Girl Meets World

Girl Meets World
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Michael Jacobs April Kelly
Starring	Rowan Blanchard Ben Savage Sabrina Carpenter Peyton Meyer August Maturo Danielle Fishel Corey Fogelmanis
Theme music composer	Matthew Tishler Maria Christensen Shridhar Solanki
Opening theme	"Take on the World" performed by Rowan Blanchard Sabrina Carpenter
Composer(s)	Phil Rosenthal
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	49 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael Jacobs
Producer(s)	Frank Pace
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Michael Jacobs Productions It's a Laugh Productions
Release
Original network	Disney Channel
Picture format	SDTV 480i HDTV 720p
Original release	June 27, 2014 (2014-06-27) – present (present)
Chronology
Preceded by	Boy Meets World
External links
Website

Girl Meets World is an American coming of age television sitcom. The series made its debut on June 27, 2014, on Disney Channel.

The series is a sequel to the sitcom Boy Meets World, which aired on ABC in its TGIF block from 1993 to 2000. The original series centered on Cornelius "Cory" Matthews, including his growing relationship with Topanga Lawrence and their eventual marriage. Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, who portrayed Cory and Topanga, reprise their roles in Girl Meets World, which centers on the life of the couple's daughter, Riley Matthews. Her father has become a middle school teacher, while her mother is a lawyer, who gains part ownership of an old world bakery in the first season episode "Girl Meets Popular". Other members of the Boy Meets World cast have either recurring roles or cameo appearances.

The third season of Girl Meets World was announced on November 25, 2015 with production to begin in January 2016 and premiere Spring 2016.^[1]

Plot

The series takes place several years after Boy Meets World in New York City, where Cory and Topanga Matthews moved to in the finale of the series, and follows their daughter Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard) and her best friend Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter) as they navigate the challenges of life and junior high school. Following along with them are their classmates, Lucas Friar (Peyton Meyer) and Farkle Minkus (Corey Fogelmanis), and Riley's younger brother, Auggie (August Maturo).

Cast and characters

Main

The main characters. From left to right: Lucas, Auggie, Topanga, Riley, Cory, Maya, and Farkle.

• Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard), the central character, is the daughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews. At the start of the series, she is 12 years old and in seventh grade. She is the center of many lessons in her father's class. She is just finding herself. She and her best friend, Maya Hart, explore middle school together while making new friends along the way. Riley is very much like her father. She also has a crush on Lucas; they go on their first date in "Girl Meets First Date".
• Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) is Riley and Auggie's father and Topanga's husband, a lead character in Boy Meets World. He has taken a job as a history teacher at John Quincy Adams Middle School, whose class consists of his daughter and many of her friends. In addition to being Riley's father, he often acts as a father figure to Maya. Cory's personality and traits are similar to those of his daughter.
• Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter) is Riley's best friend. She is wild and rebellious, showing it in her actions, such as protesting homework and almost lighting the class' homework on fire. She has a troubled past, but is social and street smart. She is tomboyish and thinks she knows everything about the world. In "Girl Meets the New World", her middle name is revealed to be Penelope.
• Lucas Friar (Peyton Meyer) is another one of Riley's friends, and also her love interest. He is originally from Austin, Texas. Lucas has good manners and common sense. He considers Farkle to be his best friend. Maya stereotypes him as a cowboy; it is revealed that he is from a family of cowboys in "Girl Meets 1961". In "Girl Meets the Secret of Life", it is revealed that he was expelled from his former school in Austin.
• Auggie Matthews (August Maturo) is Riley's young brother and Cory and Topanga's son. When he grows up, he wants to be like his father. He believes himself to be Riley's twin, as shown in the pilot. In the episode "Girl Meets Brother", it was revealed that his full name is August.
• Topanga Matthews (Danielle Fishel) is Riley and Auggie's mother and Cory's wife. Topanga is Cory's high school girlfriend, and they have been friends since they were babies. Topanga has become a successful lawyer and is a loving and protective mother as shown in "Girl Meets Sneak Attack". She later inherits Svorski's from the late Mrs. Svorski, later changing the bakery's name to Topanga's.
• Farkle Minkus (Corey Fogelmanis) is close friends with Riley and Maya, but is also infatuated with them. In "Girl Meets Sneak Attack", it is shown that he cares for the two and will do anything for them to be happy. He is smart and is a big flirt, while also being eccentric. He is shown to be the teacher's pet in many episodes. He is the son of Cory and Topanga's former classmates, Stuart Minkus, with whom he shares many similarities, and Jennifer Bassett Minkus. Farkle cares a lot about his education and always keeps his grades up in class.

Recurring

• Katy Hart (Cheryl Texiera) is Maya's mom. For Career Day at school, Katy reveals to Maya's class that she has aspirations of becoming an actress; however, she works as a waitress. Katy frequently fails to show up to any event of importance to Maya, believing herself to be a hindrance to her daughter's future. Her relationship with Maya is reminiscent to that of Shawn and Chet Hunter from Boy Meets World. Their relationship improves throughout the series and she runs "Topanga's" bakery for Topanga.
• Ava Morgenstern (Ava Kolker) is Auggie's six-year-old, manipulative girlfriend. She convinces Auggie to do whatever she asks because she is older. However, Ava is ultimately oblivious to how this affects Auggie. Ava's personality appears to be a product of her mom's way of raising her. Topanga makes it clear that she does not like Ava.
• Isadora Smackle (Cecilia Balagot) is Farkle's arch-rival who also seems to have a crush on him. In "Girl Meets I Am Farkle", it is revealed that she was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when she was five years old.
• Evelyn Rand (Jackée Harry) meets Riley and Maya on the subway in the pilot. They later call her Crazy Hat because of the obscure hats they see her wearing at the subway station. She is revealed to be a successful businesswoman.
• Gabriella Kossal (Aisha Kabia) is the art teacher at John Quincy Adams Middle School who is impressed with Maya's art. The episode "Girl Meets Creativity" reveals that her first name is Gabriella.
• Mrs. Svorski (Cloris Leachman) is an elderly woman who runs Svorski's, a local bakery, and who befriends Auggie. She dies off-screen in "Girl Meets Gravity" and her restaurant is given to Topanga.
• Dewey (Cooper J. Freedman) is a friend of Auggie who pronounces his name "Doy" much to the annoyance of Topanga. He does not like his name and cries each time somebody corrects his pronunciation.
• Zay Babineaux (Amir Mitchell Townes) is Lucas' old friend from Texas who later moves to New York and enrolls in Cory's history class, becoming the unofficial fifth member of the group.
• Charlie Gardner (Tanner Buchanan) is an eighth grader at John Quincy Adams Middle School who admires Riley.
• Harper Burgess (Tania Gunadi) is the English teacher at John Quincy Adams Middle School who replaces Mr. Garbowski.
• Pappy Joe (M.C. Gainey) is the grandfather of Lucas who lives in Texas.

Boy Meets World alumni

The following characters from Boy Meets World made appearances in this series in the form of recurring roles, guest appearances, or cameo appearances. They are listed in order of appearance:

• George Feeny (William Daniels) is Cory's omnipresent mentor who is now in his 80s. Feeny makes a cameo appearance in the pilot episode, his only appearance in the first season. Mr. Feeny was Cory, Shawn, and Topanga's teacher in junior high, their principal in high school, and their professor in college. Throughout these years, Feeny was the Matthews' next-door neighbor and a close friend to the Matthews family as well as Shawn Hunter. In "Girl Meets Gravity", Cory calls Feeny to check up on him after the death of Mrs. Svorski. In "Girl Meets Pluto", Cory, Shawn, and Topanga, along with Riley and Maya, return to Philadelphia to dig up a time capsule from Feeny's back yard where they are caught by Feeny. When Riley and Maya are asked if Cory was a good teacher, Maya replied with, "The best. But he says you're the best."
• Stuart Minkus (Lee Norris) is Cory, Topanga, and Shawn's former classmate, appearing as a main cast member in the first season of Boy Meets World, and as a guest star in an episode of the fifth season. Although Cory and Shawn often bullied Minkus, the boys also looked to him for advice on girls and life, and Stuart was good friends with Topanga, later becoming a fierce rival, which carries over to this series. Stuart is Farkle's father, as seen in "Girl Meets Maya's Mother". He appears at Farkle's Career Day at school, whereupon he instantly renews his rivalry with both Cory and Topanga, and is proud to mention his position as the CEO of Minkus International. In "Girl Meets I Am Farkle", it is revealed that Stuart is married to Jennifer Bassett.
• Harley Keiner (Danny McNulty) is Cory's good friend and former high school bully. In Boy Meets World, Harley was much older than the rest of the students due to being held back. He now works as the janitor at John Quincy Adams Middle School, as seen in "Girl Meets the Forgotten". He mentions in "Girl Meets Flaws" that Cory helped him get the job. Reminiscent of the original series, Harley likes to address Cory by the nickname Johnny Baboon. Harley is regretful for his past behavior and looks to steer kids from going down the wrong path. However, it is mildly implied that Harley's aggressive side isn't entirely gone as he mentions that without music, he's prone to "do things".
• Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) is Cory's best friend since childhood, Topanga's close childhood friend, and uncle figure to Riley and Auggie. Since the end of Boy Meets World, Shawn has traveled around as a writer and a photographer. He also forms a friendship with Maya. Cory and Shawn have a close relationship with each other that, as shown in Boy Meets World, is at times even stronger than the relationship between Cory and Topanga.
• Alan Matthews (William Russ) is Cory's father, Topanga's father-in-law, and grandfather to their children. Alan has a close relationship with his son and owns a wilderness store which he originally ran with his eldest son Eric in Boy Meets World.
• Amy Matthews (Betsy Randle) is Cory's mother, Topanga's mother-in-law, and grandmother to their children. Amy has a close relationship with her children, especially Morgan, who is her only daughter. She often would disagree with Cory and Topanga as a couple when they made important decisions even though she is fond of them.
• Joshua Matthews (Uriah Shelton) is Cory's teenage brother and Auggie and Riley's uncle. He was born premature and underweight and almost died just hours after his birth. Joshua was the only member of the Matthews family to never have a prominent role and he was originally portrayed by creator Michael Jacobs's son Daniel Jacobs in Boy Meets World. Joshua is now 17 years old and still lives in Philadelphia with Cory's parents. Maya has a major crush on him.
• Eric Matthews (Will Friedle) is Cory and Josh's older brother and Auggie and Riley's uncle. Like in the original series, Eric is a goofball and lovable, but is quite dimwitted sometimes. Now a full-grown adult, he appears to have matured a bit, but is still considered to be the fun uncle in the Matthews family. As evidenced in the original series, Eric has good people skills. Since leaving Philadelphia, Eric has gone on to become the Mayor of St. Upid Town, New York, a fictional community near the borders of New York State and the Canadian Province of Quebec, after all those who would have supported his mayoral opponent died in a landslide, according to Eric. To blend in with the locals, he wears a hermit costume, an homage to his faux alter ego Plays with Squirrels that was seen in the Boy Meets World seventh season episode "Seven the Hard Way". A running gag is that he tends to mispronounce Maya's name. He eventually is elected Senator and is faced with a decision involving his friend Jack Hunter.
• Angela Moore (Trina McGee) is Shawn Hunter's former high school girlfriend. Her father has since died and she has been married to a soldier for four years and is looking to potentially become a mother. Angela finally makes an appearance in the episode "Girl Meets Hurricane", where she not only reveals to Shawn the tragic news that her father Sgt. Moore (Julius Carry) died in a fishing accident, but she has also gotten married to a man in the service. Her reason for meeting up with Shawn is to get some advice and counseling about her fears of becoming a mother out of fear that she may end up like her own. Shawn encourages Angela to start a family with her husband and experience the joy of being a parent. After this, Angela encourages Shawn to pursue a relationship with Katy and leaves to go back home.
• Chet Hunter (Blake Clark) is Shawn's late father who died of a heart attack in the sixth season of Boy Meets World. During his lifetime, he was in and out of his children's lives. Since his passing, he occasionally returns to Shawn as a spirit guide.
• Thomas Jonathan Murphy (J. B. Gaynor) was an orphan that Eric met while he was playing Santa at the mall one Christmas. After Eric gave Tommy a toy for Christmas, Tommy became convinced that Eric was really Santa and asked Eric for parents for Christmas. Eric, touched by the boy's request, decided to volunteer as Tommy's big brother. The two spent a great deal of time together, leading Eric to consider adopting him, but he later changes his mind so Tommy can go live with a family who can provide better support for him. Many years later, he resurfaces in "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington" as a political activist and founder of a website called Thorn in Your Side that reports on political scandals. He volunteers to help when Eric is nominated to run for senator of New York, though the others are unaware of his identity. Later at a debate against Eric's opponent Senator Jefferson Davis Graham, Tommy reveals his identity and speaks of Eric's compassion and how Eric had sacrificed himself for Tommy's future. Eric joyfully reunites with Tommy who expresses his desire to continue working with Eric's campaign.
• Jonathan Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn) was an English teacher who taught Cory, Shawn, and Topanga in high school. He was a laid back teacher who wore a leather jacket and rode a motorcycle. At one point, he became a father figure to Shawn and admits to loving him like a son. After his motorcycle accident, Jonathan fell in love with his nurse and married her. Mr. Turner returns in "Girl Meets the New Teacher", where he is now the superintendent that personally hired Corey Matthews to teach history at John Quincy Adams Middle School. He was called in to oversee the class of Harper Burgess to see if she is worth keeping around after Principal Yancy threatened to fire her and Cory. Riley sees him as an uncle figure as he has formed an even closer affinity with the Matthews family than before, visiting their home often. Although thankful for him being a good educator, Topanga holds a grudge against Turner because he gave her an A- in high school.
• Jack Hunter (Matthew Lawrence) is Shawn's paternal half-brother and was Eric's best friend in college. Jack competed with Eric for the affection of Rachel McGuire. He and Rachel joined the Peace Corps at the end of Boy Meets World, but Jack eventually left while Rachel stayed behind. The two have since lost touch, while Eric and Rachel still talk often. When he appears in "Girl Meets Semi-Formal", Jack now works for a corporation that is not environmentally friendly and has been assigned to persuade Senator Eric Matthews to allow his company to build a pipeline somewhere. Eric takes it upon himself to try and show Jack a simpler time to change his ways like taking him to the semi-formal dance where he met Riley.
• Jennifer Bassett-Minkus (Kristanna Loken) was once the girlfriend of Shawn Hunter back in high school. However, she was an extremely arrogant and vindictive person that tried to keep Shawn and Cory apart. She makes her return in "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" where she is now married to Stuart Minkus, and the mother of Farkle. It is shown that Jennifer is a changed woman proving herself to be a sweet, caring mother of Farkle and the wife of Stuart. She supports her son while waiting to find out if he is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.

Development

In November 2012, it was reported that Disney Channel was in the early stages of development of a follow-up series titled Girl Meets World, which will center on Cory and Topanga's 12-year-old daughter Riley. Boy Meets World co-creator Michael Jacobs will develop the series and serve as its executive producer and showrunner. On November 26, 2012, it was confirmed by Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel that they would be reprising their roles as Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence-Matthews in the series.^[2][3] In February 2013, it was announced that Michael Jacobs has reached out to all of the former Boy Meets World cast members to take part in the new show.^[4]

On June 17, 2013, Disney Channel officially greenlit a series order for Girl Meets World, which began production that summer.^[5] On January 23, 2014, the first-season order was increased from its initial 13-episode count^[6] to 20 in order to make a full season.^[7]

On May 2, 2014, a full trailer for Girl Meets World was released.^[8] On May 21, 2014, the pilot episode became available as a preview to users of the various Watch Disney Channel mobile and television apps, which require TV Everywhere authentication to watch. Following the TV premiere of the pilot, the episode Girl Meets Sneak Attack was made available via the apps.^[9] On June 13, 2014, the pilot was made available for free on iTunes.

On August 6, 2014, Girl Meets World was renewed for a second season by Disney Channel.^[6][10] The second season premiered on May 11, 2015.

Casting

Auditions began in mid-November 2012 for the lead roles of Riley Matthews, the daughter of Cory and Topanga, Maya, a witty friend of Riley's who has a troubled past, and Elliot, Riley's older brother. By the end of January 2013, Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter were cast as Riley and Maya, respectively.^[11][12] Teo Halm was tapped for the role of Elliot in early March.^[13]

Filming of the pilot began on March 20, 2013,^[14] and concluded on March 22, 2013.^[15][16] Rider Strong and Will Friedle made a surprise visit to the set, sparking rumors of a return, or at least a cameo appearance, in the upcoming series.^[17] Maitland Ward also made a visit to the set and was asked about the return of her character, Rachel McGuire. Ward said, "I can't really share any show info, but it would be fun if the old gang got back together again!"^[18]

On October 5, 2013, Teo Halm announced on Twitter that he was no longer involved with the series. A report by TVLine suggested the series was undergoing creative changes after the pilot.^[19]

On March 12, 2014, it was announced that Lee Norris would reprise his role of Stuart Minkus.^[20]

On March 18, 2014, it was announced that Rider Strong would reprise his role of Shawn Hunter.^[21]

On December 3, 2014, it was announced that Will Friedle would reprise his role of Eric Matthews, beginning with the second season, along with William Daniels reprising his role as George Feeny in a larger role.^[22]

On February 3, 2015, it was announced that Trina McGee would reprise her role as Angela Moore and Blake Clark would reprise his role of Chet Hunter.^[23][24]

On April 7, 2015, it was announced that Anthony Tyler Quinn would reprise his role as Jonathan Turner.^[25]

On June 5, 2015, it was announced that Matthew Lawrence would reprise his role as Jack Hunter.^[26]

Series overview

Reception

Critical reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the show an 82% approval rating based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average score of 7.3/10. The site's consensus states: "Though not quite as comical, Girl Meets World sweetly shares the nostalgia of its predecessor, Boy Meets World, with its young audience while providing positive moral values for today's youth."^[28] Metacritic gives the show a score of 64 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[29]

The series premiere received positive reviews. Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast called it a "perfectly pleasant Disney Channel show".^[30] Rob Owen of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said it was, "a cute half-hour that capably introduces new characters and sets the table for the new series".^[31] Diane Warts of Newsday said the show, "does its job of bringing tween-based family viewing into the 2010s".^[32] The series premiere garnered 5.2 million viewers.^[33]

Similar to critical reception, viewer reception has also been positive for Girl Meets World. IMDb users have given the show a 7.1/10 rating from 7096 user reviews,^[34] and TV.com has given the show a 8/10 rating from 133 users.^[35]

Ratings

Broadcast

The series originally premiered on June 27, 2014, on Disney Channel in the United States and on Family Channel in Canada.^[39][40] It premiered on Disney Channels in Australia on August 25, 2014, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 29, 2014.^[41][42] In South Africa and the Middle East, it began airing on November 15, 2014, on Disney Channel.^[43][44] It started airing on Disney Channel in Canada on September 1, 2015;^[45][46] the episode "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" premiered September 3, 2015, on Disney Channel Canada, before its initial airing in the US, on September 11, 2015.

Awards and nominations

See also

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Girl Meets World

• Official website
• Girl Meets World at the Internet Movie Database
• Girl Meets World at TV.com