5 Things I’ve Learned From Re-Watching Every Episode Of Boy Meets World

By

It all started when the Girl Meets World hype hit the media. Despite the very large chance that the spinoff would be a huge letdown, I was excited to see Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel playing on-screen lovers again.

I off-handedly mentioned it to my boyfriend one night, my guilty excitement getting the best of me, only to be told that he had never watched Boy Meets World as a kid. Not even a single episode.

Cue the binge-watching. It took almost a year, but we went from the first episode to the last and here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Shawn and Cory are possibly the greatest best friends of all time.

This isn’t a show about a love story between Cory and Topanga…okay, I guess it is a little, but it’s also a love story between Cory and Shawn.

We’ve seen the teenage love story a million times before, but rarely do shows encapsulate the beauty of a bromance. Boy Meets World did just that and gave us Cory and Shawn, a pair of best friends for the TV history books.

2. Shawn should be the true protagonist of the show.

Let’s think about Cory’s hardships for a minute. Not really coming up with anything aside from his relationship drama? That’s because Shawn was the tortured one, known for pulling away from his friends and family when things got tough and making bad decisions.

We always root for Shawn, through the good and the bad, and that’s what makes a true hero.

3. Characters consistently disappear.

Disappearing characters is not uncommon in the BMW universe. The obvious example of this would be Mr. Turner, who almost adopted Shawn before getting into a motorcycle accident and then never being mentioned again.

To name a few other disappearing acts, there’s Minkus, Mr. Williams, Frankie and Joey, Shawn’s mother Virna, Harley Keiner, who disappears and then returns and then disappears again, Eric’s crush at his dad’s store Lonnie and Eric’s original friend Jason.

Here’s my favorite, though– Mr. Feeny’s wife. Did you forget Feeny got married? So did I. But don’t worry, it’s probably just because she stops showing up after the touching wedding.

4. Eric changed. A lot.

Remember the early years? Eric Matthews was the cool big brother, handsome, forever hoping to become a weatherman. Never great with school, but always showing massive potential. He was always there to give Cory advice on girls and general life.

Fast-forward to the last couple seasons and Eric becomes little more than a comic relief. Any smarts he’d ever had have disappeared as quickly and as suddenly as Mr. Turner.

5. They don’t make sitcoms like they used to.

Above all else, I’ve learned from my binge-watching that they just don’t make sitcoms like they used to.

Will we ever get another dynamic duo like Cory and Shawn or another beautiful love story like Cory and Topanga’s? Will we ever get to watch a group of kids grow from sixth graders into college-aged adults before our very eyes?

It’s no wonder we’re such a nostalgic generation.