Boy Meets World

Season 1

Pilot

1. Rider Strong and Will Friedle could not get though a scene without bursting out laughing. This is why their characters Shawn and Eric very rarely talk directly to each other especially during the later season, despite that they became roommates in Jack's apartment during season 5.
2. The pilot premiered on ABC on September 24, 1993 at 8:30 PM following Family Matters and before Step by Step. It debuted to 16.5 million viewers, ranking it as the fifth highest-viewed show of the night.
3. Although not mentioned in the episode, Cory and Shawn's friend's name is Nicholas. Chauncey Leopardi played the role only once before his character was replaced with other friends.
4. When ABC released their fall schedule for the 1993-94 season, the New York Times wrote that the network was creating "a new Friday night line-up that is explicitly aimed at younger viewers." Their description of Boy Meets World was a show "about life seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy."
5. Before the pilot aired, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun wrote "Predicting Nielsen success for Boy Meets World". Sited the network adding William Daniels was daring and creative.
6. The original title of the pilot is called "Brother's Keeper."
7. In syndication, sometimes this episode is listed as "Brother's Keeper" a nod to the debut episode of Miami Vice.
8. Cory references Full House, which was a contemporary sitcom, also part of TGIF for a time (ABC's Friday night TV line up aimed at younger viewers).
9. Cory says, "Hey, America's Funniest Home Teacher," referencing another contemporary TV Show, America's Funniest Home Videos.
10. The Nintendo Zapper (orange) is seen twice in the episode, and based on the reference, Cory is playing Duck Hunt.
11. Eric was a suave hunk in this season and the next season, but it would change into an eccentric moron persona starting with season 3.
12. Interestingly although he is in every episode and Cory is always talking to him, no one speaks Shawn's name until "Cory's Alternative Friends," when Mr. Feeny calls him Mr. Hunter. Later in the episode, Cory calls him Shawn, thus revealing his name, which had somehow gone unspoken to this point revealed as Shawn Hunter. After this, his name is said in one way or another In every episode.

On the Fence

Father Knows Less

1. Mr. Feeny tells Cory about the war in Europe when he was a child. Cory asks if he will learn about the war, to which Feeny says "I think you will someday." In Season Five, Salem the cat transports Cory back to the 1940s, where he is forced to fight in WWII.

Cory's Alternative Friends

1. Rider Strong revealed in 2013 why Shawn has a sister named Stacey who never is mentioned after this episode. Another young actor, playing Cory and Shawn's friend who would have had Stacey as an older sister, was fired just prior to filming and so Strong was given all of those lines.
2. Danielle Fishel plays the character of Topanga. She was never supposed to have that role. In that episode, two classmates were giving a presentation in class. One of them was Marla Sokoloff, and the other was a blonde girl named Megan Parlen. Danielle was supposed to be Megan's role, but Director David Trainer mentioned on the podcast Pod meets World that Megan couldn't deliver a certain line as Topanga so they had Marla and Danielle audition for the role.She became a series regular during Episode 8.
3. Topanga says that her mother's name is Chloe. However, in later episodes her mother's name is Rhiannon.
4. This episode marks the first time that Shawn's name is mentioned in dialogue.
5. When Cory is asking one of the kids how he got out of study hall, he mouths the words when the other kid responds.
6. Television debut of actress Marla Sokoloff.
7. At the show's beginning Boy Meets World: Cory's Alternative Friends (1993), Shawn mentions he has a sister, Stacy, who helped straighten Cory's hair. However, later on in the series, Shawn doesn't have a sister. In interviews, Rider Strong explained that those lines attributed to one of the many kids they attempted to make Cory's second-best friend but left during the filming process. In the haste to get the episode filmed, the writers just gave those lines to Shawn.
8. Marty York (Yeah-Yeah) appears as Cory and Shawn's other friend at lunch. This is second cast member of The Sandlot (Chauncey Leopardi (Squints) in the pilot) to play this role.
9. Danielle Fischel and Marla Sokoloff both appeared on fellow TGIF show Full House (1987) as friends of Stephanie, but not at the same time.
10. This episode marks Cory and Topanga's first kiss.

Killer Bees

1. Although aired fifth, this episode was filmed first. This is why Topanga does not appear so soon after her debut in Boy Meets World: Cory's Alternative Friends (1993). She didn't exist as a character yet.
2. Minkus paraphrases a quote from the Godfather Part III (Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in).
3. Minkus says he prefers Connie Chung to Cindy Crawford, comparing a 90s news anchor/journalist to a 90s supermodel.

Boys II Mensa

1. The title refers to the music group Boyz II Men.
2. Cory references "Searching for Bobby Fischer," a contemporary movie about a normal kid who shows signs of being a chess prodigy.
3. This episode takes place in October 1993.
4. According to the 'Pod meets World' podcast. Ben Savage's voice was edited-over in the scene where Cory 'throws' his voice to another fellow masked trick-or-treater.
5. Mr. Feeney compares Cory (in the red nose) to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Grandma Was a Rolling Stone

1. Grandma Matthews' real name is only said once very briefly. Amy calls her Bernice when hugging her.
2. First episode to not feature the classroom. The episode takes place entirely at The Matthews home.
3. Will Friedle revealed that the moment in which Eric meets Jessica (guest star Keri Russell) took more than ten takes, most of which were filmed without an audience and late at night, as Friedle had had trouble with the physicality of the scene. On the final take, Friedle added the yelling sound as Eric tosses the bag of fertilizer aside. According to Friedle, there are two laughs after that moment; the audience canned laughter and the real reaction from the crew and that the scene "changed the whole show" for him.
4. Episode title refers to the song "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (i.e. gathers no moss AKA is not idle).
5. Shawn has very few lines for this episode. He never speaks in the cold open and then does not appear again until he and Alan return from the fishing trip.

Teacher's Bet

1. It is revealed that Shawn Hunter is Italian on his mother's side. Her maiden name is Cordini.
2. In this episode, Feeny has Cory teach his class. Cory will ultimately become a history teacher in the series spin-off Girl Meets World (2014).
3. This is the first reappearance of Topanga, who's first episode was Boy Meets World: Cory's Alternative Friends (1993)
4. According to Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong the racial slur which Linda (Lindsay Price) was referred to at the mall, was included in an earlier version of the script. As recounted on the "Pod Meets World" podcast, the word (heard in films such as Platoon (1986)) was mispronounced by Ben Savage at the table read and subsequently removed.
5. The title is a reference to the phrase "teacher's pet."

Class Pre-Union

1. Mr. Feeney teaches a lesson on the Revolutionary War with Cory dressed as George Washington and Stuart Minkus dressed as King George. Years later, on Girl Meets World, Cory Matthews will also teach a lesson on the Revolutionary War and will also have his students dress as characters. Playing the part of King George will be Farkle Minkus, Stuart Minkus's son.
2. Mr. Feeney gives the students the assignment to figure out what they will be in 20 years. Cory's classmate Larry says he wants to be a 6th-grade teacher (in an attempt at flattering Mr. Feeney). Cory says that by being a 6th-grade teacher, he won't be living up to his potential. Cory will later become a middle school teacher on Girl Meets World.
3. Jim Abbott, pitched a no-hitter a few months before appearing in the episode.
4. Likely the result of a miscommunication, Jim Abbott showed up on set thinking he was simply there to meet the young cast. He was surprised to be handed a script with dialogue to learn and that he was making a special guest appearance as himself.
5. Final appearance of Marty York as Larry.
6. In this episode Jim Abbott appears, ironically Marty York played on The Sandlot (1993) where it talks about baseball.

Santa's Little Helper

1. In a 2010 article in The Huffington Post, 'Santa's Little Helper' was listed as one of TV's top Christmas-themed episodes of all time. The episode originally aired December 10, 1993, and is considered a cult classic.
2. Cory makes a reference to watching the David Copperfield special, a joke about the Dickens novel and the 90s magician.
3. This episode takes place in December 1993.

The Father/Son Game

1. Eric's "weather update" in this episode is the first instance of his dream to be a weatherman, which culminated with his internship (and filling in as a weatherman) at a news station in season four.

Once in Love with Amy

1. The answer to the 6/8 minute car cleaning math problem discussed in the episode is not "there might not be one right answer." Assuming constant rates of car cleaning, the answer is that it will take both parties 24/7 minutes to clean a single car, or approximately 3 minutes and 25 seconds.
2. The car wash question is revisited on Girl Meets World. And just like this episode, Minkus (Farkle), gets it wrong using math and can't understand why.
3. The title is one of the standards sung by Ray Bolger, the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz (1939).
4. The name of the restaurant Amy and Alan sneak away to is "La Bugia", which is Italian for "the lie". Kind of an appropriate inside joke.

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

1. Topanga's sister Nebula appears in this episode but is never seen or referred to again. Hereafter, Topanga is an only child.
2. When challenged by Eric, who says he is sounding a little jealous that Topanga is showing feelings for Eric and not him, 11-year-old Cory sarcastically replies that he wants to be Topanga's boyfriend and name their children Chewbacca and Plankton. Cory and Topanga eventually did have children, named Riley and Auggie, in Girl Meets World (2014).
3. The poem that Mr. Feeny is reading to the class when Eric returns is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert W. Service and was published in 1907.
4. In Boy Meets World: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (1994) in which Topanga has a crush on Eric, she introduces her sister Nebula. After that episode, Nebula is never heard from or mentioned again by any of the characters, including Topanga.
5. The part where Minkus said," Be afraid. Be very afraid," is from the movie Addams Family Values (1993), and before that, it was in The Fly (1986).

The B-Team of Life

1. This episode aired after its original schedule since Eric talks about his recent breakup with Heather, and Cory's fictional basketball game is played in the intro credits. It is likely that this episode, the fifth to be produced, was the fourteenth to air due to its similarity to Boy Meets World: Pilot (1993) where Cory feels abandoned by his family.

Model Family

1. This episode marks the first appearance of Eric's friend, Jason (played by Jason Marsden), and also is the first time the audience sees one of Eric's friends that isn't a girl he's dating.
2. Eric's friend, Jason Marsden has the same first and last name as the actor that plays him, Jason Marsden.
3. The role of Jason (Jason Marsden) was written for Marsden, who had worked with Michael Jacobs on Almost Home (1993) but due to scheduling conflicts, Marsden initially could not appear. He was replaced by another actor for rehearsal, but came in for the taping after his scheduled cleared up.

Risky Business

1. This episode takes place in February 1994.
2. Stuart, in this episode, uses smart/ethical tactics to run a business. In contrast, in Girl Meets World, his son Farkle uses greed & sugar products to reel in customers, making Riley & Maya try altruistic methods to help the community with free umbrellas at subway stations during rainy days.

The Fugitive

1. This episode was filmed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Writer Jeff Sherman was working on the script when the quake happened and the table-read was rescheduled due to the presence of aftershocks.
2. This episode takes place in February and March 1994.
3. The song that Amy sings while vacuuming is "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" written by James V. Monaco and Joseph McCarthy and made famous by Judy Garland.

It's a Wonderful Night

Kid Gloves

1. Eric jokes that the only way to get rid of the gloves is to get married, have kids, and pass it on. Cory does pass them on to his son Auggie in the spin-off series Girl Meets World.
2. A point of view is shot in a pool with a hand on the swimmer's mask. And then, Mr. Feeney tells Cory that swimming without a lifeguard was a "half-baked" idea. Cory says it was "fully baked." Both the point of view pool shot and the joke reference the pool scene from the film "The Graduate," which featured actor William Daniels (Mr. Feeny).

The Play's the Thing

1. Mr. Feeny performs a portion of Act I, Scene V of Hamlet (better known as the ghost scene). Athough Cory may not realize it, his responses of 'Oh God' and 'Murder?' are the same as Hamlet's.
2. Episode title is a line from Hamlet.
3. Cory refers to "Ernest Goes to Denmark," referencing the contemporary 90s movie series.

Boy Meets Girl

1. A clip from this episode, where Topanga visits the Matthews' residence, was used in the Girl Meets World (2014) episode "Girl Meets Cory and Topanga," as their future daughter Riley and her best friend Maya see their younger versions of themselves in this scene.
2. This episode is a reverse of the "Girl Meets World" episode "Girl Meets Boy."
3. This episode is similar to the Girl Meets World (2014) season 1 finale Girl Meets First Date because Maya (Sabrina Carpenter) asks Lucas (Peyton Meyer) out on a date to make Riley(Rowan Blanchard) jealous and Shawn does the same thing to Cory and Topanga in this episode.
4. Second and final appearance of Hilary, who was named simply The Girl in her first appearance Boy Meets World: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (1994).
5. William Daniels only appears in one scene in this episode.

I Dream of Feeny

1. At the end of this episode, Shawn (Rider Strong) and Cory (Ben Savage) use their minds to make Minkus (Lee Norris) disappear. Minkus does not return until Boy Meets World: Graduation (1998) four years later, claiming that he was simply in a different part of the building.
2. First episode to not feature Lily Gibson as Morgan.