Q&A Meets World! Part 4

Summary

Pod Meets World – "Q&A Meets World! Part 4"

Podcast: Pod Meets World
Hosts: Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, Rider Strong
Date: February 16, 2026

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Overview

This episode of Pod Meets World marks another open, reflective Q&A as Danielle, Will, and Rider near the completion of their Boy Meets World rewatch journey, diving into fan questions and sharing honest, sometimes vulnerable, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, career reflections, and lessons learned. With series seven wrapping up, the trio discusses personal growth, challenges during filming, post-show transitions, friendship longevity, and the enduring impact—both positive and painful—of their experience on one of TGIF's most iconic shows.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Season Seven Reflections & the Changing Tone

[14:15 – 18:01]

• Season 7 felt "all over the place," with writers ambiguously chasing ratings rather than focusing on the show's heart.
• Characters became exaggerated, and storylines lost their original grounding in relatable high school/family settings.

"I think the better move would have been to just commit to the characters and commit to make it the most Boy Meets World...Instead it seems like our producers were like, let's try everything." – Rider (14:18)

• The cast acknowledges more cringe-worthy and dated jokes in Season 7 than any prior season.
• Loss of the "home base" (house or high school) made storytelling rougher; the college and apartment dynamics felt less authentic.

"Nobody's the character that they were, and the stories don't make a lot of sense. But a lot of the actual bits I'm finding very funny." – Will (14:56)

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2. Personal Memories: Childhood, Sharing Rooms & Home Life

[02:29 – 10:12]

• The episode starts with a warm, comic vent about household breakdowns and renovation woes.
• All three reminisce about sharing rooms with siblings—a relatable, often bittersweet memory.

"I loved sharing a room. And I was upset when Shiloh moved out...those are not good memories (for me)." – Rider & Will (08:55)

• Danielle is giving her sons connecting lofts in their renovated home, hoping to create fond sibling bonds.

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3. Nostalgia: Peak “Boy Meets World” Era Moments

[20:14 – 23:14]

• Each cast member is asked when they felt they peaked in both looks and as an actor during Boy Meets World.
  • Danielle: Season 4, especially post-haircut ("peak appearance and possibly peak performance").
  • Will: His peak look was not on BMW, but on "Zoey, Duncan, Jack & Jane"; says his acting is "still going."
  • Rider: "Season four, I think was probably pretty great...I still cared. We had so many good episodes."

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4. End of the Series: Transition Plans and Post-BMW Life

[23:42 – 35:59]

• Rider had concrete post-show plans: college at Columbia, a movie in Spain ("Buck Naked Arson"), holding deals.
• Will had contracts, quickly rolled into "Go Fish," and had a holding deal but on Disney/NBC, not ABC.
• Danielle was deeply burned out—checked out, without clear plans, then pressured to buy a home. She recalls being offered only "garbage...not just sexy stuff," and rejected it, largely out of insecurity after being body-shamed.

“I was just insecure. I was like, I had just been told I was fat for a year and been made to feel bad about myself, truly physically. And so it was more like, I'm not putting myself in that position.” – Danielle (29:42)

• The group candidly discusses the mental and emotional toll of fame, pressure, and failing to process trauma in their twenties.

"Your life takes a totally different turn when fear dictates what you do. And that's how I was..." – Will (30:52) "Nine years...I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do with my life." – Danielle (35:19)

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5. Friendship Longevity – Why This Cast Stayed Close

[41:18 – 47:15]

• While many TV show casts drift after filming ends, their friendship has endured because of mutual effort, shared youth, and deep knowledge of each other’s real selves, not just public personas.

"I looked at you as a brother, essentially, and, like, we cannot let this relationship die." – Rider (42:19) "There's always this sense that, like, the industry and our careers were something outside of who we really were...we always felt like we knew each other, like, in the real us." – Rider (46:00)

• Danielle attributes reconnection to curiosity, acceptance, and the ability to "meet" each other anew through life’s many changes.
• Growth in their relationships has also come from accepting periods of distance, knowing it’s not about love lost, just personal changes.

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6. Behind the Scenes: Wrap Parties, Rap Gifts & Memories

[47:32 – 53:30]

• There was a big wrap party, with Will and Rider making a (too long) 45-minute video ("Boy meets Braveheart").
• Will recalls wrap parties every year, but Danielle has no memory of the final one ("I must have been, but I have no memory of it").
• Michael Jacobs, the showrunner, gave watches engraved “for a good time, Michael” to the cast at the final party.

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7. Q&A: Fan Questions (Highlights with Timestamps)

• Blonde Hair in Season 7?

(49:52)

“I can tell you why I had mine. I had mine because I had my hair dyed for He Double Hockey Sticks, which was in 99, so that’s probably why mine were still growing out.” – Will

• After-Show Career Offers & Stereotypes

(28:40 – 29:42)

• Danielle talks about turning down stereotypical "sexy teen" roles post-series.

• Peak Acting/Aesthetic Years

(20:14 – 23:14)

• The trio reflect on their best seasons artistically and appearance-wise.

• Show Memories vs. Real Life

(17:17 – 18:25)

• Rider recalls that by Season 7 he was "just coming to work to hang out with you guys...I didn't care about the show, I cared about being with you...as much as I talk about, like, my issues with Boy Meets World, seasons four and five, I liked the acting challenges...I cared about Shawn as a character."

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8. Physical Changes, Body Image, and “The Fat Episode”

[66:50 – 79:00+]

• The Q&A gets emotional as they're asked what they’d say to their Season 7 selves.
  • Will and Danielle open up about being called out for weight gain by producers—a traumatic, formative experience.
  • Danielle reveals the limited actual weight gain (about 12–15 pounds), and details her struggles with eating disorders and depression triggered by the focus on her body and “being disposable.”

“Your worth as a person was never in what other people defined as your beauty.” – Danielle (67:53)

• Will describes how being “spotlighted” for putting on weight distorted his body image for years afterward, even though fans frequently say it was never apparent.
• The hosts express regret that they didn’t talk to each other about this trauma at the time, agreeing it might have lightened the burden.

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9. Lightning Round: Fan Rapid-Fire

[61:45 – 63:38]

• Chubby’s or Student Union? (All: Chubby’s)
• Harley or Griff? (Mixed)
• Frankie or Joey? (Split, but lots of Frankie love)
• Hippie Topanga or Preppy Topanga? (Most: Hippie)
• Art curator or real estate agent storylines? (Laughter)
• Would they watch the series again? Yes, especially to see how different the show became—suggesting doing “rewatch of the rewatch.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I was just insecure...been told I was fat for a year...so it was more like, I’m not putting myself in that position.”
  — Danielle (29:42)

• “A little bit of us died.”
  — Danielle, recalling the moment producers told her and Will about the “fat episode.” (71:12)

• “Just take the pressure off yourself, Ryder. Dude, just—you’re doing fine...Being ambitious doesn’t mean you have to beat yourself up about it all the time.”
  — Rider (66:52)

• “If you and I literally just—we were both smoking at the time, we just went out, lit a cigarette, and just talked about what had just happened, it would have made everything so much easier...”
  — Will (70:39)

• “I think we have always remained curious and accepting of who are you now? ...it’s just curiosity.”
  — Danielle (44:49)

• “There’s always this sense...the industry and our careers were something, like, outside of who we really were. We always felt like we knew each other in the real us.”
  — Rider (46:00)

• “You still deserve to be loved at whatever form your body will take.”
  — Danielle, on what she’d tell her season 7 self (67:53)

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Episode Timestamps for Important Segments

• Household woes & childhood rooms — [02:29–10:12]
• Season 7 overall thoughts — [14:15–18:01]
• Peak appearance/acting — [20:14–23:14]
• Transition after show ended — [23:42–35:59]
• Friendship longevity — [41:18–47:15]
• Wrap parties & gifts — [47:32–53:30]
• Body image, “the fat episode” & vulnerability — [66:50–79:17]
• Lightning round/fun Q&A wrap-up — [61:45–63:38]

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Tone & Style

The hosts are candid, self-effacing, vulnerable, and maintain their signature banter and warmth throughout even heavy discussions. Moments of laughter—like pitching Arco-branded bathroom merch or quipping about wrestler beds—are balanced with episodes of raw honesty, particularly when recalling the emotional pain surrounding public body scrutiny.

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Summary / Takeaway

This Q&A feels especially intimate and restorative, as the cast reflects on complicated feelings around the series finale—celebrating the enduring nature of true friendship, revealing the pain and fallout caused by on-set body shaming, interrogating how youth and fame can warp self-worth, and finding humor amid nostalgia. For longtime fans, it is a rewarding, humanizing look behind the sitcom’s glossy veneer, offering comfort, closure, and a deeper appreciation for both the show and its cast.

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For New Listeners:

If you love Boy Meets World, crave real stories behind the nostalgia, and appreciate earnest, funny, and occasionally heartbreaking storytelling, this episode delivers on all fronts.

Transcript

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Learn more at Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply I'm Danielle Fishel Ryder Strong and.

[Will Friedle]

Will Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Rider Strong]

In this latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are talking to self starters about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and how QuickBooks helps you to get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it.

[Will Friedle]

Listen to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

Have either of you ever had a day where you wake up and everything in your house breaks at the same time? Oh.

[Rider Strong]

Oh my God, dude, this has been my year. All everything's breaking down in my house right now. It's like I Yes. I swear. It's like we. It. It's. I've lived in it 11 years and I feel like it's right over, like the 10 year mark.

[Danielle Fishel]

Your 10 year warranty is over.

[Will Friedle]

So that's what we. We. Same thing just happened to me yesterday. It was. We had every type of water heater in the house, from the pool heater to the entire water system. Everything had to be replaced in one day. Oh my gosh.

[Jensen Karp]

One day.

[Rider Strong]

Yep. My garage door broke down and like, so expensive to fix that. And then now my door, my. I just found out a package didn't get delivered that we're waiting on because of our doorbells not working. Like our gate doorbell. I'm like, oh, my God, it's so. Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Yesterday was a $12,000 day.

[Rider Strong]

Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you have a home warranty plan?

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, again. And so the water heater guy came out and he's like, you need a new water heater because we have a tankless one. And I said, but it's tankless and we have the 20 year warranty. He's like, you do? Except no. So. Because apparently at the time I had it put in, I had them keep a certain pump that I wanted because it was too expensive to add a new pump. And the pump was working at the time. And so he's like, you have like 50,000 hours on this thing, which is supposed to be like over a 30 year span and it's been eight. So this thing just ran for eight years straight. I guess because of this pump, it never stopped running. So we just woke up and just didn't have any water.

[Jensen Karp]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Like, had no hot water. And then everything was flooding down by the pool. It was. It was comical how everything was breaking at the same time.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And so I was just wondering if you'd ever had those days where you just.

[Rider Strong]

Everything might.

[Will Friedle]

This entire year.

[Rider Strong]

This entire. And I thought it was mostly. A lot of. It is also because of rain. Like all the leaks and cracks.

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Rider Strong]

Because it, you know, never rains in LA until it really, really rains. And it's been raining so much the whole holiday season. I was just like, every single day.

[Will Friedle]

And then, you know the problem, because we have this in our house, we've had the same leak that we've now fixed 35 times, is you fix it, quote unquote, and then you have to wait another four or five months for it to rain again.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. To see if it works.

[Will Friedle]

See if it worked.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So it's like, you don't even know. Yeah. So we had to have the wall fixed while they were putting in the pool thing. While it was like, Mr. Mom, there was 37 people here yesterday.

[Rider Strong]

Right. When this all. Yeah, just. You just, like, it's. Just throw it in the trash and go. Go get another house. How expensive can it be?

[Will Friedle]

Because I've been here 20. This is going to be my 26th year in this house.

[Rider Strong]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my goodness.

[Will Friedle]

Everything is. It's. We've had to replace everything so many times that it's just. You go, okay, now I guess this needs to be new.

[Rider Strong]

I have a very old house. My house was built in 1905. Oh, wow. Yeah. I just want the idea of, like, new things in a house. Sounds lovely. I've always had old places.

[Will Friedle]

You have always had old places.

[Rider Strong]

Canyon House was 1920s. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So have you had a. Now, I know you don't believe in them, but if anybody else where you were with believed. Did anybody that does believe in them think that anybody in your house, one of your houses was haunted?

[Rider Strong]

No, but I have great creepy pictures. Like, I have photos of the house in 1905 with, like, a baby on the porch. I have interior houses, but that was.

[Will Friedle]

The house owner at the time, in 1905. He was a little baby. Little baby.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Rider Strong]

We have, like, these really crazy photos, and they definitely look like old school haunted house photos. It's so cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's cool. My house was originally built in, I think, the 50s, and then it had been gutted and redone before we moved into it. We were the first people to live in it once it had been gutted. And now we're about ready to do another renovation. We just approved plans.

[Will Friedle]

When do you start?

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, it's still with the city, so the plans need to be, like, we've.

[Will Friedle]

Approved nine years from now.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, exactly. So who knows how long the city is going to take? But also, we're not in, like, any giant rush.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

So we're.

[Will Friedle]

Are you going to stay in the house while you renovate?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. So we're only, you know, when you walk in the front door of our house, all that stuff to the right, the bathroom and the three bedrooms down there, that whole side of the house is just getting smashed and taken away. And so they're just gonna build a wall when you walk, like a wall when you walk in the front door. Everything to the right of the front door is just. There's just gonna be a wall, and we're not gonna use any of that. So the Kids bedrooms. We're taking out their beds. And we're. This office that I do the podcast in is gonna. We're gonna remove the couch, remove the desk, remove the bookcases that have Jensen's thousands of DVDs on them. And they're gonna share a room. Their beds are gonna go side by side in this room. They're gonna share this room. And we're gonna live in the house while we do it.

[Will Friedle]

But then where all the bedrooms are gone, where the wall is, that's gonna be a whole new wing, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Then we're. That's the area where we're building all the new stuff.

[Jensen Karp]

And that's where all the DVDs go in the wing.

[Rider Strong]

The new wing.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it's the DVD wing. I have one myself.

[Rider Strong]

DVD library.

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, but what I do wanna tell you guys that I wanna see if you would've thought this was cool when you were kids. The boys are getting. They're moving bedrooms, and they are getting lofts above their bedrooms. And the lofts will connect.

[Jensen Karp]

Cool.

[Rider Strong]

That's really cool.

[Will Friedle]

Sick. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So, like, I'm so. And they haven't. They don't really even really quite know what a loft is. I'm just like, you know, it's gonna be like a mini room above your room, and you guys will be able to have access to each other up there.

[Rider Strong]

That's a really cool idea.

[Danielle Fishel]

Isn't that cool?

[Will Friedle]

Cause I remember you talked about doing something. You were like, I don't know if I should have, like, a secret passage through a bookcase or like, you were thinking of something. So the connecting loft. Good idea.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, that's a good idea. I think that's the best way to do it.

[Will Friedle]

Keeping the Batman beds. Keeping the Batman beds.

[Danielle Fishel]

Keeping the Batman beds. If they want them. The Batman beds are definitely gonna be in existence while we do the renovation.

[Will Friedle]

If they don't want them, I'm your first call.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of course. Cause you definitely. Whenever you redo your guest house, I think it needs a Batman.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Bed in there.

[Will Friedle]

That'll be next this year. Later this year. Next year, all that. The whole backyard's being ripped out.

[Rider Strong]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

So I. Well, I guess what the reason I brought up the loft situation and I specifically said, did either of you share a room growing up with your siblings? Yeah. Was it like. Is it some of your favorite memories?

[Will Friedle]

No. No.

[Rider Strong]

God, I loved sharing a room. And I was upset when Shiloh moved out. Cause we.

[Will Friedle]

We.

[Rider Strong]

We took over the third floor. It used to just be an attic Space. And. And we discovered it and we were like, can we make this our bedroom? We converted into our bedroom. And then, like, two years later, when he was, you know, 12, 13, Shiloh was like, I'm out of here. I'm getting my own room. And I remember being very sad at 11 because I was like, oh, my brother's. And then I was stoked. Yeah, I think by the time you're a teenager, you want your own room.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rider Strong]

When I was younger, I loved. I loved sharing a room with my brother.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was fine. It was fine. But having your own room is just. You just want your own space. So, yeah, Greg and I shared a room and we had bunk beds too. And so he was on the top and I was on the bottom.

[Rider Strong]

So did I. Yep.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. And he's five years older than me, so he didn't want to be in there at all. And so when we moved to the new house in Avon, then it was. We each got our own room. And then Greg moved to the basement and I moved into Greg's room. So, yeah, it was shuffling around, but. God, no, those are not good. Good thought, good memories. No.

[Rider Strong]

Aw, they are.

[Will Friedle]

You wanna. No, you wanna. You don't wanna live. I wanted. I wanted my own space. Of course I wanted my own space.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think greener, cuz, like, of course, you know. Yeah, it's just one of those situations. But I'm hoping the kids. I'm hoping the loft is the perfect amount of, like, shared space. Shared space.

[Will Friedle]

That's cool.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it's perfect.

[Rider Strong]

That's what I'm hoping.

[Will Friedle]

Shared space is cool. And then they can go to their own rooms.

[Rider Strong]

That's.

[Will Friedle]

That's great. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I'm looking. I'm looking forward to it. Welcome to Pod Meets World. I'm Danielle Fishel.

[Rider Strong]

I'm Ryder Strong.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm Will Friedell. Ever been at the pharmacy counter and the pharmacist asks, do you have any questions? And suddenly your mind goes blank? That's exactly why you need to listen to beyond the script from CVS Pharmacy and iHeartMedia. Hosted by Dr. Jake Goodman, this podcast brings you real conversations with CVS pharmacists, the health experts you see most answering the questions you wish you'd asked, like which medications might not mix well, what vaccines should you consider before a big trip? And even those questions you were too embarrassed to say out loud. Each episode busts myths, decodes health trends, and gives you practical, trustworthy advice straight from the people behind the counter. No white coats. No lectures, just real talk, real answers and maybe a few laughs. Listen to beyond the script on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you will definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks.

[Rider Strong]

Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry.

[Will Friedle]

In this latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss and using Intuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it.

[Will Friedle]

Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bowen Yang]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kid's legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids. All eight of them, should something happen to us. Are you my dad now?

[Will Friedle]

No, sorry.

[Bowen Yang]

I do basements, connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].

[Danielle Fishel]

Week by week, inch by inch, we creep closer and closer to the season seven and series finale. And now, with a few recaps under our collective belt, we assumed that some of you might have some questions. Hell, we have some questions. We know you all think they just watch the show they were in 30 years ago. Sit in front of a mic Say whatever comes to mind. It's easy. Well, being honest, you were right. But for season seven, it's much more complicated. Will has talked about his reluctance to dive deeper into what was the hardest time of his life. I know I'm staring down the barrel of an episode where I'm just outright called fat and writer. Well, writer is writering. And so we wanted to open it up to you guys, see if you had anything on your minds as we tackle the heavier stuff. But first, writer and Will, how do you feel thus far about the dreaded season seven?

[Rider Strong]

It feels just all over the place.

[Danielle Fishel]

Quite a rollercoaster.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we're just like. I feel like, you know, and I think Will said it best from one of our recent recaps. Like, we're just, like, chasing ratings. And I think they didn't know what to do. They were, like, scared that we weren't gonna get a full season. And so, interestingly, I think the better move would have been to just commit to the characters and commit to make it the most Boy Meets World. You. And instead, it seems like our producers were like, let's try everything. Let's try anything to keep the ratings, you know, like, we'll make it a ridiculous romp. We'll make it a thing. We'll do a wedding. And it's just our characters have been thrown out the window. Yeah, I agree.

[Will Friedle]

I think it's some very funny bits. Nobody's the character that they were, and the stories don't make a lot of sense. But a lot of the actual bits I'm finding very funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. A lot of hard laughs.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also a lot of maybe the most ever cringe moments, I would actually say. I think in a handful of season seven episodes, I have found more moments that I would like to say didn't age well, but I can't believe they were ever okay.

[Will Friedle]

Agreed.

[Danielle Fishel]

Then, then in the collective first six seasons of the show, you know what I mean?

[Rider Strong]

I think is that. Is that a consequence of us being grown ups now? You know what I mean? Like, it's like the show aged up, and I think there was a conscious thing, like, we can make sex jokes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. We can take risks.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we can take risks because they're in college. And I just think that wasn't our writer's strengths. I think they were better at, like, a high school show, you know, and, like, it just seems like our.

[Will Friedle]

Our.

[Rider Strong]

Our jam was when we were like. Because all the apartment dynamics don't really. Like, you know, even last season with like, the. You know, Maitland's storyline with you guys, it just doesn't feel like our show to me.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it's a totally different thing.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I wonder how much we've been desensitized to the show. Frog in the Pot, where if we literally finished a season seven episode and then went back and watched a season one episode, if we'd just be like, what the hell is happening right now?

[Rider Strong]

Well, because, I mean, are we even really dealing with college stuff that often? No, we're not in classrooms. We're not, like, we're not engaging other college kids. Like, there's no, like, oh, I guess there was a sports episode. There was, like, the mascot and stuff. I don't know. It just doesn't feel like I. It's. Losing the high school is a real challenge for our show. It's a real challenge storytelling wise, because the high school and the. And, well, it's losing two things. You lose the house and the high school, and those are, like, grounding forces of our show.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

So season six and season seven really are kind of just a little. It's tough.

[Will Friedle]

Seven, Especially seven, Especially this one is just where nobody's who they were. And it's fine. I mean, again, I look at it like we're just trying to make each other laugh. So I'm acting for you guys, and you're acting for us, and that's fine. But it's a man. It's just.

[Rider Strong]

And I have so many good memories of us backstage.

[Will Friedle]

Me, too.

[Rider Strong]

But I don't remember the scenes themselves or the lines. I clearly was just coming to work to hang out with you guys and laugh, and I definitely, like, I just didn't care about the show. I cared about, like, being with you. And I was having fun, I think. But I didn't like the show or I didn't care about that part, you know, the actual creative investment, which is sad to me, because I think, you know, as much as I talk about, like, my issues with Boy Meets World and whatnot, like, when I Watching, like, seasons four and five, even I do remember being like, I liked the acting challenges. I liked the. Like, I cared about Shawn as a character.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Even when I was, like, a little, like. But, like, I think about the cult episode, like, I was committed, you know, like, and. And I don't. I'm not committed. Season seven. Like, I clearly was just, like, I am so much more interested in whatever's happening in my personal life and in my college life and, like, my studies and, like, I just didn't. Yeah. And I was also like discovering movies a lot at this period in my life. Like this one, we were buying laserdiscs all the time.

[Will Friedle]

Will and Dave's Laser Video.

[Rider Strong]

I just remember this season running around getting film lists from all the crew. Like I remember being like, tell me your favorite movies, what do I need to buy? And I would buy movies without ever having seen them because enough people would say you need to watch this, you need to watch that. And do you still have them? I still have the laserdiscs, yeah. But I also bought a lot of VHS because there's a lot of stuff that wasn't available on laserdisc that people recommended. Like a lot of the 90s independent film stuff. Like you know, Richard Linklater and Henry fool and like there's just a lot of like that 90s independent you could only get on VHS. And I don't have any of those anymore. I do have the laserdiscs.

[Will Friedle]

Do you have a working laserdisc player? Yeah, me too.

[Rider Strong]

I'm assuming it's working. It's at my parents house. Yeah. But I kind of want it. I kind of want it back.

[Will Friedle]

I still have mine.

[Rider Strong]

It's great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you use it, Will?

[Will Friedle]

No, it's not even. It's not even hooked up. I just know that I have it and it's like of course, safe.

[Rider Strong]

If I remember the image is not great, but the sound is better than.

[Will Friedle]

That'S what it was. And there was also at the time with laserdisc there was a lot of behind the scenes stuff that you couldn't get anywhere else.

[Rider Strong]

That's all I cared about.

[Will Friedle]

You didn't comment on the vhs. Yeah. You had all that stuff on laserdisc.

[Rider Strong]

Like that's how I learned how to make films. Like that's how, you know, even though we were in the industry, I wasn't on many film sets. So the way I learned how to direct was listening to director commentary and I loved it.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, let's bring in Jensen so we can get into these cues so we can supply the A's.

[Jensen Karp]

I think we slept in the room at your parents house that had the laserdisc machine in it for the record.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Cool.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah, I was like, I was, I thought, do they watch laser discs? All right, let's get into questions. The first one is from Ed from Augusta. Now that you fully recapped six seasons, can you definitively say when you think you peaked in appearance and peaked as an actor?

[Danielle Fishel]

I am pretty sure the answer for that for me is season four. Is that where I cut my hair.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think that whole season, that whole season from the haircutting episode on is peak appearance and possibly peak performance.

[Will Friedle]

My peak appearance was actually not on Boy Meets World. My peak appearance is when I did an episode of Zoey, Duncan, Jack and Jane. It's, I think, the best I've ever looked on camera. That was my peak appearance. They had me dressed up like Jared Leto from My so Called Life at the time. And I had the long hair and it was working. That was my peak appearance. Peak acting. Still going, baby. Still getting there. We haven't hit nirvana yet, my friends.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Will Friedle]

It depends on what Eric you like. I mean, there's some people that really love season, you know, season seven Eric, who's big and nuts and crazy. And there's some people that preferred the more subdued season two, three kind of Eric. So I was just different every season.

[Rider Strong]

Ryder, I have no idea. Appearance wise, I just, you know, so awkward. Like, I, I don't know. But, but acting wise, season four, I think was probably pretty great. You know, like, I feel like I was, I still cared. We had so many good episodes. Oh, season five was good too.

[Will Friedle]

Season five was great.

[Rider Strong]

But I feel like season four, Tony was still around.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

So I would have had some more of the, like.

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Rider Strong]

Because I really, I really loved the, the, the, the Turner Sean dynamic and like. And the comedic Turner Sean, like, when. And when we're like doing like, guy advice stuff. Yeah, those conversations was really fun and, and I, you know, as much as like, dramatic Sean took over, I feel like season four, I was still balanced at getting some just silly, fun comedy stuff to do. And I, you know, looking back now, I'm like, oh, wow. It was. That was. I wasn't bad at that. Like, that was a good. There was a good version of acting that I totally just took for granted.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Appearance wise, I don't know, man. Like, I definitely don't like the way I look in season seven. It's mostly the way I'm dressed. I feel awkward. And like seasons one and two, I'm clearly just a, you know, kid.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think, Ryder, you look real. I actually love the way you look in season seven. I know.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't necessarily. I haven't really necessarily paid attention to whether or not I love your clothes. Are you wearing a lot of bowling shirts in season seven?

[Rider Strong]

You know what it is? It's like, yeah, I start wearing button downs again, but they're not quite bowling shirts, but they're just like awkwardly fitting and, and the sleeves. If they're short sleeves. They're, like too long. There's like. They're like the wrong length. Do you know what I mean? It's like they don't. It's like you either got to go shorter or slightly longer. It's like they're in this weird in between. So they kind of like. I don't know. I've just been noticing, like, what. What am I wearing? It's like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

You know, and it's. Obviously, I just. I never noticed my wardrobe or thought about it back then, so I just wore what they told me. But I feel like there was a conscious choice for some reason in season seven, maybe to just make me look more grow or something.

[Will Friedle]

But have we tried to have Julie Yang on the show?

[Danielle Fishel]

No.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

Because she was still wardrobe for the season.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, for six and seven. Right.

[Will Friedle]

Or three, maybe.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rider Strong]

Julia. Curious. She was feeling.

[Will Friedle]

I'm curious because I was curious what you and I were talking about. Danielle, if she ever got a note from somewhere saying, hey, more tense for Will.

[Rider Strong]

I would love to talk to Julie again. Yeah, that'd be great to find her.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I'll look to see if I can find her on Facebook.

[Jensen Karp]

Okay, moving on. Our next One is from Dante S. In Washington, D.C. did the three of you have any established plans, personally or professionally, for when Boy Meets World ended? So this would include, obviously personal stuff, but also movie or TV show offers that were on the table?

[Rider Strong]

Good question.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I was under contracts. I had already signed another contract with. With Disney, so I was gonna be rolling right into another show. I mean, I didn't get much time off, and I went right into, I think, Go Fish right after. It was in 2000.

[Rider Strong]

Well, you had a holding deal, right? That's what.

[Will Friedle]

Cause we all. Yeah, I had a holding deal, but I also was already being sent scripts for kind of what you want to do. And then I was when I found out, because one of my favorite shows, and I think one of the most underrated shows of the 90s was news radio. And that whole crew and a lot of the writing staff went off to do with Andy Dick, a show called Go Fish, which starred Kieran Culkin. And the only thing that was giving me pause is they wanted me to be the older brother again. But it was film and it was.

[Rider Strong]

Was it single camera?

[Will Friedle]

It was single camera film. And it already been picked up for, I think, 13, six, I don't know, something. And I loved the cast, and I loved, loved the crew. So do you remember you and I Screenplay.

[Rider Strong]

We networked together, not against each other, but together for a show from the. There was a team of writers. I'm blanking on their names. One of them is now, like the guy who ran Veep and Silicon Valley, Alex. What's his last name? Anyway, there was a team of. It was a duo. And then actually at one point they became a trio of writers and they had created a college show. Do you remember this?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, like, it was like dorm something.

[Rider Strong]

Something. I don't even know if it had a name or it's just like. But you and I both, like, went to network test for it and, like, I didn't get it. And I think they offered it to you. But then I think Go Fish came along because, you know. But yeah, it was interesting. We were both. We like. I. I had this moment where I was planning on going to college. I. I applied to schools in New York, got into Columbia, and I was like, well, that's where I'm going.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

So I was planning on doing that. But then. And we had a hold. I had a holding deal, too. I think ABC got all of us a holding deal, probably to basically make sure we didn't go onto another network and, like, do another show.

[Will Friedle]

See, I didn't have abc. I had Disney because I went over to NBC.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, interesting. Because I had a deal. I mean, I just remember they paid, which means that they had the. I would go into second position if I went in for another network show. And so. And then I remember sitting, like, having lunch with my agent and my manager and talking to them, and they're like, well, so what's happening? And I was like, well, I'm going to school in the fall. And they're like, so you could be auditioning right now? And this was like, in the spring, right before Boy Meets World ended. And I was like, I guess so. And then, boom, they started sending me out and sure enough, I ended up testing for a couple different shows. Including that college one with you.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

But, yeah, no, and then I went to Spain for the summer. So, yeah, I was. I knew I was going to go to Spain, make a movie, Buck Naked Arson, and. And then go to move to New York and go to college. So I had all those things lined up.

[Will Friedle]

What about you, Danielle?

[Danielle Fishel]

I have no idea. I think I. I have absolutely no clue. I don't think I had any plans.

[Rider Strong]

You also had a holding deal, though, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

No.

[Rider Strong]

Really? Really, I don't think you got a holding deal.

[Danielle Fishel]

Maybe I did.

[Rider Strong]

I.

[Will Friedle]

Listen, you were. You were pretty checked out. By the end of season seven.

[Danielle Fishel]

So checked out. Yeah, yeah, so checked out.

[Rider Strong]

You were already living in Manhattan Beach. Like you had already. You moved there during season seven.

[Danielle Fishel]

I did, yeah. I moved there five days after my 18th birthday. So I had already been living there. Like I had moved there in May of 99 with somebody else named Danielle. With another Danielle. We had the Danielle's. We called ourselves the Double D.

[Will Friedle]

And.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, so I was living in Manhattan beach, which I loved, although the drive was awful. So I was just excited for the season to be over and then was like, not have to make that drive anymore. And yeah, I think I thought I was gonna audition. But also like, as usual when the season ended, I would just be like, don't want to work, don't want to think about work. And yeah, I probably just. I only lived in Manhattan beach for a few more months and then I ended up buying a town. My parents had really been pressuring me to buy something. Buy something, buy something. But I didn't buy anything right away. Actually. I didn't buy my first condo until like 2002 or 2003.

[Rider Strong]

I just kept moving Manhattan Beach.

[Danielle Fishel]

Moved out of Manhattan Beach. I moved to Beverly Hills. I was living in. In a townhouse in Beverly Hills for a while. Then I moved to like Miracle Mile area. Then I moved to. Actually, I take it back, I moved to Sherman Oaks.

[Jensen Karp]

And then.

[Rider Strong]

So were you thinking about acting at all or were you just like, I just want to live my life as an like 18 year old.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, I think I was auditioned. I mean, I know what I remember for sure is that I was offered a bunch of stuff when Boy Meets World ended. And it was all garbage. Awful. I mean, and not just sexy stuff.

[Will Friedle]

Like all that wear your underwear.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Will Friedle]

It's exactly like the American Pie kind of. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Huge.

[Will Friedle]

Right?

[Rider Strong]

Then there was like the teen. Because there had been all those teen movies and then they just transitioned into like, you know, sexy teen movies.

[Danielle Fishel]

Sexy teen movies and also the very stereotypical. You've seen this girl as a teenager her entire life. Wait, you're gonna want to see her in her underwear now. Like just the. The wanting to break the mold of any sort of pure innocence. Good girl now, you know. And I remember just, just seeing all of that and being like, no, no, no, no, no.

[Rider Strong]

Good for you, actually. I mean like, because it could have been so easy to just be like, I'll just keep taking the attention whatever it takes, you know? And you were instead were like, no, like, I don't like this.

[Danielle Fishel]

But it Wasn't. I mean, I wish I could take that credit and be like, no, I don't like this. But I, I was just insecure. I was like, I had just been told I was fat for a year and, and been made to feel bad about myself, truly physically. And so it was more like, I'm not putting myself in that position. Like, I'm just, I'm. There's no way, there's no, I can't, I don't want to do that. And I wish it was because, you know, I, I was thinking about it from the standpoint of, is this who I am? It was more like, this is all I'm being offered and I'm not comfortable with it. But a large part of the. I'm not comfortable with it. If I had been like, you know, I don't know, if I had felt good about my body, maybe I would have been like, well, this is what you do. They're popular. This is what this is. And also as a late teen, early 20s year old girl, you are just starting to kind of, I'm a woman now. What is womanhood? What is my sexuality like? You're just trying, you are just coming into that. So I, who knows what I would have decided had I not just felt insecure, but I, there was no chance I was going to put myself in a position to be made to feel the same way I did the last season of Boy Meets World.

[Will Friedle]

Your life takes a totally different turn when fear dictates what you do.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And that's how I was the same way. Where it's just, it's just a different way to live when fear is dictating your almost every move.

[Danielle Fishel]

It also completely, for me was not motivating. Like you'd think, oh well, if you felt that way, why didn't it just get you into the gym? Why didn't it get you. It actually had the opposite effect. It was like I ate worse, I didn't work out, I didn't take care of myself because it was just like, you know, I guess it's, I mean, looking back, it was probably a depression. I mean, there was probably some depression there. I didn't feel like a depressed person, but I was a person who had a very like, well, who cares? Attitude throughout that whole last season. Who care. Everything was, who cares? Everything was just kind of like.

[Rider Strong]

And I remember you having that attitude.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, yeah, me too.

[Rider Strong]

Like, you know, I think by the end of season seven, like, I was like, get away from Danielle. Like, I just did not want to be around you. Which is so sad for me to think about now because of how close we are now. But I think that like, yeah, we didn't reconnect until probably like 2002.3ish. Because I think when Boy ended I.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was like, ugh, yeah, I was not fun to be around. And it was like in hindsight, when I think about that person and the way I felt, that's not the way I had been up until that point. And it's not the person I've been after that. So there was really definitely a cumulation of things that happened throughout the six seasons of Boy Meets World that culminated really in that final season that led to a just dystopian.

[Rider Strong]

Isn't it crazy though? Didn't we feel like we were so grown up? Like we were done growing? Like we were, we were. I was like a full on adult. And I look back now and I'm like, you were a child. You know, it's really not until like 25, 26 that you start to figure out anything that you actually might want to do for the rest of your life.

[Will Friedle]

I was my early 30s when I really started to feel like a person.

[Rider Strong]

What do I want my day to day life to be? Like, what do I care about? What's important to me? And I want to surround myself with. But when you're like in our position at 20, when boy meets World ended, I thought like I was so grown up, like I was already like behind.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

Oh my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Talk about this kids show. Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And it is with weight gain too. It's like you, you, you eat because it makes you feel something and then you look at yourself and you look like, and you feel something and it's just, it's, it's a horrible cycle.

[Rider Strong]

It really is.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I also, at that time, you know, I didn't drink at all through high school. I didn't, I didn't drink alcohol. And then I moved out of my parents house and I did start drinking the same way a lot of people do when they go to college.

[Will Friedle]

Sure.

[Rider Strong]

And.

[Danielle Fishel]

I realize also looking back with my relationship with alcohol, it was the only thing that let me shut my mind off. It was the only thing that stopped me from overthinking. It was the only thing. It was like an absolute tool for me that was like, oh, I can shut the noise of my head off if I consume alcohol. Which alcohol also is very high in calories and is not good for you in a million different ways. So I look back on that time. And it's like. It's actually sad. It's like a really sad, you know, maybe next 10 years of my life.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, my 20s were not a happy time.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it's safe from me.

[Rider Strong]

I was definitely unhappy. But I wouldn't say it lasted 10 years.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think I would say, like, 18. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily. I would say from, like, 18 to 28. Cause then I think. And maybe not even quite that long. Cause I was around 27 when I started hosting the dish and I decided to go to college. But really, from, like, we're talking 18 to 27, where I was just, like. Felt like I was totally at the mercy of other people who did or did not want to hire me. I. I had to say no to the things I was being offered, the things I would have been willing to do. No one cared to see me for. Wasn't feeling good in my body, wasn't taking care of my body, wasn't working, so didn't have an income. Felt like I needed to work, but didn't have any other skills. It was just. It was a very confusing. I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do with my life. Nine years.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I was kind of the same. It was. Most of my 20s were just a medically induced haze. Like, I look back at it now, and it's just like, I did what when I was this age. I did what when I was that age. And I look at things that. I mean, I was shooting stuff still. I was shooting movies and things like that. I look back and I'm like, God, I don't remember doing that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Will Friedle]

Like, I literally don't remember doing any of this. It's really. And for somebody who I've always been told I have a very good memory. There's a good seven, eight, nine years, like Danielle, that are just essentially blank. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Flashing images.

[Rider Strong]

I was doing a lot and feeling like I was doing a lot. But I was putting so much pressure on myself. I was never allowing myself to be happy with where I was.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

You know, I was constantly beating myself up that I wasn't already, you know, selling scripts and making movies or being a star, movie star, like. And I look back and I'm like, your life was good, dude. Like, you were surrounded by good people. Like, I had this conversation a while ago with, like, two friends from, like, in my 20s, and they were like, remember all those times we'd be playing running shit raids at all those great parties? And I was like, yeah, I was Miserable? Why? Why the hell was I miserable? Because they were telling us, like, those were great times. I was like, they should have been, but in my own head, I was failing constantly. And it's like, that's so lame.

[Will Friedle]

But that's a child actor. That's what happens when you have. You have that success at such an early age. I remember you and I having a conversation one time where I said to you something like, you know, I'm not going to be that guy in high school who's still talking about the big game, and I'm not going to peak at 20. And I was. And at one point, you stop me. You're like, you realize you say that to me now almost every time we talk.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

And I was like, wait, I do. And you're like, yeah. You're, like, trying to convince yourself of something. I was like, oh, my God.

[Rider Strong]

Did you know that you could start a podcast talking about the big game?

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. Huge success.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

You just had to wait till you're in your 40s.

[Bowen Yang]

I did.

[Jensen Karp]

I did.

[Will Friedle]

No, man, it's crazy because, I mean, I'm gonna be 50 this year, so. And I. I. Susan and I were talking about this. I turned 40 in August, and then I got married in September. So I've been married to my wife all of my 40s, like, except for six weeks. All of my 40s. And next to the time, the seven years I was on Boy Meets World, my 40s are by far my favorite decade that I've had. I'm happier now than I've arguably ever been, even when I was on the show. And I don't know if that's dealing with the stuff you did in the past or it's just getting older.

[Rider Strong]

It's just getting older.

[Will Friedle]

Just look back at it, and you're like, I was 19.

[Rider Strong]

You know, there's like, happiness graphs that show, like, especially for men. Like, men, midlife crisis is, like, the worst. It's like 35 to 45. And then you just start to accept and everything gets better, and you're just, like, happier, and you enjoy the people around you. I know. I feel it, too. It's like I've turned a corner just the last couple years where I'm like, me, too. Oh, you know what, man? I really just am happy. And, like, I really should just appreciate the people and the things around me. Like, it's so good.

[Will Friedle]

I feel the same way. Yeah, my 40s, been great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Same.

[Will Friedle]

Ever been at the pharmacy counter and the pharmacist asks, do you have any questions and suddenly your mind goes blank. That's exactly why you need to listen to beyond the Script from CVS Pharmacy and iHeartMedia. Hosted by Dr. Jake Goodman, this podcast brings you real conversations with CVS pharmacists, the health experts you see most answering the questions you wish you'd asked, like which medications might not mix well, what vaccines should you consider before a big trip, and even those questions you were too embarrassed to say out loud. Each episode busts myths, decodes health trends, and gives you practical, trustworthy advice straight from the people behind the counter. No white coats, no lectures. Just real talk, real answers, and maybe a few laughs. Listen to beyond the script on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you will definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks.

[Rider Strong]

Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry.

[Will Friedle]

In this latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own. And using Intuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it.

[Will Friedle]

Listen to Mind the Business Small Business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bowen Yang]

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[Will Friedle]

Have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster nibbles in our yard for me? Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.

[Rider Strong]

Huh?

[Will Friedle]

Nibbles gone too soon. May he scurry in peace.

[Rider Strong]

Hey, sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff.

[Will Friedle]

Nibbles would have loved you like a brother.

[Bowen Yang]

Connecting homeowners with skilled Pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].

[Jensen Karp]

Well, this is a good transition then. Kimberly V. Of South Carolina. A lot of fandoms tend to be disappointed when the actors from their favorite shows don't stay super close once the show ends. Why do you think your friendship has endured for decades after Boy Meets World ended?

[Will Friedle]

Money.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we just keep going poolside together.

[Will Friedle]

Danielle pays us to be your friend.

[Rider Strong]

And.

[Danielle Fishel]

Why?

[Will Friedle]

It's a good question.

[Rider Strong]

I mean, will, you and I made an effort. You and I did make an effort.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Like, we worked at it. We definitely had to.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, you guys had some falling outs.

[Rider Strong]

We had. Yeah. We had fights about it, you know, like, and then we were always struggling to work together, to try and write something together or create a project where we got to be together. And I just feel like. I don't know why. I think it's like, for me, it just clicked in at the end of the season seven that, like, you were just one of my best friends we were gonna be. You know, we just had. I don't know. It's just like, I was, like, I looked at you as a brother, essentially, and, like, we cannot let this rel relationship die. You know, Even though I was in New York, I remember, like, always making an effort.

[Will Friedle]

So, I don't know, you made way more of an effort than I did.

[Danielle Fishel]

I placed it in my brain.

[Rider Strong]

I was like, I need Will in my life, you know? Like, I was like, I need to make sure. And I don't know, Like, I mean, part of it was, like, I think just. Just loving you and just wanting to, you know, but it was like, it's gonna take some work because you weren't leaving the house for a little while.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, it was a rough time for me to be a friend of mine. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

I feel like you and I just. It was an email relationship for a while, you know? Like, I feel like maybe I saw you once in New York when you visited. Like, maybe we only got together once, but I do remember always email and staying in touch via email. But, yeah, then we didn't really reconnect until girl. Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, maybe a little bit.

[Rider Strong]

Well, we had right before girl.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, right before girl. But then also when we had The. We had a couple dinners. We had some dinners at your place.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we started. And what. What brought that on? Like, why did we just decide to start having Boy Meets World gatherings?

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know.

[Rider Strong]

I don't know either.

[Will Friedle]

But it was the four of us. I was fun.

[Rider Strong]

I moved back to la.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, you moved back to la.

[Rider Strong]

It wasn't. I was living in Laurel Canyon when we started it because I remember, Danielle, your car got stuck at my driveway.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hanging off the sign.

[Rider Strong]

So that would have been 2005. Ish. Four. Five. Yeah. Five.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. And we did that. We did that for a while, a few times. And then I remember we had a. We had a dinner. We were still doing it because you met Tim. Tim.

[Will Friedle]

You guys came over your house.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I came over to your house, but then also Ryder and Alex and. And myself and Tim went to dinner in downtown.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we had a whole downtown hangout night. Yeah, we were just hanging. Like, we just. Yeah, we were just in touch, I guess. So it was really. The only time we were out of touch was when I was in New.

[Danielle Fishel]

York the first five years after Boy Meets World. And that makes sense for me. That was just, you know, that was exactly what I wanted. I was like, I need everything that has to do with this show to.

[Rider Strong]

Be as far away from me as possible.

[Danielle Fishel]

To be as far away from me as possible. And. Yeah, and it was kind of a dark. It was a darker time. But I think the thing. One of the things that's made our friendship endure is like, we talked about, like, those five years for me and writer being like, yeah. At the end of Boy Meets World, I just didn't really want to be around Danielle. I know. You know, Will's talked about the fact that you felt annoyed with me too, because I was so clearly over the show and it was all. All you wanted to do was like, get the opportunity to do a season eight. And I was like, I hate this place. I think we have always remained curious and accepting of who are you now?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And wanting to know who. So, you know, being like, okay, who you are now doesn't vibe with me. And so we'll just take some time away. But then the minute any of us have ever reached out, it's always been the response to being the response of seeing that person reach out is always, I love you.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Who are you now? And then a reconnecting. And we've seen each other and known each other through many highs and many lows. And even if we've been able to say, you Know what? We don't really need to spend that much time together right now because we're at very different places, or we're just very different people. That's never been like, I don't love you or I don't want you, you know, and so I. It's just curiosity.

[Will Friedle]

It's also during. During. Well, I was just gonna say during the show, though, for you and me, Danielle, we were just so different in age.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, when you're. It's when you're 13 and 18. I mean, you're two different species at that point. So, you know, we connected again much later in life when the age gap kind of closes.

[Danielle Fishel]

It speaks volumes about you in a positive light that we were not hanging out as much as we could have been.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly.

[Rider Strong]

I want to throw out something else that's occurring to me about the two of you in particular, and the three of us is like. And it's probably because we were young, and we also, like, knew each other's parents. There's always this sense that, like, the industry and our careers were something, like, outside of who we really were. Does that make sense? There's a sense that the three of us, we knew each other before we were stars or whatever, and that all the stuff, no matter what we were doing. Danielle's hosting the Dish or Ryder's doing horror movies, Will's doing comedy. That's all. Besides who we really are, which is somebody we know intimately and outside of the. And I don't know if that. That happens for a lot of shows. Like, a lot of shows, even if people are sort of nobodies, when they start a show together, their careers take off and they sort of become their careers. Like, they identify as, like, that is who I am, and this old show that I want isn't. But we always felt like we knew each other, like, in the. In the real us.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what I mean?

[Rider Strong]

And I think that's what's kept our chemistry. That's probably why this podcast works, is that it has that vibe of, like, we still kind of feel like we're crashing the Hollywood party and stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

It's like, we're still kind of, like, we don't know. We're figuring this out, and I think that's been really healthy for our friendship.

[Will Friedle]

I think so, too. It's also. It's completely different as a cast. When you grow up together. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, you start a show and you. You're with everybody. Hey, we're a great cast. We're all 25. That's great. You're gonna have an amazing time. That's a lot different than when you start as kids. You just, you grow up together.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So, yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

All right. Was there a Boy Meets World Series wrap party or any get together once? It was canceled. Sold.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, sure. Big, big rap party that Will and I made a 45 minute video for.

[Will Friedle]

That's right. That's where we showed it. Yeah. Remember we went to Barney's and bought suits?

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, we got suits for the wrap party.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Do you still remember the joke that we gave when we. When we presented it?

[Will Friedle]

What was the joke we made?

[Rider Strong]

I went, I said, we started to make something that we wanted to be 15 minutes long, and then we couldn't cut it down. So it's, you know, and you said, it's Boy meets Braveheart.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Rider Strong]

Remember it was like.

[Will Friedle]

No, I don't remember that at all.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's funny.

[Will Friedle]

Ah, that's great.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. So we ended up.

[Will Friedle]

You must have been at the wrap party, Daniel.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, I feel like I must have been, but I have no memory of it.

[Rider Strong]

We had wrap parties every season, didn't we?

[Will Friedle]

I know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I can't remember where the last one was.

[Rider Strong]

No, me neither. But there was stage and we had.

[Will Friedle]

Denim and Diamonds for some reason is the only one I remember the actual location. Denim and Diamonds. Yeah. But that was it.

[Jensen Karp]

Did you know it was canceled at that last party?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, we knew we were done. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

We were amazed we got the last one.

[Rider Strong]

There wouldn't be a season seven because Ben wasn't gonna come back, so. Yeah. So when season seven came back, we were like, okay, we'll just the one more time.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Have you guys talked about Ben not coming back that time? Like you thought he wasn't coming back?

[Rider Strong]

I think we have.

[Will Friedle]

Cause he's gonna go to college.

[Rider Strong]

But yeah, he had already been accepted to Stanford and so he had to defer a year. But our contracts were technically only for six seasons. So the end of the sixth season was supposed to be, you know, a renegotiation period for all of us.

[Will Friedle]

But you remember what happened was during 6, they said, we'll give you the raise that you're asking for if you sign for the seventh season. Right. So that was the caveat.

[Rider Strong]

So it was basically the beginning of sixth season. We were all negotiating, you get the seventh. But Ben didn't. Ben held out smart. Until he had been accepted to Stanford and then super smart, because I'm sure.

[Will Friedle]

You needed a fortune.

[Rider Strong]

Yes.

[Jensen Karp]

Not a bluff at that point.

[Will Friedle]

Nope. Super smart.

[Jensen Karp]

All right, this is from. I believe the name is Colleen or Colin. Makes a very good point. Topanga, Angela, Jack, Eric, Corey, and even Mrs. Matthews. Why does almost every castmate have blonde hair or highlights all of a sudden in season seven?

[Will Friedle]

Interesting.

[Rider Strong]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

I can tell you why I had mine. I had mine because I had my hair dyed for he double hockey sticks, which was in 99, so that's probably why mine were still growing out.

[Danielle Fishel]

Mine definitely blonder look, wasn't it?

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, in sync. Bleach, blonde, frosted tips, baby.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, it's totally just a trend.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it's just what you did.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, Lots of rings, lots of man jewelry and frosted tips.

[Jensen Karp]

Talia P. From Maine wondering if Ryder and Josh Radnor have spoken since the podcast. I believe they are soulmates.

[Rider Strong]

No, but I got a text that one of my friends from, like immediately after we did that interview, I got a text from one of my friends from New York. He's like, you know, you just interviewed my brother in law. His sister married Josh Radner.

[Danielle Fishel]

I was like, that makes perfect sense.

[Rider Strong]

I was like. I was like, he's the greatest. He's like, yeah, he's the best. So my buddy Seth, his. His sister married Josh Radner and that's his wife that he was talking about in our interview.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's hilarious.

[Rider Strong]

I gotta reach out to him.

[Jensen Karp]

I don't mean to have producer brain at all times, but would you ever be interested in just doing a Josh and Ryder get to know each other special podcast every once in a while, just of you getting to know each other?

[Rider Strong]

If he's into it.

[Will Friedle]

It.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, piece into it. We'll. We'll compare notes on things. I'd love.

[Danielle Fishel]

Update. Julie Yang and I are now friends on Facebook and I've sent her a message about coming on the show that quick class. So I guess. What, I looked her up on Facebook and she had friend requested me. I hope we don't have to have another.

[Will Friedle]

Oh my God, do we have to.

[Rider Strong]

Have another can of worms? Let's not talk.

[Danielle Fishel]

She had sent me a message. She sent me a message in 2021.

[Will Friedle]

So you hate her.

[Danielle Fishel]

She congratulated me on my baby and that she also had.

[Rider Strong]

Why don't you text her about it?

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, did you see if I can apologize to her? See if she wants to rock the stats.

[Jensen Karp]

Hey, she's, you know that this, this Julie is her name? Did you say your name's Julie?

[Danielle Fishel]

Julie Silver, yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

She's Emmy nominated last year for the mandalorian wow.

[Rider Strong]

She does wardrobe for Mandalorians.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's amazing.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah, she's quite a career, dude.

[Will Friedle]

We have to have her on.

[Rider Strong]

That's a cool wardrobe.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was also her birthday on January 9th.

[Jensen Karp]

Oh, mine. You missed it.

[Danielle Fishel]

That.

[Will Friedle]

You hate this girl.

[Rider Strong]

You hate her so much.

[Jensen Karp]

Oh, I like this question. Can I ask you this one? This is from Alex. T. If Cory and Topanga would have just slept together on prom night, would Boy Meets World have better late season?

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Rider Strong]

Yes, yes, yes, they would.

[Jensen Karp]

I think it's such a good point.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. Because we wouldn't have had to do the whole, like, marriage, commit. It could have just been like, let's just be together.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Will Friedle]

And they really do set it up with this last episode. We just recapped that. It really is like he's marrying her because he wants to get love.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. It would have been a better show, for sure.

[Jensen Karp]

Charisma. T from the United Kingdom. Did any of you get rap gifts when the series ended? Like a big final gift?

[Danielle Fishel]

You guys have talked about the fact that Michael gave you watches, right? And again, another thing. I don't think so, but I don't.

[Jensen Karp]

Daniel, hasn't your mom said that it's possible you got a watch?

[Will Friedle]

I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know that.

[Will Friedle]

So the last party we were at, he opened the trunk of his car and he had me help, and he had a whole thing of men's watches and a whole thing of women. Women's watches and just started handing them out. And I still have mine. It just says, for a good time, Michael on the back.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

It's a tag, isn't it? Yeah, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

I. Where's mine?

[Jensen Karp]

I feel like your mom said that you were giving.

[Rider Strong]

Mom's. Got it in a drawer with your hair.

[Will Friedle]

You've got your haters.

[Danielle Fishel]

Why would I have kept a mug and not the watch?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know.

[Jensen Karp]

All right, so read S. I figure a lot of people will ask what part of the Rewatch podcast you will miss the most, but I would like to ask what part of the Rewatch podcast will you not miss? Miss?

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, it's. That's a good question. Because it depends on what we do next. If we recap something, which it seems like we're going to recap something, then my answer changes because I. What I would not miss is watching a show. I don't like watching tv. So the fact that.

[Will Friedle]

Crazy.

[Danielle Fishel]

That anytime I do, they don't like movies. I don't like watching tv.

[Rider Strong]

I don't like. Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't like art.

[Will Friedle]

I want to sit in the quiet with my compression boots on.

[Rider Strong]

You like dancing?

[Danielle Fishel]

I like dancing. I like wrestling.

[Rider Strong]

Yes. Just WrestleMania and dance shows.

[Danielle Fishel]

I like to beat people up, and I like to read in silence. And so every time we have to do the podcast, and I'll be like, oh, God. That means I have to watch an episode. And it's not about the show. It's not about that. I. You could tell me it's my best. It's the. My most favorite show I've ever seen. But knowing I have to watch something in order to be able to talk about it intelligently the next day is oftentimes a pain in my rear.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, God. That's my. That was my dream as a child. My mom would be like, I want to watch TV for a living. And now I do.

[Rider Strong]

Yes. So study by watching tv.

[Will Friedle]

It's the best thing ever.

[Rider Strong]

That's so cool.

[Will Friedle]

What am I not going to make Miss?

[Rider Strong]

I know that I finally, like. You guys have. You're never here, but you've seen footage of me having to black out my office. Like, I have to tape all this blackout because I have a skylight, and if the skylight's it's, like, blazing on me. And I just finally got shades ordered, and they're being delivered and they're being installed. So right when we finish the recap, my studio will be much better. But, yeah, so I hate having to do that every time. Like, I have to get on. I have to stand at my desk and put this thing on. It's such a. It's so stupid. I should have gotten this set up a long time ago.

[Will Friedle]

I hate to be this guy, but I'm gonna be the same guy I was on Boy Meets World. I'm Miss everything. There's nothing I don't like about it. I mean, really, again, I live a different lifestyle than you guys. I don't have kids I don't have. So it's like, to me, it's. I wake up, I do what I gotta do.

[Rider Strong]

I do my podcasting. Podcasting.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Rider Strong]

What are you gonna miss about rewatching? Watching. Or not miss. Or not miss.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Not miss.

[Will Friedle]

I guess. I mean, one of the things I'm. I'm. I am gonna miss is. Or I'm not gonna miss is bad episodes.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Because it makes me feel awful when it's like, oh, man, this. I have to go. I have to go and tell our fans and everything again that I hated something.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

That they really like. And I know that you know everybody, you know, every episode that I hate is somebody's favorite episode. And so I. I don't like sitting there and going like, oh, God. I really.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. You know, we don't want to yuck your yum. No, we're not trying to do that.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, that's no good. So I'm kind of do that.

[Rider Strong]

I really relish in the pain.

[Danielle Fishel]

You love it.

[Will Friedle]

Love relish.

[Rider Strong]

It's a really no. Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

This is for Danielle. Jennifer from Shelbyville, Tennessee. Did you feel like the experience of the wedding on the show tainted your own wedding experience in any way? Were you nervous to jinx or curse yourself? Did you have any say in the design of the dress? I have so many questions. Questions?

[Danielle Fishel]

No. The wedding process did not ruin my own wedding, but I also didn't get married for like 20 years after the show ended. I did think while it was going on and we were going because I got to go wedding dress shopping. I guess it was with Julie, but I don't remember it being with Julie. I actually thought I went wedding dress shopping with Sarah Markowitz, but I must have been Julie and I. And I remember thinking, because, you know, young, 17, 18 year old Danielle, when was thought for sure she was going to get married very young because that's just what my mom had done. So that I did think at the time, oh, like I'm already going to have tried on all these wedding dresses when I get married to some, you know, whoever the mystery man is in a couple of years. That did not happen. Yeah, a gay man for sure. And then that didn't happen. But it was really fun. And I got. Because of Boy Meets World, I got to do the COVID of a bridal magazine.

[Rider Strong]

Whoa.

[Danielle Fishel]

At 17.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I got to wear like massively fancy dresses. I will have to show a picture of it on our socials. But no, it was really fun. Trying on the wedding dresses was super fun. I did have a say in which dress I got to wear, but it had to have sleeves. So there you go.

[Will Friedle]

Ever been at the pharmacy counter and the pharmacist asks, do you have any questions? And suddenly your mind goes blank? That's exactly why you need to listen to beyond the script from CVS Pharmacy and iHeartMedia. Hosted by Dr. Jake Goodman. This podcast brings you real conversations with CVS pharmacists, the health experts you see most answering the questions you wish you'd asked, like, which medications might not mix well, what vaccine should you consider before a big trip? And even those questions you were too embarrassed to say out loud. Each episode busts myths, decodes health trends, and gives you practical, trustworthy advice straight from the people behind the counter. No white coats, no lectures, just real talk, real answers, and maybe a few laughs. Listen to beyond the script on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you will definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks.

[Rider Strong]

Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry.

[Will Friedle]

In this latest season, hosts Austin Hankwitz and Janice Torres are covering top topics on the forefront of running a small business.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss and using Intuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it.

[Will Friedle]

Listen to Mind the Business Small business success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bowen Yang]

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[Will Friedle]

Why have I asked my electrician I.

[Rider Strong]

Found on Angie.com to bury my pet.

[Will Friedle]

Hamster nibbles in our yard form me? Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end.

[Danielle Fishel]

Huh?

[Will Friedle]

Nibbles gone too soon. May he scurry in peace.

[Rider Strong]

Hey, sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff.

[Will Friedle]

Nibbles would have loved you like a brother.

[Bowen Yang]

Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].

[Jensen Karp]

Tawny S. Comes through with rapid fire. Are you guys ready?

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

All right.

[Jensen Karp]

Chubby's or the student union?

[Danielle Fishel]

Chubby.

[Rider Strong]

Chubby's.

[Jensen Karp]

Harley or Griff?

[Danielle Fishel]

Harley.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, Griff Ryder. Griff.

[Jensen Karp]

Frankie or Joey?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, come on. It's like Sophie's Choice.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, Frankie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Joey.

[Will Friedle]

Frankie. Hippie Joey.

[Jensen Karp]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Frankie.

[Bowen Yang]

Frankie.

[Jensen Karp]

Frankie. All right. She's. Wow. Hippie Topanga or Preppy Topanga?

[Rider Strong]

Hippie Topanga.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hippie Topanga.

[Will Friedle]

Preppy Topanga. Really?

[Jensen Karp]

Really?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

All right. Real estate agent or art curator?

[Will Friedle]

Brick.

[Rider Strong]

Could have gotten more stories out of that. Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Taken out. Taken out by books or taken out by pencil.

[Danielle Fishel]

Pencil.

[Rider Strong]

Pencil. So good.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Look at arc with Ricky or talk to Lauren all night.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, God. Talk to Lauren.

[Danielle Fishel]

Talk to Lauren all night. Talk to Lauren for the rest of my life.

[Will Friedle]

I want to punch that fictional character right in the throat.

[Rider Strong]

I feel like me and Ricky would.

[Danielle Fishel]

Get along, but Ricky and I would.

[Rider Strong]

Be sitting in a cafe.

[Will Friedle]

Ricky is a twat.

[Rider Strong]

It's Ricky.

[Jensen Karp]

Ricky Ryder.

[Will Friedle]

And Josh Radner.

[Danielle Fishel]

And Josh Radner.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jensen Karp]

All right, final one is a real, real barn burner. Backyard or side yard? Final word.

[Rider Strong]

Backyard.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's still backyard.

[Rider Strong]

No, it's a side yard.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah, still not.

[Danielle Fishel]

You decided it's a side yard, huh?

[Rider Strong]

I mean, Wait, hold on. What am I saying? Am I saying what I think it is or what I want it to be?

[Will Friedle]

What do you think it is?

[Rider Strong]

It's supposed to be the backyard. It's literally written as the backyard. But I think it probably should have just been rewritten and said, like, this is a side yard, and we acknowledge it as side. Yeah. If that makes sense. Like.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

It played more like a side yard. As we've watched all seven seasons of the show. It has played more like a side yard, but it is clearly in design.

[Will Friedle]

A backyard and written as a writer's right. It says exterior, backyard, exterior, backyard.

[Danielle Fishel]

So, yeah. Okay.

[Jensen Karp]

All right, two final questions here. Mandy E. As season seven wraps up and you have now watched almost the entire series, would you watch it again?

[Rider Strong]

Yes, yes, yes. Now I really want to, because it's so different from one to seven. It's a Completely different show.

[Danielle Fishel]

And now that I know exactly what's coming and I know the way the characters change and I know everything. I know it now. I wanna. I don't know. I do. I wanna. I wanna re watch it too. I would. I would love to start back over. Think about episode one right now.

[Rider Strong]

Think about Minkus.

[Danielle Fishel]

Minkus.

[Will Friedle]

And we don't see him any, right. He's gone.

[Rider Strong]

But little Corey, like, oh, with Feeny doing Shakespeare. Come on. Yeah, that sounds so. That's a whole, like. That's a cute little kids show.

[Will Friedle]

I have a strange question. I think they've done this. Has there ever been a rewatch podcast that just goes back and watches it again?

[Danielle Fishel]

Rewatch of the rewatch started.

[Jensen Karp]

There is that one great podcast. The worst podcast ever. Where it's them watching grown ups over and over again.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you just go over and.

[Rider Strong]

I just feel like we'd end up repeating ourselves. So we have to.

[Will Friedle]

Gilmore Girls doing it. Oh, okay.

[Jensen Karp]

We're always behind those Gilmore Girls.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

I mean, I think it would be funny if you. I mean, maybe you should pick up a couple episodes.

[Will Friedle]

Well, I think we should go back and we should pick the five that we all collectively hated the most and watch them and watch them see if we were right.

[Danielle Fishel]

But we should also watch the five.

[Will Friedle]

That we like to best. Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Well, I mean, I thought a good idea would be to ask the audience. The five you got wrong. Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's a great idea.

[Will Friedle]

That's great.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I like that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

So basically we would give the audience any of them that we hated, at least. That at least two out of the three of us hated. And then say of these, what are the. What are. Vote on the five they should watch. And the five most votes we watch.

[Will Friedle]

I remember, I think the first one that you guys were both like, I hated this episode.

[Danielle Fishel]

And you liked it.

[Will Friedle]

And I think I liked it. It was the. When the head for the union label. It was the. When they formed a union in school. I think it was the first episod where I heard the two of you go like, I hate.

[Rider Strong]

Did I really hate.

[Will Friedle]

I think so. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

See, I wonder if my. My like meter is completely different now.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what real hate is. Exactly.

[Will Friedle]

I think I'll go back and be like, that's totally great, man.

[Rider Strong]

This is a good episode. Little cute little episode. But now you know. Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

But now that. You know what?

[Will Friedle]

True.

[Rider Strong]

Now that I've seen the honeymoon episode.

[Will Friedle]

Right, Exactly. I will take the worst episode from season Three over The best episode from season seven, any day kind of thing.

[Jensen Karp]

This is how settling happens.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's how anyone ends up married.

[Jensen Karp]

Thank you.

[Will Friedle]

Well, except for men.

[Rider Strong]

It's just.

[Will Friedle]

I'm on the call.

[Jensen Karp]

All right, finally. Last one, Julia M. From Green Bay. You guys frequently ask your guests what they would say to their younger selves, but what would you tell your season seven self?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, man.

[Rider Strong]

I mean, coming back to what I said earlier, just take the pressure off yourself, Ryder. Dude, just. You're doing fine. You know, You keep being ambitious, but being ambitious doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up about it all the time.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

It would be too hard a conversation for me. I don't think I could do it.

[Danielle Fishel]

It.

[Will Friedle]

Because I just know what I was going through at the time. I. I guess it would just be. Well, couldn't you be, like, hugging myself and telling myself that it's going to end someday, but it's going to be 20 years of misery? I mean, I don't know, because it's. It was the start of just such a dark time. It would. That'd be. That'd be a rough conversation for me. That'd be a tough one. How about you, Daniel?

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, I'm sobbing. Oh, no.

[Rider Strong]

You are. Oh.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'd probably tell myself that this isn't going to be the only change you're going to experience in your physical body. Your physical body is going to change up and down and left and right a million more times over the course of your time on this earth. And your worth as a person was never in what other people defined as your beauty. And so I think I would tell myself that. I still deserve to be loved at what in whatever form my body will take over the next. However long I'm alive.

[Will Friedle]

It's a good message for everybody.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Do you think, Danielle, I mean, I don't want to, like, keep prying at it, but I think this is kind of an important moment. Is like. Do you think because so much of your character was the beautiful girl on the show, that the minute you felt like someone didn't feel that way about you, you were just, like. Felt kind of worthless?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I felt that I was. That the character I played didn't care or seemingly didn't care about her own beauty or her external form. But then we did the episode where when she did something super shocking and she got rid of something that she had always had and that she realized, oh, maybe I care more about that. And I think for myself, I wasn't aware until season seven. That for what I felt like were the. The people in charge of the show, my worth and my value was only my looks. I don't think I recognized that until it was. Was very obvious that I was no longer attractive to them anymore. That it became aware that I was now just disposable. And I carried that feeling with me for most of my life.

[Rider Strong]

What a way to throw a character under the bus too. You know what I mean? Like, because you write, you spend six years developing that this character, all these amazing, wonderful things, and then for you to feel that way in season seven is just. It's such a betrayal.

[Will Friedle]

This is also, though, it's one of those things where we've talked about this so many times. You know how much easier it would have been on both of us if you and I just talked about it. I know, because we never talked about it. We smiled and. Okay, this. Well, hey, this is gonna be great. Where if you and I literally just. We were both smoking at the time, we just went out, lit a cigarette, and just talked about what had just happened, it would have made everything so much easier because our souls left our body in that meeting. It was like we both died a little bit in that.

[Danielle Fishel]

A little bit of us died.

[Will Friedle]

And it was. They had the big smiles in their face. Well, I mean, you guys, we don't have to, you know, we don't have to point out that you both gotten heavy. So we're gonna write to it and we're like, okay. And had we just. Just talked about it, just you and I, it would have been so much better.

[Rider Strong]

As warm and loving as a set as. As we did have. There was, you know, that kind of vulnerability was pretty rare.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Do you know what I mean? Like, we.

[Jensen Karp]

We were.

[Rider Strong]

We were always laughing and joking and. And teasing and having fun, but we weren't really vulnerable and, like, open with each other, especially not by season seven. I feel like maybe in the early years, I definitely, like, had moments with, you know, in school room moments. Like. But on set, when we weren't in school together, it became very much a, like, you don't admit to weakness kind of vibe. Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was the same way we've talked about not admitting to caring about your career or not exactly caring about acting.

[Rider Strong]

You're not taking yourself too seriously. Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

We weren't even allowed to care about our feelings. It was like, if anything bothered you, there was something wrong with you. Like, well, why let. It was. Yeah, it was. I don't know. I. I had, of Everything felt like, you're not supposed to. You're not supposed to feel that way. You're not supposed to. You're not supposed to talk about this. There's something wrong with you that you do. And. Yeah, I don't think. I think it was also just even too painful for me to admit to myself.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, but you would get those friends even. Even jokingly, and. And I know they didn't mean anything by it, but I had friends. You know, if you did try to say anything, be like, oh, when you're on a TV show and you're upset.

[Rider Strong]

Aw.

[Will Friedle]

And it's like, okay, you're right. I just. I'm gonna shut my mouth and put it in a box and throw it in my stomach and get Crohn's disease, because I'm not gonna talk about it with anybody.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So, I mean, it's. Yeah, it's. It was rough. But I always think about that where it's like, if you and I had. One of us had just said something to the other, it might have made a big difference.

[Jensen Karp]

Do you think anyone. And this isn't like, condemning anyone on set, but did anyone ever say to you, Danielle, or Will, like, you guys cool with this? Like. Because you would have said, yeah, totally, and they would have just walked away. But, like, no, no, no.

[Rider Strong]

I mean, I think that was the intent or the. The state of the meeting that. At first meeting. But it was.

[Will Friedle]

Do you see? I don't think it was.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think it was just.

[Rider Strong]

No, it was just letting you know.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's just like.

[Will Friedle]

I mean. I mean, I. I don't. I think had I been like, I'm not doing it, and Daniel burst into tears, Michael still would have found a way to. To do it and been like, you guys, it's. This is why I'm writing. It is because it's perfect for the way that you guys are feeling. Like, he would have. It still would have happened.

[Rider Strong]

But I know. I know that if Danielle had burst into tears, we all would have been like, what. What's the big deal? Myself, I would have probably played into it. I would have been like, it's funny. It's fine. It's. We gotta. You know, you're an actor. You just gotta take it and do it. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

You know, it's obvious. I mean, you guys both put on weight. It's obvious that might as well write to it. What are they. We just could pretend it didn't happen, and it's like, okay, yeah. And that's why we didn't Say anything or do anything. It was just like, all right, this is what's happening. Happening.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

We get so many emails. As the person who reads the emails. We get so many emails. Who is. They're dumbfounded by making it an episode because it doesn't look like either of you are fat.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Jensen Karp]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, it was the time, though, too. I mean, to be. To be fair, it also was just a preference of at least one person on the show who definitely liked very waif like women. That was what. That was the beauty standard for the. That. That preference for that person. But additionally, it was the it look of the time. It was Kate Moss waif. Heroin chic was what it was called.

[Rider Strong]

And so it's also just this gross thing about, like, comparing ourselves to our teenage bodies, though, too. You know, we were children, so it's like, well, you're never gonna. Your body's gonna go through so many weird changes, and we weren't sort of allowed that, you know, And a lot of actors aren't allowed that. Like, I've. I've heard people making fun of the Stranger Things kids, you know, for. And their faces and the way. And it's like they're changing. They're growing. They're not. It's like, by the way, if you.

[Will Friedle]

Do it on purpose, you do it on purpose. As an actor, you're a genius. You do it by accident, or it's just you're normally growing up and you're lazy and you've just get. And it's like, yeah, okay, so it's. Yeah, the whole thing is very, very strange. But, yeah. And I still. And I wonder if it's because of them pulling us aside and saying, we're doing this episode. I wonder if that's one of the reasons why I still see myself. Myself as so fat in season seven. Because when I do. When I look at it, I've been way. I've struggled with my weight my entire life, so I've been way bigger than I am on season seven many times in my life. I've lost up to 60 pounds four times in my life. So it's. And when I look at season seven, I'm not that big.

[Danielle Fishel]

You are not.

[Will Friedle]

But in my head, I'm huge. And I think it's because somebody. It's like you have a blemish on your face or something that doesn't bother you until somebody points at it and points it out, and then it's all you. You see?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So I think that was. I think him, you know, them.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm not.

[Will Friedle]

Say him, them. Because it wasn't just Michael.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Saying we're doing this. I'm doing. It was like spotlighting something that was kind of in my head that I already knew I was having a problem with and I was so medicated and everything else. And then. But it's like, oh, yeah, no, everybody sees it. Maybe people don't see the idea that maybe people don't see it was blown up because people pointed at it. So it was like, oh, no, everyone.

[Danielle Fishel]

Sees it and everyone's thinking it.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah. And that's talking about it. Danielle.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Jensen Karp]

Can I ask. We can cut it if you don't want to answer, but I really want to know, how much weight do you think you actually gained? We got this question a couple times in email, people. It's not even double digits, is it?

[Danielle Fishel]

It's probably. Maybe it may be somewhere between 12 and 15 pounds. I mean, I weighed. I know for sure I weighed 96 pounds when in season four. I weighed 96 to 98 that year that I say that I peaked when I was like, 15. And then I think I weighed anywhere from like 108 to 112 in those. In those later seasons.

[Jensen Karp]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

That's right. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

But, you know, I also, at the time, I mean, I didn't. I don't even really. I've like, kind of blocked all of this out. But, like, that time where I weighed 96 and 98 pounds and then I started. Started very slowly. I didn't, like, put on the weight overnight. I was very, like, all of a sudden I would notice, like, there is a two extra pounds, and then that two extra pounds became four extra pounds, and then it became five. And you know that, like, during that time, I mean, I. I started purging. I started. I started throwing up. I started over exercising. I. I passed out at school once from running, like, and I had not been eating, and I. And I was obsessively weighing myself. And I. Around the time of me gaining weight, I also stopped weighing myself because it was very clearly destructive.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so I was like, I can't do it anymore.

[Jensen Karp]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

But that also shows the time and what society was like because you put on 10 to 12 pounds and that's what everyone was talking about. I had put on almost 40.

[Danielle Fishel]

But you. There's no way you will.

[Will Friedle]

I was. No, no, from my smallest to big. No, no, no. Not season, but from my smallest when I. I was the thinnest, which was like, season two, I think When I came back super thin.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

When you were 15?

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, I think it was more like season five. Right.

[Will Friedle]

Whenever it was. Whenever I was super thin, I was like 150 pounds and I got up to 220. So that's 70 pounds of weight. That's a lot. And I've had that.

[Rider Strong]

It's normal.

[Will Friedle]

Some people just. I fluctuate and I exercise all the time, but I'm also almost 50 and I'm like, all right, you gotta give yourself a break. And I'm doing this and I'm eating. But at the time, when you're a kid and somebody does bracket what one of your worst fears it is, it's just. And, oh, God, I just wish we talked about it. It would have been so much easier.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

Just to even just go through it with somebody else would have been so much easier.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. And I wonder how much of it, though, is also the fact that we were like, well, I know for a fact he's fine with it. He doesn't care. And you're thinking like, if Danielle doesn't care about it.

[Rider Strong]

Right?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. And I'm. Yeah. It was just. It was a very strange time. That coupled with all the anxiety and just. It was. That's why I couldn't say anything. I don't know what I'd say to myself in season seven. It was just. It was too miserable a time in my life. And like you said, Daniel, the next eight to ten years of my life were good. Yeah. So it was. Yeah. This has been fun. This is a fun Q and A.

[Jensen Karp]

I want to thank everyone who emails. We get hundreds, as you know, I have to weed through them and yeah, hopefully we'll get to do this again at the end because, you know, you'll have a lot of emotions closing out the rewatch. So, you know, we'll ask for it again.

[Will Friedle]

I might even cry.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. Cold hearted Will, frozen hearted Will, might even get a little emotional.

[Will Friedle]

I doubt it. My robot. My robot insides.

[Jensen Karp]

I doubt it.

[Will Friedle]

But we'll see.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, well, you'd have to warm him up a little bit. Just like this question, you know, thinking about what you would say to yourself, you didn't let yourself get vulnerable. You just said, I don't know.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know. And I look off to the side. That's the easiest way to do it. Just hide it in a box, put.

[Danielle Fishel]

It down, give yourself Crohn's.

[Will Friedle]

Stamp it down deep until you just have diarrhea in an arco bathroom.

[Danielle Fishel]

They have nice bathrooms, though. Those Arcos, you know, not the one.

[Will Friedle]

I was in apparently back in the day.

[Rider Strong]

Guess we lost Arco as a sponsor.

[Jensen Karp]

Actually, I think they should sponsor. We have great bathrooms. Is quite a seller.

[Rider Strong]

That's pretty great.

[Danielle Fishel]

You can in our bathroom.

[Rider Strong]

Arco.

[Will Friedle]

Arco. Arco.

[Rider Strong]

The place to Arbo.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you all for listening to this episode of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram Pod meets World show. You can send us your emails. Podmeetsworldshowmail.com and we've got merch.

[Will Friedle]

I want to say go narco bathroom merch, but after the conversation we just had, I'm just going to say love each other, talk to each other merch.

[Jensen Karp]

I do have a pitch for Arko if they are listening.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, they are. They always are. Arco's our biggest fan.

[Jensen Karp]

Okay, so. And thank you to our sponsors. Arko, where you can get gas and let some go.

[Will Friedle]

Hey, I like it. I like it. Fill up and empty your tank.

[Danielle Fishel]

Listen, if you like those we. If you give us 15 minutes, just give us 15 minutes. 30 seconds, we'll give you 15 gems.

[Will Friedle]

Boom.

[Jensen Karp]

Pod meets marketing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Podmeatsworldshow.com will send us out.

[Will Friedle]

We love you all. Pod dismissed. Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and writer sports executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara Sudbaksh, producer, Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World superfan, Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon and you can follow us on Instagram @podmeatsworldshow or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com this is an ad for the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo, who.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small.

[Rider Strong]

So whether it's buying tickets to the game or grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

[Will Friedle]

Say it with me. The active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a 2 percenter.

[Danielle Fishel]

Learn more at Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply.

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