TV Comedy Movies

Season six of Boy Meets World instantly resolves the cliffhanger ending of season five, with 18-year-old Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) saying yes to the marriage proposal delivered by his childhood sweetheart Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) -- though he balks when Topanga suggests that they elope immediately! Having both graduated from John Adams High School, Cory and Topanga enroll at nearby Penbrook College, where Cory's brother Eric (Will Friedle) is entering his sophomore year. Cory's pal Shawn (Rider Strong) has moved out of the apartment he shares with Eric and Jack Newman (Matthew Lawrence), whereupon Eric and Jack welcome a new roomie in the very attractive form of no-nonsense, take-charge Rachel McGuire (Maitland Ward). Elsewhere, Cory's mother Amy (Betsy Randle) gives birth to her fourth child, a boy named Joshua; and former John Adams High principal Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) contemplates retirement, but moves back to town to ask for the hand of Ms. Bolander (Bonnie Bartlett). The season finale takes place at the wedding of Feeny and Bolander, during which a tearful Topanga, unnerved by the impending divorce of her parents, is on the verge of breaking off her engagement with Cory. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 

 

Inspired by Winifred Holtby's popular 1936 novel of the same name, this three-part television miniseries details the drama that unfolds at a Depression-era Yorkshire girls school when the idealistic new headmistress clashes with an austere landowner. Anna Maxwell Martin, David Morrissey, and Penelope Wilton star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Season two of Growing Pains serves up 22 new episodes featuring the Seaver clan of Long Island: stay-at-home psychiatrist Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke), suburban-newspaper reporter Maggie Seaver (Joanna Kerns), and their children Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracey Gold), and Ben (Jeremy Miller). In the season opener "Jason and the Cruisers," Maggie reorganizes Jason's college rock band to help him get over his middle-age angst. The next episode, "Fast Times at Dewey High," introduces Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Lubbock, a recurring character who would ultimately graduate to stardom in his own spin-off sitcom Just the Ten of Us. In the same episode, freshman Carol begins her on-and-off relationship with fellow student Bobby (Kevin Gerard Wixted). Not surprisingly, the season has its share of crises, some amusing, others less so. Sensitive Carol raises over two grand on her own so that she can have cosmetic surgery; Mike continues prowling around for eligible girls, with a success rate of about 50-50; and elementary schooler Ben must deal with such standard exigencies as tough teachers and brutish bullies. Arguably the biggest crisis to arise from the season occurs when a nonplussed Carol discovers that both of her parents had previously been married to other people. This year's guest-star roster includes Hallie Todd as a homeless girl befriended by Ben; Renée Estevez as an assistant teacher who expects certain -- er -- favors from Mike in exchange for giving him a passing grade; Kristy Swanson as one of the guests at a party attended by Mike, who learns to his chagrin that he is expected to snort cocaine to pass the "cool" test; former Gilligan's Island damsel Dawn Wells as a bidder in a carnival auction scene; and Candace Cameron, sister of series star Kirk Cameron, as a young student whose school video report yields surprising results. In the season finale, Maggie is offered a major job at a prestigious magazine by a man whom nervous Jason knows to be a flagrant womanizer -- but is unable to warn his wife because of doctor-patient confidentiality! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi