Every BOY MEETS WORLD Season Ranked From Worst To Best
This article contains some spoilers for Boy Meets World.
Throughout the course of seven seasons, fans all around the world got to see how one boy named Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) grew up alongside his family and closest friends. Along the way, there were some truly gutbustingly hilarious moments that left me in stitches, and there were also some moments that left me an absolute wreck with tears streaming down my cheeks.
Before I get on with my ranking, I want to clarify that I honestly really love every season of Boy Meets World. So, really, this list is more or less a ranking of each season from my least favorite to my favorite. Boy Meets World quickly became one of my favorite shows of all-time, and it’s hard not to be absolutely overjoyed when watching this wholesome yet emotional series.
7. Season 1
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Boy Meets World‘s first outing is without a doubt its weakest. It struggles tremendously with trying to find out what kind of show it wants to be, and this is most noticeable in the first five episodes or so. Some aspects of these episodes feel like a weird parody of something like Friends or even Family Ties. It felt like it was trying to fit in with every other 90s sitcom out there when in reality, it needed to be its own thing and not fit in.
Gratefully though, this season still manages to be fresh and memorable thanks to its amazing characters and funny moments that were present throughout. Right from the pilot alone, it’s clear that the Cory and Feeny dynamic will be terrific during the series, and the same can be said about Cory and Shawn.
Plus, it introduces us to Cory’s main love interest in the series – Topanga Lawrence. And if you’re a big fan of Stuart Minkus, then you’re in luck, because the debut season of Boy Meets World is the only season in which he is a major character.
Best Episode: “Cory’s Alternative Friends”
6. Season 6
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Unfortunately, Boy Meets World stumbled in quality quite significantly and noticeably in its sixth and second last season. The season tries to handle all the storylines between Cory and Shawn, Cory and Topanga, Eric, Jack, Rachel, and Angela and at times, it can feel a little bit rushed upon rewatches.
Don’t get me wrong though, season six is still outstanding and excellent with its humor yet again. If there is one episode that’s not very funny, however, it would have to be episode fifteen – “Road Trip”. It’s another episode in which Shawn feels the urge to run away and live life independently again, which has already happened on the show numerous times up to this point.
Still, though, the new change of scenery with the kids now grown up and in college, the mostly great humor, and amazing last episodes make this season a good one. It’s just that in the grand scheme of seven seasons, it didn’t have nearly as big of an impact as the ones that preceded it.
Best Episode: “We’ll Have A Good Time Then”
5. Season 2
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Season two is jam-packed with plenty of memorable and iconic episodes that Boy Meets World fans adore. This is really the first season in which we can see a small but noticeable change in the maturity of both Cory and Shawn in particular.
During the first season, Cory and Shawn were hyperactive kids that were, well, very immature. And it makes sense. A lot of middle-schoolers act that way and the screenwriters nailed that down. What they also nailed down is the slow maturity that these same kids will go through in their high school years.
But one of my favorite elements of season two is the introduction to Harley Keiner, Mr. Jonathan Turner, and Frankie Stechino. I didn’t know it at the time, but these three characters all went on to be some of my all-time series favorites. I just wish they didn’t have to be thrown out in later seasons.
Best Episode: “Danger Boy”
4. Season 7
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It may be a controversial opinion to have the seventh and final season of Boy Meets World so high on the list, and above season two even, but something about the sitcom’s final outing resonated with me in ways that are almost impossible to describe.
You really feel the culmination of seven seasons in addition to all the characters and actors coming together for one last hilarious and heartfelt ride before they inevitably have to say goodbye.
And don’t even get me started on the two-part finale “Brave New World”. I knew that I was going to be upset and get emotional, but I truly did not expect to find myself in a puddle of tears wiping at my eyes because I had to say goodbye to characters I grew to genuinely love over the course of seven seasons.
Best Episode: “Brave New World: Part 2”
3. Season 5
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Although the final season of Boy Meets World is one that I will never forget, season five is an absolute delight to watch. It has so many memorable and hilarious storylines that will stick with me forever.
“Last Tango in Philly”, “A Very Topanga Christmas”, and “Raging Cory”, are all three back-to-back episodes that are filled with terrific humor and emotional moments that resonated deeply with me.
And if you didn’t think that Cory and Topanga’s relationship was going to last because of her potentially deciding to go to Yale, think again. The final episode, “Graduation”, not only brings back fan-favorite Stuart Minkus (finally), but it ends with a beautiful proposal between Cory and Topanga that feels so, so earned.
Best Episode: “And Then There Was Shawn”
2. Season 3
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Many fans of the series say that season three was absolute peak Boy Meets World and it’s definitely not hard to see why. This is the first season in which Cory and Topanga finally date after two seasons of them obviously having a crush on one another but nothing ever coming out of it.
The friendship between Cory and Shawn has perhaps never seen better and more hilarious days than how it was depicted in season three. What I love just as much is that remarkably, this season had the tough task of balancing so many different storylines and it did it so effortlessly.
Eric became one of my favorite characters in the series during this season and it also made me realize how truly great and heartwarming a character Jonathan Turner was. It’s just a shame that the show didn’t bring him back after season four.
Best Episode: “What I Meant To Say”
1. Season 4
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As great as those aforementioned seasons are, I would be lying if I said that another season impacted me as much as season four did. It was the season in which I realized deep down how much I truly adored this show with my whole heart and I knew it changed my life for the better.
Each season of Boy Meets World is hilarious and teaches some incredibly important life lessons, but this is best demonstrated in season four. “Cult Fiction” is one of the most impressive sitcom episodes I have ever seen. It’s written with such heart and skill. You realize how awful Cory feels once he realizes that he has let his best friend join a cult that is doing more harm to him than good.
There are so many other emotional episodes here that I’ll truly never forget, but my favorite of the season, and possibly the entire series is “A Long Walk to Pittsburgh”. It is the best depiction of how strong and unbreakable Cory and Topanga’s love is and it shows that they will literally do anything to stay together. It’s a beautiful season and, in my opinion, it’s also Boy Meets World‘s best.
Best Episode: “A Long Walk to Pittsburgh: Part 2“