Eric Matthews (character)
| Eric Randall Matthews | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance |
"Brave New World (Parts 2 & 3)" (Boy Meets World) "Girl Meets Legacy" (Girl Meets World) |
| Created by |
Michael Jacobs April Kelly |
| Portrayed by | Will Friedle |
| Number of episodes | 161 |
| Information | |
| Occupation |
Student (formerly) (Jefferson Elementary, John Adams High School, Pennbrook University of Philadelphia) Box boy at the Philadelphia District Market Giant (formerly) Mall Model (briefly) Employee at Matthews' Wilderness Outpost (formerly) Channel 7 interim weatherman (temporarily) Department store Santa Claus (December 1998) Pennbrook Student Union store employee (formerly) Mayor (St. Upidtown, New York) (formerly) U.S. Senator (State of New York) |
| Family |
Alan Darnell Matthews (father) Amy Matthews (mother) Cornelius A. "Cory" Matthews (younger brother) Morgan Matthews (younger sister) Joshua Matthews (younger brother) |
| Significant other(s) |
Heather Ralston (ex-girlfriend) Jessica (dated) Linda (ex-girlfriend) Rebecca (ex-girlfriend) Molly (ex-girlfriend) Desiree Emmaline Hollinger Beaumont (ex-girlfriend) Kelly (ex-girlfriend) Lonnie Boden (former crush) Rachel McGuire (former love interest) |
| Relatives |
Topanga Lawrence Matthews (sister-in-law) Riley Matthews (niece) August "Auggie" Matthews (nephew) Bernice Matthews (paternal grandmother) Grandpa Poppy (maternal grandfather; deceased) Nana Boo Boo (maternal grandmother) Unnamed Aunt (paternal aunt) Wanda (cousin) Charlie (paternal great-grandfather; deceased) Uncle Maury (great-uncle) |
| Hometown | Cedar Heights, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Residence |
New York, New York (formerly) St. Upidtown, New York (formerly) Washington, D.C |
Eric Randall Matthews (Will Friedle) is a fictional character from the television series Boy Meets World and the spin-off series, Girl Meets World.
Eric is the elder brother of Cory, Morgan, and Joshua Matthews. He began the show as a suave, popular young man, who constantly went out on dates. He was originally portrayed as the stereotypical elder brother. Eric's character changed mid-series from preppy elder brother to "crazy, moronic brother". During the fourth season, Eric takes a year off from school when he doesn't get into a college of his choice.
Eric often plays off his hero and mentor, Mr. Feeny. Though Eric and Feeny are not originally seen as having a close relationship, the two develop a bond, that—at least in Eric's mind—is one of love. It was even implied once that Eric likes to tell people (such as Rachel) that Feeny is his grandfather. This culminates at the end of the fifth season when Eric sings a rousing of "To Sir, With Love" at Cory's high school graduation. Eric also coins the "Feeny call", and even makes a talking doll for Feeny to "make the call", so Feeny will not miss him when he moves to New York with the others.
Eric is actually highly intelligent, and Feeny mentions that Eric can get passing grades in his sleep (in fact, he once did). He compares this to Cory who, though lacking Eric's natural intelligence, makes up for it by being hard-working when he wants to be, and thus succeeds. Eric, on the other hand, is too lazy and immature to be anything but a ridiculous "goof-off", to the annoyance of his family and Mr. Feeny. In Girl Meets World, Cory mentions that Eric is the only person he knows who can do the impossible, and later Jack Hunter asks if he's still an "idiot genius".
During the later years, storylines involving Eric became stranger and wackier, often bending the rules of reality itself, such as an episode where Eric continually tries to sneak up on Topanga by using many disguises and crazy situations. The change from a girl-crazy cool-conscious teenager (the first half of the series) to a scatter-brained odd-ball (the second half of the series) was a drastic change. Eric often provides comic relief in tough situations throughout the series. It is hinted that he is a fan of the raunchy animated comedy South Park, as he has made references to the program, by doing voice impressions of Cartman and other South Park characters on different occasions.
On the contrary, Eric has appeared sensitive when it comes to matters of family and friends, as in the episode "Brotherly Shove", where Eric feels rejected by Cory when he was not asked to help clean out the garage, which was filled with memories from their childhood. Also, in the episodes "The War" and "Seven the Hard Way," the audience realizes that Eric finds friendship a serious matter and values it more than anything, apparent in his quote, "Lose one friend, lose all friends. Lose yourself." At one point be befriends a young orphaned boy named Tommy and wants to adopt him, but ultimately decides against it, so Tommy can live with a family that can better support him. Upon graduating college in the series finale, Eric decides to get a new lease on life, and in doing so: he moves to New York City with his brother, sister-in law, and Shawn.
During the interim between the events of Boy Meets World and the sequel series Girl Meets World, Eric moves upstate, and is elected mayor of [the fictional] St. Upidtown, on the Quebec border. By his own admission, he has no understanding whatsoever of the town's political problems, but the electorate trust him because of his handling of their personal problems. Topanga intentionally mispronounces the municipality's name by disregarding the period and space, thus rendering it, "Stupidtown."[1]
Although Will Friedle initially declined to reprise his role, Eric is set to become a recurring character in Girl Meets World, beginning with its upcoming second season. His first appearance occurred in the episode "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels". The episode title is a reference to the Boy Meets World Season 7 episode "Seven the Hard Way"; and he delivers his above-quoted "Lose one friend…" philosophy from the earlier episode. Early plans for the series had Eric's son, Troy, being a prominent part of the cast; the role of the teenage relative is instead filled by Cory and Eric's youngest brother, Joshua (now portrayed by Uriah Shelton). Friedle has made numerous visits to the set of Girl Meets World. After a major political blunder by the six-term United States Senator from New York, Jefferson Davis Graham, Eric is recruited by Graham's political advisor to run against the senator - since Eric is the only one who has a chance…of making the Senator look good in comparison. However, due to Eric's innate goodness and the Senator's incompetence, Eric is able to defeat Graham and assume the position of Senator of the state of New York. He gets strong praise and recommendation from a blogger named T.J. who turns to be an adult Tommy.[2]
Trivia
- In, "An Affair to Forget," it is learned that Eric's birthday is June 24, 1978. However, in the season 3 episode, "Stormy Weather," he celebrates his 18th birthday in the winter. This is a continuity error.
- Had many schemes with Jason, much like Cory and Shawn in the later years.
- Went on a cross-country road trip with Cory between seasons 3 and 4.
- Retook the SATs to reattempt getting into college in, "Security Guy," and received an 1120; 200 points higher than his first score.
- Lived in Mr. Feeny's car between seasons 6 and 7 without Feeny knowing.
- Moved in to Topanga and Angela's old, girls' dormroom in, "For Love and Apartments."
- Actually highly intelligent and can get passing grades in his sleep (in fact, he once did), but due to his laziness and immaturity he is never able to make anything of himself academically.
- Gradually became more and more insane as the seasons progressed, especially in season 7.
- Moved to New York City with Cory, Shawn, and Topanga after graduating from Pennbrook.
- Eric has made several prank items. Such as: Dummy Cory, Eric Doll, Feeny Puppet, and giant underpants; implying that he may be a talented sewer.
- Has many alternate personalities: 50s Eric ("I Was a Teenage Spy"), Good Looking Guy ("Hair Today, Goon Tomorrow"), WWII Eric ("No Guts, No Cory"), Christmas Future Eric ("A Very Topanga Christmas"), Amish Eric ("No Such Thing as a Sure Thing"), Manager of the Philadelphia Victorian Hotel ("It's About Time"), Chantal DuBois ("What a Drag!"), Plays With Squirrels ("Seven the Hard Way" [Boy Meets World]; "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels" [Girl Meets World]), Gumshoe ("As Time Goes By"), Jonathan Cumberland ("Everybody Loves Stuart"), Dr. Abraham Shapiro ("Raging Cory").
- He mentally refers to himself as Kyle.
- He was once "portrayed" by Fred Savage when Alan watches old home movies (of real-life Ben) featuring younger Cory.
- In, "The Last Temptation of Cory," Eric thinks his middle name is Neil, which his parents refute. By, "Everybody Loves Stuart," he seems to think it is Jonathan, while Jack states it is Randall.
- Eric frequently has trouble with the word, 'niche,' mixing it up with, 'niece.' In, "Eric Hollywood," he says, "niece," when he means, "niche." In, "I'm Gonna Be Like You, Dad," Eric again uses, 'niece' when he means, 'niche.' In, "Seven the Hard Way" (as Plays With Squirrels), he uses the word, 'niche' when he means, 'niece.' After the second two times, Eric indicated that Mr. Feeny, who had corrected him, had been drinking.
- Eric prefers not to wear pants, as demonstrated in, "The Witches of Pennbrook and Hogs and Kisses."
- Eric is an Ansel Adams fan.
- When he was 15, Eric put a waffle in the computer, breaking it.
- In, "The Truth About Honesty," he mentions to his date that he is Batman. This a reference to the fact that Will Friedle was the voice of Bruce Wayne's successor in Batman Beyond.
- Eric mentions numerous times that he wants to be a weatherman.
- Eric appeared in every episode of Boy Meets World except for, "Sixteen Candles and 400-Pound Men," "Heartbreak Cory," "If You Can't Be With the One You Love...," and "Starry Night." The only characters to appear in more episodes are Cory and Shawn, both of whom appear in all 158 episodes of the series.
- He was the mayor of St. Upid Town, a town that borders the American state of New York and the Canadian province of Quebec.
- He is currently the U.S. Senator for the State of New York.
- He is still in touch with Rachel at the time of Girl Meets World, unlike Jack.
References
- ↑ "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels". Girl Meets World. Season 2. Episode 5. May 15, 2015.
- ↑ "Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington". Girl Meets World. Season 2. Episode 9. July 10, 2015.