So, there you have it, my randomly chosen top 5 TGIF moments.  I have so many favorite moments, I had trouble picking (and these could change from day-to-day).  I mean we didn’t even get to talk about Mr. Belvedere (also awesome theme song), Step-by-Step, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Sabrina the Teenage Witch or the others.  So, tell me what your top 5 would be!  

5) The Twilight Zone – I’m talking about the original version here.  I love me some Twilight Zone.  I get the chills just thinking about watching Rod Serling randomly pop into a scene.  Whenever there is a marathon on New Years Day or July 4^th, I am so there.  Who am I kidding? I also watch it when it’s just on the SciFi network (which I refuse to call the SyFy network).  This show really knew how to explore some really intricate and interesting plots without having to rely on special effects.  Remember the episode where everyone thinks that everyone else on their block (Maple Street) is an alien when weird things start happening.  But, really everyone on their street is human and aliens are making things happen from their spaceship to see how humans treat each other. This was my first dose of the scariness of mob mentality, which I am thoroughly creeped out by to this day.

4) The West Wing – I’m going to be honest here.  I never really watched the show while it was running.  However, I then watched everysingle episode within a 2-month span, so my love still runs deep.  I think I learned more about politics from Aaron Sorkin then from anywhere else, and I feel deep sadness when I realize that Jed Bartlett can’t actually be president.  Remember the episode with the filibuster and all the grandpas?  Tears, for real.

3) Friends – Oh Friends, how I love thee.  Even the bad episodes are awesome (minus the clip shows).  Consistently hilarious even when the stars started to age and things weren’t as fresh as they once were.  Remember the episode with Phoebe’s birthday dinner and everybody is late?  The TV Chick and I watched this episode (recorded on VHS of course) so many times that our tape wore out.

2) Gilmore Girls – Love it from beginning to end.  My go-to show when I can’t sleep or I’m sick.  Another shared favorite of The TV Chick and I.  I love the sass, the small time charm, and knowing what they’re talking about locale wise as it’s based in my home state.  Remember the episode where Rory graduated from high school and she gives the really touching Valedictorian speech about her mother?  Or “Will you be my Lorelai Gilmore?” I’m sort of tearing up thinking about it right now.

1) Buffy the Vampire Slayer – This show is my heart people, for real, I love it from deep down in my loving place.  Granted, at this point, Joss Whedon could just stand on a white background in a YouTube video and talk about whatever, and I’d love it; however, this show was the original Whedon awesomeness.  It’s got everything: action, romance, drama, humor.  When people don’t like Buffy, I just assume they’re crazy folk.  So many amazing episodes including the more famous “Hush” and “Once More With Feeling.” Or when Buffy and the original Scoobies joined together as one form to defeat a villain with Buffy as hand, Willow as spirit, Xander as heart, and Giles as mind.  However, my favorite episode (which is a favorite of many) is “The Gift” where Buffy sacrifices herself at the end to save her sister and ultimately the world.  The final scene showing her tombstone with the epitaph, “She saved the world. A lot.” is one of the best end scenes of a season finale (what was almost a series finale before Buffy was renewed by UPN) in my opinion.

So there it is, my favorite shows.  Comment back with your Favorite 5 Gone, But Not Forgotten shows!  And stay tuned next week for a very special top 5 before we delve into another show.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Boy Meets World.  This is the last week of the final season.  Today officially reverted back to the first season.  I feel bummed that I didn’t get to recap the wedding episode or when Cory and Topanga move into that crappy married people housing. But, hey, there’s always next time.

The first episode we’ll talk about is “How Cory and Topanga Got Their Groove Back.”  I love this episode because it highlights Cory’s square-ness.  The story basically is that everyone thinks Cory and Topanga are sort of lame married people, and Topanga wants to break out of this by shaking things up.  Cory tells her that they will throw a party, and it will basically be epic.  He hands out these magnificent flyers, and Shawn gets sort of mean.  And is all like, well, the party of the year is the same night, but I’m sure your party will be over early.  Yeah, it probably will, but you don’t have to be a jerk about it Shawn.  Cory then points out to Shawn on the flyer that the party goes from 8pm until ?.  I love this with all my heart.  Anyway, let’s jump to the party.  Topagna makes quiche; Cory pulls out the game of Clue and is wearing a cardigan.  And nobody comes of course.  Shawn, Angela, and Rachel peek in and see the how pathetic they look, so they go round up some other people to come to the party.  When they get back, Cory and Topanga are on the floor after having some sort of a make-up make-out session after having a food fight/actual fight about who made the party suck more.  For the record, I blame Cory. There is also a really awful side story going on with Jack and Eric, and Eric being able to see the future, lotto tickets, lotto tickets getting destroyed, etc.  I’m not going to dignify it more than that because I hate that type of B-plot.

So, yes, we’re going to focus on the series finale, but before I move onto that, let me just say, one of least favorite episodes was also on this week, “As Time Goes By.” This is the episode where Topagna randomly goes back in time to the 1940s where we have ourselves some weird Noir thing going on, and she doesn’t remember anything.  This episode is what I call a “Swim Team” Episode.  I’m going to now explain my lingo, so that you can use it in the future.  This refers back to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode (which is my favorite show of all time and forever will be).  However, there was an episode entitled “Go Fish” towards the end of season 2.  OK, so there is a lot going on in the Buffy-verse at this moment, but we leave all of that behind to concentrate on this lame storyline about the swim team members turning into gill monsters.  It always makes me angry.  So, whenever you see an episode that concentrates on lame stuff that has nothing to do with anything when it instead should be being awesome, it is a “Swim Team” Episode.  Copyright E, 1998.

Anyway, the finale is going to be easy to recap because they do the worst thing a TV show could possibly do, especially for a series finale.  They make a clip show.  It’s called “Brave New World,” but it should really be called “Crap You’ve Already Seen.” Here’s what happens.

• Topanga tells Cory she doesn’t want to go to NY for an internship at a law firm because their lives are in PA. Cory is happy, but knows they should go.
• Cut to clips with Cory and Shawn freaking out.
• Cory goes to Feeny for advice who tells him about his plant that was doing well in the house, but had to be transferred to the outdoor garden to thrive. You see where he is going with this, right?
• Cut to clips with Feeny giving advice.
• Cut to a million more other random clips.
• Amy is mean because she is all sad about Cory leaving, but then is all smiles when she finds out Eric is going as well.
• Shawn and Cory have an emo breakdown about being separated.
• Cut to clips of Cory and Shawn being BFFs.
• Topanga apparently has packed Shawn’s one bag, and says he is coming as well.
• Also, Jack is giving up his money and is going to join the Peace Corps with Rachel. The ghost of Chet appears in this convo and is mad about him giving up his money, but then happy about his sons.  Weird.
• Cut to some Jack and Eric clips, including one from like two episodes before. Lame.
• Cory then is outside with his little brother, who they have aged about 3 years in 15 episodes.  And he tells him stuff about life including how Mr.Feeny will probably teach you every grade your in, heh. The kid is sort of a bad actor, which I realize is mean, because he is really little.  But the Olsen twins at that age would have knocked that scene out of the park.  And I actually mean that sort of seriously.
• Cut to some more clips, blah blah blah.  There’s also a really long Cory and Topanga montage at some point.
• The last scene of the series takes place back in the high school with Cory, Shawn, Topanga, and Eric going and sitting in their old seats with Eric hanging in back.  Feeny is there and gives them some more life advice including “Believe in Yourselves, “Dream,” “Try,” and “Do Good.”
• More clips.
• Everyone tells Feeny that they won’t forget him, which I think is a weird thing to say.  Because why would they forget him? He was a major part of their lives for like the past 10 years or so.  They also want Feeny to tell them that he loves them and that they’re his faves.  He won’t.
• Everyone leaves the room except for Cory and Feeny.  Feeny calls Cory Mr. Matthews, and Cory says that they’ve know each other long enough for him to call him Cory. Mr. Feeny says that they’ve known each other long enough to call Cory Cornelius, heh. Some emotional talk ensues. Cory leaves.
• We end with Mr. Feeny saying, “I love you all, class dismissed.”  I then cried because I have issues.

Overall, lame finale, because clip shows make the Hulk angry.  But it still made me cry my own tears.  Comment back with your favorite series finale!

Here’s a run down for you before we get started on our in depth exploration.

1. Shawn met and started dating Angela.
2. Cory kissed that hussy at the ski lodge.
3. Cory and Topanga break up.
4. Cory drinks booze to get over his heartbreak! Scandalous!
5. Topanga goes on a date with a guy who likes Van Gogh.
6. But, guys, he is trying too hard and is so not Cory.
7. Yay, Cory and Topanga are back together!
8. Everyone goes to prom, we’re gonna party like it’s 1999!
9. Amy Matthews is pregnant. She is sort of old.
10. College plans are hard.  Should Topanga go to Yale?

Onto today’s featured episode! “Graduation.”

• Cory keeps assaulting people to sign his yearbook but no one really wants to. I didn’t ask anyone to sign my yearbook except for my two best friends because I couldn’t handle the pressure and possible rejection. So I just waited until someone wanted me to sign theirs, and then I would have them sign mine.  True Story.
• Joey and Frankie tell Shawn and Cory that they think of themselves as the “Cory and Shawn of the underworld.” Heh.
• Guys, Minkus is back for this episode, glorious! Some wisecracking then ensues about where he has been.  He points to the distance and then calls out to Mr. Turner. <– I love this so much.
• Also, Shawn is being a major curmudgeon about graduating. Cory gets really wild and unleashes some chickens in the hallway to get Shawn in the hijinx, graduating from high school mood.  Doesn’t work.
• There’s also some business going on with Cory telling Topanga that she shouldn’t turn down Yale just on his account.  Drama City.
• Feeny assigns one last assignment about what high school has meant to the graduates.  This is mostly for Shawn because he’s being such a drag.  It’s un-graded, but Topanga is like “I’m doing it, and I’m getting an ‘A.’” She sort of freaks on Feeny, and Feeny tells Cory “Good luck in Hell Mr. Matthews.” <– quote of the week.
• We then had a heartwarming moment when Feeny tells our gang of three how special they are and they’ve done so much for him.  Tears.
• Cory is not actually okay with Topanga going to Yale.  Guys, what’s going to happen?!  Ahh!
• Topanga is then going to give the Valedictorian speech, but then she has Shawn give the speech.  Here’s the rundown: Emotional! Feeny! Life! Friends! Home! And then he tells the crowd “I could have done better.” I cried a little.
• Eric then storms the stage and sings “To Sir With Love” to Feeny. It’s sort of creepy.  Glee’s version was better, heh.
• And then, oh and then…Topanga asks Cory to marry her. Momentous!

The episodes following are a 2-parter situation entitled “His Answer” and “Her Answer.”

Here’s the deal, Cory and Topanga are engaged.  But they are NOT telling people. So keep it a secret peeps. Also, Eric is officially a dummy. It’s sort of annoying. Shawn is going to take some classes. Education is cool. Then Rachel, the annoying redhead, moves in.  And I was bummed, because something about her skeeves me.  She can go hang out with Morgan as far as I’m concerned.

And then Cory and Topanga tell Shawn and Angela that they are engaged.  But, it’s still a secret.  Well, anyway, you know how these things go. Everyone finds out and flips out.  So Cory and Topanga leave to get hitched via eloping.  Once they’re at the altar, Topanga just can’t do it. Cory gets mad, but they’re over it pretty quick. When they arrive back at the house, everyone sort of threw a little party for the supposed newlyweds.  There’s some speeches, people are happy.  But then Angry Amy is at it again, railing against young love. She literally shouts in Topanga’s face, “Why couldn’t you have just gone to Yale?!” Blah Blah. Cory yells and says they didn’t get married anyway. Everything is worked out at the end, Cory and Topanga are engaged.  But, they haven’t set a date.  And they’re not going to until they’re ready.  And Amy is cool with it now, she just was bummed about losing her little boy.

Not a whole lot of funny going on this week. Lots of seriousness.  But college has started, woop woop! Comment back about your favorite graduation episode (so many good ones)!

• OK, so the episode starts with Eric walking into Chubby’s (He’s having a lucid few episodes around this point).  And he totally catches Shawn and Topanga having an intimate moment.  He hugs and kisses her, oh, heck no!

• Eric then tries to sort of gently let Cory know what he saw by providing him with steak and cake.  I love steak! Oh, and Morgan is there, bugging the heck out of me again complaining about her grilled cheese.

• Cory sort of melts down and confronts Shawn and Topanga at school after he can’t get a hold of either of them on the phone. Cory confronts Shawn with a knock knock joke, oh Cory, never change.  Shawn tells Cory that he needs to talk to Topanga, but he was not making a play for his woman.  Oh, also, when Cory is talking to Shawn at Chubby’s, Eric comes in and jacks Shawn against the wall, and it is awesome.

• Cory then climbs into Topanga’s room (which is filled with packed boxes, spoiler alert!) and kisses her.  After, he pronounces, “I wanted to be the last one to kiss you before I killed you.” Creeeeeepy.

• Anyway, Topanga breaks the news that she is moving to Pittsburgh because her mom got a new job there.  Cory and Topanga then act sad together.

• Amy Matthews then becomes an enemy of love when she basically tells Cory that he should date other girls and chill the heck out.  Do you think Betsy Randle is just mad that she has to be in an Advil commercial now for her arthritis? I do. Cory then tells everyone that they’re going to make it work like Romeo and Juliet did, heh.  Don’t worry, Feeny explains the ending to him and tells him he believes in their love!

• Cory then goes to Topanga and tells her that they should just get married and live in an abandoned home in an upscale neighborhood with no bugs.  Love it, oh Cory. Topanga is like, no, I have to go to Pittsburgh fool.  But, we’ll call and mail letters.

• Shawn then tells Cory that he’s not worried because he’s watched a lot of TV, and the girl never leaves. We’re getting self-reflexive up in this piece again.

• But, she does leave, with Shawn saying “What the hell kind of TV show is this?!”

• AND SCENE! Onto the second part.

• There are these really weird British girls over at Cory’s place.  Shawn is macking on one of them really hard, while Cory is just depressed over Topanga.  I don’t know why Cory can’t just play his role as wingman here?  But everything is already messed up as Shawn is with the less hot girl.  Up is down, blue is green! In any case, Cory does end up occupying the cuter girl with his tale of woe.

• In another scene, Eric goes and gets Cory as he sits in Topanga’s empty room, creeeeeepy.

• Once we’re all back at the Matthews’ residence, there is a knock at the door! Topanga, and she came in the rain!

• Amy calls up Topanga’s parents to tell them where she is, and they send her Aunt Prudence over to take her back to her place and put her on a train back to Pittsburgh in the morning.  And get this guys, everyone clapped when Aunt Prudence arrived because the producers told people to.  And apparently, she is played by a woman named Olivia Hussey, who besides doing a 3-episode arc on Lonesome Dove, played Juliet in the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. I see what you’re doing there Boy Meets World writers/casting directors.

• Alan convinces Amy to stop being a beast, so she now believes in the power of teen love as well.  Aunt Prudence thinks it is reprehensible that her sister took Topanga out of her environment during her last couple years of school (but she doesn’t care about love).

• Anyway, Topanga is going to stay with her aunt for the rest of school, yay!

So, that was long.  So, I’m going to briefly tell you what happened on the other pertinent episodes this week because there was a lot of pertinence. In the episode entitled “Uncle Daddy,” Eric dates a girl with a kid.  It doesn’t work out.  But, it made me think of that episode of Step-by-Step where Cody also dates a girl with a kid.  All of this made me want to do a comparative essay of both episodes.  In college, I had a professor who majored in comparative literature (Russian and French literature).  This would be exactly like that, but different.  There’s also the episode “Cult Fiction,” where Shawn joins a cult, and doesn’t snap out of it until Turner gets into a motorcycle accident. (This is kind of like that episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch where Miles joins that weird cult with that guy who pretends to be a witch.)

We also have the episode “Learning to Fly” where Eric, Shawn, and Cory road trip down to Beach State College for Eric to take a campus tour. Cory convinces Eric that he is better than Beach State and that he is good enough for Pembroke, woot! Also, a weirdo college girl hits on Cory who is annoyed that Topanga didn’t want to join them on their trip. It ends up she didn’t trust herself alone with Cory. Scandalous!

We also have the episode “Brothers” where Matthew Lawrence joins the gang, finds his long lost brother Shawn, and moves in with Eric (and Shawn).

What a dramatic week! I need a nap from all this action. Comment back if you believe in the power of teen love! (I really shouldn’t be cracking jokes, after all I am married to the guy I’ve been dating since I was 17. Shout out to M!)

Let’s get started with a brief look at “Shallow Boy.”  This episode is mostly Eric-centric.  He is the shallow boy referenced in the title after all.  So, the story is, Eric asks out this really annoying singer/songwriter that is playing right outside of the wilderness store.  People are starting to lose their minds so Alan has Eric take her out to lunch and ask her to move along.  She is way peppy and is even grating on Eric while they eat lunch.  He then freaks outs on her and tells her how irritating she is.  OK, this is kind of sad to me.  Sure, she’s a big weirdo, but she’s trying to look on the bright side of things.  Why did you have to be such a big jerk Eric Matthews?! You are a bigger loser than her! Anyway, she sort of has a psychotic break after this and turns really dark…and her music career skyrockets with hits such as “Shallow Boy” and “Maladjusted Loser Freak.”  Morgan sings the latter while listening to her Walkman and reminds me how much I hate the ‘new’ Morgan; she is really awful.  Things come full circle when the girl asks to meet Eric at Chubby’s.  She needs new material because her darkness is just not coming naturally.  He turns her sunshiney again by singing show tunes from “Annie.” Brilliant. Also, the writers got self-reflective on us when they had Cory and a kid Topanga was babysitting for talk about the Friday night line up and that show with the curly-headed kid that was moved to the 9:30 slot from the 8:30 even though it was performing well.  Heh, love it.

Another classic episode featuring the weirdness that is Cory and Shawn was on this week: “An Affair to Forget.”  This really tall girl that Shawn is dating makes him stop talking to Cory because she doesn’t like him.  They see each other in the shadows of the night with secret rendezvous until Shawn finally gives this chick the boot.  Cory and Shawn 4-eva.

Onto our featured episode of the week…”Wheels.” This is classic Boy Meets World.  It’s the episode where Cory gets his license, yay! I don’t know what about being a teenager makes you into a heinous drama queen, but it’s true.  It was true for me, and it’s true for Cory Matthews.

• Cory, Shawn, and Topanga are chilling at Chubby’s discussing their plans for Cory’s birthday: license, Atlantic City, rated-R movie.

• Alan and Amy are in the kitchen discussing how Alan will take Cory to get his license, and it will be an awesome father/son day.  You know what’s coming, right? Cory already went and got his license with Shawn and Topanga.  I think this is whack.  Unless you’re older or have an estranged parental situation, it’s mean not to let them take you.  Plus, they’ll probably pay for all your DMV crap if they do.  It’s a win/win for everyone.

• Cory thinks he’s going to go riding with his friends to Atlantic City, but Alan has some errands to run.  This leaves Cory waiting all day.  Morgan drives by him on her Power Wheels and proclaims mockingly “I’m Cory, I’m 16 and going to Atlantic City to see an R-rated movie.”  Ugg, I hate her.  She is unnecessary.

• Cory doesn’t get a chance to take his friends out because they have to go to dinner at Chubby’s (which seems like a weird place to take a kid for their birthday; did the show only have one restaurant set or something?).  After much fighting over where they are going, how crappy Cory is for leaving his family on his birthday, and how they will not be sneaking into a R-rated movie, Alan relents and lets Cory drive with just his friends.

• Cory is driving way slow and says, “We’re up to 18 (mph), I hope this thing has air bags.” Heh. Poor Cory then gets pulled over for going 26mph in a 25 zone.

• He gets taken to court where the dad from the Wonder Years is a judge who makes Balloon Animals.

• Someone ends up calling Feeny who tells Alan about the situation.  While telling Alan this, he also shares that he never had a son because he didn’t want the responsibility.  Weird, I always thought it was because he was celibate (until he meets the Dean during the college years).  Plus, you can’t choose the gender of your kid generally speaking.  Someone needs to teach Feeny how these things work.

• Alan goes and picks Cory up from court and each is sentenced to two more years of Cory’s childhood.  Bummer for all. Oh also, Alan is watching home videos from when Cory was little.  These are actual home videos of Ben Savage.  That always creeps me out.  That is all.

Comment back about your license getting experience! See you next week! Later, E.

E here with another Flashback Friday! Have you missed me during my absence the past couple of weeks? I’ll just assume yes. In any case, if you have not been keeping up with Boy Meets World on your own, you missed a lot.  We sailed through Season 2 and Season 3, and ABC Family is now currently airing the beginning of Season 4. This past week has had some solid episodes.

We’ll start off with “I Never Sang For My Legal Guardian.”  This is a Shawn heavy episode.  He’s really moody with everybody in this episode because he’s having Dad Abandonment Issues even though Mr. Turner is the most amazing legal guardian.  He has a cool bachelor pad, an earring, a mullet, and makes ‘Tang’ Chicken.  What more do you want Shawn Hunter?! Blood?! Apparently, he just wants his sketch dad back who is living just a few hours away in a different part of PA trying to pay off a few parking tickets before he continues on his search for his wife/Shawn’s mom.  The Hunter men finally run into each other at the local police station, and Shawn convinces him to stay.  It’s acting like this that convinced me that I needed that 8”X10” glossy of Rider Strong.

LOL moments go to Mr. Feeny and Cory.  In the Mr. Feeny scene, Eric is asking Feeny where he went wrong (as far as his grades are concerned) and Feeny replies, “I’d have to say in 5^th grade when you took that ride in the dryer.” Our second one comes from Cory when he pronounces “There’s no such thing as good news before I have my grape nuts.” Ha.

Our featured episode of the week is “The Happiest Show on Earth.” Guys, this is the obligatory Disney World episode.  Gotta have it.

• Cory’s been macking on all the girls since he and Topanga broke up (tear).  He even has a signature move where he twirls a french fry in his hands before he kisses a girl (gross).

• So, the way we get to Disney is that Topanga, Ronny Waterman (played by the illustrious Andrew Keegan), and this girl Kristen (who Cory was on a date with at the beginning of the episode) win a trip there because of an essay they wrote.  Cory has also realized that he loves Topanga and only Topanga so he must follow her to Disney to win her back.  While still at school, he uses this line to Topanga: “I was still alone because I wasn’t with you.” ß I’m not a player but I crush a lot right here folks.

• Cory also has a dream every four years that he is kidnapped by ice skaters and forced to do compulsories. Heh.

• Also, in order to cover for Cory while he is gone, Eric is carrying around a gigantic Cory doll.  Love it, for real.

• Cory and Shawn travel to Orlando using Shawn’s Uncle Nick’s connections, which leave Cory pronouncing that he has peck marks from the live chickens on the cargo plane.

• OK, so Shawn and Cory find Topanga at the Living Seas Pavilion where the dolphins live.  And then we have the classic sitcom mix-up where Kristen thinks Cory came there for her.  Ugg, I hate these moments, I really do.  They frustrate the heck out of me because no one ever wants to just hear what the legit situation is.  But, we then get a fabulous montage with Cory professing his love to Topanga in different weird ways such as swimming in a shark tank with a sign that says “I will chase you forever.” Heh.

• Topanga is having none of this, so Cory goes to sulk with the dolphins (one of which who is not eating because she lost her mate…I see what you did there you clever writers you).  And who should be there with the dolphins?! None other than Step-by-Step’s Staci Keanan.  She has some words of wisdom, and Cory and Topanga finally get back together, and make-out in front of some fireworks. Glorious!

Other notable episodes this week include “You Can Go Home Again” and “Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow.” In the former, Eric and Cory drive back from their cross-country trip and Eric wants to make a life for himself 3 hours from their home in Pottstown, PA (home of the largest yogurt cup!!).  He’s feeling crappy because he didn’t get into college, and doesn’t want to return home to nothing.  He meets a girl that that is really depressing because she keeps talking really negatively about herself in a little ol’ me type of way.  It seriously made me sad people. Anyway, Alan comes and makes things right and brings his boys home.  Alan is also depressed about his career after winning a ‘Grocee,’ which is the highest honor a grocer can get.  Can you just feel the wilderness store on the horizon?  The latter is the episode where Topanga tries to prove her looks don’t matter and goes and cuts her hair all half-cocked (She does this because Cory is in a mood over his appearance).  She freaks out, gets it styled professionally, and is then really into herself.  Shawn puts her straight and all is then well with the world.  I just had to mention it because I remember being SHOCKED when she cut her hair.

Those are the highlights for the week!! Comment back about your favorite television episode featuring the characters at Disney World/Land.  These are always the weirdest episodes.

Anyway, onto the highlights. So, we got a chance to see Cory and Shawn go to a ‘boy, girl’ party in the episode “Fear Strikes Out.” Unfortunately for Cory, Eric got him ridiculously stressed out before hand and when it was his turn in the closet for “7 Minutes in Heaven” (with Topanga!) he totally fell apart. By the time Topanga calms him down, time is up, and he is officially declared a nice boy. I remember watching this episode as a kid and being completely mortified for Cory; it’s a bummer feeling like you’re behind everyone else. (And boy was I behind. I was still wearing puppy dog sweatshirts and dresses my mom picked out for me from Jessica McClintock. Yes, even worse than Rachel Berry on Glee with her penchant for animal sweaters).

Another great episode this past week was with Cory dating TK, also know as Theresa Keiner, also known as Harley Keiner’s sister. I had an lol moment when she stared sending Cory floral wreaths, a clown made out of candy, and steaks. And then I had a fuzzy feelings moment when TK told us how Harley is the only one that takes care of her. Both have daddy issues and should probably be on an episode of LOST because of this.

Ooo, Ooo, and then we had “Band on the Run” with Cory and Shawn pretending to be in a band to woo the ladies. They’re exposed when they are asked to perform at the school dance, and well, they can’t because they have no musical talent or experience. We also have a very special guest spot by some of The Monkees.

But, our main episode this week is “Breaking Up is Really, Really Hard to Do.”

• Cory is freaked out because everyone is coupling off (he receives an invite to a couples only dinner party). ← I think this is weird. 7th graders don’t have dinner parties.

• Cory then asks out this chick Wendy so he can fit in.

• B plot – Eric has to stop dating (Alan and Amy’s orders) because his grades are abysmal. He then tells them his grades don’t matter because he wants to be a weatherman, heh. His friend Jason then takes him to the mall so he can get his hair shampooed by an attractive (this is debatable) hairdresser. This is also sort of weird. If I were in this situation with the freedom to go to a mall, I’d probably just go hang out with a girl. Am I right? Yeah, I think I am. Definitely weird.

• C Plot – Mr. Turner teaches Mr. Feeny how to play racquetball. But, oh that Feeny. He totally pulls the wool over Turner’s eyes with his mad skillz on the court.

• Back to the main plot, Wendy is getting really weird and possessive. Like hounding my man Cory’s time here. Shawn is like this is no good and asks Cory how long they’ve been going out. When Cory tells him it has been a week, Shawn is all “Oh, break-up.” ← This to me is very normal middle school behavior (not weird dinner parties). I remember that I found out my middle school boyfriend of a couple weeks and some change and I were no longer together when someone asked him if we were still going out (I was standing right there mind you), and he gave me a once-over and said no. Heh.

• Anyway, Cory writes her a break-up note, she freaks out. He covers thing up like it was never his intention to break-up because he feels bad. (She also writes a really weird poem called “Leave Me, and I’ll Die.” What the heck, right?)

• We also get an amazing flash forward scene to where Cory and Wendy have been married for 90(!) years, and he’s sort of hating life and stealing condiments from the restaurant.

• So things get stalkerish in our next scene when Wendy comes over and cooks dinner with Amy. Cory is creeped out (although excited about her Belgian waffle skills). She starts talking about having 3 kids with Cory, and Cory leans over to Alan and is all “What do you think of that Gramps?” ← I lol’d. Alan and Cory then go outside and Alan says, “Nutcase?” and Cory says, “You think?” ← More lol’ing.

• Cory is finally off the hook when he admits that he only asked her out because he needed to be a part of a couple. She gets all indignant and breaks up with him. Cory then mopes because he misses Wendy. What a glutton for punishment! Also, where the heck is Topanga?!

Alright, I’ll leave you all with this. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Cory next week. Comment back if you had dinner parties in 7th grade, because I’m really baffled by this.

E here, the TV Chick’s best friend and former roommate. Our TV was on from 2001-2005 non-stop and we lived so many moments anxious for a new Gilmore Girls (complete with singing the theme song) or falling asleep at 2am to an oft-watched Frasier episode. One of our favorite mid-day activities (hey, we were in college, we had the time) was watching old episodes of many classic 90s television shows including Full House, Step-by-Step, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, etc, etc. Seriously, I could go on and on here. That’s what brings us here today to the TV Chick’s latest blog series: Flashback Friday’s. I’ll be guest writing every Friday about some of yours and mine favorite old shows. We’re starting with Boy Meets World, which I’m thrilled about because I’ve been waiting for it to come back into rotation on ABC Family in the early mornings. It finally has after about 2 years of me waiting patiently (yes, I realize this is tad bit weird, sad…choose your adjective). Anyway, it’s back! To fully prepare, I feel like I need to dig up my 8X10” glossy of Rider Strong. But let’s start the walk down memory lane now. We’ll be looking at a one episode each week as well as some highlights from a few other episodes.

OK, so Season 1 is already over for now (don’t worry, I’m sure it will back in a couple of months as they are playing 10 glorious episodes a week). But, the highlights are Cory is not really into Topanga, Eric is not over-the-top dumb yet, Shawn’s family is slightly less colorful, and the often-tortured Minkus is still around. Our hero Cory is also still in sixth grade so things haven’t really gotten too scandalous yet.

But, Season 2 just started this past week, so let’s move on shall we? Our featured episode this week is “Back 2 School” and is brought to you by Shawn’s sexy fake sideburns. Like any first day back at school episode, this Season 2 premiere is filled with excitement and new characters.

Here are the highlights:

• Cory signs an agreement not to talk to Eric here forth know as the “The Great One” (with Cory being “The Insignificant Speck.”)

• Cory utters in the hallway as they walk into middle/high school: “This is it, High School, what happens to us now determines our entire future.” ← This is like philosophy people.

• The boys have definitely had their sexual awakening as they look at Topanga for a little too long and a little ogling-esque.

• We meet the ‘sexy’ motorcycle riding, slightly mullet having English teacher Mr. Turner (who Cory mistakenly believes is the 9-millionth year senior Harley Keiner).

• Shawn and Cory are separated for the first time!

• Cory tries to get an in with the actual Harley Keiner, but he just embarrasses himself and gets them both in trouble. Cory also earns the nickname “Johnny Baboon” from Harley.

• Mr. Feeny is the new interim principal, woop woop, moving on up to the east side, to a deluxe office at John Adams High. He then in turn cracks me the heck up when he refers to the students as the “Beasts of the Field.” I for real LOL’d here. I need hobbies.

• Mr. Turner tries his best to secure his position as the cool teacher by having the students read the Odyssey alongside an X-Men issue.

• Eric ends up coming through for Cory in the end when he attempts to protect him from Harley (who has threatened punishment by death for getting him in trouble with Feeny). Eric isn’t successful and it’s the cool Mr. Turner who breaks things up. Harley says to him, “Could I take you?” Mr. Turner responds, “Nah.” Haha, comedic gold people!

• Everything gets wrapped up nicely at the end when Cory realizes he sort of lived the Odyssey on his first day of seventh grade.

Bravo! Love it! Classic episode full of awesomeness.  I can’t wait to keep watching and rediscover Boy Meets World, especially the greatest love all time (besides Buffy and Angel that is), Cory and Topanga. Come back for next week’s Flashback Friday where we check back in on Cory.  Comment back about your favorite Boy Meets World episodes or other shows you want to revisit! Later! E.