Full Transcript for Does Boy Meets World Stick The Landing?

experience of Corey and his journey through adolescence. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:49.919 Oh wow. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:54.319 So he started out, he starts out in middle school, and I they end up in college, right? 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:55.759 Yes, exactly. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:56.879 That's quite a run. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:00.240 They've been from 1993 to 2000. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:01.919 So seven seasons. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:11.039 Well, and so the creators were Michael Jacobs and April Kelly, and I know that Michael was he was the creator of Charles in Charge and My Two Dads. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:15.120 I never saw Charles in Charge, but I did watch a little bit of My Two Dads. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:16.159 That was a good show. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:17.680 Did you watch either of those? 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:23.439 Yeah, I watched both of those, probably not in their entirety, but definitely was tuning in on a regular basis. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:24.000 Okay. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:34.479 And April Kelly, I bowed down to her because she started her career on Mork and Mindy, which was me and my brother, the first episode, we were absolutely all the way into Mork. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.800 And we thought Mindy was okay. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.000 But Mork and Mindy was the greatest show I'd ever seen. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.759 So if I had known she was part of this, I might have watched it. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:45.759 I never saw Boy Meets World. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:56.879 I remember when it was advertised, and because I was a big fan of The Wonder Years, and so when I saw that Fred's little brother was gonna be in a show, as you mentioned, I was interested in it, but it just didn't appeal to me. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:01.599 And yes, I was probably even older, so but way too old to be watching. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:03.599 You were not the target audience. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:05.039 I was not the target audience. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.199 Once again, on one of our shows that we're looking at, I was not the target audience. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:23.600 At the time, the most well-known character at that point was William Daniels, who played George Feeny, the teacher in the show, and he was very well known and had been seen in shows like St. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.399 Elsewhere, where he won two Emmys. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:31.199 He was also in The Graduate playing Dustin Hoffman's father. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:35.680 And he was also famous for being the voice of Kit in Knight Rider. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:37.920 The Graduate was one of my favorite movies. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:38.800 I didn't watch St. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.839 Elsewhere, but I do remember him being on that show. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.240 You didn't watch Saint Elsewhere? 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:45.439 Oh my god. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.000 Okay. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:52.639 As has been established, there were many, many shows that I just never saw. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:54.480 But I did, I did like him. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:59.199 And I actually I didn't realize he was on this show until we started preparing for this podcast. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:19.279 Yeah, and then rounding out the cast, we had Rider Strong as Corey's best friend; Will Friedle, who played Eric Matthews, Corey's older brother; William Russ played the father; and Betsy Randall played the mother. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:27.519 Both of those, the last those last two characters, had had bit parts in various shows, but this was really their their breakout roles. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:35.680 And also Danielle Fishel rounded out that cast playing the famous Topanga. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:36.800 Topanga. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:43.519 The only thing I know about Boy Mead's World was that she was everybody's wannabe girlfriend back in the day. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.120 Yeah, and interestingly, she almost didn't get the role. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:47.920 Really? 00:05:48.160 --> 00:06:04.480 Yeah, another actress was initially cast and filmed some of the early material, but producers felt the chemistry wasn't right and replaced her with with Danielle, and Topanga quickly became one of the show's most defining characters. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.399 My understanding is that William Daniels almost turned down Mr. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:19.279 Feeny because he didn't like the initial script, and he thought he wanted to make sure that teachers were respected in the show, and that was what swayed him to actually take the role. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:35.920 With this being a coming-of-age show, it really appealed to people who were in middle school and had the ability to grow along with Corey as he went through the trials and challenges of going from a middle schooler to a young adult. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:48.639 In the show, they tackled a lot of different themes and offered meaningful life lessons about things like family, friendship, first love, identity, responsibility, and growing up. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:59.120 And they also tackled some pretty mature issues that weren't common in family sitcoms at that time, like divorce and racism, poverty, grief, and peer pressure. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:04.959 Boy Meets World really fit kind of, I guess, into what was going on on television at that time. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:14.240 There was a lot of focus on family shows and shows that everybody could watch together, like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, or the TGIF lineup you mentioned, Blossom. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.720 They were really appealing to, I guess, what eventually became the Millennials. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:25.600 All right, so how about we take a break, watch the pilot, and when we come back, we'll talk about how it started. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:43.600 And we're back. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.040 We just watched the pilot. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.959 Angela, how about if

you give us a recap? 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:52.639 So the pilot episode of Boy Meets World debuted on September 24, 1993. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:08:01.040 The pilot attracted approximately 16.5 million viewers, making it the fifth highest-rated show of that evening. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:08.480 In the pilot episode, we meet Corey Matthews, who is caught listening to a Phillies game in class while his teacher, Mr. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.639 Feeny, is lecturing about love. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:20.480 Feeling betrayed when his older brother Eric ditches him to take a girl to the Phillies game, a heartbroken Corey runs away to live in his backyard treehouse. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:26.879 In class, Corey struggles to understand why he should care about romance when his teacher and next door neighbor, Mr. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:32.080 Feeny, tries to teach the class about love through the story of Romeo and Juliet. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:43.759 By the end of the episode, Corey has spoken to his parents and confronted Eric and then begins to grasp the complexities of growing up and the true meaning of familial love. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.960 I thought the show firmly knew who its audience was. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:55.519 I was trying to watch it as not myself today, but how I might have viewed it back then. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:59.759 It really established Corey, established him as a smart aleck. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:08.399 He feels his family is against him, he relies on his friends, he tolerates his younger sister and doesn't really seem to like school or get along with his teacher. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:20.080 So I really thought that if I'd been in middle school and having someone who just graduated middle school as a child living in my house right now, all those things would absolutely have appealed to me. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.799 So I felt they really stuck the beginning for for this pilot. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:37.200 Yeah, I think they were really on the mark for portraying a middle school student and kind of how he thinks about life and approaches the day-to-day things that he encounters. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:42.480 You see his relationship with his older brother Eric? 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:48.399 Okay, yeah, the older brother Eric, he comes in, he has this issue with this girl that happens throughout the show. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:56.960 Eric has cancelled his plans to go to the Phillies game with Corey in order to take this girl that he likes. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:10.000 And he goes through with that, but it ends up that during the date, Eric feels very inferior and doesn't know what to say to this girl, and so ends up having an awful time and doesn't know what to do moving forward. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:15.519 And eventually Corey is advising Eric on how to get the girl back. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:16.879 And I thought, well, that's different. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:20.480 Usually, of course, it'd be the older brother advising the younger brother. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.960 And I was wondering if that's how their relationship was and how it was going to be. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:38.879 Yeah, I think the relationship between Corey and Eric, I think because Corey is the main character really in this show, that there will be that it made sense for there to be a moment where he was giving Eric some advice. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:43.600 It also showed that he was able to take what he learned in class from Mr. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:50.799 Feeny about love and apply it to what Eric was going through with this girl. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.559 I thought another interesting thing was establishing Mr. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:11:00.559 Feeny, and he's really no nonsense, and Ben Savage says it that Mr. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:01.919 Feeny does not like him. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:09.519 And of course, I'm sitting there thinking, because I've seen sitcoms before, is he going to soften over the course of the show, over the course of the series? 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:15.440 And then you have that really nice scene where Corey he's upset with his parents, he's upset with his brother, nobody likes him. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.639 He's up in the the the tree house and he peers over and you find out that Mr. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.399 Feeny is his neighbor, which I thought, oh, that's an interesting turn. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.240 And then he can see in the window, and he sees that Mr. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:42.320 Feeny, whoever he was gonna be having dinner with, isn't coming, so Feeny clears the plate away, and it's a really touching scene, and you see that that actually affects him, and it goes into their relationship for the rest of that episode anyway. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:46.480 One thing that I did not like was the music. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:54.879 I don't know if you noticed that, but it was like to me, it was really hokey kind of family sitcom music that I could have done without. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:08.720 I noticed the really loud laugh track that kind of was grading me, but again, like I said, I was trying to ignore that and be like, okay, this is the early, you know, this is the 1990s, they have big laugh tracks like that. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:10.480 Wonder Years didn't though. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:21.120 Another thing that stood out to me was there were a couple of callouts to some other shows on ABC. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:34.320 So during the episode, Corey mentioned something about Full House and he also says something about America's Funniest, he doesn't say home videos, but you can tell that that's a nod to that show. 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:39.200 Yeah, I caught the Full House one as well because that's where Feeny, Mr. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:46.240 Feeny is trying to teach them, as you mentioned earlier about Romeo and Juliet, and he says, you know, you have to understand the depth of it. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:49.919 And

Corey responds, he can't understand the depth of Full House. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:13:03.679 I think something interesting to note in, you know, we talked about who the core players or core cast of this show was, but in this episode, it is very apparent that Topanga is not there. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:05.600 She has not been introduced yet. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:06.320 Yeah. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:07.919 Of course, I was looking for her. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:15.440 Once it came to an end, I thought, okay, she's gonna be in the line of like an Elaine Bennis from Seinfeld, who's not in the pilot. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.639 It's really interesting how things change from a pilot, you know? 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:24.240 Like you establish this family show, and but yeah, Topanga's not in it. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.799 And it's kind of like when we watch Family Matters. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.559 You watch the pilot and Urkel's not there, and it's like, how can Urkel not be there? 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:31.919 He's the entire show. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:40.559 I wonder if Danielle Fishel's absence from the first episode has to do with the casting issue they had with Topanga. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:46.080 As I mentioned earlier, they had somebody else slated in that role who didn't work out. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:47.120 That's a good point. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:48.240 That's a really good point. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:56.639 As you were watching this, you are an older brother with a with a a younger brother who's seven years younger. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:05.279 I'm not sure of the exact age difference between Corey and Eric, but I'm wondering if that relationship rang true to you. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.399 Yeah, I think Eric says he's in 10th grade, so I guess they're about four years apart. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:16.000 I loved eventually taking my brother places. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:24.320 I know that there were occasions where I let him down and we had to reconcile from time to time. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.399 So certainly I could relate to that. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.559 He never put his arm around me and gave me advice about girls, though. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:34.559 I don't think we ever had that type of moment. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:41.600 But whenever I see sibling relationships, I always pull for them to be strong like my brother and me. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:44.080 I think that wraps up the pilot. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:45.200 How about if we watch the finale? And when we come back, we will talk about how it ended. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:15:13.360 The plot is really simple. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:14.799 Corey goes to Mr. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:21.679 Feeny with an issue and says that Topanga doesn't want to move to New York, and he's very excited about it. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:22.320 And Mr. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:26.720 Feeny tells Corey that Topanga actually lacks confidence. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.559

And so Corey then convinces Topanga to move to New York. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:35.919 Shawn goes with them, as does Eric, who has changed greatly as a character. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.720 And then Shawn's older brother Jack and his girlfriend are joining the Peace Corps. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:49.360 But what we see throughout this show is flashbacks that show the relationships between the characters and how they were established. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:16:00.559 I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but I'm assuming that in those flashbacks, we saw Topanga's first appearance, as well as their first kiss, them arguing and her proposing to Corey. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:02.799 Again, I thought it was very, very effective. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:03.840 What did you think? 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:16.080 I thought, you know, this finale, which was delivered in two parts, I think really tied up the show, especially for those who had been following it the entire way. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.440 It was a treat for those who had been on that journey. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:30.320 As you mentioned, there were a lot of flashbacks, and so you were able to see different points in the characters' development and kind of how they've gotten to where they are now. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:42.879 It was all really touching, and I know as we were watching it, I had to press pause a few times to ask you who people were, and I didn't always know which segments were flashbacks and which were the current plot. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:51.279 Yeah, some of the things you'd mentioned there were some differences in between the pilot and this final episode. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:52.480 A lot of changes. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:57.600 Yeah, which you know, over the course of seven years or seven seasons you would come to expect. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:02.720 I think one of the major differences is Eric's character development. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:10.240 In the pilot, we see Eric as this kind of popular, at least appears that way. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.640 We appears to be popular, cute, you know, got it together. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:17.920 We learn from the pilot that he's got some insecurities. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:29.200 But by the time we get to the finale, and I'm sure this developed along the way, Eric is much more of a comic tool. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:39.680 I wonder, you know, I know that I read that it was because he was so good at comedy that the writers just really dove into that aspect. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:45.759 I also saw another theory that this entire series is told from Corey's perspective. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:49.759 When he was younger, he thought his brother was cool, and then he didn't. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.960 And so I thought that was really an interesting take. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:54.480 That is an interesting point. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.640 You know, another big change, there's a character named Topanga in it. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:06.960 She actually joined in season one, episode four, but then she and Corey became one of the I guess great love stories of sitcom history, perhaps. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:19.359 Yeah, and when she joined, that wasn't the original plan really for them to have a romantic relationship, but they had such good chemistry that they allowed that relationship to develop in that way. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.599 The flashbacks are really interesting. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.079 and you know, you we were just speaking, you were just speaking about Eric. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.680 The Feeny call. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:28.799 What was that all about? 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:35.599 That you know, Eric is a part of his developing character and becoming more comedic and kind of slapstick. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:38.720 Like he would, when he would encounter Mr. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.440 Feeny, he would be like, Feeny? 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.000 Fee, Fee, Fee, Fee, Feeny. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:45.039 What he really? 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:47.200 He would just do different variations. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:52.640 I mean, there was a section in the finale where they do like a montage of his different calls. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:54.400 Yeah, I didn't know what that was. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.960 As we were watching, I was like, What's what is this? 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:03.039 Yeah, I think that is just part of their relationship, and and Mr. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:10.880 Feeny seemed to come to expect and even accept that as part of their relationship. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:15.519 You know, another change, the opening credits changed drastically. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:22.880 And there was a black character in there, a black girl, woman, but she's not in the finale. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:24.319 I'm wondering what happened to her. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:25.519 I know who she was. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:30.960 She was Trina McGee, who played Angela Moore, and she was Shawn's girlfriend. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.799 Have we established who Shawn is? 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:38.720 So, yeah, I don't think we said it explicitly, but Shawn is Corey's best friend. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:47.200 Interestingly, in the pilot episode and some of those earlier episodes, Corey's friends kind of rotated. 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:59.119 There was like an even among fans, this talk of the the lunch table being this place where characters go and and disappear because I think they were just trying out different people. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:10.160 But I think the the chemistry between Ben Savage and Rider Strong was strong, and so he became the constant best friend going forward. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:11.440 Okay, yeah. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.079 So Angela was his girlfriend, like I say, played by Trin Trina McGee. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:25.920 And yeah, I don't know where what happened to her character, but she was in the credits, so she

probably was in the show that season, but just was not in the finale for whatever reason. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:35.920 Yeah, and I would imagine they explained that and kind of gave her a storyline that made sense for her not to be in the final episode. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:41.200 Yeah, an interesting thing I found about her was that again, she's playing Shawn's girlfriend. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.319 She was in real life ten years older than him. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:44.640 Yeah. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.640 You talk about black not cracking. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:48.000 Good lord. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:55.039 Yeah, well, I think she has talked about that kind of the challenge of being so much older than the rest of the cast. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:03.519 You know, one thing, of course, because I'm a math guy, and in apparently they they were in sixth grade when the series started. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:06.640 Seven years later, they seem to be out of college. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:12.640 Seven plus six is thirteen, so they should have been freshmen in college. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.680 But they begin season one, sixth grade. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:17.839 In season two, they're in ninth grade. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:28.640 That's interesting because they made such a big deal about this show being different in that it followed chronologically the growth of Corey and his friends. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:29.200 Right. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:34.160 So that's interesting to learn that they took out some years in that process. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:38.559 Yeah, and they pulled some Facts of Life moves to keep this cast together. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:40.000 Because in season two, Mr. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:47.920 Feeny's now principal at the high school, and then once they all go to college, he's offered a job at the college where they go. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.960 So you gotta do stuff to keep the cast together. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:22:01.119 Right. But as you mentioned, the the flashbacks were really endearing and they really highlighted different areas or different strengths that these characters had. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:03.680 So you had flashbacks that showed Mr. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.279 Feeny and the advice that he had given over the years. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.640 You see the friendship that has blossomed between Corey and Shawn. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:18.400 You also have flashbacks that look at the relationship between Eric and his father. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:23.680 That scene you're just talking about, a ghost appears between Shawn and Eric, and it's their father. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:29.920 Now I'm sitting there, I had no idea, of course, but I assumed that this meant something to people who'd watched the show. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:33.440 And then they do a flashback showing him. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.680 And I'm like, wow, that was so nice. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:43.599 I know it had to be just

really satisfying for viewers to see the father come back and have the relationship with his boys again. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:49.920 I was watching, and again, I did watch the show as it was on, but that has been decades now. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:57.359 So there was a scene where Corey, as they're getting ready to leave, he stops and he gives some advice to this young boy. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:58.000 Yeah. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.960 And I was like, who is that little boy? 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.319 And so I had to actually go and look it up. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.400 And so that little boy is actually Corey's little brother. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:09.119 Really? 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:13.039 His parents had another kid very late in the game. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:13.759 Okay. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:15.440 Alright. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:26.720 So the the finale ends with Corey, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric coming to a classroom. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.240 Because they're all leaving. They're all going to the world. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:30.880 Yeah. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:37.279 So before they leave for their adventure to New York, they stop in this classroom where Mr. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:42.240 Feeny is for some final advice. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:51.119 And it's it's a to me, and I think to anyone who had been watching this show throughout, it was very emotional, a very touching ending. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.279 With some humor built in. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:59.279 So Eric is his his comedian self and he's pressuring Mr. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:02.799 Feeny to tell them that he loves them. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:03.440 And Mr. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.200 Feeny refuses to do it. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:15.279 But they do get to the point where it is time to go and they say their last words, and and Corey says, You'll always be with us. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:21.039 And after the four leave the classroom, Mr. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:26.160 Feeny finally says, I love you all, class dismissed. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.119 And so that was the end, fade to black. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.519 But the show, the legacy continues. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:43.839 This show has a really incredible legacy, not only as one of the defining sitcoms of the 1990s, but it keeps attracting new audiences through streaming, and they even had a sequel series. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.039 Did you watch that? 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:46.640 Girl Meets World. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:47.920 I did not. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:52.960 Probably mostly because I didn't have Disney at the time that that came out. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:25:02.160 But yeah, Girl Meets World was a show on Disney that followed the daughter of Topanga and Corey. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:09.759 One of the things I thought was interesting is that her best friend was played by Sabrina Carpenter. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:10.319 Oh, really? 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:13.039 Who we now know

as a pop star. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:21.440 The show is now is also has a podcast now where Danielle, Rider and Will rewatch episodes. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.160 The podcast is called Pod Meets World. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:32.160 And that kind of gets into another side that is the facts that Ben Savage is not part of it. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:40.000 And the three of them, who you just mentioned, have talked about they're kind of estranged, or not kind of estranged, they're estranged from Ben Savage, but don't know why. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.279 Have you heard about that? 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:47.440 I've heard about it, and I'm kind of at the same place you are where I I don't know the reason behind it. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:26:00.960 It's kind of sad because they were, you know, the four of them had really good chemistry during the show, and it's it is kind of sad to see there's something that's keeping them from staying connected. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:19.039 Yeah, and there's also they've talked about how Michael Jacobs was kind of it was kind of a tough experience while they were on the original show, that his management style was difficult, that he could be really controlling and created a lot of stress for the cast. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:23.839 Yeah, this really came out in a documentary about the show called Doc Meets World. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:24.480 Oh wow. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:26.799 And that focuses on the original cast. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:38.960 and several of the actors and producers, including Rider Strong and Danielle Fishel, as well as producer Frank Pace, they revealed that working with Jacobs could be highly controlling and stressful. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:46.960 His approach to showrunning is widely described across the entertainment community as his way or the highway. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:54.160 It's a dynamic that's left a lasting and sometimes negative impact on the young actors in the show. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:56.880 Do you know why the show ended? 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:10.400 The last episode, Brave New World, aired on May 5, 2000, and it ended primarily because the creative team felt the story had reached its natural conclusion. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.799 The series was built around Corey Matthews' journey from childhood to adulthood. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:23.119 By the end of season seven, Corey had graduated from college, married to Topanga, and was leaving for New York to begin the next chapter of his life. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:25.519 So, as you said, the story was complete. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:25.920 Yeah. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.920 Our boy is now meeting the world. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:28.720 Right. 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:41.599 But it was nice that it did get a I'm gonna say quote unquote proper ending, and the show wasn't pulled abruptly off the air because of poor ratings. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:50.720 Instead, ABC renewed it for that seventh season, which allowed the writers to craft a planned finale that gave closure to the characters. 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:53.440 I guess that leads into the question, Angela. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.000 Do you think the finale stuck the landing? 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:57.440 I think so. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:05.920 I think this finale has been very different than the other some of the other ones that we've watched with the flashbacks. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:13.519 We have a chance to see not only where they are now and where they're going, but also that character development. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:17.519 So I feel like that all came together in a nice package. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:23.519 Yeah, I will say that for someone like me, it was still an emotional ending. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:32.400 There are other shows I've seen like Lost that use flashbacks effectively, but this was definitely one of the most effective ways of using them. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:34.880 So yeah, I definitely thought it stuck the landing. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:37.119 So that's it for Boy Meets World. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:38.480 Thank you for hanging out with us. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:40.160 Again, I'm Bobby Meadows. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.000 And I'm Angela Johnson Meadows. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:45.839 Join us next time, back on the couch, for How It Started, How It Ended. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:50.319 Because endings matter, especially to the people who stuck around. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:01.599 How It Started, How It Ended is produced by Bobby Meadows and Angela Johnson Meadows for Ain't We Cute Productions. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:06.400 Subscribe and listen to How It Started, How It Ended wherever you find your favorite podcast. 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:12.480 And you can follow us on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram at how it started underscore how it ended.