Das Leben und Riley

While Boy Meets World targeted pre-teens to adults, Girl Meets World is strictly for the pre-teens to teen age bracket. With silly story lines, Girl Meets World is much more like a Hannah Montana, ICarly, or Wizards of Waverly, than it is to the original Boy Meets World. While the format of learning a life lesson is still there, it is found in a much sillier way.

One thing that I really don't like, is that Cory and Topanga don't act like parents. For example, in the episode that Riley wanted to go to a dance instead of going to Cony Island to ride the Cyclone with her father. Cory pouts to Topanga, tries to guilt Riley into going, and is just over dramatic. There was a similar episode on Boy Meets World, where Eric and Cory don't want to play in the father-son softball game. There is no silly drama, in fact they don't even know that they hurt there father's feelings until after the game is over and he went by himself. In the original Boy Meets World, Amy and Allan came off as believable parents. Corey and Topanga come off as being silly and over dramatic.

FYI like Morgan in the early seasons, the little brother Auggie, is awesome!!!

Where to begin? There seems to be an unwritten rule that Disney Channel sitcoms must be mindless and badly-written. Yes, I know they are not intended for adults, but children are actually intelligent beings. As a kid I loved Wonder Years, which was an excellent show, very well-written. I also liked Boy Meets World, although even back then I could see that it was clearly worse than Wonder Years. Still, it was meant to be sillier and it had enough heart and integrity to make you care about the characters and be willing to accompany them as they grew up and learned life's lessons.

Now there comes this spin-off and I tried watching for nostalgia's sake, but I had to give up after forcing myself to watch a few chapters. Girl Meets World is bad even when compared to other Disney shows. It just has no redeeming features. Sure, it's nice to see Cory and Topanga again, but I still spent the time cringing instead of remembering fondly. They decided to make a spin-off of a beloved old show, and they took the trouble to hire the original actors... couldn't they have taken the trouble to hire decent writers too?

The writing is bad, and I would feel sorry for the actors for getting so little to work with if they did not do a bad job too, either overacting or being expressionless. Cory's classes are a mess, Farkle is a creep with no nuances, Lucas is inexpressive and vacant, Riley is all about making overacted faces, with no personality...

If you are interested in this because of Boy Meets World, sure, give it a try and form your own opinion, but be warned that you'll probably decide this is a painful waste of time.

Just watched the pilot and am excited for the rest of the season. Huge fan of Boy Meets World, so I was super excited for this. But I also tried to keep my expectations in check - it's its own show, the 1st season of BMW was fairly cheesy, etc. Well, I really liked it.

Of course I'd like more Cory and Topanga, but the show is about Riley and her journey. And the two of them are incorporated, and I imagine will continue to be. (Think of how much we got to see of Amy and Alan's perspectives and they didn't even have the cult following.) I love the relationship between Riley and Maya - very Cory and Shawn. I think the actress playing Riley has the right amount of preteen curiosity and awkwardness as well as the ability to deliver humor. She seems like she'll be able to "grow with the show" as Cory did.

My only complaint is that some themes seem a bit forced - the "finding the world and making it yours" repeated over and over, and the "Riley is going to save Maya" motif is a little obvious. However, it's a kids show, so adult viewers need to remember that kids don't pick up on repetitive elements as easily.

For those worried about it being too "Disney", all I have to say is that after watching part of the "Disney Channel Original Movie" that was on before the pilot, this show is MUCH better than typical Disney shows. I think it has a lot of potential.

I think true fans of BMW - the ones who love it for the wholesome and important messages it sent - should give this show a chance. As much as the majority of its viewership is probably made up of the adults 20+ who grew up with the original, the show is for a new generation. And I, for one, am happy that Michael Jacobs and April Kelly are bringing this kind of programming to today's kids. I think fans of the old will appreciate the tributes and similarities, and new fans will enjoy a new, quality show for a generation that needs it.

I'm not too familiar with BMW therefore I can't compare them. The show looked like it could be promising. The lead actress is too nervous right off the bat. She needs to relax, her acting makes the series awkward. Maya on the other hand is a reaally good actress! She's got the right tone and gestures. I only think her character is written too mature for her age. It makes it weird to see this tiny teen acting like she has so much experience and giving life lessons. Kids shouldn't be seen that way. But I'm amazed by how smooth she is, my cousins and I only watch it cus of her (plus we think she's pretty). The Lucas guy looks way too old (like 17-18) to hang out with them (they look 12-13). Farkle does well for his role, he's supposed to be goofy but he does it with confidence, perhaps needs a little more face gestures. Cory and Topenga are kinda overkill for the show but I understand it's cool cus they were in the original. Cory gets too personal with his young students, it doesn't seem professional. And he doesn't have the coffee-pep most teachers have in the mornings. In fact, he acts the same in class as he does at home as a father. Topenga hardly does much in the series, sorta just mom stuff. The Little brother is funny, we hardly see him though. BMW had older actors so the deep lessons made sense. It doesn't work with young actresses and Disney. Since Disney can't go there, the deep lessons miss many significant elements. First episodes are about finding yourself. Like nahhh! Work your way up to that. I'm in college and STILL finding myself. This is why teens go through phases cus of all the pressure of finding their place whether it's a clique etc, that should just come. These girls should deal with mean bullies, trying out clubs, trying to get money, puberty, social networking issues, things girls their age experience. The episodes I've seen are about Riley and May as friendship like their friendships seem fake cus there's too much attention there. Put the attention somewhere else, and the friendship will naturally build up.

THIS SHOW IS THE REASON WHY DISNEY CHANNEL IS NOT AS GOOD AS IT USED TO BE.