The Final Episode #16: Boy Meets World (1993 - 2000)

 

Boy Meets World was one of the many TGIF shows from the 1990s. In fact it lasted from near the beginning of the lineup, the year of our lord 1993, I think replacing Perfect Strangers, one of shows that was branded TGIF in its later seasons (I think season 4 onwards). I don't know everything about TV history and I don't even know where to go to look up old TV guides. I'm sure there's somewhere on the internet to do that. Anyway Boy Meets World came on September 22, 1993. It lasted from the zenith of TGIF's popularity to it's end. Boy Meets World survived till the last block of TGIF shows. 

TGIF started incredibly strong really. Family Matters, Step By Step, Perfect Strangers, Dinosaurs and others. All of which got to at least four or more seasons. Most of them getting to 6, 7, or even in Family Matters case 9 seasons. Around 1997 things went down. ABC wasn't feeling the ratings for Family Matters or Step By Step so CBS got them for their last seasons for the CBS Block Party. A thing no one has any nostalgia for, except weird sad people like me. It had two veteran sitcoms from another channel and two shows that didn't even last a year. The Gregory Hines Show and Meego, with Balki from Perfect Strangers (and he also played French Balki on Step by Step!) I don't even think those shows made it past episode 5. It's a shame because I think both Balki and Gregory Hines are underrated performers that should get more respect.

TGIF really tried but the only shows that seemed to keep on running were Boy Meets World and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. No matter how much a fat weird Newfoundland boy loved them You Wish and Teen Angel did not do well with people. Both shows, both of which are connected in continuity (I will get to this in a second) starred Jerry Van Dyke, the superior of the Van Dyke brothers. Yes I said that and no I will not take it back. America needs to realize this!!! They were replaced by The Hughley's and Two of A Kind (which was also quickly cancelled, the second Olsen Twins sitcom did not do it for America the way Full House did) The final TGIF set of shows were Boy Meets World, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, The Hughley's and some shows called Odd Man Out and Making the Band. Those two are shows I didn't even know existed until tonight. ABC sold Sabrina The Teenage Witch to The CW and The Hughley's to UPN. or what ever happens when shows move stations. I don't know, I don't work in television.

Hell, at this point I was barely watching TGIF. Yeah I'd check into Sabrina the Teenage Witch for the most part. Sometimes Boy Meets World (the last few seasons I wasn't a huge fan of. We will get back to this) but most of this time I was busy playing Pokemon Red on my Super Gameboy or coming home from video stores with three rented movie and probably one I got my mom to buy for me. I was watching the hell out of weird and cheesy action/horror/comedy/80s movies. It was like my parents finally stopped caring what I watched so I just went hog wild. I could have probably watched Ilsa the She-Wolf of the S.S. because my parents didn't want to argue anymore. I wish I had rented Ilsa the She-Wolf of the S.S. and a Donald Duck Best Of VHS tape. Just for the response I'd get from the clerk. I bet it would have been something. I was also more into starting my NES game collection and talking about those on Message boards. I'd also talk about the movies I'd rent on JoBlo forums. Holla to the guys I still talk to these days from those forums. Forums are better than Facebook and we all know this!

I think I've bullshitted enough paragraphs about TGIF so now it's time to talk about Boy Meets World. This series starred Fred Savage's little brother Ben. A child with a brillo pad hairdo who grew into a man with a brillo pad hairdo. His hairdo always looked weird and kind of reminded me of Norman and Harry Osborne from Spider-Man comics. You know the Green Goblins. This show was about his family, Mom, Dad, Older Brother, Little Sister (who like most TGIF shows disappeared for some time), his best friend Shawn and his Teacher was his next door neighbor! He couldn't get away from School no matter what he tried! I loved the first four seasons of this show. I loved when Family Channel repeated them as I mentioned in the Alf discussion. It was a really fun show and the dynamic worked. 

Then season 5 happened. They put Cory and Topanga together (what kind of name is Topanga. I doubt even hippies would name their children that) and all kinds of drama happens. Shawn also gets a long time girlfriend named Angela, a black lady. I liked her and Shawn together but the stories just felt lackluster in the comedy and they tried to make them more dramatic. It just didn't work for me. I think the last episode I watched before this one was one where Shawn's dad dies. Like the exact episode after that where Shawn tries to leave Cory and them. They also added in Shawn's half brother who was never a great character in my mind and admittedly a hot tall redhead lady, but I had the internet at this point. Even dial up internet was better than watching these episodes. 

There was something interesting in these last series though, There was a TGIF crossover that started with Salem from Sabrina eating a time ball and the characters from each TGIF show stars would go back in time to the 1940s (Boy Meets World), the 1950s (You Wish), the 1960s (Sabrina) and ended off in the 1970s (Teen Angel) and since Boy Meets World also had a crossover with Step By Step and mentioned Steve Urkel in one episode. That means it's the bridge show that connects everything on TGIF except Dinosaurs. Well Dinosaurs and all those terrible failed shows the channel tried to do but no one cares about in the year 2021. I want a some kind of way to connect Dinosaurs to the rest of the shows. Also does that mean the Archie comics are connected to the TGIF universe? Sabrina was an Archie Comics character? Yes, this is what I think about while trying to sleep at night. That alongside an episode that made fun of slasher movies were the only episodes I remember liking from  this era. I didn't see much of Season 6 and only tuned into these last two episodes because it felt right I guess. I dunno. 

I had not seen this two parter since the second part appeared on May 5, 2000. Everyone in the cast had grown up, finished junior high, high school and even college. It was time to move on from what they had known all their lives into the Brave New World (also the name of the episode. I bet that fancy jerk who wrote the book Brave New World is angry!) These two episodes are all about Cory and Topanga thinking of moving to New York because Topanga got a intern job at some place or another. It's kind of underwhelming two episodes, that's why I blathered on for like forty two hours about TGIF and crossovers and other things. Except for a nice scene at the end with Mr. Feeny these are kinda not the best way to end a show. It's well, a clip show. Yeah, every character ends up talking to each other and then it just abruptly cuts too clips of them from previous episodes. It's weird and I'm not a big fan. They did show the time Shawn was in drag. They had a lot of drag in Boy Meets World. That was a fun episode. Uh, yeah. They have a nice meeting with Mr. Feeny (who was their teacher, their principal, a professor at their college and even banged the Dean of the college too I think. I'm surprised he didn't end up joining them in New York.) and a fun joke is told but that's about it.

FINAL VERDICT: I'm probably the only person who is 1.) angry that Dinosaurs does not connect to the rest of the TGIF Universe (They should start making a TGIF CINEMATIC Universe). It should, damnit. and 2.) can mention weird explotation films like Ilsa, She-Wolf of the S.S. in my reviews. Anyway, this was kind of a let down and felt rushed aside from that nice scene at the very end.