TGI – Episode 712 “Family Trees” PART 1

Summary

Pod Meets World: TGI – Episode 712 “Family Trees” PART 1

Original air date: March 26, 2026 | Hosts: Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, Will Friedle
Recap covers season 7, episode 12 ("Family Trees") of Boy Meets World

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode transports listeners back to 1999, focusing on the pivotal “Family Trees” episode of Boy Meets World. The hosts—Danielle, Rider, and Will—break down the episode, reflect on personal memories, and provide behind-the-scenes insights, highlighting what made this storyline both challenging and memorable to revisit. The heart of the discussion revolves around characters grappling with identity, family, and the sometimes awkward evolution of a long-running show.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Becoming Our (Grand)Parents [03:00–09:11]

• Hosts share personal anecdotes about how they've become like their grandparents:
  • Danielle now carries around chocolates in her purse, just like her Alma did, and brings a blanket to her kid’s baseball games:
    "Are you serious? You're carrying around chocolates in your purse?" (Rider, 03:44)
  • Rider feels he's grown into his grandfather Harry Warner, especially in his love for people and memorized toasts. He reads heartfelt toasts from his grandfather’s book [05:54].
  • Will, unsure, reflects that he probably takes after his namesake grandpa who he never met, but enjoys embracing being “old.”
• Humor and warmth abound, setting a nostalgic, light-hearted tone as they joke about “becoming old” and the quirks they’ve inherited.

2. Pre-Show Banter: Candy, Fast Food & Health [09:37–18:12]

• Quirks about candy preferences: Danielle is obsessed with seasonal Lindt truffles and stockpiles limited editions. Will jokes about needing candy from Danielle like a secretive 90s transaction:
  "I feel like it's the 90s buying weed. I have to go to Danielle's house...I can’t just get my candy and go." (Will, 11:35)
• Playful banter about McDonald’s and fast food:
  • Discuss viral stories—like the McDonald’s burger not decaying after years—while joking about processed food longevity.
  • Will cheekily notes, "How have we not talked about the McDonald's CEO not being able to choke down his own product?" [12:48]
• Health kicks: Danielle talks about her current protein-heavy diet and struggles hitting her macros, with Will suggesting shakes:
  "Just make it stop. Make the hunger stop. I don't want to eat any more chicken." (Danielle, 16:32)

3. Episode Overview—First Impressions and Emotional Recoil [24:20–30:37]

• Episode context:
  • “Family Trees” aired December 17, 1999. The plot: Shawn receives a letter from his long-lost mom; Eric plans a surprise party for Alan. Directed by Fred Savage (his first BMW episode).
  • Hosts reflect on Fred Savage’s directing and his subsequent career.
• Rider’s discomfort:
  • Admits he “blocked out” the episode due to intense embarrassment and not remembering filming it at all.
  • "This is the hardest episode for me to watch...I was so embarrassed that she [my wife] would be watching...I had blocked this entire episode out from my head." (Rider, 25:27)
• Universal memory lapse:
  • All hosts agree they have little to no memory of performing this episode—a rarity.
• Nostalgia for story resonance: Feels like a leftover plot from “angsty” Sean seasons, with Rider noting:
  "I literally show up in the leather jacket again. Oh God, this is gonna be a Sean episode...I look like a child." (27:25)

4. Critique of the Episode’s Writing, Structure & Continuity [30:37–50:07]

• Pacing & tone problems:
  • The group notes how the episode seems out of place, with callbacks to older Sean storylines and a Christmas theme shoehorned into a birthday plot for Alan.
  • Will on the sudden seasonal setting:
    "It was a normal episode except for one scene where it was a Christmas episode...And then it wasn't again." (28:22)
• Character frustration and regression:
  • Both Danielle and Will feel that the writers infantilized Sean with the adoption storyline, especially since he's now an adult:
    "I'm 19, I'm 20...You don't adopt someone over 18." (Rider, 27:50)
• Critique of the adoption storyline:
  • Will: "He always had a dad. He never had a mom. So how is this not a Betsy storyline?...The whole episode is about, you're a great dad, even though you weren't here all the time. He had a dad." (48:54)
  • The hosts agree making Alan, not Amy, central to the emotional adoption narrative is odd and patriarchal.
• Ben Savage’s comedic energy:
  • The group notes Ben is especially silly in this episode, likely because his brother was directing, and share stories about his Martin Short impressions [33:01–34:07].

5. Favorite Moments & Gags [53:44–56:34]

• Eric’s absurd party planning (visual gags):
  • Eric (Will) uses a pointer and poster boards to float a plan involving poisoning Morgan to distract Alan—a scene all agree is “the best Eric storyline in a couple episodes.”
  • Danielle: "I think we had a hard time keeping it together" (53:44)
  • Rider: "Are you kidding me? This is just great." (53:51)

6. How Technology & Storytelling Have Changed [58:57–60:03]

• Old tech and slow results:
  • Hosts joke about the pre-internet era, when emails had to be printed and sent by mail, and how slow plot progress (“six to eight weeks for search results!”) feels almost absurd now.
  • Will: "My school didn't allow typed papers—we had to handwrite our papers in school." (59:51)

7. Meta-Commentary: The Show Becomes Its Own Writers’ Room [67:33–68:45]

• Show’s evolution into self-awareness:
  • The group notes how, especially by season 7, characters openly discuss their archetypes and tropes instead of fully inhabiting them, a shift visible in both Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World.
  • Rider: "It’s the show becoming the writers’ room...It’s like the characters talking like writers talking about themselves as characters." (67:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Rider on revisiting “Family Trees”:
  "This is the most insecure I've ever felt watching It's World, which is weird." [26:48]
• Will on the show’s storytelling potholes:
  "I watch these season seven episodes now, and I just kind of—I go, 'Oh, okay. Like, I don't—I don't know what's happening.'" [29:50]
• Danielle & Will on Alan’s age:
  "What do you get a 46-year-old, huh?" (Danielle, 44:19)
  "Is younger than Will—by like four years!" (Will, 44:06)
• Will skewering the forced ‘Christmas’ theme:
  "It's our Christmas episode and this year we're concentrating on Alan's birthday because he always gets screwed...It's such an easy fix." [40:11]
• Rider, meta on self-aware dialogue:
  "I realized it actually is the show becoming the writers’ room...It’s writers talking about their own characters." [67:33]
• Closing, Danielle on episode length:
  "We could not shut up this episode. I don't know what got into us, but I hope you like it." [68:45]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:00] – Grandparent confessions and generational quirks
• [09:37] – Candy obsession and processed food banter
• [24:20] – Episode summary and host first impressions
• [25:27] – Rider’s discomfort and blocked memories
• [28:22] – Discussion on odd pacing/Christmas scene
• [30:37] – Episode structure & character inconsistencies
• [33:01] – Ben Savage’s Martin Short impressions/more on Fred Savage as director
• [40:11] – Host reactions to holiday plot confusion
• [44:19] – Birthday/age continuity jokes
• [53:44] – Eric’s poison plot & visual gag appreciation
• [58:57] – Technology nostalgia and the mail gag
• [67:33] – Meta-commentary on the show’s self-awareness
• [68:45] – Episode wrap-up and closing thoughts

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Flow, Tone, and Style

The episode maintains the hosts’ characteristic mix of affection, sarcasm, and irreverent humor. They aren’t shy about critiquing the show’s structural oddities, especially as BMW neared its end. The conversation moves swiftly from personal anecdotes to sharp show critiques, with meta-commentary and industry humor threaded throughout. Banter about food, generational quirks, and production trivia balances nostalgia with self-deprecation, making the episode engaging both for longtime fans and curious newcomers.

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Summary

This Pod Meets World episode is a perfect blend of nostalgia and candor. It pulls no punches in highlighting the struggles (and sometimes cringe) of late-series BMW plotting, leavened with the hosts’ real-life warmth, inside jokes, and affectionate skewering of the show—and themselves. It’s packed with laughs, industry perspective, and a keen awareness of both the magic and the messiness of growing up onscreen together.

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For Part 2, listeners are promised even more deep-dive debate and behind-the-scenes stories.

Transcript

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Rider Strong]

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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]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Rider Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free at O D O o dot com. That's odoo dot com. Do either of you do anything currently that makes you realize you've not become your parents? Because we've all become our parents at this point, but make you realize you've become your grandparents? I. Oh, absolutely. I recently have become my Alma. My dad's mom did a lot of the very traditional grandma things. She had hard candies in her purse. I carry around Lindt chocolates. I just. Are you serious?

[Rider Strong]

You're carrying around chocolates in your purse?

[Danielle Fishel]

Carrying around chocolates in my purse. She's also a mom.

[Will Friedle]

She has Matchbox cards for soda.

[Rider Strong]

I don't have worse originals yet in my pocket.

[Danielle Fishel]

Not for them. Not for them. It's definitely for me, not for them. Lint chocolates in my purse at all times. You never know when you're going to need a little sweet treat, you know?

[Rider Strong]

Oh, absolutely. That's amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm also freezing all the time. Freezing. I went to Adler's baseball game the other day and brought a blanket for my lap. Sat at the baseball field with a blankie on my lap.

[Will Friedle]

Were you wearing half moon glasses while you were knitting? You're doing great, sweetie.

[Danielle Fishel]

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack.

[Rider Strong]

Nope.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's the next stage of this.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

I would like a heating pad. Just no matter what temperature it is outside, I have my heat seat heater on. I always call it a heat seater. I don't know why.

[Will Friedle]

Susan's the same way. It'll be 100 degrees and she's like, do you want your heat seater on?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like. What?

[Will Friedle]

No, you're insane.

[Danielle Fishel]

Always on. I'm just. I don't know what's happening. I'm very old. I'm very much my grandmother. What do you do, Ryder?

[Rider Strong]

I've just. I've embraced that. I am. I am Harry Warner, my grandfather. And I look like him now. And like, I look. I mean, he was bald, but other than that, I am. I have become my grandfather.

[Will Friedle]

I've got to be honest, Ryder. No, but I've got to be honest, Ryder. Because as when you were younger, you fit the Rider Strong moniker with the hair and all stuff. Harry Warner kind of fits you now.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, yeah. I look like a Harry Warner. Yeah, dude. He was a. He was like. I just loved. I mean, I loved him, but I never thought I would become him. But, yeah, I have just become like, he was the kind of guy. He was insanely friendly every. He was very. He was always talking a lot with everybody. Like, okay, so, like, if we traveled anywhere, he would become friends with everybody.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

He was the guy. He was very language obsessed. He was not. He hadn't. He couldn't. He wasn't a big reader. He hadn't read that many books in his life, but he loved poetry and he always loved toasts. I have his book of toasts that he used to have.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, I remember we talked about this. Yes. Here it is about this. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

It's a book of. Look at this little book.

[Will Friedle]

And.

[Rider Strong]

And it's just toasts. And they're just like, things that he, like.

[Will Friedle]

Toast us.

[Rider Strong]

Toast to our home, the place where you are treated best and grumble most.

[Danielle Fishel]

I like that.

[Rider Strong]

Here's to friends both near and far. Here's to woman, man's guiding star. Here's to friends we've yet to meet. Here's to those here all here I greet. Here's to childhood, youth, old age. Here's to profit, bard and sage. Here's a health to everyone Peace on earth and heaven won.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Rider Strong]

So, like, he had marked that like that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, here's another.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

So he just would, like, memorize these toes. So he would always be the guy who would, like, have something to say to, like, bring the gathering together or host to people. And I'm like, yeah, that's.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's just who I am now.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. So, yeah, I become my grandfather.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love that. Okay. I'm Alma. You're Harry. Who are you, Will. Who have you become?

[Will Friedle]

I don't know.

[Rider Strong]

I only knew one grandfather growing up,

[Will Friedle]

and I'm definitely not like him. He was a very nice guy, but he was a really intense banker. Oh. And so obviously not like me. No. But I. Apparently, I think I'm like the grandfather I'm actually named after. But unfortunately, he passed well before. I don't. My dad never even met him, so I think I was like. Yeah, he. My mom was in high school when she lost her dad, so I think I'd be like him. He'd be like. I don't even know what we would have called him. Grandpa Will or William.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Will Friedle]

But I never really met him. I'm just, I've always been old. I love being old. The older I get, the more I'm embracing it. Because unlike older generations, when I say my generation was better and the younger generation is wrong, I'm right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. Right.

[Will Friedle]

You know, like our older generations weren't right when we were there, but now that we're the older generation, we're correct. So that's easy. I did want to tell you one thing, Danielle, because I unfortunately scared the crap out of Susan.

[Rider Strong]

You.

[Will Friedle]

You've got to be very careful with heating pads.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. I did see that, that viral thing of that where it hurt like her

[Will Friedle]

back turned black and all that stuff like that. So you gotta be careful. You can't just be in your heating pad all day. Yeah, that's not a good thing. But yes, no, clearly with the car seat too, somebody finally realized there, there should be a different setting there. So now I also have air. We have one car. We also have air conditioned seats.

[Danielle Fishel]

So do we. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So while Susan is, is in her hot seat, I get the air blowing on my back fat, which is just awesome. That and it cools everything down.

[Rider Strong]

It's like a. There's like actual holes in your vents.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, there's little vents and you get. It's like it blows.

[Danielle Fishel]

The leather is perforated.

[Rider Strong]

Perfor, I was going to say.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then there's, there's ventilation. I wouldn't say it feels very cool. It's not like cool air, but it is air.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, it's.

[Will Friedle]

But it's something. Yeah, it's not.

[Danielle Fishel]

So when we have the Woodland Hills 117, which is probably just right around

[Rider Strong]

the corner this week we have, we're in a, we're in a heat wave this week.

[Will Friedle]

Week.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really?

[Rider Strong]

Yes. It's going to be like in the 90s.

[Will Friedle]

Not me. I'm going to be, I'm going to be back east where it's going to be real cold. Oh, so that'll be, that'll be nice. My, my. Even though it's been 60 this week, enough snow has melted. But my dad said there's still an eight foot pile of snow in front of our house.

[Rider Strong]

And now we are talking about the weather now we. That's how, you know, thing to do.

[Will Friedle]

Exact.

[Rider Strong]

Exactly.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's how, you know, used to be hot like this.

[Rider Strong]

It wasn't hot all the time.

[Danielle Fishel]

If it's global warming, why is it so cold?

[Will Friedle]

That's true.

[Rider Strong]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

Welcome to Pod meets world. I'm Danielle Fishel.

[Rider Strong]

I'm Harry Warner,

[Will Friedle]

and I forget who I am. I'm Will Friedle. But now all I want is a Werther's original.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, Just gotta get you. So Lindt makes the truffles. They're so good. And so at Christmas, I bought the peppermint cookie.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yet.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

How dare you? It's got. I know.

[Will Friedle]

Peppermints for toothpaste. Peppermints for toothpaste.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was so good.

[Rider Strong]

It's got toothpaste.

[Danielle Fishel]

My God, it's delicious. It had little cookie pieces in it. And the chocolate. So good. Okay, no, unfortunately, when they said limited edition on those suckers, they meant it. It was like the day after Christmas. Out, gone. Replaced with Easter candies. Yeah, well, actually, before Easter, before we got to Easter, we got Jesus. There was Valentine's Day, which none of it was. None of the flavors were things I was into. It was like raspberry sorbet. No, thanks. Keep your fruit. I'm here for the chocolate, so. But now the Easter lips.

[Rider Strong]

You guys have bold, like. Like, really, like, no peppermint, no fruit. Very bold stances on your candy.

[Will Friedle]

Peppermint is for toothpaste.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, that's what peppermint is for.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Everyone's like, do you want a York peppermint Patty? I'm like, no, I'd like a candy.

[Danielle Fishel]

I get the York peppermint Patty. Feels a little toothpaste. Th Mints. Delicious.

[Will Friedle]

Thin mints are amazing. I will give you thin mints.

[Rider Strong]

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Will Friedle]

It's very subtle mint. Very, very subtle mint. And they have to be frozen.

[Danielle Fishel]

What is peppermint cookie lint? The peppermint cookie lint was very subtle mint, but the cookie pieces really made it because it gave it a texture. But the current ones I'm obsessed with are for Easter. They're carrot cake. It doesn't sound like it'd be great.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, that sounds.

[Danielle Fishel]

They are.

[Will Friedle]

So are you buying them in bulk? Because you know they're going to be gone the day after.

[Chelsea Handler]

Correct.

[Danielle Fishel]

They say limited edition. I also did order 500. I found a 500 pack of peppermint cookie.

[Will Friedle]

500.

[Danielle Fishel]

So I bought.

[Rider Strong]

She's like. She's like the California distributor. She's like the LA hub.

[Danielle Fishel]

She is.

[Will Friedle]

Anybody wants to sell it by the limited edition. God, I feel like it's the 90s buying weed. I have to go to Danielle's house going like, I'm gonna have to sit there for a half hour while she weighs it out. We have to talk about some stupid. I can't just get my candy and go. Oh, my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Will Friedle]

Always the way.

[Rider Strong]

It's wills. Do you remember your drug dealer character that you used to do?

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my God, it was so funny.

[Rider Strong]

What you. What do you need, man? What you need? I got you. I got you. What do you need? You used to do this for like. What do you need? What do you need? I got what you need. Oh, my God. That's Danielle. That's Danielle. What do you need? I got some peppermint.

[Will Friedle]

Seriously?

[Rider Strong]

You want the carrot cake? I got the carrot cake.

[Danielle Fishel]

I do the same thing with those white chocolate covered Oreos because they are also only limited edition. So I buy 20 packages of those when they come out in October. It lasts me through the year. And I've got the 500 pack of peppermint cookie. It'll last me throughout the year.

[Will Friedle]

Wait a second. How can. How can they still be a year later? I guess because they're so processed. How can they still be edible?

[Rider Strong]

Actual food in there, it's basically plastic also.

[Danielle Fishel]

You think I look at expensive expiration dates? Those. That's a scam.

[Rider Strong]

Those just microplastics with flavors on top of it.

[Will Friedle]

Danielle, how have we not Talked about the McDonald's CEO not being able to choke down his own product? Because he doesn't even say hamburger.

[Danielle Fishel]

Especially because that Archburger was good. I don't know why he was having such a hard time with it. It was delicious.

[Rider Strong]

Guys. McDonald's is horrible.

[Will Friedle]

I don't eat it anymore. I don't eat it anymore. I switched to Burger King.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay? Enjoy your life. Horrible.

[Rider Strong]

Anything fast food processed, like the amount of like.

[Will Friedle]

But it's better than burger. The McDonald's. The woman now who has had the McDonald's hamburger and the fries in her closet for 25 years uncovered, and they look exactly the same. Scared the hell out of me.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think that's. There's no way that's true.

[Will Friedle]

It is true.

[Danielle Fishel]

They've done.

[Will Friedle]

They've.

[Rider Strong]

They've done it. So multiple people have done a version of this.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm gonna do it.

[Rider Strong]

But it's not necessarily what you like. It's not. That's not really the problem that you think it is. Like if you're in a climate controlled food situation.

[Will Friedle]

No, they're saying because they've done experiments too, where they take McDonald's food and they lay it outside and bugs avoid it.

[Rider Strong]

Literally.

[Will Friedle]

The bugs, the ants and everything go around.

[Rider Strong]

Bacteria grows away from it. They do.

[Will Friedle]

They literally see videos where the ants

[Rider Strong]

are like, I'm not eating that Are you crazy? Are you kidding me? I know I'm going to die, but I would rather.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know how to spot poison when I see it. As they walk right into an ant trap.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. Exactly. Orin is just.

[Rider Strong]

Just.

[Will Friedle]

Orkin is just laying out McDonald's hamburgers outside. That's their new thing.

[Rider Strong]

So, yeah, you want to get rid of your termites, coat your coat your house in French fry oil. That's all it takes, actually, now.

[Will Friedle]

But seriously, it was good. The Arch Burger was good.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was actually really good. Yeah. Their new Arch sauce is. It's.

[Rider Strong]

We are killing our chances of sponsors. Guys, let's just.

[Will Friedle]

Just.

[Rider Strong]

Just throwing it away.

[Will Friedle]

I love the McDonald's product. Watch as I take a bite of it. Amazing.

[Danielle Fishel]

My favorite part was that the bite was just this big. And then it was like, look at that giant bite. It's like, by the way, you could have done it. You did a cut anyway. Why not actually then have a giant bite taken out of it?

[Rider Strong]

Also, there are things called spit buckets for actors for exactly this purpose. You take a big bite, you spit it out.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's my favorite product.

[Will Friedle]

I love whoever came up with that idea, how somebody on the other side of the camera was it like, you know, whatever his name is. Bob, we're gonna need you to actually take a bite of the product. Cause you can't say burger legally, so.

[Danielle Fishel]

All right, I'm gonna go finish the rest of this for my lunch.

[Rider Strong]

I'm having this off camera for lunch. I don't believe you.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't believe you. Do you know how many people that video had to pass through?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, my God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. And then everyone was like, this is great.

[Will Friedle]

You've done it. You signed off. Congratulations.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know what's amazing? We have a CEO with personality.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

Hire somebody. It's like Fabio as your CEO. Somebody. Someone who just wants to take a bite of you. And I would have powered that thing down, and then we would have heard the guy off camera go like, we weren't rolling yet. Be like, that's right. Bring in another one.

[Danielle Fishel]

Bring in another one.

[Rider Strong]

I told you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jensen and I. The day it came out, I was like, well, I got to try it. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. It's a new product, and we shared it. And I was like, this is good.

[Will Friedle]

So you shared it? Yeah. You shared a burger at McDonald's. You shared it. Is that what.

[Danielle Fishel]

I heard it.

[Will Friedle]

I know my headphones aren't working. You shared it?

[Danielle Fishel]

Remember I told you I'm on, like, this new health kick where I only eat half a poisonous burger. And so. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Are you starting to hallucinate from all the cottage cheese yet? I'm curious. Are you seeing, like, weird cheese curds everywhere you look?

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm at the place now. I still like the cottage cheese. I am at a place now where I'm just annoyed when I'm hungry.

[Will Friedle]

I'm like, how are we going to know the difference?

[Danielle Fishel]

Just make it stop. Make it stop. Make the hunger stop. I don't want to eat. I don't want to eat any more chicken. How do I push, please? I don't. I don't want to chew it. I want it just like chicken and broccoli.

[Rider Strong]

That's like your lunch.

[Danielle Fishel]

And cottage.

[Will Friedle]

And that's it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Eggs and egg whites and avocados.

[Will Friedle]

So you're all protein. You're all about the protein then.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm all about protein and vegetables. Very few carbs.

[Will Friedle]

You're getting what, at least 100 grams of protein a day?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, I, I can't. I can't choke it down. I'm getting at least 60. So my cottage cheese has like 23 grams of protein in it. I'll make a bunch of egg whites and one egg yolk in the morning and I'll. I'll have like, you know, 12 grams of protein.

[Will Friedle]

It has less than you think. Eggs has less than you think. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So it's like between my breakfast of eggs, egg whites and cottage cheese, I'm. And then half an avocado, I have, you know, 35 grams of protein. And then at lunch I'll eat two chicken skewers and like a Greek yogurt and I have another 30 some odd grams there. And then, honestly, if I get hungry at dinner, I just try to, like, I don't know, take a unisom and go to sleep and hope it passes.

[Will Friedle]

I can make a suggestion that would help. So at like 4 o', clock, have a protein shake. I know, two scoops of protein, some fruit in there. Have a protein shake. It jacks up your protein.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

And it's not that hard to choke down.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. That, that. And I can do something like a smoothie. I can do something where I have to drink something, but if I have

[Will Friedle]

to chew anything else, Go get some dates. Go get some fresh dates and rip one open and throw it in your smoothie. It sweetens everything up. You get that with your protein and you're jacking up your protein content.

[Danielle Fishel]

All right. Thanks. Will I like this? Wow. We did like two pre show chatters. Oh my God.

[Rider Strong]

My God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Two pre show chatters separated by our intros. This is Craz.

[Rider Strong]

Hi, this is Rider Strong and Will

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Rider Strong]

When I think of important phone calls, I think about one from 30 years ago that changed my life forever. I remember getting word that I was cast on a new Friday night sitcom called Boy Meets World. And a phone call from the agent and the rest is history.

[Will Friedle]

Well, did you know that 2026 will mark the 150th anniversary of the first ever phone call? It took place on March 10, 1876.

[Rider Strong]

And from the call that sparked it all, from the first long distance phone

[Will Friedle]

lines to the first lines across America and the first lines across the Atlantic,

[Rider Strong]

to the first round the world call, the first commercial cell service and the

[Will Friedle]

first 911 system, AT&T has been connecting people for 150 years in so many different ways.

[Rider Strong]

Can you imagine all the important phone calls that have taken place over 150 years?

[Will Friedle]

How many lives were saved?

[Rider Strong]

How many people asked if your refrigerator is running?

[Will Friedle]

You hang up first.

[Rider Strong]

No, you hang up first.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, let's just hang up at the same time.

[Rider Strong]

It's been 150 years of connecting an absolutely mind blowing stat.

[Will Friedle]

And one of the reasons it's come this far is AT&T. Thanks. AT&T and happy birthday phone calls.

[Danielle Fishel]

Connecting changes everything.

[Rider Strong]

AT&T.

[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. When I think about brain health, I think about staying sharp, remembering why I walked into a room finishing a sentence without buffering mid thought. And nowadays that can feel unpossible.

[Danielle Fishel]

Listen, we juggle a lot. Work, family, stress, and the least my brain can do is stay on my team.

[Rider Strong]

For me, it's clarity under pressure. I want focus. I want steady energy. I don't want that 3pm feeling of slowly fading away.

[Danielle Fishel]

And here's the thing. Your brain doesn't operate in isolation. It reflects what's happening across your whole body.

[Rider Strong]

Inflammation, blood sugar regulation, nutrient levels, sleep quality, vascular health. All of it plays a role in how you think and feel.

[Will Friedle]

So if you're not measuring those systems, you're guessing. That's why I love function. You get access to 160 plus lab tests each year through function. So after your blood draw and lab visit, you can see your results on the Function platform.

[Danielle Fishel]

It gives you a more comprehensive view of what's happening beneath the surface across heart health, inflammation, stress, hormones, toxins and more. Not guesses data.

[Rider Strong]

And it's for all adults 18 and up, all genders. Wherever you are in your health journey, whether you're optimizing, resetting or just curious, I've used it.

[Will Friedle]

Seeing my own results change how I think about sleep and stress. It's testing, not guessing. And honestly, I think you should use it too.

[Danielle Fishel]

Start by understanding what's happening beneath the surface. Own your health for $365 a year. That's a dollar a day.

[Rider Strong]

Learn more and join function using our link. Visit www.functionhealth.com meetsworld or use the gift code meetsworld25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let's talk about modern home shopping.

[Will Friedle]

It's sort of becoming like a fun side hobby, right?

[Rider Strong]

Scrolling listings at night, dreaming about kitchens you haven't seen or backyards you haven't stepped foot in. All from the comfort of, well, literally anywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own but are stuck in this browsing mode loop.

[Will Friedle]

That's where Redfin flips the script with

[Rider Strong]

listings that update within minutes and tours you can book right from the Redfin app. You can see your dream home the moment it appears.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it? That's where Redfin comes in.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin has over 2,200 agents with local

[Rider Strong]

expertise, and Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents.

[Danielle Fishel]

That means they help you win, not just window shop.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home.

[Rider Strong]

So become the newest neighbor on the block.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit redfin.com to start finding and start owning.

[Will Friedle]

That's redfin.com cat parents gather round.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ryder and I have some important advice to share.

[Rider Strong]

Guys, we have to stick together. Guys. Those of us with fur babies know the struggle we understand the feeling of being ignored by our cats, but that's

[Danielle Fishel]

why we're here to help. Because sometimes I find myself wondering, does my cat even love me?

[Rider Strong]

And there's only one solution to solve that. Sheba.

[Danielle Fishel]

You could be adored by everyone and still completely ignored by your cat.

[Rider Strong]

It's time to feed your cat, Sheba and go from feeling ignored to truly adored in 12 days, guaranteed or your money back.

[Danielle Fishel]

The promised land is here. Turn things around for your feline with Sheba's menu of products, appetizers, entrees, treats, and even a kitten's menu.

[Rider Strong]

Even the pickiest eater will love their new grilled entrees.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just snap, peel and serve for two gourmet servings and zero messy leftovers.

[Rider Strong]

Its protein rich formula is made with real chicken and seafood, 100% complete and balanced with essential vitamins and nutrients for adult cats.

[Danielle Fishel]

Which my bill is. But we don't call him old, we call him experienced.

[Rider Strong]

It's made in the USA with the finest ingredients from around the world.

[Danielle Fishel]

No artificial flavors or preservatives. No corn, wheat or soy.

[Rider Strong]

So even when they're licking the bowl clean, you can know you're doing the right thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Treat your cats right and introduce them to the delicious delicacies of Sheba.

[Rider Strong]

To learn more, check out sheba.com

[Danielle Fishel]

foreign. Welcome to Pod Meets World. Today we are recapping season 7, episode 12, Family Trees. It originally aired December 17, 1999. The synopsis Sean is rattled by a letter from his long lost mom, while Eric is tasked with throwing a surprise party for his dad. It was directed by Fred Savage, his first of two Boy Meets World episodes that he would direct. The child star was not only Ben's older brother and the star of the hit show the Wonder Years, he appeared on the show as a creepy college professor hitting on Topanga. Our show was the first to offer him a directing gig, something he turned into a career for 20 years. He would leave the industry in 2021amongst allegations and controversies, and is now focusing on a career involving his love of watches. It was written by Mr. Matthew Nelson. May he rest in peace. Maddie, before I jump into our guest stars, do we want to share our overall thoughts?

[Rider Strong]

I yeah, I this was. This is so weird, guys. This is the hardest episode for me to watch.

[Danielle Fishel]

Really.

[Rider Strong]

I do know why. I can see why I hated this so much.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

And I know that it has nothing to do with whether it's a good or bad episode. For whatever reason I was watching this like Indy went to bed. I put it on, because I was like, oh, it's, you know, time for me to watch the show. And Alex, like, was walking in and out, like, after, like, helping Indy go to bed and then coming in. And I was so embarrassed that she would be watching this episode, which is such a weird feeling. I don't know. Like, I was like. And I'm like, am I really bad? And I'm like, I don't know if I'm really that bad. Like, it's not great, but it's. But it's not even about that. For some reason, I had blocked this entire episode out from my head.

[Will Friedle]

Me too.

[Danielle Fishel]

Me too.

[Rider Strong]

Did not remember it. I. I've gotten. Did we have the discussion where I remembered being at Chet's grave with him? And I feel like somebody was like, no, that never happened. And I was like, no, I think I was at the grave. So I thought I had completely made up a scene. And then here it was. But yeah, for whatever reason, I have blocked this entire episode. We all forgot that Sean got drunk a second time. Remember we were like, at a live show and somebody was like, no, Sean has two alcohol episodes. And we were like, what? Sort of. For whatever reason, I have blocked this entire episode from my brain. And I hated watching it. It made me feel so bad.

[Will Friedle]

It sucks.

[Rider Strong]

And I don't know what that's all about, but, like, this is the most insecure I've ever felt watching it's world, which is weird.

[Danielle Fishel]

It is not performance related because. Because your performance is great.

[Rider Strong]

I think it's fine.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's great for what it is. The fact that they, you know, have brought you back to a multiple seasons ago storyline. It feels insulting.

[Will Friedle]

It's like, especially in the midst of whatever season seven is now.

[Rider Strong]

Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

It's like they took season four or five, Sean. They took angsty Sean. And at first I was like, angsty. Angsty Sean's back. Hey.

[Rider Strong]

I literally show up in the leather jacket again. Yes. And the second I walked in, I was like, oh, God. Oh, no. This is gonna be a Sean episode. And Sean's got his leather jacket back. And I was terrified immediately. And I look like a child. I look. I'm infantilized by that jacket.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Because it's like, oh, suddenly I look like I'm 15 again when I. And then they're talking about adopting me when I'm. I'm 19. I'm 20.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Rider Strong]

How old am I? What are you talking about? You don't adopt an. Oh, someone over 18. And I was like, I've literally been infantilized by this story. Like, oh, this one hurt.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I, I don't. I, I'm coming to the point now where I just don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I just don't know the 22 minutes that happens in front of me anymore. I don't know. I don't. And all the characters are weird. I was funny, I guess.

[Rider Strong]

I thought you were hysterical. I thought Ben and Danielle were great. I actually, like, liked all those things. It was just every time I was on camera, I just wanted to hide my face.

[Will Friedle]

It was a strange. It was a strange episode. And then there's things I'm sure we're gonna get into where it was just a normal episode except for one scene where then it was a Christmas episode. What was that? We weren't in Christmas anywhere. And then it was Christmas, literally for one scene. And then it wasn't Christmas again.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

It was actually Alan's birthday.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

So we give gifts for that.

[Will Friedle]

There's no tree in the house. Nobody mentions Christmas.

[Rider Strong]

And then there are.

[Will Friedle]

You're on a street being followed by Santa with Christmas lights all over the place. And then you come back and nobody mentions Christmas.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was like, what the hell?

[Will Friedle]

It's like they've given up. It's very, very straight. Oh, I wanted to say this. I didn't know if this was good pre show chatter. I don't think it is because it's just very quick. But I was. I met with a bunch of the writers this weekend. We went and saw David Kendall and I got a very interesting story. We were talking about the episode we all liked about planning for the wedding.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, yes.

[Will Friedle]

And Brownfield told me that originally the original concept was you're talking, you know, it seems like you're talking to somebody and then originally you pan out and you were going to be talking to some big celebrity that we, that they were going to.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh.

[Will Friedle]

And no one agreed to do it. And so it came right before we were going to shoot and they changed it to where Fine, you're just talking to the family. But they said for weeks, apparently they tried to get some name person to sit there like a wedding planner or something. You were going to be talking to who was like a big star and Nobody. They couldn't get anybody.

[Rider Strong]

I wonder who they would have gone after.

[Will Friedle]

Like, I think they went after a bunch of people.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, someone from the.

[Will Friedle]

It was someone from them. It was a Partridge Family member. Yeah, but that was an interesting story. I heard. But this. I. I watch these season seven episodes now. And I just kind of. I go, oh, okay. Like, I don't. I don't know what's happening. And. Yeah. Sean was from season four.

[Rider Strong]

We were.

[Will Friedle]

We were Christmas for one scene. It's just. Was very. It was odd all the way around. I didn't dislike it. And Ryder, I know what you're. I know what you're saying. It seemed out of place. You were not bad. You were just season five Shawn or whatever. You weren't bad at it. The performance wasn't like, ugh, Ryder's terrible. It was just, oh, now it looks even more out place because we're all completely different characters and you're going back to an older version of.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. And that's what I. That's what I felt coming through was through your performance. I could feel you being dejected.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so it's. It's like. And it didn't feel like Sean being dejected. It felt like the person. Yes. It felt like Ryder is. Is doing his best. But also.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. I. The.

[Will Friedle]

The.

[Rider Strong]

Where I felt it the most is actually in the positive moments. In the early parts of the episode, I could hear myself pushing. Hey, Corey. I was like, pushing as an actor to be like, I have to say these funny, jokey lines. And I. I could tell. I hated all of it. I was like, right, right.

[Will Friedle]

At least I wasn't pushing the comedy.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, definitely not.

[Will Friedle]

Yikes.

[Rider Strong]

It's funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also, Ben doing his. The voice.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, he broke multiple times in this episode. He was cracking himself up.

[Danielle Fishel]

Cracking himself up.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, and that's so funny. So his brother was directing. I didn't put that together, but he felt comfortable in a way and, like, was doing things that he probably would do during rehearsal and then wouldn't make it to the show. Made it into the show this week.

[Will Friedle]

This was.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. This was the most Ben I've ever felt watching an episode where I was like, this is his sense of humor coming through.

[Danielle Fishel]

And yes, it makes sense too, in the sense that when your famous brother, who's now directing your show, you want. You're gonna watch me do my thing, you're gonna feel a little bit more confident and comfortable and maybe put on more of a show than you would normally.

[Will Friedle]

You're on my set, you're working on my set.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is my show.

[Will Friedle]

It's also. Ben is a completely different character and actor when he doesn't have to carry the load for the episode.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

So it's like it was your episode writer, and he gets to just kind of. I'm Gonna relax and just be funny and just go from there.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, yeah. When he says to Amy, oh, my God.

[Rider Strong]

I don't think anyone asks. Oh, my God. And the audience almost turns on him

[Danielle Fishel]

because it's like, even making it that comical with a voice is like, you're saying that to your mother.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

In any circumstances, no matter how funny you try to make it, there's a little bit of like a. Should we be celebrating this kid?

[Rider Strong]

I mean, I thought it was so funny. I mean, I'm sitting there going like, that's Ben. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

You having a second bagel? Huh? Interesting. I don't recall ever really asking.

[Rider Strong]

Do you remember his impression of Martin Short? Oh, can I.

[Will Friedle]

One of these? It was like, this guy.

[Rider Strong]

No. Well, he would do. He would do a lot of Martin Short.

[Danielle Fishel]

Did he?

[Rider Strong]

He worked with Martin Short. I think he was in Ben was in a movie with Martin Short.

[Will Friedle]

Was he really? Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

And I think he. He actually. His impression of Martin Short to Martin, but he would do Martin Short. Multiple Jiminy Glick. But then he would also do from the big picture where he's the agent. Martin Shorts is the agent. And he's like, I look, he's fine with me. I will give you three things. A mother, I will be a mother. A father, and if anyone tries to screw with you, I will grab them by the balls and squeeze. Yeah. And we just. And squeeze, please, until they're dead. Oh, my God. And then he would also. Yeah. Some of. There was another Martin Short bit where they'd be like, are you a manly man? It was like. If you mean back in the Roman days when men were carrying stones and they would build, and he, like, goes on this whole model, like, I'm sorry, what was the question? Do you remember this? That was his. I, I, I, I, I. We have to look these up. I have to find these Martin Short bits.

[Will Friedle]

But yes.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Ben was having fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

So much fun, man. Okay, guest starring. Buckle up because Blake Clark is back as Chet Hunter, the Sandler verse regular started in Stand up, but quickly became a character favorite with a signature voice. This is his second to last Boy Meets World episode and it is always great to see him.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And another biggie. Jeff Montl as Santa.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

Our beloved writer and producer on the show since day one in the red suit. And we might have to ask him about this and report back.

[Will Friedle]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Let's talk about modern home shopping.

[Will Friedle]

It's sort of becoming like a fun side hobby, right?

[Rider Strong]

Scrolling listings at night, dreaming about kitchens you haven't seen or backyards you haven't stepped foot in. All from the comfort of, well, literally anywhere.

[Danielle Fishel]

Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own but are stuck in this browsing mode loop.

[Will Friedle]

That's where Redfin flips the script.

[Rider Strong]

With listings that update within minutes and tours you can book right from the Redfin app, you can see your dream home the moment it appears.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it? That's where Redfin comes in.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin has over 2,200 agents with local

[Rider Strong]

expertise, and Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents.

[Danielle Fishel]

That means they help you win, not just window shop.

[Will Friedle]

Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home.

[Rider Strong]

So become the newest neighbor on the block.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit redfin.com to start finding and start owning.

[Will Friedle]

That's redfin.com Cat parents, gather round.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ryder and I have some important advice to share.

[Rider Strong]

Guys, we have to stick together, guys. Those of us with fur babies know the struggle. We understand the feeling of being ignored by our cats.

[Danielle Fishel]

But that's why we're here to help. Because sometimes I find myself wondering, does my cat even love me?

[Rider Strong]

And there's only one solution to solve that. Shiba.

[Danielle Fishel]

You could be adored by everyone and still completely ignored by your cat.

[Rider Strong]

It's time to feed your cat, Sheba and go from feeling ignored to truly adored in 12 days, guaranteed or your money back.

[Danielle Fishel]

The promised land is here. Turn things around for your feline with Sheba's menu of products, appetizers, entrees, treats, and even a kitten's menu.

[Rider Strong]

Even the pickiest eater will love their new grilled entrees.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just snap, peel and serve for two. Gourmet servings and zero messy leftovers.

[Rider Strong]

Its protein rich formula is made with real chicken and seafood, 100% complete and balanced with essential vitamins and nutrients for adult cats.

[Danielle Fishel]

Which my bill is. But we don't call him old, we call him experienced.

[Rider Strong]

It's made in the USA with the finest ingredients from around the world.

[Danielle Fishel]

No artificial flavors or preservatives. No corn, wheat or soy.

[Rider Strong]

So even when they're licking the bowl clean, you can know you're doing the right thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Treat your cats right and introduce them to the delicious delicacies of Sheba.

[Rider Strong]

To learn more, check out shiba.com youm

[Will Friedle]

know those little moments at home that just work?

[Rider Strong]

You mean like having a hook that's actually right where you need it?

[Will Friedle]

A vanity where everything finally has a place?

[Rider Strong]

Or a faucet that fills your pot right on the stove?

[Will Friedle]

That's what Signature Hardware is all about. Style and function in every detail from

[Rider Strong]

the kitchen to the bathroom. They help you finish your space beautifully.

[Will Friedle]

Check them [e-mail] or visit your local Ferguson showroom.

[Rider Strong]

Signature Hardware Create your signature style.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know, when we were kids, adulthood looked easy. Like you just show up to work and be fully formed. Organized with a filing cabinet and a briefcase.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I definitely thought by now I'd understand taxes and own a label maker. Instead, I'm still googling things like do cats have a soul? And what is liability?

[Rider Strong]

Then imagine you start your own small business. Whole new level. There's so much no one prepares you for. Honestly, I wish I'd had someone back then who could just simplify insurance. Just make it easy.

[Danielle Fishel]

And that's what the Hartford does. They were one of the very first insurance companies to build a dedicated small business unit over 40 years ago. And today they insure more than 1 million small businesses across America.

[Will Friedle]

And they understand that no two businesses are alike. Whether you're running a retail shop, a hair salon, or working in financial services or tech, the Hartford makes it simple to get a customized quote.

[Rider Strong]

You can call them direct or go online and get a quote in just a few minutes. And protecting your business means protecting the thing you've poured your heart into. From accidents, natural disasters, professional errors, even workers comp claims.

[Danielle Fishel]

So if you're building something you love and you want to better protect it, the Hartford is the team you want behind you. Get a quote Today@the Hartford.com Small Business. Jumping into our recap. We are in the Matthews living room sitting on the couch. Topanga is frustrated that someone takes their birthday way too seriously. Corey agrees by complaining about the birthday freak. We've never mentioned this before.

[Will Friedle]

No, never happens.

[Danielle Fishel]

His birthday. Seriously.

[Will Friedle]

Apparently right near Christmas.

[Danielle Fishel]

No. Yeah. This family. We have definitely talked about this family. Does not. Is not good about birthdays. They just. Oh, Happy birthday. Okay, great. That's enough.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm sorry, but that's the first thing that came to my head was we all know anybody who has a birthday right near a major holiday gets screwed a bit. So how is the story not. It's our Christmas episode and this year we're concentrating on Alan's birthday because he always gets screwed, but he always sniffs it out. It's such an. Throw a tree up behind him. It's such an easy fix.

[Danielle Fishel]

Totally.

[Will Friedle]

That it's like, what is going on?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. And for him to even make a big deal about it. Nope, we're not doing it this year. Last year nobody even remembered my birthday and now.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah, it's really, really easy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Morgan, who, in case you forgot, is Corey's little sister.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, Morgan.

[Will Friedle]

That's. Her name is Morgan.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, chimes in. I can't take this pressure. Every year I'm going to be in therapy for this, aren't I? Amy calms her nerves by revealing they'll get a group rate. On cue, Eric barrels down the stairs,

[Will Friedle]

not wearing one of many, many, many huge shirts. I am now officially in the. It's. I don't know.

[Rider Strong]

What, What?

[Will Friedle]

Is it a shirt? Is it a skort? That's a shirt. Skirt, whatever.

[Danielle Fishel]

A mini dress.

[Will Friedle]

That's what I'm wearing at this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

It's bad.

[Rider Strong]

A moo moo.

[Danielle Fishel]

For the record, for anyone who thinks that when you are feeling or looking a little bigger, wearing bigger clothes, sue said not make you look smaller, you look bigger.

[Will Friedle]

Sue said the same thing. She's like, they just got a tent maker on set. Who just made me something and threw it out. Yeah, sue said the same thing. Like, why are you in huge clothes if you. If you feel big?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, yeah. Not gonna happen. This year you have chosen Eric Matthews as the Ellen Matthews birthday party planner. Bravo to you. Does this ring true for Alan in any way?

[Rider Strong]

No, no, no. He is a selfless provider. Like, there's nothing about Alan that has been established that makes this fit at all.

[Danielle Fishel]

Nothing about him that seems materialistic. Like, yeah, I. It doesn't make any sense.

[Will Friedle]

This is also when I realized, and I think we've all now established this, zero memory of this. And I mean literally zero memory of this episode. Normally, I remember something.

[Danielle Fishel]

Do you guys even remember Fred directing? Because I don't, I don't. I don't remember the. I don't remember the week of being

[Will Friedle]

like, oh, Fred's here two, apparently, two weeks.

[Rider Strong]

I don't remember. No, I remember. Yeah, I remember it. I remember seeing him with the, the. The pedestal or whatever, the rolling, the director's thing. And I remember like thinking it was cool. I remember thinking, like, that's cool. Like, I would probably want to do that one day.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

It seemed like a natural progression. Like, oh, as an actor, when I get older, I could probably maybe direct one day. Like, that was the first time that that really occurred to me.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, this is. Yeah, this is one of those episodes. And there's only a handful of the entire seven series, seven seasons, where I literally have no memory.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

No memory of this at all.

[Danielle Fishel]

So crazy. Eric announces his strategy. Here's the key as I see it. Dad was a Navy man, which means he'll use any means, even torture, to find out about this party. Corey reminds him, Alan was a cook in the Coast Guard.

[Will Friedle]

He was in the Navy. We established he was in the Navy. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Grabbing Corey and shaking him. Daddy was a Navy Seal. Don't you ever. Corey screams for help and no one moves an inch. Luckily, Alan walks in through the door.

[Rider Strong]

Hi.

[Danielle Fishel]

Everyone stops what they're doing. Eric can't help himself. Tell him nothing. With that, he darts up the stairs and Alan pretends to block his way up before playfully returning to the rest of his family.

[Rider Strong]

Which is totally rusty. Just messing. Yeah, I can tell. I was like, that's rusty. Improvising the lip block and just us

[Will Friedle]

and us screwing around.

[Danielle Fishel]

Three more days. I'm gonna be so happy in three more days. Anybody know why?

[Rider Strong]

Morgan.

[Danielle Fishel]

She snaps, Christmas, I'm not playing. And walks out. Alan Tonser. What a baby. Then he sings to Amy, 46, the big four six.

[Will Friedle]

Don't get started.

[Rider Strong]

Is younger than Will by.

[Will Friedle]

By like four years.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, my God. Alan and I, like writers, even have been in high school together.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh my gosh.

[Will Friedle]

God made me feel.

[Danielle Fishel]

What do you get a 46 year old, huh? Amy knows where this is going. Alan, leave us the hell alone. She picks up her belongings and heads to the kitchen. Then Sean and Angela walk in with big smiles. Angela encourages Sean to tell them, but he assures her there's nothing to tell. But everyone's interest is piqued. Corey wonders, tell us what? Sean hesitantly reveals, I got a letter from my mom, Verna, in case you forgot. He pulls a letter out of his pocket and Corey asks, have you opened it. Sean says no, and Corey aggressively insists, insists he tear it up. Sean is surprised he hasn't heard from his mom in three years. But Corey's insistent he knows what's best. Tear it up. Alan senses the tension and gives Sean some finger guns. Hey, Sean. Sean falls right in line with the other storyline. Hey, Mr. Matthews. Happy birthday in three days.

[Rider Strong]

Right?

[Danielle Fishel]

46. Alan brings him in for a bear hug. This is what I'm talking about, people. This is a good boy. But Corey's still stuck on the letter. Look, everything's going great for you. You've got great friends. You've got a beautiful, honest, sweet, loving woman that loves you. Angela blushes. Well, thanks, Corey. He tells her to shut up and returns to his pitch.

[Rider Strong]

You've made a weird story.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Rider Strong]

Like what? So a letter from your mom who clearly abandoned you when your dad died. Like, you've gone through so much. Like, it's. It's. It's like a. It's like. Yeah, it's like a. A plot line from season four mailed to season seven.

[Will Friedle]

Sean.

[Rider Strong]

To just pull in this emotional regression for the sake of stirring up something like, there's no other point. Like, it doesn't actually affect Sean's life in any way there. It's just, yeah, here's an emotional bomb so that we can bring mopey Sean back, so he can be mopey and screw everybody up, when actually it has nothing to do with anything. Like, there's no actual story effect.

[Danielle Fishel]

It also bothers me, even for the Verna character, because she's all. I mean, she's already a villain for sure, but in what world do you think there's any justification to drop a bomb like this in someone's life?

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Via letter? By the way, not even she.

[Rider Strong]

But remember the old storyline? She wrote to me every day that she was gone.

[Danielle Fishel]

Remember?

[Rider Strong]

That's the old storyline.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

So the idea that she isn't my real mother and writes me a letter to inform me of that, after three years of no contact, goes completely against the whole storyline, which is that even when she was searching for herself and had to leave my dad, she loved me and she would write me letters every day or every week or whatever that storyline was. That was like season six beginning, right, like this.

[Will Friedle]

So I don't think it was even season. I think it was earlier than that.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think it may have been five

[Rider Strong]

when Jack came in. It was season five.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just. It's. It's so. It's so weird.

[Will Friedle]

We go the whole episode, and then it's like, we want to adopt you, adult Sean. And then they don't. That's the story. I mean, it's like, that's the story. But again, you kind of finish and you're like, huh, okay. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Sean went through a thing this week. Sean got emotional.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then.

[Will Friedle]

And it's. Don't ever leave me, Angela. She's like, I won't. And does like five episodes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, I know. Well. And I think that may be planting a seed maybe.

[Will Friedle]

But it's like, I. Yeah, it didn't. I didn't get this. And I'm so excited to know if this is actually our Christmas episode this year.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes, it is. It's December 17th. This aired December 17th.

[Will Friedle]

So that makes it so much more that. That's like your lint chocolate. Just Chef's kiss to throw somebody in a Santa suit for one scene and go. As is our Christmas episode. Oh, love it.

[Rider Strong]

I do like the Alan. Sean.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Storyline coming full circle because it's been low key, a very important part of the show. And I love the idea that those two characters have moments and their moment together. Totally love that. I just. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

This.

[Danielle Fishel]

Otherwise, it actually doesn't bother me that you're over 18 and they're talking about adopting you. Because having a. Having someone to call your mom or your dad is a lot more than just about who's gonna pay your bills or live under your roof or even raise you. It is a matter of, like, symbolically, you have a dad. If you go into the hospital because something's wrong and they say it's only family, it's not just Jack who's allowed in there. I'm your dad.

[Will Friedle]

But this is the problem I had with this entire thing. He always had a dad. He never had a mom.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

So how is this not a Betsy storyline?

[Rider Strong]

Oh, my God. So true.

[Danielle Fishel]

We know the answer.

[Will Friedle]

But that's what I mean. I mean, the whole point. He had a dad. He stayed with his dad. His dad stayed with him. That's what this storyline's about. He never had a mom there. So how is this not Betsy wanting to be his mom as opposed to just now a second dad?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

So true. No, it's so patriarchal.

[Will Friedle]

I didn't get. So I was like. But he. The whole episode is about, you're a great dad, even though you weren't here all the time. You had a dad. Betsy pops.

[Rider Strong]

And the role of the dad is

[Will Friedle]

to yell at her head one time in one Scene goes like this. I'm a pretty good mom. And it's like, oh, oh, that's right. Betsy's here.

[Danielle Fishel]

You're right. Why couldn't she be the one obsessed with her birthday?

[Rider Strong]

She doesn't get to make the decision.

[Chelsea Handler]

Yes.

[Rider Strong]

He makes a decision, and she goes, oh, wait. Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Rider Strong]

We're gonna adopt you. I'll go along with. With husband.

[Chelsea Handler]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Man of the house. You're right.

[Will Friedle]

Make it. Betsy loves her. It's. It's a birthday party for Mom. We can. We never do it.

[Rider Strong]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

Because she always takes care of us. Now we have to take care of her. And now she wants to adopt Sean because Sean never had a mom.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Which is what the story was about.

[Danielle Fishel]

Up. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

So. Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

But things are better when it's between men.

[Will Friedle]

Danielle. Danielle, Ryder and I will tell you when to speak.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay?

[Rider Strong]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let me know when I should start the recap again.

[Rider Strong]

Go ahead.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. Thank you. Amy jumps in. Maybe Sean needs to take a look at that letter. For reasons you can't see right now. Corey sarcastically responds with a lisp, gee, Mom, I'm looking around the room here to see if anyone asked your opinion. The inmates laugh uncomfortably, and then, ooh. As he continues, I don't see anyone. Is anyone? No. Just as it looks like everyone is about to break, Amy gives him a few slaps on the face, and Corey returns to Sean. You want an. You want an opinion? You ask Topanga. He stomps over to his wife. Go ahead, Topanga, tell him. She winces. Knowing how this is going to go down. I think you need to let Shawn do whatever he wants. A smiling Corey lets out a sadistic chuckle and asks everyone to excuse them for a moment. He points a finger at Topanga. Don't you ever snap at me like that in public again. In response, she whacks him with her notepad. Meanwhile, Shawn has indeed started reading the letter. It says, my mom is somewhere in Honduras. Corey gasps. Oh, no. He opened it. Shawn continues, and she's never coming back. That's nothing new. I want to know how she wrote

[Will Friedle]

that I'm never coming back.

[Danielle Fishel]

She heard the dad died, and now I have the right to know something. Corey begs him to put the letter back in the envelope. Amy tries to be optimistic. It could be good news. But Corey knows better. He snatches the letter, but we see Shawn's face has dropped completely. Alan asks, what's wrong. A stunned Shawn reveals, she's not my real mother. The room is stunned. We get dramatic music and a dramatic commercial Break.

[Rider Strong]

When this Boy Meets where.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ryder, do you remember when you learned that this was gonna be a storyline that Verna wasn't your real. Just probably when you read the script.

[Rider Strong]

Yeah. I have no memory. I. All I remember is working. Like being in the cemetery and talking to Ghost Chat. I remembered that that was something that happened on our show, and that's all I remembered about this episode. And I just am so checked out.

[Will Friedle]

He did just three episodes as a ghost. How many episodes did he do alive? Did he do more episodes as a ghost than he did?

[Rider Strong]

If you add Girl Meets World because he came back from Girl Meets World too, I bet you it's about the same. Because it's probably like five and five. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

We're in the guy's apartment. There are papers strewn across the kitchen, Homeland style, trying to connect the dots of Sean's potential mother. Sean huffs. We gotta find my mom. Jack. Jack sarcastically asks, I'm the only family you have left. Let's go on a search for your brother. Oh, wait a minute. We don't have to. He's here.

[Rider Strong]

Such a good point. Yeah, yeah, it's such a good point.

[Will Friedle]

I also love the late 90s laptop that he's got.

[Rider Strong]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

It's so big. Isn't it great?

[Danielle Fishel]

My most favorite thing is later when Jack, when Matt says, I've entered in all the information, all you have to do, he hits one random button a few times and then says, all you have to do is press Enter. It's just great. Sean reminds him, you're my half brother. Jack suggests, how about the other half beats the crap out of you. Then Eric walks down the stairs ready to make an important announcement. He pulls out a long pointer and reveals a poster board for his presentation. There's a headshot of Morgan plus a skull, which equals a green picture of Morgan. You know what I'm just now realizing? I remember this dude. I remember the board. I remember the board.

[Rider Strong]

Thought it was so funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

So funny. I think we had a hard time keeping it together.

[Rider Strong]

It's great.

[Will Friedle]

I mean, it's.

[Rider Strong]

Are you kidding me? This is just great. This is great. This is probably the best Eric storyline in a couple episodes.

[Danielle Fishel]

I agree.

[Rider Strong]

So fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

I agree. Really, really smart and funny. Below that is a picture of an emergency room door, which points to celebratory balloons. Eric explains, we give Morgan, who will be our decoy, some kind of poison that will make her ill. Dad will have to take her to the hospital, and when he's in the emergency room, that's when the party begins. Topanga clarifies. Are you willing to poison your sister to surprise your father? Eric doesn't answer, but does admit if Morgan goes south. Actually, she, well, croaks. He flips over to a new poster board, which has placed a skull over Morgan's face and added two ghastly feet with a toe tag that reads Morgan. Eric continues. It's gonna put a damper on the Internet.

[Rider Strong]

They have a baby. Oh, there's another kid.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my gosh.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, my God. I completely forgot about this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Why wouldn't they poison the baby?

[Will Friedle]

Smart. Yeah. Way less poison.

[Rider Strong]

Way less.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. So much less poisoned. The baby can't talk, you know.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, Smart. Thank you, Daniel.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's gonna put a damper on the entire party. Which is why we get. Now we get another new board. Horsey rides. It's basically clip art of cowboy Eric holding balloons and riding a pony. Eric's face has been taped on the character. Notice me. I'm Eric on the horsey. Let's call him Pete. The two of us together, having fun, joy, merriment. Corey raises his hand. I want to be over there now. He jumps off the couch and makes his way to Sean and Angela and Jack. To avoid any more of Eric's plan, Topanga shouts, take me with you and follow suit. Eric is unfazed. All right, if any of you need me, I'm gonna be at the poison store. And with that, he takes his presentation and leaves.

[Will Friedle]

Funny bit.

[Danielle Fishel]

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, everyone is gathered around Jack's laptop. Sean notices an interesting family on their dad's side. His great grandfather and great uncle were born in Scotland. Cory and Topanga nod in excitement.

[Will Friedle]

Ah, Scottish.

[Danielle Fishel]

We are clearly breaking, so. Probably had a hard time keeping it together then. Sean continues. And what they were known for was. Well, one day they slaughtered their entire village. Cory and Topanga exclaim together with only a little less excitement. Ah, slaughterers. Sean sighs. I come from thieves and pillagers. I come from bad people. Angela tries to lighten the mood. We haven't looked up your mom's side. Shawn reminds her. He's had three mothers. Join the club, friend. Jack nods. Yes. Verna, Ming, Hua, and Elaine. Sean admits. I think we can rule Ming Wa out. Angela points out. Which leaves Elaine. Jack agrees. Elaine McGinty. Ah, yes. Last spotted in Boston. Sean smiles. She's probably sitting in a coffee house reading poetry right now. You think? Elaine's where I got my poetry thing from Core. I don't even understand why does. What do you mean? He's had Three. Three mothers. Like, what?

[Will Friedle]

They're looking. Married three times.

[Danielle Fishel]

Norma, can't you look at the dates? He was married to this woman years before Sean was born, and it's not her.

[Will Friedle]

Right, Right. You'd think.

[Danielle Fishel]

And by the way, are we really acting like it's got to be somebody he's married to? Because it doesn't even make any sense. He would only have been married to possibly two people if it's around the time of you being born. Like you. So if the idea is. But I don't know, I. Yeah, okay.

[Will Friedle]

It's like one of the first storylines where it's always like, I don't know who my dad is. This is the one. I don't know who my mom is. Which is kind of a weird storyline.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Someone gestated you for a long time, and there's only a short period of time where you could have been made

[Will Friedle]

and then gave you to check.

[Danielle Fishel]

So. And the hard part, too, is, like, back then, there's no social media to find all his girlfriends. Oh, I found this. Look, this was a girlfriend. He was here.

[Rider Strong]

And there's also no genetic testing.

[Danielle Fishel]

No genetic testing, exactly.

[Rider Strong]

Or, like, maybe it was just burgeoning, like, the idea that you could actually do it. But it's also weird to think I learned the truth from a ghost.

[Will Friedle]

Of course.

[Rider Strong]

So, yes, like, we do find out that Sean's mom was a stripper.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Will Friedle]

From a ghost.

[Rider Strong]

From a ghost. So that information is magically downloaded through the spirit world.

[Will Friedle]

I was just thinking the whole time, how many members of Nobody's angel are actually your sister sisters? It's like, because, you know, you're related to at least 50 of that girl group, right?

[Rider Strong]

Oh, my gosh.

[Danielle Fishel]

So, yeah, okay. Corey answers, no, and Sean doesn't understand. Corey continues, I just don't want you to expect anything. On cue, Jack announces, okay, I've entered all the information. He then taps on a few keys. Because that's how computers work. And continues. So all.

[Rider Strong]

I mean, I love how technology works. Works in general. The idea. And. And this is. This is totally of the time, right, that you did stuff on a computer with the Internet, but it wasn't real until you got it through the mail.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Rider Strong]

You know what I mean? Like, you have to, like, that's the way you live with technology back then is like. Because even I remember, like, you applied to college, you could maybe do part of it online, but it had to actually be through the mail that you got your answer. You know what I mean?

[Danielle Fishel]

The Internet gave you the Ability to print. Print your paperwork that then you had to mail. Yes.

[Rider Strong]

Even in college, they would not accept work via email. Like, I had to turn in papers, actually physically turn them in, because it was like, oh, this computer stuff is all. So it's like a weird little time where there is Internet, but we can't. Like, you couldn't even buy stuff online yet, really. Like, Amazon wasn't around yet. Oh, God.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ebay's getting close, though, because I've been a member of ebay since, like, 2001, so.

[Rider Strong]

Okay.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, Kitty, My school. My school didn't allow typed papers.

[Rider Strong]

We were.

[Will Friedle]

We had to handwrite our papers in school. Yes. We weren't even allowed to take.

[Rider Strong]

Oh, yeah. Because if spell check was cheating.

[Will Friedle]

Yes, totally. So.

[Rider Strong]

But think about. You wouldn't give your credit card online. Like, that was a scary.

[Danielle Fishel]

That was crazy, because it was like, oh, no.

[Rider Strong]

Once your information got out there, then. Now it's.

[Will Friedle]

Now you just scan it ten times a day. Here you go, strange person. I bought a car. Yeah. It's ridiculous, but.

[Danielle Fishel]

So all you have to do is hit search, and they'll send you the results in a few days. In the mail.

[Will Friedle]

Six to eight weeks.

[Rider Strong]

Weeks.

[Danielle Fishel]

Sure you want to do this? Right? Sean has no doubts. He's sure. But Jack isn't as confident. Is that your final answer? Timely reference.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Oh, that's why I said the same thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Does he. Does he get the results? He gets the results, right?

[Rider Strong]

No, I. The results I get are just that Ellen McGinty is not your memory.

[Will Friedle]

You get the results, but I'm trying to figure out the timeline. So they. You sent it out and got the results back before Rusty's birthday, which is two days.

[Danielle Fishel]

Three days. It's three days. Yeah, you're right.

[Rider Strong]

So it's been. So it's basically like. Yeah, that's. It's a good point.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

The mail is so fast.

[Will Friedle]

Super fast. In 99 in the Philadelphia region.

[Danielle Fishel]

Basically, the way the Internet works is someone's sitting there waiting to get it, and then the minute the order comes in, they hit print and then put it in the mail.

[Will Friedle]

Basically, it's like those. The little street kids that used to sell the newspapers, like, Extry. Extry. They're now waiting to, like, deliver stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, wow.

[Will Friedle]

I'm gonna deliver this right now.

[Rider Strong]

And what are they delivering? A report that Ellen McGinty does not want to be found. Correct.

[Will Friedle]

Which apparently was not on the site.

[Rider Strong]

Like, that's all we get.

[Danielle Fishel]

You do say later that she's not your mom. You say it's not.

[Rider Strong]

Why do I know that? Is it a genetic thing? How do I. We know that it's not her?

[Will Friedle]

I. I don't think that matters. The ghost tells you the.

[Rider Strong]

The male delivers truth.

[Will Friedle]

Truth.

[Rider Strong]

And then the ghost delivers the other truth.

[Danielle Fishel]

Confirmation of the truth.

[Rider Strong]

Cover.

[Danielle Fishel]

Maybe Ellen McGinty is the stripper. Why? How do we like.

[Rider Strong]

Because she married. Because Ellen McGinty was a wife of his.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right?

[Rider Strong]

Whereas the stripper was just somebody he slept with.

[Danielle Fishel]

How do I know that?

[Rider Strong]

Had a baby with and he doesn't

[Will Friedle]

say that he doesn't know. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, I don't know. Sean nods yeah. And then presses the search button without hesitation. The room does not seem excited. No. Now we're in the student union. Eric is prepping Rachel as I forgot she was on the show. Eric is prepping Rachel as the rest of the group watches on. When the firecrackers go off, Rachel runs inside the house and yells. Rachel robotically recites her lines. The Japanese are attacking. The Japanese are attacking.

[Rider Strong]

Pretty funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

Eric watches her lackluster performance and admits.

[Rider Strong]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay.

[Rider Strong]

See?

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't believe you. She counters, singing, I don't believe you. Eric insists, this will work. Daddy will run outside because he's a Navy seal. Corey shouts, not. And Eric snaps back shut and stomps over to his brother. You gotta get your cakes. That's the only job is to get the cakes. You got that, squirt? I love this moment.

[Rider Strong]

Me too.

[Danielle Fishel]

Corey grins. I like when you call me squirt, which I think I also remember that moment well.

[Rider Strong]

It's also. It's a callback to a Corey Sean moment.

[Danielle Fishel]

Is it?

[Will Friedle]

Call me babe. Oh, okay. Gotcha.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's cute.

[Rider Strong]

It's such a cute.

[Danielle Fishel]

I like when you call me squirt.

[Rider Strong]

Ben plays it perfectly.

[Danielle Fishel]

So good. They give each other an enthusiastic high five. As Sean walks in carrying a vanilla envelope, he announces, I hold in my hand the research result of one Elaine McGinty Hunter. I have a mother. She's in here. Angela encourages him to open it. And now everyone else agrees in excitement, except for Corey.

[Rider Strong]

Insert result.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, 24 hours. You got it. Apparently.

[Danielle Fishel]

But for Corey, who sarcastically adds, yeah, open it. Because things are going great and everybody's happy. We're all getting along and who wants that? Sean doesn't get him, but Corey just gives a fist pump and half command. Yeah, open it. Sean quickly pulls out the results and starts reading. How about that? These hunters are tricky people. Must be in our blood. If a hunter doesn't want to Be found. She won't be found. So she's not found. Angela isn't admitting defeat. Maybe we can just try again.

[Rider Strong]

Hunter.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

Well, she was.

[Rider Strong]

No.

[Danielle Fishel]

Married. He again.

[Will Friedle]

She married.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. Not by blood.

[Rider Strong]

What am I talking about?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, I know.

[Will Friedle]

I. I have a question for the two directors that both directed sitcoms. If you had the. The opportunity to direct a Boy Meets World, would you have preferred an earlier Boy Meets World where the scripts were better but we weren't as fun and loose and relaxed, or a later Boy Meets World where we're, like, having fun and trying to make each other laugh? Which ones would you have picked?

[Danielle Fishel]

I'll take green any day.

[Rider Strong]

Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Good writing and green actors. That sounds like a joy.

[Rider Strong]

100%. It's so much better to be in that situation than, like, pro actors and not good material. Because then you're. Then you're. Then you're trying to convince actors to do things that you also don't believe is worth doing. You're like, why does my character walk over to this side of the room and say this thing? You have to be like, you gotta come up with it. Because you're the like. And you know. Yeah. There reaches a point where you're like, just do it. Just say it. I'm sorry, but I don't. Yeah, that's the worst position to be in this direction.

[Danielle Fishel]

I hate it when that happens. When. Because I go in every single day with my hope being I am going to help these actors believe what they are going to do today. I'm gonna. They are gonna believe it. And by the way, if they're not believing it, we're gonna work on it. We're gonna work on it together until they do believe it. So if I, If I put them in blocking that they don't like, and they go, God, this doesn't feel right. I don't want you to that do do it, then what would you do? Let's figure something else out. Let's dig in together. Let's. Let's come up with it. But if. If at the end of it, what it keeps going back to is, but why am I even doing this? And I can't answer that. I don't know it either. Because I'm like. And by the way, for the most part, you an actor. I worked with an actor on a show who was an adult on a kid show who needed motivation. Like the very stereotypical. What's my motivation?

[Rider Strong]

I mean, for every line, for everything.

[Danielle Fishel]

But what is my motivation? And I, I prided myself on that show of like, I. The amount of motivation I come up with off the top of my head is. Should be studied. It's unbelievable how quickly I can throw something out. And she'd go, oh, yeah, thank you for that. And I'm like, so, yeah.

[Rider Strong]

And nine times out of ten is that confidence that they need, it's not the actual answer. Is that somebody has an answer.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Yes.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And great. Now I can put that in my head and I'll deliver it with the confidence you just did.

[Chelsea Handler]

And.

[Danielle Fishel]

And we'll be good. So when you. When I can't even come up with an answer, come up with it. I'm like this, you know. Yeah, I. And then I say, do you want me to bring it up? Do you want me to talk about it? And I will, I will. Because again, I feel like part. The biggest. The most important part of my job at the end of the day is. Is protecting the actors.

[Will Friedle]

Sure.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of course. It's to deliver the product the showrunner wants. But I am the liaison and the voice to the showrunner for the actor. Unless the actor says, no, I will do it. That's why I always ask, I'm not gonna share what we're talking about unless you want me to. But sometimes they don't want to be the person to say to the showrunner, I don't like it, and they would rather me do it. And so I always offer that. Anyway, I'll stop talking about that.

[Rider Strong]

You know how we talk about, like. Like the way that, like boy meets world and then girl meets world. For sure. The characters become sort of self aware and like, talk about themselves as characters, which this episode is another example of, like, Sean's gonna do the Sean thing. Unless he's less Sean, like, because he'll be the Corey. And you're the one who always does that. I realized it actually is the show becoming the writers room. Like, it's.

[Will Friedle]

It's the characters.

[Danielle Fishel]

Matthew Nelson wrote an episode where he got to do the math. The writer strong Sean thing. Yeah, it's.

[Rider Strong]

They're sitting there having conversations as the writers room and then realizing, well, this conversation can just be the scene.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Rider Strong]

Which is like such a weird writing thing that happened to Boy Meets World because, like, if you went back, what they would have is they would have those kinds of conversations, then figure out how to make the characters naturally do those things. But instead they just decided to have the characters talk like writers in a writing room talking about their situation. And that's what's so infuriating about it. It's like by season seven and then all I think all of Girl Meets World. That's what the show is, is a bunch of writers sitting around being like, well, I'm the character who does this and you're the character who does that. How do we. And it's weird.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep, you're right. We could not shut up this episode. I don't know what got into us, but I hope you like it. You can listen to part two of this episode later today. Pod Meets World is an I heart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and writer Strawberry Strong 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. Follow us on Instagram odmeatsworldshow or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com as cat parents, Ryder and I know the feeling of being ignored by our cats. I often wonder, does my cat even love me?

[Rider Strong]

Well, there's only one solution to solve that. Sheba.

[Danielle Fishel]

Feed your cat Sheba and go from feeling ignored to truly adored in 12 days, guaranteed or your money back. Shiba has so many incredible products that can satisfy even the pickiest eater like New Shiba Grilled. Made in the USA with the finest ingredients from around the world. They are savory strips in a succulent sauce that cats are sure to love and it's 100% complete and balanced with essential vitamins and nutrients for adult cats like my Bill, made without artificial flavors or preservatives, no corn, wheat or soy. To learn more, check out shiba.com if you're like me and have kids between the ages of 2 and 8, you know that not all apps are Created equal. My 4 and 6 year old will just explore like little screen time Magellans, clicking any and every button until I've received 10 notices of apps and in game coins they're trying to buy. In reality, I just want something that still gets them excited but also has them using their brains. And that is why I love Lingokids. It's an absolute blast and perfect to keep them engaged and thinking. It's a world of interactive games, music they'll want to sing along to, and stories that spark their imagination. It's high energy, vibrant and it keeps them actively playing rather than just zoning out and ignoring my pleas to come to dinner. Whether it's a rainy afternoon or a weekend morning it's the fun they're looking for and the quality you want. Lingokids Everything kids love. See why millions of families love it? Download the LingoKids app on your phone or tablet now for free.

[Chelsea Handler]

This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea after the Big Game. Like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials, and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, and it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who was Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the Big Game, it's worth thinking about. And if you want to show support, sharing the Blue Square is one small way to do that.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is Sophia Bush from Work In Progress with Sophia Bush. Bring the Good with Avocados from Mexico Upgrade your meals, your get togethers, even your everyday life. Give your moments a little glow up. Be the one everyone's glad showed up because avocados from Mexico spark the joy with every bite. And by the way, they're good for you too. So elevate your everyday. Bring the good flavor. So rich and craveable.

[Rider Strong]

Avocados from Mexico.

[Danielle Fishel]

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