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Boy Meets World on DVD: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3
"Boy Meets World" The Complete Third Season DVD Review
A star () denotes my ten favorite episodes from the season.
Disc 3
16. Stormy Weather (22:22) (Originally aired February 9, 1996)
17. The Pink Flamingo Kid (21:45) (Originally aired February 16, 1996)
18. Life Lessons (22:23) (Originally aired February 23, 1996)
19. I Was a Teenage Spy (22:28) (Originally aired April 26, 1996)
20. I Never Sang For My Legal Guardian (22:25) (Originally aired May 3, 1996)
21. The Happiest Show on Earth (22:25) (Originally aired May 10, 1996)
22. Brother-Brother (22:25) (Originally aired May 17, 1996)
VIDEO and AUDIO
As with the past two seasons' releases, the video quality was completely free of problems, leaving little room for discussion. The transfer of course presents the show in its original 1.33:1 "full screen" broadcast aspect ratio and the element is completely and consistently clean. The quality of the Dolby Surround soundtrack is also praiseworthy. From the rock-tageous guitar chords of the brief "opening theme" to the punctuating "bing" of the end Touchstone Television logo, all sounds register at proper levels with the right inflections. Like any '90s sitcom, the audio mix is not particularly demanding of a home theater system, but dialogue comes in clear, as does the intermittent instrumentation which does not stray far from Season 2's musical stylings. In this section, one should also mention the active laughtrack, which makes up the brunt of rear channel sound.
BONUS FEATURES
The one department in which this DVD release fails "Boy Meets World" fans is bonus features. As stated earlier, this set is missing episode audio commentaries altogether, and anyone who recalls the retrospective merriment those provided on the first two seasons will be disappointed by their absence. It's unfortunate that this is all we get in the way of bonus features. Part of the thrill of owning a television show on DVD is having the power to instantly view any episode on a high quality, non-degrading format with no commercial interruptions or syndicated edits. Another significant part is having supplemental material, which can pique the interest of a non-picky, otherwise content-to-watch-in-reruns viewer and heighten the collectability of a series by allowing the creators and fans to simultaneously look back at something that was clearly special to both. By and large, Disney has yet to embrace bonus features for their sitcoms, with "Scrubs" being the studio's only half-hour series endowed with a multitude of original video supplements.
While clearly some thought and effort went into what amounts to be a short but fun game, there is plenty of archival material that should be easy to deliver on DVD. Things like ABC's TGIF promos from the season, nights of programming which featured the cast as host, and the yearly gag reel or episode bloopers would certainly appeal to the fans of the show. Newly-produced material with the cast and crew worked wonderfully on the past sets, and one can only hope that Disney puts greater effort into including this (more commentaries or something like a featurette) plus older TV content on the last four seasons' worth of releases.
As usual, Sneak Peeks play at the beginning of Disc 1. These are an unrevealing title teaser for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, a general "TV on DVD" promo which highlights the season set route taken for Buena Vista's six most popular television properties ("Alias", "Scrubs", "Desperate Housewives", "The Golden Girls", "Home Improvement", and "Lost"), and a brief promo for the concurrently-released "Life As We Know It" Complete Series DVD. The Sneak Peeks menu holds additional previews for The Complete First Season of "Lost", Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Complete Second Season of "Boy Meets World", "According to Jim" on ABC, and "Gilmore Girls" on ABC Family.
MENUS, PACKAGING, and DESIGN
The menus and packaging match the first two season sets. Whereas Season One had a dark red motif and Season Two had blue, Season Three opts for orange. That applies to the slipcover, six-sided Digipak and discs inside. The packaging resembles Season Two exactly, so that two discs are overlapped on one side of the Digipak. It also means the box is not quite as wide as Season 1's, but Disney has been widely employing such a packaging design for their half-hour series' season sets, so expect consistency to follow. The Digipak slips out from the slipcover and reveals a silly picture of Mr. Turner and Williams, Mr. pulling Cory and Shawn out of their lockers. It opens up to reveal a thankfully personal and mostly relevant note from executive producer Michael Jacobs as a well as an episode listing with titles, writers and directors. Inside the slipcover, you'll find a sweepstakes entry form to win a Buena Vista TV DVD library, a catalogue of various available and forthcoming Buena Vista TV DVDs, and a double-sided ad for "Gilmore Girls" on ABC Family which begs to be discarded.
Most of the episodes in this set run a little over 22 minutes long. Two stand out as being slightly shorter than the rest: "The Grass is Always Greener" is just over 21 minutes, and "Train of Fools" is about 40 second shorter than most. While some may immediately suspect that these episodes have been trimmed, I can't remember anything from these shows not presented here. It's quite possible that the week they originally aired, there was TGIF programming which required slightly shorter episodes. Seeing as how Disney has been good about not providing incomplete episodes of "Boy Meets World" or other shows in the past (with recently-issued "The Muppet Show" being a lone exception) and that running time of this show fluctuates far more than most, I'm willing to shrug it off rather than question it more deeply. It should be pointed out that, these Season Three episodes have their original opening title sequence restored, unlike syndicated airings of years past which substituted Season Four's. The third season intro is not much, simply featuring single color-tinted images of Cory, Shawn, and Eric hanging out at Chubby's. It tries to pass off the show as some kind of hip mid-'90s program (which I suppose it is) and the short instrumental music undergoes a change somewhere before the season's midway point.
Unfortunately, the chapter stops within episodes previously tied to commercial breaks have been abandoned. This is one area in the TV season set department where Disney seems to be regressing and there's no reason for it. Sure, DVD's fast forward option is much speedier than the VHS equivalent, and these episodes run no longer than 23 minutes, so we're not talking about great inconvenience. But the lack of something present and useful on past seasons' releases is mildly frustrating and baffling nonetheless.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
In its third season, "Boy Meets World" did not need to tinker greatly with the format that provided unwavering success in its first two years. Nonetheless, as the show's protagonist grew, the show did too, and its high school scenarios here mature beyond Season One's classroom-centered lessons and Season Two's "girls and dances" phase. Season Three may soften the imparting of values in favor of amplifying comedy and developing characters through various experiences, but the results are wholly enjoyable and not significantly different in feel from the previous season.
In bonus features and design, this Third Season set is the weakest DVD release "Boy Meets World" has yet to receive, due to a lack of commentaries and chapter stops. The lone extra -- a brief but fun trivia game -- diverts, but the set is otherwise disappointingly marked by missed opportunities for supplements new and old that fans are clamoring for.
Nonetheless, the show is strong enough to still merit a sturdy recommendation. Buena Vista's box set does right where an increasing number of other television DVDs err; picture and sound quality are more than satisfactory, all the episodes appear to be entirely intact and properly arranged, packaging and design is consistent with previous releases and sufficiently-themed. With a now-lower price tag, this 3-disc set delivers more than eight hours of widely-pleasing comedy for just a bit more than a single new film. If the studio could make greater ripples in the special features department, future "BMW" releases could reach a level of perfection. As is, this DVD provides a solid presentation of a season marked by sharp writing, abundant laughs, an impressive roster of guest stars, and lead characters who remain easy to care about. Altogether, that's a winning combination you should not hesitate to check out.
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Boy Meets World on DVD: Season 1 Season 2 Season 3
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Related Reviews - Other Box Sets of Buena Vista TV on DVD:
Boy Meets World: The Complete Second Season Boy Meets World: The Complete First Season
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The Golden Girls: The Complete Second Season Scrubs: The Complete First Season
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The Muppet Show: Season One Lizzie McGuire: Box Set Volume 1
Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons Ellen: Season Two Felicity: Senior Year Collection
Page 1: Show Discussion, Disc 1, and Disc 2
Page 2: Disc 3, Video/Audio, Bonus Features, Menus & Packaging, and Closing Thoughts |
Reviewed August 23, 2005.