Girl Meets World

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.

When I first saw that Boy Meets World was having a sequel, I was so excited! My childhood was coming back I thought. Then when I saw that it was going to be on the Disney Channel I got a little worried cause Boy Meets World talked about real life issues that can't be discussed on the Disney Channel. But I watched all 3 seasons of it and I love it. Sure some of the comedy is awkward and it doesn't make sense and it is slow and boring at times but overall this show has heart, has great characters, great messages, and I hope it gets picked up by a different network.

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.

This show is fun in small doses, having watched it after being a huge Boy Meets World fan it is hard to live up to those expectations. The first 2 seasons show the kids in middle school and are a bit easier to understand the state of the show, however once they reach midway through season 2 it goes downhill rather fast.

The first seasons are a kid's/family show that show two girls and their friends going through middle school. These are enjoyable until the show kind of tries to hard basically. At the halfway point of season 2, the show tries to replicate BMW, but without any sense of realism. Playing up love triangles as a common and/or ok thing, while trying to portray the characters as growing and helping develop them. The show simply struggles to evolve with the obvious physical growth of the characters.. This boring, borderline innapropriate/unneccesary story arch continues into season 3, which sees them go to high school...

Immediately you can tell this is going to be the worst season yet.. The kids seem like middle schoolers in high school. They try to up the drama, and it honestly is basically the same thing as season 1, the only true character evolution is Farkle, and that is mainly superficial and on the surface and maybe a bit less ADHD. Lucas is boring as ever and simply doesn't have much acting range at all... Maya is trying WAY too hard to be Shawn without any of the appeal the original character had.. Zay and Smackle are just kind of there.. While Riley is still the same uber-optimistic girl she always has been, but without maturing despite being portrayed in stories that clearly want to be portrayed as such..

The show simply never matured.. The stories were super light, and almost nothing strikes home as the original show did. They force relationships without any semblance of chemistry or reasoning. This show is enjoyable as long as you don't expect anything beyond a typical disney kids show from this era, it just really falls flat in terms of life lessons and doesn't seem the slightest bit realistic and is constantly over or underacted..

The positives however are there, which makes it somewhat watchable.. Though the stories are cringey, Riley is very lovable and is a good leader with her constant and almost exhausting optimism. her relationship with Maya may dwindle as the seasons go on and they almost become the same kind of person, but it is still similar to the Shawn/Cory relationship. The cameos are good, but sadly not great and never take any emphasis over anything. Unlike the original show it is ALWAYS about Riley or Maya, without much flowing plot or subplots.

The original characters Topanga and Cory are okay, but pretty unbelievable as parents. Cory is probably the best written character and has basically become a mixture of Mr Turner and Mr Feeny, but sometimes comes of very corny.. Topanga is just too inconsistent and sometimes is stern and other times goofy. She is referred to as smart, but never shows it as in the original show. Shawn is just barely there, which is a shame as when he shows up the episodes are better, same with Eric.

I know this dragged a bit, but I really wanted to enjoy this show fully, and though it is OKAY, it is not even what i would call good or great, especially if you are expecting something like the original show, it simply is too vanilla and lacks the hard hitting stories and characters that made the original a show you could connect with.

Show it to your kids, at least the first few seasons, and talk with them about the lessons within, but don't expect too much family enjoyment, as it simply isn't a well rounded show with stuff for everyone, it is sadly more limited.

As a BMW fan I'd give it a 2/10 As a non-BMW fan knowing nothing of it, i'd give it a 6/10 compared to other Disney shows these days.

Worth a watch, give it a try

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.