Boy/Girl Meets World

[Spark Of Spirit]

Natch.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Forgot to mention that I got the season 3 DVD (last copy and only season there) last week. The show still remains very funny, as I forgot exactly how dumb Eric was at that point. There are a lot of great episodes here, and no real duds, so I hope I can get the rest of the seasons soon.

I still stand by my opinion that it is the best family sitcom out there. The show is just wacky and surreal enough and touches on serious issues just the right amount.

These are really freaking cheap, too. That's a lot of bang for your buck.

[Avaitor]

Nice. Season 3 is IMO when it gets particularly good.

WalMart has a st where you can buy the first 2 seasons for $20. I'd consider getting it if I had the money, but even then, season 4 is more of a priority for me.

[Commode]

Just caught an episode of this on ABC Family(the one where Cory wishes Mr. Feeny will get sick, and when he does Cory regrets it).  Goddamn I really hate that nerdy kid in his class.  So fucking annoying, and just begging for some one to punch him out.

[Avaitor]

Minkus? I liked him when I was younger, but the older I get, the more useless I find season 1.

I do think his absence between then and the graduation episode was weird though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Season 1 was a good start, but yeah, the series gets way better after that.

I didn't really like the way the Graduation episode pulled in old characters like that, though. It ruined Franky (who was underused) and a point of a pretty good season 3 sub plot, and pointlessly brought back Minkus while pointing out that there was no reason Mr. Turner should have vanished after season 4.

To be honest, I think season 5 is surprisingly weak overall. There's a lot of weird stuff in that season, and I think season 6 was a real improvement.

[ToonFaithful]

I've just started getting into this show, thanks to ABC Family. Watched "And Then There Was Shawn" this morning. Funny episode, really funny episode although the creepy janitor creep'd me out. There were some funny lines that had me goin: like how after Kenny gets killed I guess the gang pulled a South Park reference with "OH MY GOD, HE KILLED KENNY!", "I'll always remember how tall he was". Good episode, it's a pro I didn't watch this when I was little because that janitor would give me nightmares!

[Avaitor]

This is my favorite scene from that episode.

Really interesting one overall.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Funnier than the lousy Scream sequels, that's for sure.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been watching a lot of Boy Meets World recently every morning on TV before going to work at the pharmacy. I've mostly been reliving some good memories, but a little while back they re-aired the episodes where Shawn tries to cope with Chet's death. I remember that back when I saw that as a kid I was pretty shocked that a family-friendly sitcom at that time would tackle the subject of death so seriously with a family member related to a main character in the series. For those few episodes the humor was kept to a minimum and almost non-existent, but I really loved how well the writers and actors were able to handle the drama in the series. Shawn's growth during this character arc of his is perhaps one of the most memorable character arcs in the series, and it made his character go down an interesting route for the remainder of the series, in his own personality and maturity, as well as his relationship to other characters in the cast. Those are some truly heartfelt episodes, IMO.

Also, I now remember why I love Eric and Mr. Feeney so much. Honestly, I think their interactions are hands down my favorite part of the show in general. I mean, on their own their both great characters (Eric being the funny one and Mr. Feeney being the insightful one), and if you think about it they couldn't seem to be more opposite as characters, but when they interact in just about every episode that features them, they really make for both the most humorous and more interesting parts of the series for me. Both contribute their unique character traits to make some truly fun scenes, but they also have a lot of strong meaningful moments as well. If I had to pick a favorite character in this entire series, it would be a tie between the 2 of them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just saw the ending about a week ago on ABC family in the morning, right before I went to work. I always hated how the final 2 episodes had all of those pointless flash-back scenes. It really killed a lot of the drama being build-up towards the finale. But even then those final 2 scenes in the series make the 2-part finale totally worth watching. I mean, the scene where Cory has a talk with his youngest brother (who can barely even understand full sentences at that point) is so touching, and it really makes you see how much Cory grew since he was an 11 year old boy, throughout the entire series. I also chuckled at the irony of Cory finally understanding the meaning of "Boy Meets World."

The 2nd scene where the 4 main characters gather up in Mr. Feeney's classroom for him to give his last bit of advice to them as their long-time teacher and mentor, and for them to say their goody-byes to him, ALWAYS brings freaking tears to my eyes. Maybe its just because I know its the end of the series, but there's something about that scene that I always find so touching, personally. Maybe its just me, but I feel that its one of the most emotionally powerful and gripping scenes that I have ever seen out of a "family sitcom," which really may not be saying a lot given the nature of the genre, but it honestly means quite a lot to me.

[Avaitor]

Appropriate set.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just a reminder, (for myself too) the whole series is out on DVD now. After Full House, I believe this is the second TGIF show to get a full release. And I still need the last few seasons.

As a whole, I'd say season 3 and 4 are the best seasons. Season 3 had them perfecting the style from season 1 and 2 (which are also very good, but not as good as 3 and 4), and season 4 managed to be even funnier,  have more heart, and have the greatest string of episodes in the series.

Season 5 as I mentioned before seemed jarring to me then and it still does now. I'm not sure if a new head writer or director took over here, but the tone seems violently opposed to continuity and coherency a lot of the time, focusing more on episodic plots than characters. The plots are too soap opera-y a lot of the time, a lot of characters are shafted and forgotten (Frankie is severely missed and then returns assassinated as a character, the teachers are MIA and Feeny seems to be it) and a lot of it feels like a gimmicky teen sitcom... Which is odd for this show. What saves this season to me is the Eric and Jack stuff, and the fact that the writing and acting is still as funny as before (though sometimes too goofy) despite the weird issues I have with it that I'm sure are mine alone. It's a good season, though.

The last two seasons were a lot wackier, but the writing held up and the serious aspects were more refined and less "will they-won't they" from season 5 remembering not to be too over the top, but still not forget the sitcom roots of the earlier seasons. Oddly, I think Eric as a character is a bit overblown in this era, but it's hard for me to really hate on it when it's just so funny ("Ow, dat hot.") despite how crazy he got.

So yeah, I still quite enjoy this series a lot, and of all the TGIF series from the 90s it remains the best now just as it was when it aired. Now if only it would be aired on TV again...

Also, this.

[Avaitor]

ABC Family has been airing it again for a while now.

And I already plowed through season 4, which I got for Christmas along with S5, which I'll be tackling soon. Still as good as ever. And it does seem funny that they promote Eric as a bit of a misunderstood genius during this part of the show's run, when he deteriorates to such a dumbass by the time he goes to college.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I just re-watched all of season 3 of BMW, and for the most part it was as good as I remember. One thing that kind of bugs me is that in the last episode of the season Cory brings up an issue that was never at all present in the series at any point before. He says he barely knows his brother and that they rarely ever spent time together, but there was never any indication of this being a big issue at any point before. Maybe I could overlook it, but the fact is that on the contrary there are lots of times in past episodes where Cory and Eric were both involved with the main plot or dilemma and worked together and did stuff. They had plenty of interactions with each other. I just felt that the whole issue for that episode came completely out of left-field and didn't really have that much to do with any character development or sub-plots that had built up throughout the course of the season.