Rider Strong and Will Friedle could not get though a scene without bursting out laughing. This is why their characters Shawn and Eric very rarely talk directly to each other especially during the later season, despite that they became roommates in Jack's apartment during season 5.
The pilot premiered on ABC on September 24, 1993 at 8:30 PM following Family Matters and before Step by Step. It debuted to 16.5 million viewers, ranking it as the fifth highest-viewed show of the night.
Although not mentioned in the episode, Cory and Shawn's friend's name is Nicholas. Chauncey Leopardi played the role only once before his character was replaced with other friends.
When ABC released their fall schedule for the 1993-94 season, the New York Times wrote that the network was creating "a new Friday night line-up that is explicitly aimed at younger viewers." Their description of Boy Meets World was a show "about life seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy."
Before the pilot aired, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun wrote "Predicting Nielsen success for Boy Meets World". Sited the network adding William Daniels was daring and creative.