Before there was Girl Meets World, there was Boy Meets World. Cory and Topanga are back, as Disney is rebooting the Boy Meets World franchise. Girl Meets World premiered tonight on Disney Channel with its pilot episode. No longer are Cory and Topanga the students, they are now the parents to Riley, there 11-year-old daughter. While the pilot provides a lot of hidden or throw backed lines to Boy Meets World, it does have a different emphasis, a more younger target age.
The first episode centers on Riley and her best friend Maya Hart, it has a very interesting story line. Which reminds us of Boy Meets World original pilot and some plot lines that were used throughout the show. It opens with many lines, about how Riley needs to make the world her own and this referenced a lot throughout the first episode. I think they focus on the main ideas and throwbacks to Boy Meets World, as it is the pilot and to put it bluntly, the show has a lot to live up too. Riley and Maya dive right into exploring her new world, with a unique look at the subways of NYC. What you notice immediately, is that while Maya is the risk taker, Riley tends to be the safer one and tries to be good. Riley is fitting the role of being awkward and a little nerdy, which reminded us of the original series.
After this we get to see the opening credits and then we venture to John Quincy Adams Middle School, which pays homage to John Adams High School from Boy Meets World. And guess who just happens to be Riley’s history etcher, none other than Cory who does resemble Mr.Feeney just a little bit. And immediately we start to see the lessons being taught. One thing that we noticed is that characters are a little immature, which was the same for the first season of Boy Meets World; with that being said, I expect to see this pattern continued. As Cory or Mr.Matthews teaches about the Civil War and what people want to fight for, the “No Homework More Freedom” bandwagon is born. The character Farkle provides a very interesting tone change, he is there to mainly add some humor and it works well.
Then they introduce some Boys or rather one specific Boy, Lucas, a new student from Texas. This is where the middle school themes come into play, with Riley not sure if she should text him or if she does text him, she may not find the courage to actually see him in person. Then it circles back to the question, of trying to understand her world, we also get to meet her younger brother in this scene. You will also notice someone appearing in posters throughout the subway, which is an interesting way to give back to the original fans, plus at the end there is a special appearance by Mr.Feeney who will hopefully make some more appearances.
Overall, Girl Meets World does a great job of reminiscing with the many viewers who will be turning in because they watched Boy Meets World. It does a good job of replicating the same themes and pure joy that was found on the original series. The new series has a lot to live up to and it is off to a good job. While at times some of the jokes and acting might be a little cheesy, we have to remember who this is geared at. And the market is the teenagers and young adults, but Disney might just have another hit show on their hands. We will have to see how the series continues, but if it continues to hit real life situation or scenarios that the viewers are facing, they will be good to go. And believe it or not Cory, helps Riley to understand that she can meet the world and make it truly her own. You can see a preview of the episode below, the first episode of Boy Meets World premiered tonight, June 27th 2014 at 9:45PM EST/PST, on Disney Channel. It will move to its regular time slot of 8:30 p.m. EST/PST on July 11.
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