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#Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong & Will Friedle on Digging Deep Into ‘Boy Meets World’

“Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong & Will Friedle on Digging Deep Into ‘Boy Meets World'”

Boy Meets World was a beloved pillar of ABC’s TGIF lineup, lasting seven seasons and more than 150 episodes. The sitcom centered on Ben Savage’s Cory Matthews growing up alongside his family, friends, and teachers (who became friends and family—Feeny!). It’s lived on thanks to DVDs, syndication, and streaming, not to mention the spinoff Girl Meets World.

Danielle Fishel (Topanga Lawrence), Will Friedle (Eric Matthews), and Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter) continue to feel that love and lasting impact. It’s why they launched their podcast, Pod Meets World, on iHeartRadio. Each week, the stars not only rewatch the show through today’s lens but share stories and visit with familiar faces.

We caught up with the trio to chat about what it has been like taking that nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Do you find doing the podcast has been therapeutic for you? It really evolved into more than rewatching a show?

Danielle Fishel: We never set out to do a surface-level podcast. We always knew this is what we wanted it to be. I don’t want to speak for everybody, but I’m going to speak for everybody when I say I think we jumped into the deep end a little sooner than we thought we were going to. I think we thought the first few episodes would be fluffy and light for us. In some ways they were, and in other ways, some really deep stuff came out.

You’ve had an impressive string of guests right out of the gate including William Daniels.

Rider Strong: It has been wonderful. I think a big part of this podcast is the difference between being a grown-up and a teenager. Being able to meet and talk to the grown-up cast members as fellow adults is just really satisfying. We just had Betsy Randle on. It was so great to appreciate how much she contributed to the show. She is a solid actress who was always showing up and helping create an incredible set environment. So to thank her for that and to connect with her and say, “I was the same age you were when you were doing the show. I can see it from your point of view now.” It has been really nice.

Pod Meets World

iHeartRadio

You’ve tackled hard topics as well, whether it’s coming to terms with being a child actor and growing your careers, race, or relationships. Danielle, you even talk about being catfished. Do you feel it’s easier to open up by creating a comfortable space among yourselves?

Strong: I think a big part of that is the three of us trust each other. It’s a very weird thing we’ve been through. I think even when I talk to my own family members, it’s hard to bridge that gap sometimes because it’s so bizarre and so specific. There was so much understanding and trust in our conversations leading up to the podcast. The three of us have a shared sense of what this project is and what we’re getting out of it.

Will Friedle: We don’t shy away from meaningful and important conversations. We didn’t when we were younger. The conversations may have evolved a bit as we’ve gotten older, but it would be disingenuous for us to sit here and talk about how much we loved Boy Meets World and then not delve into the stories that affected us. If we were going to do this, we were going to do this. We would talk about the things that maybe people say we shouldn’t.

New York Comic Con 2018 - Day 2

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for New York Comic Con

Is there a particular episode you’re looking forward to revisiting?

Fishel: That’s a really good question. I’m looking forward to the “Scream” episode where we can have Trina McGee and Matt [Matthew Lawrence] and Maitland [Ward] and everyone who was part of those later episodes. I think having us all together would give us a chance to feel that energy as a cast together. I think the later seasons have the episodes I’m most nervous to rewatch because I have truthfully no memory of them except an overall feeling that some of them are cringy.

Friedle: Obviously, fan favorite stuff like Danielle said, the “Scream” episode or Eric’s storyline where he goes to adopt Tommy. I’m actually looking forward to the ones in the middle that I don’t really remember. It’s those fourth or fifth seasons in the middle where they just started to blend together. That’s going to be what I’m looking forward to because it will feel like I’m watching them for the first time.

Rider, you’ve been having a real Boy Meets World experience rewatching these shows with your son. What has that been like?

Strong: Mostly it has been realizing how incredibly effective the show has been being two shows at once. There was a level of intelligence and adult awareness filtered through the parents and Feeny, and dramatic stories, and life lessons. Also, just fun silly stuff. He is squarely on the kid side of the show. Boy Meets World was really good at being a family show that catered to teenagers, adults, and little kids all at the same time. I don’t feel these types of shows exist anymore. It has really gotten fragmented. Kid shows now are geared much more to kids where Boy Meets World straddles that line.

RIDER STRONG;BEN SAVAGE;WILL FRIEDLER, Boy Meets World,

ABC Photo Archives/ABC/Getty Images

How do you feel it is for a child actor today compared to the way it was back then?

Friedle: Social media changes the whole ball game. It just makes it such a different world all the way around and something we didn’t have to deal with growing up. There is already the pressure of being on a show and being a professional actor. There is a blur between your personal life and professional life. It’s something that I’m happy I didn’t have to deal with at 15 or 16. That is a big difference.

Strong: On a positive note, especially with the kids on Girl Meets World, they seemed more empowered about their careers. Sabrina [Carpenter] and Rowan [Atkinson] in particular were very clear. Sabrina’s music career was a huge part of her life. It wasn’t in competition with Girl Meets World. Rowan has also been able to move on. For us, it was hard post-Boy Meets World to establish a separate identity as an actor or an entertainer. It might be easier nowadays. We were pigeonholed. We all felt a version of that. No matter what project we went into. I feel like that is less of a thing.

Fishel: A lot of the conversations we’ve been having over the years about appropriate workplace behavior, whether it’s yelling or it’s aggression. When we were young and working on sets, it very much felt like we had a protected environment, but it still felt like an adult workplace that had kids working in it. Now sets are where kids feel very much like the adults adjust to the fact they are around, rather than the children adjusting to the fact they are in this adult business and environment. That is really important.

Pod Meets World

iHeartRadio

Have you gotten any feedback from Ben? Any plans for him to be a future guest?

Fishel: We have not heard from Ben about what he thinks of the podcast, so we don’t know. We have an open-door policy. If he wants to come on, he’s more than welcome to. He has made it clear to us that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. We have chosen to respect that.

When it comes to upcoming episodes, what can you tease for fans?

Fishel: We are actually recording with Trina McGee. We are so excited to have her. She is an absolute fan favorite. We’ve been really looking to have a discussion with her. She also had an incredible career before she joined Boy Meets World. When she joined, I was 16 and she was in her late 20s. When we were teenagers on the show, we didn’t know to appreciate the adults around us. We were so myopic about our teenage lives. Now we get to have those discussions.

If you had a chance to rewatch another 1990s show, what would it be?

Fishel: I want to rewatch Perfect Strangers.

Friedle: If I can expand from the 1980s into the 1990s, I have a big craving to rewatch Cheers from the beginning. It’s so good.

Strong: So good! It’s incredible. My answer is The X-Files. I love the idea of there being a monster of the week. I miss that.

Friedle: It was monster A-Team.

Listen to Pod Meets World with new episodes dropping each week.

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