In a sentenceRiley and Maya could carry this sitcom without all the help it insists on giving them
Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard) and Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter) are the friends at the centre of Girl Meets World, a family comedy told in 23-minute episodes. Alongside them are Lucas Friar (Peyton Meyer) and Farkle Minkus (Corey Fogelmanis). Cory Matthews (Ben Savage), Topanga Matthews (Danielle Fishel) and Auggie Matthews (August Maturo) also feature. Riley and Maya’s connection is central to a series concerned with friendship and caring for other people. Created by Michael Jacobs, the programme follows this ensemble across three series, with Riley and Maya’s relationship at the heart of its comedy.
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Girl Meets World has an affecting friendship and an appealing lead in Rowan Blanchard. Its sweetness becomes wearing, though, and the comedy does too little to distinguish itself from other family sitcoms.
Girl Meets World is a decent family sitcom whose central friendship is more persuasive than its comedy. Creator Michael Jacobs gives Riley Matthews and Maya Hart a bond worth following, even when the programme becomes too pleased with its own sweetness. There is enough affection here to make a family evening agreeable, but the writing can be cloying. Our recommendation is for those who enjoy an earnest sitcom and do not need every joke to earn its place.
Rowan Blanchard plays Riley Matthews with an appeal that helps when the material grows sugary. She is a good reason to keep watching through the less convincing stretches, since the programme needs a lead we can care about before it asks us to care about everyone. Sabrina Carpenter plays Maya Hart, and their friendship receives the attention it deserves. We were moved by their attachment. The series takes their need for each other seriously, allowing friendship to matter without apologising for the strength of the feeling.
Michael Jacobs, who also writes, is on firm ground in making that relationship central. Family comedy has good reason to take friendship seriously: being wanted, understood or simply included can matter without requiring a large crisis. Here, Riley and Maya’s connection is worth caring about on its own terms. That gives the programme something useful to offer families watching together, since the affection is clear enough to recognise without much explanation. The warmth works when it stays close to these two.
The trouble is how frequently the writing presses for the same response. Its sweetness becomes tiring when there is so little resistance to it, and a comedy needs more variation than a steady invitation to feel fond of everyone. Rowan Blanchard’s charm helps, but charm cannot provide all the laughs that the material leaves wanting. The friendship would benefit from sharper jokes and less comfortable observations around it, giving these appealing characters something that does not feel quite so carefully approved.
The directors include Joel Zwick and John Whitesell, and the emphasis on the central performers is sensible. A programme with such an appealing lead does not need to work hard to draw our attention to her. At 23 minutes an episode, however, the sentiment still manages to feel overextended. The compact sitcom format needs a steadier supply of jokes than the writing provides, especially when the emotional point has already landed and we are ready to move on.
There is no need to make this an evening-long commitment. One episode should be enough to establish how much patience its earnestness requires, and we would give it that much time. It is better suited to shared family viewing than to anyone hunting for a sitcom with bite. If the sweetness is already tiring after 23 minutes, we would not advise making an evening of it.
The review finds the pilot promising, though it has not yet escaped the shadow of its predecessor. It particularly praises the deeply felt friendship between Riley and Maya.
Read the full review →Tongue finds the reboot earnestly warm and ultimately moving, though slighter and less able to deepen with its characters than the original. She praises the friendship between Riley and Maya, and the show’s belief in caring connections.
Read the full review →Lowry finds the sitcom cloying and tediously self-referential, with little to distinguish it from other Disney Channel series. He praises Rowan Blanchard as an appealing lead, whose performance may be enough to carry the show.
Read the full review →Bonaime finds the pilot promising, balancing its new characters with nostalgia for the original series. He especially praises how it feels familiar without simply copying its predecessor.
Read the full review →
The Baby-Sitters Club · not on Fi1m yetAnother group of friends whose care for one another earns the sentiment.
Derry GirlsFor older viewers, friendship with sharper jokes and considerably less good behaviour.
My So-Called LifeAdolescent feelings receive more room, with awkwardness allowed to remain awkward.
Our Little Sister · not on Fi1m yetA gentler family story that lets affection emerge without much insistence.
Anne with an E · not on Fi1m yetEarnest companionship and growing pains, with more space for the difficult feelings.
