"these kids make Minkus look like Fabio!" aka Boys II Mensa

Cory is clowning around (literally, he's got the nose) with Shawn while Feeny hands back some tests. Cory gets a C and Minkus gets an A. Cory complains that just because Minkus is smart, Feeny likes him better and lets him get away with everything. Cory gets detention for the nose and for mouthing off.

After detention, he and Shawn find crumpled up test answers in a trashcan. They both get pretty pumped, but it turns out the answers are for a standardized IQ test. Shawn throws them back, but Cory grabs them. Shawn wants to know why Cory would cheat on a test that isn't even for a grade, but Cory wants to be treated the same way as Minkus.

At home, Eric takes Morgan Halloween shopping and "she" ends up choosing a gory zombie costume instead of a princess. Amy is kind of upset, but Alan totally approves. Cory has brought home a note from Feeny about the test and starts flipping out. He decides he'll try to prove to everyone that he actually is a genius and has just been hiding it all these years. It doesn't really work, and both Feeny and the Matthews drop hints that they know what's up.

At school the next day, Feeny pulls Cory aside and tells him he'll be going to a new school for gifted kids. There's no sports or recess, they just study. Cory says he wants to stay, and Feeny gives him a chance to come clean, which doesn't happen.

Cory calls Shawn over to yell at him for letting it go this far. Someone from the genius school is coming over to test him and then he's going to be carted away. Shawn not-so-gently points out that Cory is not actually a genius and likely won't pass the test no matter how hard he tries.

The woman comes and is really snooty and terrible. She insinuates Alan and Amy are stupid for being a grocer and a stay at home mom, and insults Morgan. After Cory finishes the test and his score is only average, she accuses him of cheating. He comes clean, but she thinks Cory's cheated on this test so he doesn't have to switch schools. She won't listen when he tells her he cheated on the initial test. She finally gets it, and leaves. Cory is grounded for two weeks, but can still celebrate Halloween.

Roundup:

*Shawn's voice breaks a ton in this episode. Ah, puberty.

*Still no Topanga. I miss her.

*As punishment for wearing the clown nose, Feeny makes Cory wear it all morning long in class. Ha! Good call, Feeny.

*Minkus penned a haiku on the test he got an A on. He recites it for the class, and the kid behid him pulls the weirdest faces. He looks both terrified and disgusted.

*One of the things Cory does to convince his parents he's a genius is conduct a symphony with a giant Phillie's foam finger. It's kind if a hilarious scene; he gets really into it.

*During the scene with the admissions woman, it's pretty obvious Ben Savage is holding back a big laugh. I'm not sure why, because it's not that funny of a scene, but I guess something was going on behind the scenes.

*The woman tests Morgan to see if she's as smart as Cory. She gives Morgan the following analogy: Maple is to Elm as Daisy is to.... Morgan's answer is booger. That's about as good as I could do, kid.

"sometimes a man doesn't know himself until he's walked a mile in another man's humungous pants" aka Killer Bees

There's no Topanga in this episode, which is kind if a letdown after all the smooching last time. However, it's Minkus heavy, so that almost makes up for it. Minkus has just aced another geography test, and Feeny announces he's entering Minkus in the state Geography Bee. No one cares until Feeny tells everyone the prize- the winner will be bat boy/girl in the opening game of the World Series. Once Cory hears that, he decides he needs to get into the bee.

At home, Eric has gotten tickets to the Aerosmith show. When he tells Amy, she mentions she and Alan are also going to the show. Eric freaks out and says that this is his first concert and a big night for him and Heather. Amy says she's liked Aerosmith for a long time and she's sorry, but they're going to the concert whether Eric likes it or not. Eric leaves and says he'll just get tickets for a more current act, like Eric Clapton.

Shawn, Cory, and Ellis bring Minkus back to Cory's house and convince him that if he doesn't do the bee they'll be a little nicer to him. He tells Mr. Feeny that he's dropping out of the bee and Cory begs to take his place. Feeny is reluctant because he knows Cory only wants the prize, but Cory convinces him that he's actually eager to learn.

Cory gets into learning geography- there's little factoids all throughout the episode. Feeny doesn't say it, but he's pretty impressed with how much dedication Cory is putting into it. However, the bee turns out to be pretty intense. Cory knows nothing and ends up losing.

Eric goes to the concert and has a terrible time because Alan and Amy have better seats, backstage passes, and an all-around better time. After everyone gets home, Alan gives Eric a speech about how he needs to chill out and learn to appreciate that his parents have lives and are comfortable with themselves.

Cory is pretty upset about losing the bee, especially when he figures out Minkus probably would have won it. He ends up getting an A on his geography test, and Mr. Feeny calls him a winner anyway.

Roundup:

*At one point, Cory wears baggy jeans, an oversized yellow sweatshirt, and an even bigger blue shirt over that. His clothes are almost comically oversized.

*Heather's last name is Ralston, and she's played by Nikki Cox. Nikki Cox is super hot. Good pull, Eric.

*Amy tells Eric she and Alan went to see Aerosmith while she was preggers and says "we were there, you were here" and points to her belly. Morgan incredulously asks Amy if she ate Eric. You'd think with all the sexytime in that house, Alan and Amy would have explained the whole deal to Morgan by now.

*Speaking of which, at one point Amy physically carries Morgan up to bed. Isn't she like six? I'm not a mom, but that seems old to still be being carried.

* Geography facts in this episode

- The highest and lowest points in the continental United States are only 50 miles apart.

- Hawaii used to be called the Sandwich Islands, named for the Earl of Sandwich, the inventor of the sandwich (this is a really nice convo between Cory and Mr. Feeny. Feeny leads Cory on the whole time, letting him think Cory is teaching him something)

- The indigenous people of Tierra Del Fuego are the Yagans.

- The Tuamotu Islands are owned by France, and their major export is copra

* Copra is the dried meat of a coconut. Thanks, Wikipedia.

*The other "current" musical acts Eric says he should go to instead of Aerosmith? Elton John, Led Zeppelin, and Tina Turner.

*When Minkus does the cool guy thing, he wears a backwards Phillies hat. I knew other kids had them.

*After Mr. Feeny hangs Cory's test up, the audience starts clapping, and you can audibly hear someone yell "All right! Whooo!!" It's like that SBTB episode at Malibu Sands when Zack tells off Stacy and the rest of the audience claps like they're supposed to but one dude yells "Busted!"

"Feeny's a butt!!" aka Father Knows Less

Alan and Cory are making "lunch" to go see the Blue Angels. From what I can surmise, it seems they've each put an entire package of bologna between two slices of bread, thrown it in a bag with some chips, and called it a day. To each their own I guess. The assistant manager at the store comes in and introduces himself to everyone for what seems like the eleventeenth time. Leonard Spinelli is played by Willie Garson of Sex and the City, and appears as different characters a couple times in Boy Meets World. Here, he's timid, socially awkward, and kind of a terrible assistant manager.

Anyway, a case of Perrier has fallen down and collided with a case of Alka Seltzer so Alan runs off, disappointing Cory. Alan says he'll make it up to him, but it's pretty clear how bummed Cory is. That night, Alan wakes Cory up to see the Phillies no-hitter against the Dodgers. Cory is really happy that he's spending quality time with his dad, and they stay up past midnight.

No surprise here- Cory falls asleep and fails a test the next day at school. He tells Alan about it and Amy overhears. She gets upset and Alan promises to smooth everything over by asking Mr. Feeny if Cory can take a make-up test.

The talk doesn't go well. Feeny refuses to let Cory make up the test and accuses Alan of not understanding the burden of being a teacher. Alan flips it around and says Mr. Feeny doesn't understand trying to spend quality time with his kids because he never had any, then leaves a dejected Mr. Feeny standing alone. Alan apologizes to Cory and offers to take him to play tennis.

Before they can leave, Spinelli comes by again. There's been a small fire at the store and Alan has to take care of it. Cory goes into the yard to hit tennis balls himself and hits one into Mr. Feeny's yard. Feeny invites Cory to sit down and have a drink with him. Cory gets really excited and pours everything from the decanter into a sherry glass, but it's just apple juice. Mr. Feeny tells Cory a story about how he was a boy during World War II and wanted candy, butter, and sneakers but couldn't have any because of the war. One day, young Feeny heard the war was ending and asked his dad if he could stay up and listen to the radio announcement with him. His dad said no and Feeny went to bed at the normal time. Cory says he sees the point, and Feen says he doesn't. He goes on to explain that the process of education is far reaching and so broad that the occasional no hitter or radio announcement won't derail it, and it's important for sons to spend time with their fathers.

Alan comes out to tell Cory to get ready for bed, and he apologizes to Mr. Feeny. Feeny accepts, and tells Alan he's a good father and if he'd had a son he'd wake him up sometimes too. At bedtime, Cory asks Amy why Mr. Feeny said Alan was right and Alan said Mr. Feeny was right. Amy says sometimes there's two sides to each story and they can both be right.

Roundup:

* When Amy finds out Alan let Cory stay up, she says he needs to figure out how to let Cory make up the grade or "he's grounded." Cory asks how grown-ups can be grounded and Alan just looks distressed and says "there's certain ways..." Heh. Dirty.

* Eric is talking on the phone to Heather apologizing for a hickey he gave her. Still Heather, eh? My girl tally is suffering.

* This episode is full of innuendo. After everything gets resolved at bedtime, Alan asks Amy if he's still grounded and Amy says they can talk about it while she leads him out of the room. Cory smiles and comments that they won't be back tonight. I don't know if I was that aware of my parent's sex life at 11.

* I think Mr. Feeny is pretty disappointed he never had kids all the way through the series. It's nice to see some continuity starting.