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Boy Meets World emerged as of the best TGIF comedies of all time, and its success eventually spawned a successful spinoff on Disney Channel, Girl Meets World. The offshoot ran for three seasons and launched the Grammy winner Sabrina Carpenter, who remains close to co-star Danielle Fishel today. The revival, which premiered in 2014, apparently got off to a rocky start, and not just because there were some creative issues involving the franchise's OGs. Fishel, Rider Strong, and more revealed that finding out about the show actually wasn't fun.
Girl Meets World sees Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga Matthews (Fishel) living in New York with their two kids, with Cory being a teacher and Topanga working as a lawyer. At the center of the show is their daughter, Riley (Blanchard), who comes of age alongside her friends. Aside from Savage and Blanchard, a lot of original Boy Meets World stars appeared from time to time, including Strong and Will Friedle, reprising their roles as Shawn Hunter and Eric Matthews, respectively.
Fishel, Strong, and Friedle -- who have been promoting their new documentary, Doc Meets World -- recently opened up about the beginnings of Girl Meets World. While talking to Parade, the trio looked back at their time on the spinoff, with Strong and Friedle revealing they weren't formally notified that the show was in development. As they explained, they found out in a less ideal manner:
- Rider Strong: We didn’t get the call. We found out about it in the press.
- Will Friedle: Nobody told us Girl Meets World was happening.
- Strong: It wasn’t a great experience. Finding out about Girl Meets World, at that time, it was not fun. And then, we were asked to be on the show. For me, it was just an opportunity to direct again and like, really take that seriously in that part of my creative life. I was not excited to act again.
- Friedle: I wasn’t either, and the only reason I went on is because that the deal was if I did a few episodes, I could write an episode.
Considering Strong and Friedle appeared on Girl Meets World several times and had some fun and important storylines, it’s surprising to know that they didn’t even know about the series until it was announced. It’s also understandable that they’d only want to sign on so they can direct or write an episode or two, especially if they weren’t particularly keen on reprising those characters. For Strong, at least, he didn’t think it was the right time to do the show despite signing on anyway:
I feel like, in retrospect, Girl Meets World happened a little too early. I think if that show was pitched to us now, it would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, we would love to be involved but, at the time, in our 30s, I think it was just not the right… yeah.
Boy Meets World ended in 2000 after a seven-season run, and Girl Meets World premiered in 2014, not quite 15 years later. In hindsight, that time span does seems a bit short relatively speaking, and Strong isn’t the only one who felt like that. Fishel, who starred in all three seasons of the spinoff before it was canceled in 2017, voiced her own initial concerns about doing the series. Not only was she at a completely different place in life, but she was trying to think of the logistics of the timeline between the two series:
I had just literally the same week been accepted to Chapman University to get my master’s degree. I was going to school to be a marriage and family therapist. And so I remember getting that call and hearing the pitch and also being told, ‘This is still really early.’ I think it was much further along than I was led to believe. But I remember just being like, ‘Okay, wait, I need to wrap my brain around this.’ And then I went through all of the logical questions. Are we old enough to have a teen daughter? How would that have worked? It’s only 2013. But, if we had a kid right after the show ended, we could have a 12-year-old.
Even though it seemed a little too soon, the timeline does work out. Cory and Topanga have a middle school student daughter at the start of GMW, so the logic is sound. Nevertheless, I can understand the stars thinking a slightly long gap would've been more sensible. While the show could have come at a different time, Fishel went on to admit that she just couldn’t pass up that opportunity, so she put her other life on hold:
There was no doubt in my mind [that] this kind of opportunity doesn’t come around again. I get to go back and visit Topanga. And I knew that Chapman University was going to still be standing if I said yes to this, and I could always go back and do that.
Ultimately, Fishel's instincts proved to be correct, as GMW did strike a chord with viewers at the time. Overseen by returning producer Michael Jacobs, the spinoff expanded on the BMW continuity and added new layers to the established characters. Not everyone from Boy Meets World was asked back, though, as cast member Maitland Ward has been candid about not receiving an invitation. Ben Savage has seemingly put that part of his life behind him.
Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle have all been candid about the complexities of their relationships with both of the Meets World shows. Many of those thoughts have been shared on their Pod Meets World rewatch podcast. While they've been honest about their experiences making the shows not always having been positive, they also understand just how much the work itself means to people. With that, as a fan, I'm glad they participated in the spinoff, even if they didn't find out in the most optimal way.
Fans can watch both Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World with a Disney+ subscription, and see just how similar or different the two are.
