Featured TV on DVD Review: Boy Meets World: Season Five

May 1, 2011

Boy Meets World: Season Five - Buy from Amazon

The first few seasons of Boy Meets World were released on DVD back in 2004 and 2005, but weak sales put a stop to that. Not too long ago Lionsgate bought the home market rights to the show and released Season Four in December. Clearly sales were more inline with expectations, as season five comes out this week and Season Six comes out in July. But is this a case of too much of a good thing is never enough? Or just too much?

The Show

First a brief recap of the show. The show focuses mainly on the lives of three friends, Cory Matthews, Shawn Hunter, and Topanga Lawrence, starting from grade six till their college years. By the end of last season the three were about to enter their senior year of high school and were starting to think about college. Meanwhile, the older Matthews son, Eric, had moved onto college already, after a push from his parents.

Season five starts in roughly the same spot, but there are some big changes right way. For instance, Eric needs a place to stay and finds a potential roommate in Jack, who turns out to be Shawn's half-brother. The reunion isn't a smooth one and this complex relationship is an important part of the season. Also joining the cast is Trina McGee as Angela Moore, who enters a relationship with Shawn, till they hit his two-week limit. But a twist of fate makes him rethink that policy. Melissa Joan Hart and Candace Cameron Bure appear in The Witches of Pennbrook as, well, witches. Melissa Joan Hart's appearance is more of a cameo, while the very next episode Nick Bakay shows up as the voice of Salem.

Cory and Shawn gets some needed work experience, but Cory learns the only thing worse than seeing you best friend fail, is seeing him do better than you. With Topanga's family gone (they moved during the middle of last season) she spends Christmas with the Matthews. But their traditions clash and Cory is worried this is a sign of things to come. Alan has to deal with changing relationships with his two sons, while Jack and Shawn have a major breakthrough in their brother-to-brother relationship. Cory and Topanga's relationship is in trouble when Cory twists his ankle on a skiing vacation and meets Velma. As an added bonus, this is not just a one-off story and it takes several episodes to play out. In the meantime, Shawn and Angela's relationship is put to the test when Shawn doesn't show up for their important Valentine's Day date. But he does have a really good excuse... He was kidnapped by his exes. (This group includes Larisa Oleynik.)

Jennifer Love Hewitt provides one of the most entertaining guest shots of the season in And Then There Was Shawn, a parody of teenage slashers. We get a "Very special episode" where Cory and Shawn learn about alcoholism. Eric gets a shot at an acting career and travels to Hollywood and the rest of the season basically deals with the main themes of season five. Cory and Topanga's relationship, graduating from high school, going to college, etc.

The Extras

There are no extras on this three-disc set. There are also no subtitles and the only DVD authoring are the play-all buttons.

The Verdict

Boy Meets World was part of the TGIF line-up on ABC and is a family friendly sitcom that's not exactly challenging. That said, for the most part, Season Five is very fun. There are some episodes that deal with important topics, while there's a lot more character development than in many similar sitcoms. If you've purchased the previous seasons, this one is also worth adding to your collection.


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