Review: "Girl Meets World" pilot

[brendala]

The Five Stages of Grief you'll go through when Watching the Girl Meets World Pilot

The article linked above pretty much sums up my feelings about Girl Meets World (and I think it's required reading for any nostalgic 90s kids going into the show in the hopes of reliving their Boy Meets World nostalgia).


REVIEW TIME:

I WANTED to like Girl Meets World so bad. But it was just so damn difficult to sit through.The dialogue was painfully forced and unnatural (it made a million references to Cory and Topanga’s spawn “meeting the world” just like her daddy did). And the characters didn’t act like real kids (or real human beings for that matter) at all. Cory-Jr Riley was just a naive follower of her annoying, “bad girl” friend Not-Shawn Maya. And they had a “nerdy” male classmate who was basically a WAY WAY WAY more annoying clone of Minkus. And, because it’s a Disney Channel show, there was also a pretty boy love interest who had the personality of wet cardboard.

The episode made a big deal out of Riley and Maya being super BFFs. But….I didn’t feel it. I saw no reason why Riley would want to be anywhere near that girl, let alone be friends with her and let her get them both in trouble. The show was trying really hard to draw a parallel between the girls and the Cory/Shawn friendship in the original show. But Cory and Shawn actually had chemistry and common interests (so the viewer understood WHY Cory stood by Shawn even when Shawn was being a punk). And unlike Maya, Shawn was a sympathetic character who had reasons for acting the way he did. Girl Meets World lightly implied that Maya has “problems at home”. But she didn’t come across as a troubled girl in the show. She just came across as an entitled, trouble-making brat who constantly roped her idiot friend into her pet causes. I never felt sorry for Maya. I just kept hoping that Cory would expel her for her shenanigans and Riley would punch her in the face.

I was all set to give up on this show entirely. But then that damn Feeny cameo had to give me the warm fuzzies and pull me back in. But if the next episode is this terrible, I’ll just wash my hands of this thing and go relive the original show on DVD.

Comments

[theidolhands.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this review!

I prob would've reacted like you. I have to say, a lot "party girls" (who I wouldn't classify as bad girls) would fall into the class of "entitled brat" more than abusive home life, so although I can see how you wouldn't vote for that...it is more realistic. I guess they'd have to explore what it is that Cory is using her for, like how she is repressing herself and wishes she could be as daring as this friend. Although it does sound like you're right and reasons need to exist.

[alexeia-drae.livejournal.com]

I've actually been cynical about the whole enterprise, mostly because I was scared it would try to re-do Boy Meets World except with a girl instead of a boy and end up being trope after trope, which sounds like what happened.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

The show seems to be trapped in this bizarre limbo where it's trying to provide fan-service for the old fogeys watching it for Cory&Topanga while still using the modern "Disney Channel Sitcom Formula" (which seems to dictate that all children are stupid and can't handle a show unless the dialogue is nothing but bad one-liners).


The show is trying so hard to be Boy Meets World; but it doesn't seem to get why that show struck a chord with people (which is pretty sad considering the same writers are behind the new show). It seems to me like the network and/or writers think that nostalgia and cameos alone will carry it. But if that's their plan, they should have just made a show centering around the adult cast members and had the kids be window dressing in the background (or not exist at all).


That said, I wont be able to resist the "special cameo" episodes that will inevitably come. I just hope they're not too awful. LOL