It’s a Go: Girl Meets World Actually Happening

The Disney Channel confirms it has put in an order for the 'Boy Meets World' spin-off

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Eric McCandless / DISNEY CHANNEL

Old-school TGIF sitcom fans can stop holding their breaths: months after the world learned that a spin-off of the 1990s favorite Boy Meets World was a possibility, the word has come down: it’s actually happening.

The Disney Channel’s executive vice president of original programming, Adam Bonnett, made the announcement today, confirming that the channel has put in an order for Girl Meets World. As those following the progress of the show will already know, the series will focus on Riley Matthews, the daughter of Boy Meets World couple Cory and Topanga. Girl Meets World stars original cast members Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, as well as Rowan Blanchard as their daughter and Sabrina Carpenter as her friend Maya. The series begins filming this summer and is scheduled for 2014 broadcast.

(MORE: If It Ain’t Broke: 5 Girl Meets World Characters Who Resemble Their Predecessors)

Here’s what else we know: the show will be set in New York City, rather than Boy Meets World’s Philadelphia. Riley and Maya are seventh graders, so we can look forward to some middle-school drama. Cory is their history teacher and Topanga owns a pudding café (yes, pudding) where they all hang out, the modern-day equivalent of Boy Meet World’s Chubbie’s Famous. And original Boy Meets World creators Michael Jacobs and April Kelly will be behind the wheel of the spin-off too.

Also, if the production photo seen above, released today by the Disney Channel, is any indication, Cory and Topanga are doing really well for themselves in the pudding and history businesses. Although the original series took place in middle-class suburbia, where the Matthews family was neither surrounded by riches nor in any great need, the new series seems to take place in a New York City apartment that has an interior staircase and a supersize fridge and actual dedicated storage space. And while that may not be such a big deal in Philly, anyone who dealt with NYC real estate will know that the junior Matthews family has moved on up. So, finance tip: pudding is apparently where the money is.

(MORE: Rowan Blanchard Cast in Girl Meets World: 5 Potential Paths for Young Riley)

Here’s what we don’t know: whether ’90s nostalgia can generate 2010s tween viewership. The Girl Meets World furor thus far seems to be generated largely by folks who remember loving the original series, but: a) those people are now too old to be the target audience for a spin-off about seventh graders, b) those people are probably still too young to have tween children to encourage to watch the spin-off and c) even if they did have those tween kids, who wants to watch a show because your parents loved it?

On the other hand, that nostalgia doesn’t come from nothing. Boy Meets World was loved for a reason, and with the original creators and stars present, maybe Girl Meets World won’t have to rely on nostalgia to capture some of that old magic. Either way, we’ll find out how it goes when the show airs next year, when the proof will be in the … well, you know.