What’s the dealio with Boy Meets World,? It was a television series that ran from 1993-2000. And the reruns seem to be on TV all the time! But maybe that’s just me. Now we have the second season on DVD. So for all you Boy Meets World fans, your wish has come true.
It stars Ben Savage (Fred Savage’s brother) as Cory Matthews. The show centers on life in the “real world” and the struggles of growing up in a high school setting. It’s a pretty sanitized journey, as the show doesn’t delve in…o any “R” rated issues. So the whole family can watch together, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Boy Meets World centers on relationships, family, and a few crushes here and there. It’s a bit like Saved By the Bell, but not as goofy. It has a sweet center, which borders on the cloying. But that’s where William Daniels comes in as “stick in the mud” Mr. Feeny. I always enjoyed him on St. Elsewhere and as Benjamin Braddock’s dad in The Graduate. A good bit of ironic casting.
The episodes tend to focus on a situation, which makes it a situation comedy, but at the end there’s a moral to be learned. I guess that’s not so bad. The values of telling the truth and the right to free speech are important enough. However, the comedy is a little cornball for my tastes.
Audio
Seems like a typical DVD to TV Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track; but this is pretty much all front heavy. Boy Meets World is driven by the cheesy dialogue, not the sound effects. Everything can be heard, and with clarity. That’s basically all you want from a standard TV/DVD release. The flatness can be forgiven. The show isn’t one of the benchmarks of modern television.
Video
The transfer is 1.33:1 full frame, as expected, and the presentation isn’t flawless. At times, the transfer lacks a certain clarity. By all means, it’s nowhere out of the norm for TV to DVD, but the video compression effects can be a bit distracting. Colors are fair to muted. Grain and other transfer effects are minimal. But to be honest, this is probably as good as it’s gonna get.
Special Features
There are five audio commentaries and one video commentary. Each audio commentary involves a sampling of actors, Will Friedle, Rider Strong (great name), Ben Savage, and Danielle Fishel. The executive producer, Michael Jacobs, guides each commentary. The cast, of course, is older now. The contrast between then and now is always interesting. It’s even more interesting in the video commentary. We can watch the actors watch the episode. Don’t know how appealing that is. But it’s different.
Final Thoughts
Boy Meets World, admittedly, is not my cup of tea. The situations, dialogue, and the comedy are cheesy. But I don’t think I’m the intended audience of this show, which is fine. I can take it. Fans of the show will want to pick this up though. Instead of watching random episodes on TV you can watch the show in order, and see a bit of the evolution of the Cory/Topanga coupling. The commentaries are a nice touch though. It’s a cute show; i’ll give it that.
Special Features List
- Five audio commentaries
- Video commentary
