Over a decade after Boy Meets World ended in 2000, a spinoff series was developed for Disney Channel and called Girl Meets World. But even after Girl ended in 2017, there were still some characters that fans wanted to see more of. That’s all the more reason I'm so excited to hear Will Friedle and Matthew Lawrence talking about their own spinoff idea. And, seriously, I need a network exec to hear them out!
Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter may have been one of the most perfect best friend pairings, based on their exploits in Boy Meets World. However, those two characters' older brothers, Jack and Eric, are also truly a bromance deserving of attention. During a recent episode of Pod Meets World, Matthew Lawrence, who played Jack, said during a press junket that he was asked about a Jack/Eric spin-off series. Will Friedle dropped some very positive thoughts on the prospect, and they make me giddy:
I think you could still do it. Jack and Eric come together. It’s the new Odd Couple!
Yes! This needs to come together. For those who don’t know, Neil Simon’s play The Odd Couple is about two mismatched roommates, and Jack and Eric definitely fit that bill. While Jack is the logical straight man of the duo, Eric is the zany eccentric. As the two characters (and the actors who played) were so yin and yang, a spinoff would definitely make for some entertaining TV.
Lawrence went on to explain that a Jack/Eric spinoff was once in the cards, but the relationship between the creators and Disney “kind of fell apart.” Also, Lawrence recently told EW he could see the duo, both in their 40s, forced back together after going their separate ways. Lawrence continued to say on the podcast that if a potential spinoff isn’t picked up by television, he has an excellent idea of how a micro spin-off series could work, and I’m loving it:
If anything, it’s like the new YouTube in a sense that these days, as you see with Obsession and all of these things that are coming, I mean, that’s kind of the new groundlings when you talk about comedy. The new spot where they bring out shows. So maybe if we even start, maybe it’s like, build it and they will come.
It’s true that YouTube has become the new platform for creatives to bring their ideas to fruition before they hit the big or small screens. If there's enough attention, it would be so interesting to see if this possible BMW offshoot could hit streaming one day.
Friedle said himself he’s “totally down” for a spinoff, so I'm feeling somewhat hopeful that the two might try to see this through. The last time fans saw Jack’s big one-time return on Girl Meets World, he reunited with Eric. However, it was revealed that Jack was a high-ranking executive at an environmentally harmful firm, which clashed with Eric's position as a newly elected senator. However, the iconic duo mended fences at Eric’s niece’s school dance, with Jack admitting that his friendship with his old pal was “the best choice” he ever made.
This TV show idea seems better than a previously proposed spin-off idea that came while Boy Meets World was still airing. Friedle revealed he almost left the ABC/Disney sitcom when creator Michael Jacobs pitched a “young Friends” idea for Eric to move to L.A. and meet new friends there. While it’s always amusing to see Eric’s humorous interactions, I’d rather see a straight man/funny man dynamic between him and Jack.
Now that the idea of a Jack/Eric spinoff has been brought up, this Boy Meets World fan is keeping her fingers crossed that it comes to fruition. Given that mismatched roommate shows like The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, Perfect Strangers have been successful, why not give Jack Hunter and Eric Matthews a shot?
In the meantime, fans can watch Eric and Jack's dynamic on Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World by streaming them with a Disney+ subscription.
