My Story on "GIRL MEETS WORLD GOODBYE"
The cancellation of Girl Meets World in January 2017 sparked attention in the media. This led to a fan campaign for the series to be picked up by a different network. The original series called, Boy Meets World aired on September 24, 1993. Boy Meets World is a coming-of-age sitcom, which follows the story of a boy named Corey Matthews and his friend, Shawn Hunter. The program aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC. Boy Meets World focused on events and life lessons to teach viewers about growing up. Life is a roller coaster and everyone’s journey living life is different. The seasons were divided into school years. Season one took place in Middle school, season two to five happened in High school and the remaining seasons concluded in College.
In 2014, a sequel to Boy Meets World called Girl Meets World was created. Girl Meets World takes place several years later after the Boy Meets World series finale. Corey, Topanga, Shawn and Eric were heading to New York. Topanga was offered an internship at law firm. The episode ended with Mr. Feeny speaking to his former students in their classroom. He confesses his love for his students and says, “class dismiss.”
Girl Meets World followed Corey and Topanga’s daughter, Riley Matthews, and her bests friend, Maya Hart. They continued their story beginning in Middle school, like the original series and High school years. The show had its moments being paralleled with Boy Meets World. For example, the characters Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter) were clearly Corey and Shawn. The theme of the show is about friendship. That is what I believe the show was always about. As I wrote in a previous blog, people need to value friendships. You never know where life may take you. You and your friend or friends might need each other no matter the circumstances. Friendship isn’t about whom you known the longest, it is about who has stuck by your side and never left. This was shown in the series finale of Girl Meets World, which aired on January 20, 2017.
The seeds were planted on January 13, 2017 in an episode called, “Girl Meets Sweet Sixteen”. Topanga shared news with her family and friends about being offered a position in London of her law firm. Riley and Maya did not seem thrilled about the news because Riley believed in her head, her and Maya would stay friends for the rest of their lives and not separate. The remaining minutes of the episode were emotional because Riley’s brother, Auggie (August Maturo) sounded as if he wanted to cry. However, Corey appeared to be ecstatic, the moment Topanga wrote down the salary she would be making if they moved to London. The episode ends with an important decision being made. Which would be answered on “Girl Meets Goodbye”.
Girl Meets Goodbye felt like the episode of Boy Meets World, a “Brave New World”. Corey needed to make an important decision regarding New York. Just like Topanga making her decision about London. The episode had the biggest Boy Meets World reunion cast of the series. Jonathan Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn), Jack Hunter (Matthew Lawrence), both Morgan’s (Lily Nicksay and Lindsay Ridgeway), Alan and Amy Matthews (William Russ and Betsy Randie), Joshua Matthews (Uriah Shelton), Harley Keiner (Danny McNulty), Stuart Minkus (Lee Norris), Eric Matthews (Will Friedle) and Mr. Feeny (William Daniels). The episode also surprised viewers with a special appearance by Michael Jacobs son, Daniel Jacobs, a boy who played the original Joshua Matthews on Boy Meets World.
The funniest thing about the finale was having both Morgan’s in the room. Are we supposed to ignore the fact that these ladies played Corey’s sister on the series? Michael Jacobs gave them a great script! They were joking about never being in the same place before. There was also a scene where the ladies were giving Auggie advice. I couldn’t help, but laugh.
Although the show ended, it felt more like a cliffhanger. The Girl Meets World audience has been very vocal. Fans from around the world are demanding the show to be picked up by Freeform, Netflix or Hulu etc. However, wherever the show ends up, just know and appreciate the moments the entire cast gave us! Each member worked hard to deliver a story. As a writer, that is what I plan on doing with my stories. Use my characters to teach a larger audience. Learning is a gift, even when pain is the teacher.
I know I left out a lot of things concerning the show because I really don’t like spoiling things for others. Make time to watch the ‘series finale’ of Girl Meets World. I thank Girl Meets World and Boy Meets World for giving me the opportunity to act like a Mr. Feeny to my own group of kids. I had the privilege to work with different types of children and teenagers. I watched quite a few of them grow up over time. This show also gave me the opportunity to meet some of the cast members from 2014-2016, beginning with Dan McNulty and Danielle Fishel. I never thought I would meet them. Then over time to Sabrina Carpenter and Corey Fogelmanis. My goal one day is to meet Ben Savage, Rider Strong, Rowan Blanchard and Will Friedle. Who knows, never say never. I met tons of public figures, athletes and TV personnel’s. Let’s see what happens next. Thank you, Michael Jacobs, and the It’s a laugh production for giving us such an amazing show. I wish the entire cast on their future endeavors. Continue to take on the world.
