Why theBoy Meets WorldCast Didn’t Like This One Particular Episode, Which Disney Channel Wouldn’t Air

Mar. 15, 2025

Ben Savage as Cory (left) and Rider Strong as Shawn in ‘If You Can’t Be With the One You Love…’ from ‘Boy Meets World’ in 1998.Photo:ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

On the new episode ofPod Meets World,Rider Strong,Danielle FishelandWill Friedlerecapped the season 5 episode ofBoy Meets Worldtitled “If You Can’t Be with the One You Love…” On the pod, the trio, who played Shawn, Topanga and Eric, respectively, on the series, compared the episode to the classic “very special” episodes that covered hard-hitting topics relevant to young people’s lives. In this episode, Shawn and Cory (Ben Savage) start drinking after Cory and Topanga break up.

Strong, now 44, explained that part of his issue with the episode is that it tries to do too much in its 22 minutes. When Shawn and Cory drink for the very first time at a party, they’re “having a good time … doing handstands and like peeing on cop cars.”

“And then in that second half, it’s like as if he’s a 45-year-old alcoholic who’s like I can’t stop, but I gotta keep doing this. And I don’t think that’s realistic for somebody who’s tried alcohol once.”

From left: Rider Strong, Matthew Lawrence and Ben Savage in ‘Boy Meets World’ in 1998.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Strong called it “actually a disservice to people” forBoy Meets Worldto present problem drinking in this way.

“The real issue with drinking is that often it’s sneakier, it’s weirder, it’s slower and it slowly takes over people’s lives,” he explained. Instead, the show condensed it into just one episode. He noted that the show is for children, “And for children, you just want to see that drinking is bad … But to try and cram an entire alcoholic journey and sobriety journey into 22 minutes, that’s not ever what it actually is. That’s never how it happens in real life, so in a weird way, it’s hurting the issue that it’s trying to address.”

Rider Strong (left) and Trina McGree in ‘Boy Meets World’ in 2000.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

The episode also featured Shawn pushing his girlfriend, Angela (Trina McGee), which the trio noted was strange since McGee was pregnant at the time.

Boy Meets Worldaired on ABC from 1993 to 2000. Beginning in September 2000, it also ran in syndication on the Disney Channel. But because of the adult content in this episode, “If You Can’t Be with the One You Love…” was one of just three episodes that Disney never aired. The other two were season 5’s “Prom-ises, Prom-ises” and season 6’s “The Truth About Honesty,” in which Cory, Topanga, Shawn and Angela talk about sex.

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“Anything with alcohol is just too old for their audience,” Strong said of Disney’s decision to ban this episode. Fishel, 43, also noted, “Although there are consequences, they also do not shy away from showing just how fun it is to be drunk. Like we’re having the best night of our lives. And of course, there are consequences, but it also to a certain extent looks like, well, if I just don’t get caught, I’ll have a fantastic night with my best friend.”

She also noticed there was no “consequence” for Shawn’s violence toward Angela since they get back together at the end of the episode.

Still, Friedle, 48, said, “I think we’re going to get emails from people saying things like, ‘When I saw this episode, it made me realize my friend was drinking.’ Or, ‘When I saw this episode, it made me realize my parents were drinking.’ So there is a power to episodes like this where maybe they’re not trying to make it clever. Maybe it’s supposed to be: Drink bad … And when you’re 12, that’s all you need to hear.”

source: people.com