CJ and the boys decide to expand their group, but making new friends throws each of them into unexpected situations.

Ahh there’s nothing like a Scott Fellows series.  The TV Guide listing doesn’t begin to describe whats happening in this show, one filled with cultural references and inside jokes.

Like most tween/teen shows, the focus is on a small group of friends who seem to exist in a bubble with regard to the rest of the school.  Here, CJ, Crispo and Fenwick decide to expand their circle of friends.  That leads to three separate stories that really focus on understanding who we are and understanding how first impressions with others can often be wrong.

CJ reaches out to new student Zelphaba, whose unique behavior suggests that she is a witch.  CJ inadvertantly spreads a rumor about her being a witch, leading to Zelphaba being home schooled.  In the end, Zelphaba explains to CJ that her parents are magicians and jokesters, which explains all the witch-like things CJ witnessed.  CJ and Zelphaba make up and Zelphaba agrees to return to Pootatuck (which, apparently, does not require parental approval).  Everyone’s happy.

Fenwick starts a battle over getting the center square of pizza (this type of detail is a Fellows speciality) and ends up bonding with the Russian Lunch Lady about taking her drivers test.  Again, Fenwick’s first impression of the lunch lady is wrong.  But after she passes the written test, Fenwick learns the woman can’t drive at all. His reaction is very Cookie from Neds DeClassified-esque.

In our third story, Crispo is seeking a new friend (he has a bunch of volunteers) when Paul Schmolitor the Hall Monitor awards him with a sash to help him caught Lightning Luciano.  They first attempt to catch Lighting on scooters, which, Lightning points out, move slower than he does.  Crispo and Paul manipulate the hallway safety budget to get a golf cart to roam the halls.  Props to the show for using the theme to CHiPs as background music during the chases.  Thats the kind of human and cultural references I like in a show.  In the end, Crispo thinks he and Paul are best buds but, no sash, no friend.

I laughed many times during the show but that’s because the show meets my type of humor.  Its creative enough to make it interesting and our leads our middle school student enough to make it more than watchable.

Cyd and Shelby discover a major clue to the future lab memory and it is somehow tied to Barry’s science mentor Janet Smythe, who also employs Shelby’s dad.

I’m always nervous when the Disney Channel advertises a regular episode as a “special event,” mainly because they are rarely special events.

Fortunately, with this episode of BFW, we get some movement in story that does not involve the girls going back in time to correct something egregious error or gaining insight into a certain situation.

Here we get a little play on Apple’s new product announcements.  Its good to have comedienne Nora Dunn back on screen as Janet Smythe (a BFW version of Steve Jobs).  Her new product announcements are pretty much full of nothing (which makes it even funnier).  Smythe is Barry’s idol and he dreams of pitching his app (that gives you background audience responses) to her.  Barry needs a better App.

Cyd and Shelby soon realize that the logo in their future dream is the same logo that appears on much of Barry’s gear and that logo is for GloboDigiDyne, coincidentally the same company Shelby’s dad works for!  And that’s the same company Janet Smythe runs!  Surprise!  Surprise!

Cyd and Shelby follow Shelby’s dad to work.  Shelby’s dad is gunning for a promotion but because he is not innovative, energetic and passionate, the promotion passes him by.  Cyd and Shelby go back in time for give him a pep talk the morning of the possible promotion.  It works and Shelby’s dad is promoted to working on … the Pelican Ballroom project … which just happens to be the same space where Cyd and Shelby end up in their future dreams.   Its interesting that Cyd and Shelby change the future to one that affects them, I found it a little too coincidental how the story played out.

Barry pitching his App to Smythe was a hoot and Naldo’s best friend schtick plays well here as it always does.

 

Lindy becomes smitten with Dr Gabriel, a young veterinarian and gets upset when Logan starts hanging out with him. Meanwhile, Garrett gets a job offer at a fast food place and Jasmine seeks to become Pep Club President.

This is a somewhat tired storyline for a DCom or NickCom: brother and sister are interested in the same person – either as a date or as a friend.  Here, Lindy and Logan compete for the affections of Dr. Scott Gabriel, a hugely famous teen veterinarian (who appeared on the cover of Modern Dog magazine).

A few hats off here tho:  Bradley Steven Perry (from Mighty Meds and Good Luck, Charlie) plays Dr. Gabriel (Perry played Gabe on GLC).  Patricia Belcher (Mrs. Dabney from GLC and Gabe’s nemesis) appears as Candy, the vet tech.  But why not name her Mrs. Dabney!

There’s not enough build up between the Lindy-Logan-Gabe dynamic to make it interesting.  Lindy has a date with Dr Gabriel (off screen) and Logan has been hanging with him (off screen).  When Logan and Lindy plan a “date” with Dr G for the same night, the twin tension that the two often experience comes into play.  In the end, Dr G dumps both of them as they “both act young than he does.” This Lindy-Logan bickering can get tiring and there are only so many situations where the writers can go with this.

In B-ish storyland, Jasmine is trying to be promoted to Pep Club President (best lines of the episode: Amanda ran out of pep halfway through the year and I’m a pep pacer).  Danielle Bisutti plays faux-Texan cheerhead Mrs. Clegg (remember her from True Jackson).  For the greatest inside joke, I would have gone with Jami Gertz, who played uber-peppy Muffy Tepperman on Square Pegs.  Jasmine and Delia discover that Mrs. Clegg is actually Mary Ann Narducci from Secaucus NJ and every possible NJ stereotype follows: the Jersey shore, Bon Jovi.  They missed a joke on the NJ Turnpike.

Finally, Garrett seems to be exiled from the group again.  He quits Rumble Juice when he receives an offer from JR Stuff N Stuff.  That involves walking around the mall as a Tac-Dog.  Initially unforgiving Betty visits Garrett at the mall and offers him his job back as Betty notes “you’re not an employee, you’re family.”  There’s a nice relationship here between Betty and Garrett but I worry about Garrett being silo’d from our gang of five.

IDDI nicely weaves three storylines into one episode but there appears to be no overt overlap between the storylines.  We need this interwovenness to take place to keep our main characters interacting.

When Riley comes to the realization that her parents, Cory and Topanga, are making a positive impact in the world, she questions the impact she’s making to the world.

GMW continues to explore its characters in a way not normally seen on a DCom or NickCom.  Last week, the show explored Farkle’s uniqueness.  This week, the focus is on “what do you consider impossible?” or “what is your horizon?”  For Farkle, it is being an athlete; for Maya, it is living up to the perfection of her parents.  In general, all of our characters wonder about the mark they have made on the world.

First, the scene between Lucas and Farkle in the gym is classic.  Farkle lives by numbers and theories, Lucas does not.  Farkle demonstrates to Lucas that the impossible shot can be achieved by some physics.  Farkle’s cry for “New Sport!” is a gem.  Peyton Meyer’s Lucas continues to evolve as a character and the dynamic between Farkle and Lucas is a sweet one.

For Riley, her parents are the ultimate perfection.  She visits a convent to become a nun (Sr. Blinky!) and, surprise, surprise, Topanga has helped save the orphanage from Super Cluck.  When she visits the circus with the dream of becoming a circus clown, Cory is there successfully teaching the clowns.  Its a perfection that Riley believes she can never attain.  Watch for Maya recognizing how clueless RIley is in regard to the clown flower and clown handkerchief.

The highlight of this episode is the insertion of Riley and Maya into two original Boy Meets World scenes.  It was bound to happen sometime and, in this episode, seems wholely appropriate.  The two scenes: Cory teaching Topanga to play basketball and Topanga doing a performance art poem on the environment help cement in RIley’s mind that she is the product of the best of both of her parents.  Its a universal issue we all deal with and its a universal truth: how do we measure up to our parents.

The acting and storylines in GMW continue to impress.

From the world of Dan Schneider:

The series revolves around two girls named Babe (Cree Cicchino) and Kenzie (Madisyn Shipman) who start a multi-million-dollar gaming company and take on rap superstar Double G (Kel Mitchell) as their business partner. (Source: Wikipedia)

Dan Schneider has an awesome pedigree: All That, Kenan and Kel, Drake & Josh, Victorious and my personal favorite, iCarly.  They are all iconic Nick shows, and iconic shows in general.  Schneider understands the pre-teen and teen mind and weaves reasonably believable story lines that often feature winks at the adult audience.  Big fan here for sure.  Schneider has also been very savvy in incorporating emerging media into his shows.

Sadly, though, I don’t think Game Shakers lives us to our expectations.  I applaud any show that shows both teen/tween empowerment as well as girl power.  Here we have two girls who develop their own App/game Sky Whale for their science class (which features the weirdest name textbook – Life Sciences & Technology).  Soon enough the game is the #1 game in the country (or the world) but our fearless duo have forgotten to get permission to use Double G’s song “Drop That What” (which is actually a pretty catchy song).  As such, it is soon determined that Babe and Kenzie owe Double G $1.2 million.  I’m not sure why Double G’s lawyer didn’t send a cease and desist order.

Of course, Babe and Kenzie have spent all of their money on their new Game Shakers building/company in Brooklyn so when Double G shows up asking for his money, they have none.  Can we see the partnership angle coming about a mile away?  The girls offer Double G’s son Trip (Benjamin Flores Jr from Haunted Hathaways) a job so he can stay in NYC.  Also working at Game Shakers is the girls’ friend Hudson, who fills the role of the “clueless friend.”  Hudson also nervously giggles at everything.  I’d pay someone a million dollars to have a show without the clueless friend as a character.

Overall, the acting is the standard-issue teen acting mode – overact, yell your lines, etc. We again get the Felix/Oscar oddball combination of best friends. But its good to see Kel Mitchell back on TV (he had a guest shot in The Thundermans last season).  His posse seems rather stereotypical but the man can sing and act.  We’ve seen Kardeem Hardison come back so why not Kel?  Schneider best get Kenan for a guest appearance!

Some nitpicks:

• Did we need Glozell as a guest star?
• No restaurant in NYC would survive over a subway tunnel nor do any restaurants I’ve been in shake like that when a subway train goes by … many, many feet below ground.
•  Amazing they could get that business up and running in such a short period of time.

Some pluses:

• I like attention to detail.  The signs in the subway car were legit MTA subway signs.
• Finally, a TV show classroom with a smartboard!
• And they got the physics correct. The equation for kinetic energy on the classroom wall correct – and in the correct form as Ek – not KE.  As a science teacher, that makes me happy!
• Great sets filled with odd furniture and stuff.

I’m going to give Game Shakers time to grow but right now, there’s nothing earth shaking about Game Shakers.

 

Farkle is trying to find out who he is and where he belongs, along with the help of his friends. (from imdb.com)

First, props to GMW for bringing back Kristanna Loken, who played Jennifer Bassett on the original BMW.  This continuity anchors our stories to the past but also propels GMW forward.

Second, kudos for giving Cory and Topanga adult friends that aren’t Shawn or Maya’s mother.

 

While I love GMW, I often worry that it will veer into the ABC AfterSchool Special/DeGrassi issue of the week territory.  This episode comes dangerously close.  There are way too many “Don’t live under a label”/”Just be yourself”/”Let your actions define you” moments for my liking.

The episode does focus on “who we are” and “who we will be” and does so through the lens of Farkle’s testing.  They keep it true to school form in that Ms. Oben tells Farkle that his parents gave her permission to tell him the test results.

If you’ve been watching long enough, Farkle’s “diagnosis” of Asperger’s Syndrome should not surprise anyone.  His focus on “Belgium 1831!” is a good enough tip off.  But it should also come as no surprise that Smackle has Asperger’s as well.  Her unwillingness to hug is a pretty good clue as well. Her quest to find someone like her to help her better understand herself, to help her better understand love, and to help her better understand the world, thoughtfully drives the story.

Farkle uttered one of the best lines Ive ever heard on a teen comedy: “Please don’t let me not understand love.”  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Corey Fogelmanis is just all sorts of awesome in this role. I actually find him more compelling than Maya, Riley and Lucas.

I applaud the show for not “diagnosing” Farkle with Asperger’s but for letting him state: “So, what am I?  I am Farkle.”  That’s all we need to know.

I was surprised that Farkle’s small circle of friends so quickly accepted his diagnosis without being scared or even questioning it.  They did some research, understood it and accepted it.  But the foundation for this was nicely laid when Stuart tells the assembled group that Farkle wanted his friends to be part of the journey.  Farkle could have quickly turned inward and kept them out of the loop; its clear to me that Farkle values and treasures his friendships.

When they hand out the Emmy next week for best Children’s Program, if the Emmy voters are smart, they’d recognize Girl Meets World.

 

When Jasmine starts spending more time with Logan over drum lessons, she discovers she still has feelings for him even though she is dating Owen. (imdb.com)

One of the things I appreciate about I Didn’t Do It is that we know exactly how our characters will act in certain scenarios.  One of the challenges of I Didn’t Do It is diversifying the storylines so that not every episode features all four of our main characters in every scene.  That can lead to storyline isolation, and thats what happens in this episode.

First, we have Jasmine asking Logan to teach her how to play the drums.  Even though she is with Owen, her motivation here is clear.  She still has a crush on Logan.  Lindsay calls her on it and she has trouble admitting it publicly.  However, at the end of the episode, Jasmine imagines Logan asking her to be his girlfriend.  This certainly isn’t a subtle storyline.

Second, we have Lindsay and Delia collaborating on a puppet show.  No surprise here that Lindsay critiques Delia’s script (there’s a lack of conflict) but during the puppet show, that conflict erupts.  Lindsay admits that she has always been jealous of Delia’s creativity and thought by adding Scottie Squirrel into the puppet show would add conflict.  There’s the Delia instant forgiveness at the end and all are happy.

The third story involves Betty asking Garrett to train a new employee named Shelly (played by Allisyn Ashley Arm from Sonny with a Chance/So Random).  Shelly sees Garrett pay for a customer’s smoothie and rats him out to Betty.  Garrett and Betty have a relatively sweet conversation – you’re the awkward son I never had – and Betty tells Garrett he needs to fire Shelly.  Shelly tells Garrett that she’s jealous of his power, seniority and five minute break.  I never really understood why Shelly would be jealous of Garrett, but maybe if we had seen her before, or she had actually seen Garrett with power and seniority …

The interplay between Logan and Jasmine is sweet and worth our time.  The usual “Lindsay takes over” storyline is getting tiring.  Lindsay needs a new focus.  In the end, I’m thinking “I Shouldn’t Watch It.”