## Definition
Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from 1993 to 2000, spanning seven seasons and 158 episodes. Created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly, the show follows Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage) from middle school through college, chronicling his relationships with his family, his best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), his girlfriend and eventual wife Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), and his teacher turned mentor George Feeny (William Daniels). The show is a coming-of-age story that balanced humor with surprisingly serious topics: divorce, death, substance abuse, and the transition from childhood to adulthood. It became one of the defining shows of the 1990s and remains a nostalgic touchstone for a generation.
## Why It Matters
Boy Meets World matters because it was a sitcom that took its audience seriously. While other 1990s teen shows were pure escapism, Boy Meets World addressed real issues: Shawn’s family poverty and eventual abandonment, Topanga’s parents’ divorce, and Cory’s struggle to find purpose. The show’s most significant relationship was not Cory and Topanga — though their romance was central — but Cory and Mr. Feeny, the teacher who served as a moral compass and surrogate father. William Daniels’s performance as Feeny turned a stock character (wise teacher) into something iconic: his final scene, delivering a farewell to his students, is one of the most emotional moments in sitcom history. The show also launched the career of its cast and established the template for the “coming-of-age sitcom” that shows like *The Wonder Years* and *Everybody Hates Chris* would follow.
## Example
The show’s structure evolved with its characters: early seasons were standard family sitcoms with a lesson-of-the-week format; later seasons became more serialized, addressing darker themes. Notable episodes include “The Fugitive” (Shawn’s father leaves), “Cult Fiction” (Shawn joins a cult), and the series finale, “Brave New World,” in which Mr. Feeny delivers his final lesson: “Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.” The show was revived in 2014 as *Girl Meets World* on Disney Channel, following Cory and Topanga’s daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard). The revival ran for three seasons and brought back most of the original cast, though it never achieved the cultural impact of the original. Boy Meets World remains in syndication and is available on streaming platforms, where new generations discover it.
## Internet Angle
Boy Meets World is internet-famous as a nostalgia object. The show is a staple of “90s kid” content: TikToks, Instagram posts, and Twitter threads reference specific episodes, quotes, and moments. “Mr. Feeny” is a standard reference for “the teacher who changed my life” posts. The show’s more serious episodes are regularly discussed on Reddit as surprisingly mature for a sitcom. And the cast has maintained internet presence: Rider Strong and Danielle Fishel host the podcast *Pod Meets World*, where they rewatch episodes and share behind-the-scenes stories. The internet has kept Boy Meets World alive not just as a show but as a shared memory — a cultural reference point that signals generational belonging.
## Related Terms
– **Coming-of-age**: The genre that Boy Meets World defines
– **Mr. Feeny**: The iconic teacher character
– **Cory and Topanga**: The central couple of the show
– **Girl Meets World**: The 2014 revival
– **ABC**: The network that aired the original series
– **90s nostalgia**: The cultural movement that keeps the show relevant
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