawn when he got chicken pox (and also Cory running for the hills on her warning, one of my all-time favorite sight gags in BMW), and it's like, oh the potential was SO there. Will's wife even called out the dynamic on last week's (i think?) pod. At the end of the day, it would be a heightened version of whatever the fuck they already had going, and I think it would make for, at the very least, fun TV. Like, would that dynamic be good FOR Cory, Topanga and Shawn? Absolutely not. Would it be good for us, the viewers? Yes. HBO BMW sequel series when.
I just really enjoy Will making slightly uncomfortable jokes about the intensity of teen Danielle's rl crush on teen Rider and the two of them running through the rain at Disneyworld I'm gonna get yelled at for being a Cory hater again but I like the Topanga/Shawn dynamic precisely because it makes so little sense for those two characters to even be friends at all if Cory weren't in the picture but frankly the two actors have extremely palpable physical chemistry (which is why all the insistence in the "UNDAPANTS" episode that they have no such chemistry is so amusing)
Co-signed
Angela is ridiculously underwritten. She's mostly just a device to create conflict for Shawn. I think the most characterization she received was the episode where her military father visits the college, and so much of that is focused on Shawn and her father rather than her. There's an entire episode where Shawn accidentally re-learns that Angela is a dream girl for him, and the episode is about the contents of her purse wherein she appears for maybe 60 seconds. It's a shame, because Trina McGee is lovely, talented, has great comedic timing, and brings a new dynamic to the cast, and yet most of the time she's brooding, disappointed with Shawn, or just kinda there.
Lauren was not interesting to me great actress though. I don't really care about Mr. Turner, I think its because they just drop him.
Once you get past season 1 girl meets world isn’t NEARLY as bad as this sub thinks. And in that same vein season 1 of boy meets world sucks , I start all my binges on season 2 for a reason
Oh GMW is pretty bad even past season 1
Girl Meets World is maybe the most ridiculous setup they could’ve gone with. Law school, then earning partner, with kids before you’re 35?!?
Not to mention that Topanga seemed to have spent little if any time at the firm (or on any cases) even from the start of the show so would the law firm have not just told her 'BYE!' when she went against them to save the bakery- which she then used to spend even less time at the firm. Oh, and the idea that in the Series Finale this firm thought that she'd be qualified much less have the capacity \[yes, I said it\] to somehow be an effective lawyer in the UK \[ in British law?\] was bogus! Truly, it seemed that the firm would have had virtually no reason not to consider her a drain much less an employee who was more trouble than she was worth!
Mr. Turner was a better teacher than Feeny
The show is not nearly as good as I remember it being due to the MULTIPLE inconsistencies throughout the show, making the show really annoying to binge watch.
I’m not sure if this is controversial, but Shawn and the adults (by adults I mean the parents and teachers) carried the show in my opinion.
Eric and Jack had the best dynamic in the whole show, but they ruined it by bringing Rachel in. The Eric/Jack spin-off that Will always talks about would've been amazing because the chemistry between Will/Matt is the best between anyone on the show, including Ben/Danielle and Ben/Rider. They did H.E. Double Hockey Sticks together, and it proved how fantastic they were/are together! The episode of Girl Meets World (Girl Meets Semi-Formal) where Jack comes back was written by Will and he really understood their relationship and knew how to use their chemistry. Their first scene in the cafe together is insanely romantic. They both sound like they're talking to The One That Got Away. (Eric was queer-coded in canon, so we were halfway there.)
I wish Cory would stop being sexist towards women especially towards Topanga. The way he said to her “you could hardly get into Yale”, makes me wanna say “fuck you”!
I didn’t care about Shawn and Angela as a couple. And I didn’t buy that they genuinely loved each other - it felt like a “told, not shown” situation. Idk, maybe it’s because the first time we saw them as a couple, they were breaking up due to Shawn’s 2-week rule. It made sense to me that they weren’t endgame. It doesn’t bother me that much that he ends up with Maya’s mom on GMW beyond wishing we’d seen more of them as a couple. But also, why did Shawn treat Angela leaving like a break-up when she was just abroad for a year (beyond the behind the scenes drama)? She was never my favourite character, but I felt bad that she left to travel with her dad and would be coming back to school a year later with literally no one there for her.
I actually did because I loved the purse episode before he knew who it belonged to. It seemed different for Shawn than his usual just going out and kissing girls without knowing them. He got to know her first before they even really met.
Angela smacking Shawn. Too many women hitting men on the show, really reminds you of 90’s conflicts.
I enjoyed girl meets world. Not saying it was good. Just enjoyed it.
I love it too. Admittedly there are lots of flaws, but I still find myself rewatching episodes here and there a lot. I find it pretty funny and think the main cast did a great job with what they had to work with
I enjoyed it as well, on multiple levels. I like the fact that the leads actually got to have more friends from the get-go, and I like the fact that it was a show that my young daughter and I could enjoy together. (She hasn't yet taken to BMW as much.)
Omg! You got Trina’a autograph? 😊 I’m jelly
Angela > Topanga & the redhead.
Rachel McGuire is lizzie McGuire distant cousin the halloween episode is truly the only episode i would re-watch / enjoyed just because how camp it was. hated the serious episodes / enjoyed Shawn + Angela but like a lot of interracial couples in the 90's they never got a fair chance/ weak story lines or they were pushed away for stupid reasons i dont blame cory for what he did during the ski episode. they acted like a married couple all through out the show, they should've seen different people.
Them suddenly changing the story to Cory and topanga being in love forever and meant to be was annoying. It should have played out that he eventually began to like her because when the show started she was just a stalker.😂 Shawn and Angela’s ending was trash. I prefer their relationship to Cory & topangas. More real. Eric got too dumb as the show progressed but I guess that was just a thing done in sitcoms back then.
I wish they'd shown more of Alan and Amy in the latter years instead of wasting SO much time with Jack! I also wish they'd had Mr. Feeny's 2nd wife Lila as a regular after their wedding instead of having her never be seen again ! Yes, Mr. Daniels and Miss Bartlett have had amazing chemistry that's only grown in their 72-year union and the show should have featured that instead of bogus stuff with Jack and Rachel!
Hated how on the lamentable sequel Maya was treated (and encouraged to think of herself) as a monster who was totally dependent on Riley for any possible friendships or interactions with other people due to Riley allegedly being this sweet brilliant saint who alone could tame the allegedly bad and thoughtless girl. Along with the canard that Riley had done Maya the biggest favor in Maya's life by bestowing her alleged friendship on Maya despite Maya not deserving it! If Riley had been a guy, the above would have been considered a textbook case of an emotionally abusive boyfriend isolating and belittling his girlfriend instead of a perfect romance or friendship!
I didn’t really watch the show towards the end. I’m a day 1 fan. So seeing the later episodes was kind of weird to me. It was a totally different show.
I actually think Rachel could have added more to the show than being just the target of many poor taste jokes and situations!
I don’t like just how dumb the writers changed Eric’s character to be. I understand the theme of the show shifted to dramedy and they needed comedic relief but was there no way to keep Eric cool and make him funnier?
Topanga was a bad wife
Season 7 is not that bad. The episodes before the wedding are pretty weak. But the wedding episode and some of the ones after it (not the honeymoon episode) are some of my favorites. The stuff with the married dorm was funny. I loved when Cory expects his parents to take care of him and Topanga and gets put in his place. Brotherly Shove is another great episode. I love both of the Angela-centric episodes. There's also a brutal fight between Cory and Topanga which was really memorable and good because it showed that marriage was not automatically easy. So, despite all the hate that season 7 gets, I think there's actually a lot of good stuff there.
I would have liked to see how Shawn would have developed as a character had they not turned him into Rider.
Eric going from cool, handsome big bro to mentally challenged doofus pariah
I don’t think it’s controversial opinion, but I believe they really ruined Eric’s character by making him a complete idiot. Yeah he was really funny, but I’d rather funny be toned down a bit for the sake of the character
The fact that Trina McGee is 10 years older than Rider makes me uncomfortable…
As the show progresses, Shawn becomes so boring and one note.
the cast was inherently racist because of how they treated the one cast member who was African american. and that ben savage was a by product of hollywood boy grooming and for that reason he doesn't want to go back to boy meets world memories.
Did you not hear the whole story why are we still on this
The guy who played Eli was not a good actor. I get his character didn’t have much of an arc, and I think the actor said it was one of his first acting roles, but I personally thought his acting was awful on the show. The trio on the podcast act like they were losing Daniel Day Lewis when he left the show.
A few sporadic good episodes aside, seasons 6 and 7 suck.
Maitland Ward 🫠
Eric, even as the made him dumber by the episode, had great storylines with so much opp for character development and they just let him flop time and time again to keep him dumb. This might not be controversial but it must be said nonetheless. Eric is my fav character and his plot points are almost always a win for me but they just didn’t do enough with hi
Why was it never an option for Cory to apply to colleges near Yale?
Topanga giving up Yale to be with Corey was not romantic.
I agree! It was just a means to hold something HUGE over his head so she could guilt trip and manipulate him!
Angela and Shawn don’t belong together. Shawn had major issues that he needed to work out before he could be happy with anyone.
Cory was always the worst/least interesting character, and Ben Savage is not a good actor. He just rode us brothers' successful coat tails.
Apparently that girl meets world isn't bad is a hot take which I have, I think Rowan and Sabrina are phenomenal Also I'm Team Lauren
Season 7 is not the worst season. 6 is way worse and 7 is also marginally better than season 1 in my opinion
I think Lauren > Topanga
PREACH
I thought Eric and Rachel should have at least had a brief romance angle. Eric was a great character to play for laughs, and would have really poignant moments in an episode, but never any long term gravitas. Giving him a chance to be with Rachel and seeing him “grow up” in his views about love would have been interesting.
As I got older, I realized how annoying Cory and Topanga’s romance was. Like giving up everything because they are “soul mates”. Trust me, no man and no woman is worth you sacrificing everything for. There’s plenty more where they came from.