Last Thursday night, I started binge-watching Girl Meets World. I was always a fan of Boy Meets World as a little girl, and I used to watch it whenever I was able to catch it on TV. Although I couldn't always grasp the reality of some of the situations, each episode always had a lesson behind them. Every character went through real life scenarios, and the show constantly stressed the importance of family, friends, the future, and the effects of the choices you make along the way. Boy Meets World was the true epitome of a wholesome family show because it was just so relatable.
When I first found out a couple of years ago that a spinoff of the beloved show would be made, I was stoked. I was even more excited when I found out that most (if not all) of the original cast would be returning to the show, with the addition of some new characters. In Girl Meets World, the audience is introduced to Corey and Topanga’s daughter, Riley, and the show focuses on her and her friends’ lives as they try to make it through middle school all in one piece.
I’ll admit, I stopped watching Disney Channel a long time ago because every new show that was produced over the years was worse than the last. When it came to this one, however, I think Disney Channel finally got something right. Like the show’s predecessor, there is a lesson to be learned at the end of every episode, and Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel (the show’s co-producers) actually chose children in a logical age demographic to play Cory and Topanga's youngest son and pre-teen daughter. There's nothing about the show that's inappropriate or raunchy, and as a viewer, you feel a lot more comfortably immersed in Riley Matthews’ world knowing that every member of the Boy Meets World cast is alive and well.
When the show premiered on Disney Channel in 2014, Rowan Blanchard (the young actress who portrays Riley Matthews) was only 12 years old, which is the actual age of a seventh-grader. Other than Boy Meets World, I can't recall any other TV show that casted an actor/actress whose real age reflected the age of the character they were chosen to play. By using an actress who is just as old as the character, the creators of the show are able to give the audience a more realistic feel of the series. I’d be willing the bet that Rowan is going through a lot of the same things that Riley is; she may be developing crushes or getting into arguments with her friends, but she may also start learning to value the importance of the people closest to her, as well as facing the obstacles that come with developing into an independent young woman.
With every episode I watch, I fall more in love with the show’s stories and its characters. Girl Meets World brings back a type of innocence that I haven't experienced in quite a while, and that innocence is a welcomed escape from the crazy world we’re living in right now. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend it; if you have, I hope you keep watching. This show is one of the best I've seen on TV in a long time.
