ConStar Studies (Boy&) Girl Meets World
What networ
k a show will be on can be very important to the tone and feel and message of a show. The shows that the big networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX) air are very different than what FX or HBO or even The CW air. As it is pilot season, knowing the network a show will air on really tells you a lot about what kind of drama or humor may be on the program.
So, with that said, I’d like to briefly discuss the upcoming Girl Meets World pilot that is currently in pre-production. (Go here for the recent casting choice for said Girl. Cory and Topanga will indeed be back!) Any child of the 90s who watched Boy Meets World is super excited that this show will exist, with Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel on board–and hopefully some other familiar faces, and hopes it will be good. But part of what made BMW so good was its network. It aired on ABC during the unforgettable TGIFriday block along with other great shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Full House, Family Matters and many other funny, family oriented shows. They could be super cheesy, but were exactly what kids of the 90s stayed home and watched before they became teenagers who partied on Friday nights (I never became one of those people). But the shows that aired during that block on ABC are not the same kinds of show that aired on Disney Channel, even in what I’d consider its height (I’m talking the Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire era). BMW followed Cory and the gang from 6th grade through college (all in 7 seasons, life speeds by!) and hit some major milestones on the way. Shawn joined a cult once, Mr Turner’s unresolved motorcycle accident, Cory and Topanga’s various relationship issues including cheating, the Pittsburg problem, and the light evolution of their sex life eventually. Those are areas Disney Channel shows now don’t touch.
If Girl Meets World is to be as good as Boy Meets World, I’d like a 2013 update of some of those same problems but with the same feel. So I am concerned about the show being on Disney Channel and not on ABC (though it’d be harder to find a place for it since I’m not sure ABC has the same kind of TGIFriday block) since what made the original show so good were the stories they could tell on ABC that they don’t on Disney Channel. Hopefully the show is great and my expectations (which I am forcing to be lowered) are met and exceeded. I just needed to get these concerns out and also post on my new blog!
I didn’t quite expect this post to be so long, but I ramble when I write and am trying to cut down (as any screenwriter must learn to do). So I’m ending it here.
Any thoughts (related to this or not) on Girl Meets World? Production begins in February.
01/29/2013 @ 6:13 AM
Wow. In my excitement I overlooked that GMW is going to be on Disney Channel. My optimistic side wants to believe this will spark a Disney Renaissance and the show/returning (new?) audience will influence smarter programming, But is Disney Channel looking for an older audience? Isn’t this the exact reason we have ABC Family?
01/29/2013 @ 10:54 AM
Hmm you’re totally right about ABC Family being that older audience age group. And I don’t even think ABC owned that channel when BMW was on, I think it was still FOX Family. So now they have that older age group but are still starting with her at 11, what happens when she gets older? Disney doesn’t let their shows go on that long (unless they give the show a sequel or like superstar status ugh Hannah Montana) so what if it lasts more than 4 seasons and they need to start aging up the topics of discussion like BMW did. Would they move networks? Just end it? Give her a spin off series on ABCF? Gah, I hope they are considering all of this!