No one wanted to be tardy for Mr. Feeny's party.
Boy Meets Worldstars including Danielle Fishel , Rider Strong and Will Friedle reunited in Chicago to celebrate William Daniels' 96th birthday on March 31, their beloved TV teacher having remained one of the linchpins of the cast's enduring bond.
Then it was on to the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, which unsurprisingly turned into a complete nostalgia-fest for the actorsand their fans—and they've already reportedly signed up for '90s Fest, kicking off Sept. 15 in Tampa, to markBoy Meets World's 30th anniversary.
Between social media, conventions and thePod Meets World podcast, where Fishel, Friedle and Strong reminisce about the show, break down episodes and gossip (but very politely), it really is a golden age forBMW fandom.
Though lately there has been someone noticeably missing from all of this recent togetherness...
"If Ben wants to come on, we have an open-door policy," Fishel told Entertainment Tonight in June 2022 when asked if her TV sweetheart Ben Savage might be a guest on the podcast. "Ben said, 'Listen I just don't think it's my thing. I think I wanna focus on other aspects of my career.' We said, 'Totally understand. If you ever change your mind, let us know and come on.'"
Is Cory scorned because it turned out Topanga was crushing on Shawn the whole time...?
Don't mind us, we're just thinking out loud. As it turns out, Savagehas had some major life events keeping him occupied lately, so we felt it was just the right time to check in with the wholeBoy Meets Worldcast and see what they're up to now:
Savage, 42, played Cory Matthews on Boy Meets World, which anchored ABC's TGIF lineupfrom 1993 to 2000.
He went on to graduate from Stanford in 2004 with a degree in political science and continued to pop up on TV (Party of Five,Chuck) and the occasional indie film before reuniting with TV sweetheart Danielle Fishel to reprise their roles on the 2014 Disney Channel spin-offGirl Meets World.
After that show ended in 2017, Savage (whose older brother isThe Wonder YearsstarFred Savage) appeared on series includingThe Leftovers,Speechless,Criminal Minds(as a young Jason Gideon) andHomeland (as young Saul, making that two gigs playing a Mandy Patinkin character as a younger man). While he's yet to appear on his former co-stars' Pod Meets Worldpodcast, he and Fishel reunited in 2021 for arom-com spoof touting perfect lunch date spot Panera Bread.
His Instagram indicated for years thathe had a wedding-date-caliber girlfriend, but he kept her identity pretty private—until he popped the question and confirmed in March 2023 that he'dmarried longtime love Tessa Angermeier .
Savage unsuccessfully sought a seat on the West Hollywood City Council in 2022 but has dusted himself off and announced he's running for Congress in 2024.
Between playing Topanga Lawrence (and then Matthews) onBoy Meets WorldandGirls Meets World, Fishel—whose first kiss was a smooch for the show with Ben Savage—was mainly herself on TV, appearing as a correspondent on The Tyra Banks Show and hosting Style Network'sThe Dish. She also went back to college at 27 and earned her degree in 2012.
She met first husband Tim Beluskoat school, and they were married for two years before quietly divorcing in 2016. She wedDrop the Michost Jensen Karp in 2018, with former co-stars Savage (who congratulated his "favorite TV wife" on her engagement) and Will Friedle in attendance.
Fishel, 41, and Karp welcomed son Adler in June 2019 and his brother Keaton in August 2021. The enviably coiffed actress also, most fittingly, launched a hair care line, Be Free by Danielle Fishel, and after directing several episodes ofGirl Meets World continued on behind the camera, helming episodes of Disney Channel'sSydney to the Max, Raven's HomeandLopez vs. Lopez.
She also co-hostsPod Meets Worldwith Friedle and Rider Strong.
After playing Shawn Hunter onBoy Meets World, Strong most notably starred in Eli Roth's 2002 sleeper horror hitCabin Fever and its 2009 sequel, was one of the stars of the short-lived Pepper Dennis and voiced Brick Flagg in the animated seriesKim Possible before returning to play Shawn in seven episodes ofGirl Meets World.
The 43-year-old has also been behind the camera, writing, directing and producing some shorts and the 2017 TV movieMicah the A--hole Ghost with brother Shiloh Strong(who was originally up for the role of Eric Matthews). His latest directorial effort, "Typhoon—We're In It," was named Best Music Video by the Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Film Festival in October 2022.
In 2013, Strong marriedAlexandra Barretoand their son,Indigo, was born in December 2014.
Friedle showed up as big brother Eric Matthews again onGirl Meets World, but in the meantime his voice became ubiquitous in animated shows includingKim Possible,Teen Titans Go!,DC Super Hero Girls, Disney XD'sGuardians of the Galaxy (as Star Lord Peter Quill) andThe Legend of Vox Machina.
Years before the 46-year-old attended Fishel and Karp's wedding, he was best man at the 2004 nuptials ofStep by Stepstar Jason Marsden, TGIF cross-over programming at its finest. In December 2019, he sported a T-shirt with Topanga's face on it, a bit of swag courtesy of his future podcast co-host's hair care line.
Friedle marriedSusan Martens in 2016.
Daniels, a two-time Emmy winner forSt. Elsewhere as well as an original star of the musical 1776 and the voice of David Hasselhoff's car K.I.T.T. onKnight Rider, secured himself a new generation of fans playing Mr. Feeny onBoy Meets World.
After serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1999 until 2001, Daniels continued to make guest appearances on the likes ofScrubs,Boston LegalandThe Closerand had an arc onGrey's Anatomyin 2012. Now 96, Daniels' most recent physical acting work was reprising the role of Mr. Feeny onGirl Meets World, and he keeps up with appearances at fan conventions—but he also provided the voice of K.I.T.T. for 2020'sSuperintelligence.
The native New Yorker has been married to actressBonnie Bartlett since 1951 and they're parents of two sons.
AfterBoy Meets World, the Chicago native notably played Mrs. Winterbourne on Charmed and returned for a few episodes ofGirl Meets World as Cory and Eric's mom Amy Matthews.
In real life she's mom to daughter Jessica and son Aaron with editor husband John Randle.
Russ, whose film work includes The Right StuffandAmerican History X, has remained a busy character actor after playing dad Alan Matthews onBoy Meets World, appearing onBoston Legal,The Young and the Restless,90210,Colony,NCIS: Los Angeles and, most recently,Bosch,9-1-1andAnimal Kingdom. He also returned toGirl Meets World with TV wife Betsy Randle.
Behind the scenes he's dad to a son and daughter with wife Clare Wren.
Rider Strong claimed at Wizard World Comic Con, per Looper, that Norris' character, Minkus, was written out because of the popularity of fellow TGIF geek Steve Urkel over onFamily Matters, and theBoy Meets Worldcreatives didn't want to double down on comedic nerdom.
Norris, who got his acting start as little Chuckie Lee from The Torkelsons,went on to graduate from Wake Forest, play another small-screen geek, Marvin "Mouth" McFadden, on The CW's long-running drama One Tree Hill, and return as Minkus for a few episodes of Girl Meets World. He has since been on a couple episodes ofThe Walking Dead, been directed byDavid Fincher in Zodiac andGone Girl, and appeared in the 2020 WWII action dramaGreyhoundwith Tom Hanks .
He's been married to wife Andrea since 2011.
Since popping up as Shawn's older half-brother Jack Hunter, the Mrs. Doubtfirestar was also on the sitcom Brotherly Lovewith real-life siblings Andrew and Joey Lawrence, and has been in numerous indie films and guested on shows includingBoston Public,CSI: Miami,Workaholics,Melissa and JoeyandHawaii 5-0. He's also gotten into the cinematic holiday spirit, starring inMistletoe MixupandChristmas on Repeat.
Lawrencemarried Dancing With the Stars pro Cheryl Burke on May 23, 2019, 13 years after they first met and dated (followed by a decade-long break) when she was paired with his brother Joey on the show. They divorced in 2022 and Lawrence is now dating TLC singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas .
McGee has been in a number of made-for-TV movies and short-lived TV series and also reprised the role of Shawn's girlfriend Angela on an episode ofGirl Meets World—despite the admittedly less-than-ideal circumstances surrounding her exit from Boy Meets World.
OnPod Meets Worldin 2022, McGee told Fishel, Strong and Friedle that she had been told that they had specifically asked their showrunner tonotinclude her in the 2000 series finale, resulting in Angela's premature departure for Europe while everyone else was tying up loose ends.
Friedel insisted "that never happened" and McGee said she regretted any past bad blood between her and Fishel, noting they could have been more of a team during the show's run. Fishel agreed, saying, "We could've helped each other."
Now McGee is back in the fan-convention fold and reunited with the aforementioned trio for Daniels' 96th birthday on March 31, 2023. She is also a singer, artist and mother of three kids, two of them with ex-husband Courtland Davis.
After playing college siren Rachel McGuire on Boy Meets World, Ward starred in the 2004 comedyWhite Chicks with Marlon and Shawn Wayans, but went on to win three AVNs after making her adult-film debut in 2019's Drive.
"I found out that I love sexual performance," she told The Daily Beast in April 2021, talking about the unexpected direction her acting career had taken. "It's like being in a dance, or an ice-skating pair. You're doing this great artistic piece, and I just love it."
And the move has continued to work for her, as she's also a 2023 AVN Best Actress winner and author of the memoir Rated X.
Married since 2006 toTerry Baxter, shetold In Touch Weekly in January 2020 of her real estate agent husband, "He is a very good photographer, too. He has taken pictures of me along the way."
The first of two Morgan Matthews, Nicksay played Cory and Eric's little sister from 1993 to 1995—then scored a role in the Michelle Pfeiffer - Robert Redford romantic drama Up Close and Personal.
As she grew up, the actress guest-starred on a few TV shows, including The Mentalist, 8 Simple Rules and Judging Amy, and later returned as Morgan for the 2017 finale ofGirl Meets World.
She has been going by Lily Gibson since marrying songwriter Dave Gibson in 2015, and was credited with that name on a 2019 episode ofNCIS and in the 2021 filmFour Cousins & a Christmas.
After the "longest nap ever," Morgan re-appeared from a year of being in another room of the house as an older, entirely different girl.
Ridgeway, who took over the role of Morgan in 1996 until the series' end in 2000, graduated from UC Riverside in June 2007 and earned a master's degree in counseling from the University of Redlands in 2010. Also a singer, she has performed the national anthem at pro sporting events around Los Angeles, and worked part time for the Los Angeles Kings hockey team as a member of the Kings Ice Crew.
She also came back as Morgan for theGirl Meets Worldfinale.
Lauren got between Cory and Topanga for a mercifully brief four-episode arc.
Cardellini graduated from Boy Meets World to the shamefully short-livedFreaks and Geeks , and after that it was off to the races inScooby-Doo,ER,Brokeback Mountain,Mad Men(earning an Emmy nomination for guest actress in a drama series),New Girl and the Netflix dramaBloodline. She also joined the Marvel Universe as Clint/Hawkeye's wife, was in the 2019 Best Picture Oscar winnerGreen Book, and both co-starred and was a producer on the Netflix dark comedyDead to Me(earning 2020 Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best Actress in a Comedy).
The 47-year-old actress is mom to daughterLilah-Rosewith longtime partnerSteven Rodriguez.
Suplee's estimable credits since playing bully Frankie "The Enforcer" Stechino includeAmerican History X, Remember the Titans, Unstoppableand playing Randy Hickey on all four seasons ofMy Name Is Earl. He was also in Martin Scorsese 's The Wolf of Wall Street, the Netflix comedyThe Ranch, Edward Norton 's noir dramaMotherless Brooklyn and the controversial horror-satire The Hunt.
The 46-year-old has a number of projects lined up, including a return to the Kevin Smith universe in the announcedTwilight of the Mallrights.
Suplee has been married to Brandy Lewis since 2006 and they have two children together. Last but not least, in January 2020 a photo he posted of his newly shredded self, the result of a hard-won battle to lose weight and get healthy, went viral. He's been a fitness and nutrition advocate ever since.
After logging time as replacement bully Griff Hawkins, Scott became the consummate sweet 'n' funny guy—with the occasional snide wise-ass and morose midlife-crisis-having married guy thrown in for good measure.
His greatest hits include the intense HBO dramaTell Me You Love Me; the hit comedyStep Brothers; Starz' belovedParty Down(back for a fresh season 13 years after it was canceled); the even more belovedParks and Recreation; the sporadic and hilariousThe Greatest Event in Television Historyon Adult Swim;Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later;The Good Place andBig Little Lies.He earned his first Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his turn as a melancholy widower—orishe?—in Apple TV+'s unhinged-workplace dramaSeverance.
In real life Scott has two kids withNaomi Sablan, his wife since 2005.
"They only brought him in because Friends became a hit," Rider Strong recalled toVanity Fair in 2011 of leather jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding, cool teacher Jonathan Turner, played by Quinn. "And ABC was like, 'We need twentysomethings on every show. Including on this kids' show that's only watched by teenagers.'"
However, Shawn was devastated when Mr. Turner was in a motorcycle crash at the end of season four—which Turner recovered from off-camera and was never seen again until he resurfaced onGirl Meets World, having married a nurse he met in the hospital after the accident.
In the meantime, Quinn joined the drama onMelrose Place for a four-year stint, was onPretty Little Liars in 2012, and popped up onFeud: Betty and Joanin 2017.
He's been married to Margaret Quinn since 1985 and they have two children.