Boy Meets World

INDULGENT MUSINGS:
Let's pretend for a moment that it's not sad and lame to admit that one's moral code was shaped by a TV show from their childhood. In this hypothetical world, I may possibly fess up to the fact that Boy Meets World totally formed my framework for right, wrong, friendship, comedy, and love.

Rewatching episodes as an adult, I still can't pinpoint what exactly made me (and countless other 90's kids) latch on the way I did. Was it how they treated every teen issue with weight and respect? Was it the ever-changing tone that evolved with its maturing audience? Or maybe it was just that I had a major crush on Topanga. Okay, obviously it was the last one but let's talk about another unique quality of Boy Meets World:

Meta Humor.

Meta humor is any kind of self-aware or self-referential joke found in media. It's Daffy Duck fighting with the animator. It's Deadpool calling out X-Men franchise timeline confusion. It's a blog poster suddenly questioning if anyone reading this wasn't already familiar with the concept of meta humor. Boy Meets World was not the first sitcom to play in this world, but it had some of my first experiences with breaking the fourth wall.

They handled the recasting of little sister, Morgan, with a meta joke about her being stuck in her room for a really long time. They ended episodes with meta jokes. They even ended the series on some admittedly clunky meta dialogue.

Because meta humor has dominated the comedy scene for the past decade, these clips feel a little easy and quaint. But I can't tell you how clever this show made me feel as a kid.

My soft-ball meta effort in this spec was to give Jason, Eric's best friend in seasons 1-3, a final farewell. He just disappeared from the show and I wanted to play with that a little.

EPISODE SUMMARY:
Newly single and sad, Corey gets addicted to frequenting a dark conspiracy-obsessed chatroom. Meanwhile Eric and Jason meet three eager young women with questionable motives. (this episode fits in the middle of season 3)

HONESTY CORNER:
I always like Corey/Shawn centric episodes. Their friendship is so healthy and boundless and Corey always pulls Shawn out of the depths. With this, I wanted to have an A story where Corey needs Shawn's help to get back on track. It was fun to write, but I am concerns it breaks the formula of the show a little.

Also, a side effect of my self-induced timeline is I don't usually have the luxury of outlining before I dive into the episode. I came up with the plan for an A story and B story, kept it in my brain, and then I discovered some issues with my premise while writing. It happens.

Spoiler for the spec: I thought the idea of Eric dating a girl who's a part of a pregnancy pact was pretty light and funny. Then while writing out that B story, I realized it needed some time and some poignancy that I was marvelously ill-equipped to handle. This episode is real weird, you guys.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
My friend, collaborator, and die-hard Boy Meets World fan, Corbin Craft for hitting me with some solid feedback. You can check out his video and photography work at corbincraft.com