The Boy Meets World logo.
Boy Meets World is a 90's sitcom about a boy, Cory Matthews, and his journey to adulthood. With him are his best friend Shawn Hunter, his girlfriend Topanga Lawrence, his charming yet silly older brother Eric, and his teacher and next-door-neighbor George Feeny.
Timeslot
Boy Meets World ran from September 24, 1993 to May 5, 2000. Initially, the show aired at 8:30 p.m. in ABC's TGIF lineup, but was moved to 9:30 p.m. in the middle of season 4 due to increasingly adult subject matter. (This was internally noted in the episode Shallow Boy, in which a character complains about his favorite show moving to 9:30.).
Syndication
Currently, Disney-ABC Domestic Television (sister company to Touchstone Television, now ABC Studios) handles the syndication rights to the series.
Boy Meets World reruns began airing in off-network syndication on September 8, 1997 and continued until September 2000. After the show ended in 2000, Disney Channel acquired the rights to air the series, lasting from 2000–2007; however to the consternation of some longtime fans of the show, many episodes aired on Disney Channel were edited for suggestive content deemed inappropriate for the channel's 7-14 year old intended target audience and at least three episodes never shown due to subject matter within the episode's plotline also deemed inappropriate.
ABC Family also aired the show from 2004 until August 2007, in a way inheriting the rights to the show from Disney Channel, but ABC Family did not air the Disney Channel versions of the episodes, instead it ran different syndicated prints which restored portions of scenes Disney Channel did not show during its run on that network (though small portions of certain scenes from episodes during the earlier seasons were cut due to time constraints), incorporated each season's corresponding opening title sequence and even used the original versions of the season one teaser scenes that featured the opening titles after the teaser, bringing them back in line with the original ABC telecasts (prior syndicated versions of season one episodes had the cast and creators' names shown during the teaser scene). It was announced on April 1, 2010 that ABC Family had re-obtained the rights to Boy Meets World, and began airing it at 7 a.m. (ET/PT) on weekdays beginning April 12, 2010; the series replaced Sister, Sister.
Humor
The humor of Boy Meets World developed with its main star. Initially, it was a bit childish, although entertained. Cory was a little sarcastic kid. As the show aged, the humor became more outlandish and farcical. Especially in season 7, physical humor is emphasized. Also, the show isn't above cross-dressing for a laugh, which was the focus of two separate episodes (Chick Like Me and What a Drag!).
The humor is also notable due to a somewhat constant stream of parodies, including of itself, especially in Eric Hollywood. The movie Scream is parodied in And Then There Was Shawn, and the movie The Truman Show in And In Case I Don't See Ya.
See Also
- Boy Meets World Season 1
- Boy Meets World Season 2
- Boy Meets World Season 3
- Boy Meets World Season 4
- Boy Meets World Season 5
- Boy Meets World Season 6
- Boy Meets World Season 7