Steve Hoefer Meets World

Danielle, Rider & Will have already tracked down some BMW-lifers for the podcast, getting the inside scoop from the select few crew members who worked on the show for all 7 seasons. But when it comes to the true tea, no one saw more than the Stage Manager. And Steve Hoefer was that - and more - for the show’s entire run.

In addition to directing one of the most surreal episodes of the series, he was the brave soul in charge of making sure everyone got to set on time (and he reveals which 2 cast members had the hardest time achieving that).

He’d later go on to direct almost every Nickelodeon show ever made, but for this podcast we get a completely different perspective on Danielle’s first appearance, why a mythical creature from Magic: The Gathering was a fixture on set and what Universal Studios Tram operators can NEVER say.
 
And, we finally hear the origin of longtime BMW inside joke, “Steve’s Havin a Baby!,” directly from the source.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Something that that I've It comes up on my Instagram
feed every once in a while, I think because of
the body's world. But I've also seen this before and
you can find it on YouTube. Have you guys ever
watched Henry Thomas's audition for ET. We've talked about this.
It's yeah, we talked about this. It's it's daggering.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I haven't seen it.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Oh my gosh, it's so wonderful. He's like eight or
nine years old. He's improvising with the casting director and
they're just The casting director is just, you know, pretend
you have an alien in your house and you don't
want to give him over to the government, and they
just improvise and he is so present, he's so real.
And then at the end of the audition you can
hear Spielberg say, well you got the job, kid, and
it's it's incredible. But it just made me think about, like,

(00:57):
do you guys have like a favorite child actor performance
like all time? Like, hands down, this is the best.
I mean, Henry thomasin ET is up there for me,
you know, but I thought you.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Met like our own performances if we had r moment,
So you met, you meant a different kid.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
I mean when you watch movies or TV shows, like,
when you look back, what do you have, like a
you know, because there's been there have been kids who
won Academy Awards or nominated, and I think it's a yeah,
do you have of course?

Speaker 3 (01:30):
I mean, well there's a there's a bunch, And for me,
they were never I mean, the performances were great, but
it was more like and I want to do that
or I want to be in that kind of movie
kind of moment. Like there was an amazing movie that
meant so much for me when I was a kid
called The Experts, no Explorers, excuse me, called the Explorers, Explorers,

(01:50):
Young River, Phoenix unfortunately the third kid who we don't
know who that is, but it was it was three
great young performances in this really cool movie where they
get the first half of that movie is amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Once they get to space, it's really weird. It's still
good though.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
I love it because again for me, it was about
they finally meet the alien who's learned everything by watching TV.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
And so my whole life is about watching TV. That
makes sense to you. So it was oh so performances
like it was a fact. It was very goonies. It
was like I was gonna says, is another one? Where
is another one? Stand by Me? You know those performances
in stand By Me? It's those one for me easily.
And I you know, like because when I was thinking
about this question, I remember this article that I read

(02:34):
years ago that that talked about how child how child
characters are written in movies and TV, and often they're
reduced to like one or two things. It's like either
they are a kid that is like a completely not
understandable character. They're like crazy, they're just making noise and
being chaotic, or they're written as a mini adult like

(02:57):
they are a precocious you know, they're they're they're more
sophisticated than they So it's like kid characters tend to
only have one of those two modes. And so you know,
and I was thinking about like Tatum O'Neil and Paper Moon,
which is one of my favorite movies of all time.
She's incredible, she won the Academy Award for it, but
it's kind of a false character. It's not like a kid.
It's one of these precocious adults in a little kid's

(03:19):
body characters. So I was trying to think of movies
where kids were just kids like me. Stand By Me
is the gold standard because it's like in stand By Me,
they are you can see all four of them are
just in real time being kids with each other. They're
not being It's so realistic for how twelve year olds
actually talk to each other. And at the time, I mean,

(03:40):
when I first discovered it, I mean, and I don't
think this is news to anybody, but like River Phoenix
was my hero, you know, like basically that's who I
wanted to be as an actor. But now when I
look back and stand By Me, Jerry O'Connell steals that movie.
He's the youngest and he is so amazing, and I'm like,
I'm I'm so happy to like call Jerry a friend

(04:01):
now because you know, I worked with his wife and
and and I just he is so good in that
movie because he's the most present, he's he's all the
comic relief and there's just no pretense about like what
he's doing. He just steals the whole movie.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
So you want to see other other great child performances
where kids are just kids, go back and watch your
original Bad News Bears.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Oh you know, I've never seen it. Oh, it's so good.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Tatamonial, such a good movie. How about me, Danielle, do
you have kid performances that you like?

Speaker 4 (04:29):
I agree obviously with both of you. Those all of
those performances are incredible. But to add a more recent
one into the mix, I would like to say Brooklyn
Prince in The Florida Project.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Did you guys see The Florida Project?

Speaker 5 (04:41):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, yeah, movie though.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Very tough movie, but her performance is amazing. And then
also I do not remember the actress's name, but after Son,
the kid in after Son.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
See I see that one either. I gotta see that right.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
So, I mean those are a little more recent.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
They're both gut wrenching movies, but truly unbelievable performances.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
That is it.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine too, another amazing prmans
all the way around. Yeah there are some. Yeah, there
have been some some killer ones.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Been great? Yeah? Interesting.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
Well, welcome to Pod Meets World.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
I'm Daniel Fishel, I'm Right or Strong, and I'm Wilfredell
And it is a big week for Pod Meets World Live.
We're back on the road and in three new cities.
So join us this Friday, October thirteenth, ew Friday the
thirteenth Spooky in Cleveland, Ohio at the Mimi Ohio Theater,
or Saturday October fourteenth, which isn't spooky at all, in
Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth Theater. And then we're going

(05:45):
to close out the weekend on Sunday Night, which is
of course October fifteenth in Pittsburgh, where we're all just
hoping Danielle is going to walk in the rain, and
that is of course, at the buy Ham Theater.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Tickets are still available for all three shows.

Speaker 3 (05:56):
It's going to be so much fun, and they're available
now at pod Meeting Worldshow dot com. It's also your
chance to come out and hang out with Danielle Ryder
and I and dress up in costume because we're gonna
be picking a winner for each show and you are
absolutely going to love the prize. Oh, speaking of prizes,
we got new March.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
That's right. It has been a while.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Ooh, that was a weird merch that all felt strange
my throat. Anyway, it's been a while. So we've taken
the most important word in the history of the podcast
in Sourco and made the official shirt. There's an illustration
and definition printed right on front. You have to see
it to believe it. It's exclusively available online now at
Podmeetsworldshow dot com. It is the perfect way to tell
everyone I'm listening to podmeets World and I know this

(06:37):
very very very specific inside joke. You can see all
of our March and all of our tour dates while
you're there. Once again, it's all at podmeets worldshow dot com.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Come on out. We can't wait to meet you.

Speaker 6 (06:55):
Hey everyone, it's Sophia Bush, host of the podcast Work
in Progress. Yes, I am thrilled to tell you that
Work in Progress is back for a third season. My friends,
it has never been more important than right now for
us to have all of these big conversations together. We
are going to get educated, a little bit enlightened, and
we will definitely be entertained. I started Work in Progress

(07:19):
because I'm a curious person, and I realized there are
so many people I get to speak to that are
fascinating and rare, and so I thought, why not take
these conversations out into the world. I'm going to be
having deep chats with thought leaders, newsmakers, celebrities, entertainers, authors,

(07:40):
elected officials, and more. You can join us and listen
to work in Progress on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 4 (08:01):
One of the funnier aspects to doing this podcast is
that certain sayings or pieces of dialogue or catchphrases from
our time on Boy Meets World that have followed us
for over thirty years in our personal lives are now
being shared with you, making the inside part of inside
jokes a bit more outside. Whether it's the kids want
to jump? Or is he mad? Or even Strafty Bright.

(08:24):
The little secret things that meant a lot to us
now mean a lot to a lot of us, and
that is something we never could have predicted coming into
Pod meets World. And this week we meet someone who
not only creatively affected almost every episode of Boy Meets World,
but one of his major life moments created a sentence
that the child stars of this show would yell at

(08:46):
each other for years and even now as adults, almost
like a pre Internet meme amongst friends. That sentence is
Steve's having a baby. But we will get more into
that later. Steve Hayfer turned usc education and early twenties
job at Universal Studios into a wildly impressive sitcom career,

(09:06):
starting as a PA on The Fresh Prince of bel
Air and eventually becoming the stage manager for Boy Meets World,
where he was so beloved he was given the chance
to direct his first episode of TV season seven's As
Time Goes By and He Has Never Looked back. Steve
went on to direct over thirty episodes of the highly
influential Nickelodeon variety show All That, then almost forty episodes

(09:28):
of I carly Tons of Zoe One oh one, Drake
and Josh, Victorious, Sam and Kat, Game Shakers, and most
recently another thirty five episodes of Henry Danger. Are we
responsible for his success being the first cast he ever directed, Yeah,
I feel good saying that thanks for asking, and though
I doubt he will have a baby with him today,

(09:49):
we are excited to welcome a mainstay behind the scenes
of Boy Meets World and a legend behind the camera.
This week's Pod Meets World guest is Steve Hayfer.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
Hello, we can hear you.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
You got to turn that camera. I know it's not
responding like us when you try to get us on set.
We just blink at you.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
See you you too, You dude, are.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
We one of those cast pictures behind you?

Speaker 5 (10:28):
Uh no, but you are?

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yes? Yes, O.

Speaker 7 (10:34):
Love that.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
Yes, my son put that one together for me. So yeah,
it's in a special place, dead center over my credenza.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Oh that's the best. And you almost never get to
hear credenza anymore.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
I know, we don't know that because it's it's wonderful,
it's perfect.

Speaker 5 (10:55):
Well, god knows, Ikea doesn't use that word.

Speaker 7 (11:00):
Different.

Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, Oh, Steve, thank you so much for being here
with us.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
Oh, it's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. So good to
see you all. I've seen Danielle probably the most recently.
I saw Will way back at my fortieth birthday party.
And yeah, and Rider Bobby, it's been forever.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
I don't I don't think i've seen you since rap,
like right, maybe we've had lunch after the like maybe
within the couple of years after the show, but.

Speaker 5 (11:32):
Yeah, and I don't remember. I did a pilot with Shiloh,
your brother, and Betty White and Marie Osmon, and I
think you might have dropped by, but I'm not even
one hundred percent sure that was after we wrapped.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
That might have been like, yeah, yeah, that was still
during boy, Yeah we're still shooting.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
So wow.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
Yeah, I saw Steve because Steve was the one of
the first people I ever shadowed when I when I
was attempting to become a director, and Steve let me
shadow him and he was the absolute best, and he
gave me all kinds of pointers and tips and tricks
and and uh and sent me on my way.

Speaker 5 (12:09):
It was I remember that week. It was one of
the most chaotic weeks backstage. There was drama that you
don't even know.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
I would love to know.

Speaker 5 (12:20):
I'm not even completely privy to it, but it was
one of those weeks and I would have loved to
have set and just talked with you more and more.
But it was one of those things.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
Yeah, crazy, Yeah. Steve was also a lot of people
don't know.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
Steve was also the third leg of the Will Tony
Steve tripod.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
We would be.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Playing golf and doing all that, so we were out
quite a bit with with Hayfer as well. So yes,
it was uh, it was fun.

Speaker 5 (12:47):
And sometimes you and Tony were out without me and
you were telling me you were coming back or weren't going
to be able to make it to a run through.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Just stress you up, just stress.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
Tony and I are playing the horrible trick on Steve,
which is oh man. We thought it was so funny
until that door opens and there's Steve's face like, what
are you doing to me?

Speaker 7 (13:09):
And we felt so bad.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
We felt so bad after that.

Speaker 5 (13:12):
Oh my, yeah, And I was like a weird parent.
I was like, I'm glad you're saying, but.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, exactly, I'm just disappointed in you both.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
It was like, oh no, no, exactly exactly.

Speaker 4 (13:26):
So Steve, we like to start with all of our
guests kind of at their origin story. So do you
remember your job at Universal Studios? Do you have any
great That's where you started right as a PA. Do
you remember that experience?

Speaker 1 (13:40):
Well?

Speaker 5 (13:40):
I originally started as a tour guide. I was pointing
out the Rubber Shark and the Psycho House and everything,
and that was during my senior year at USC. I
needed some money and so that was a good gig
and they were flexible with hours and all that. But
so then I made contacts there and started as a
set PA for the show Coach. They were finishing up

(14:02):
their first full season, because I believe they were a
mid season replacement show, but they really had hired me
to do a pilot just you know, so I was
answering phones and helping the ads on set stuff like that.
That pilot was called have a Nice Day. It was
about the seventies. Really funny didn't get picked up and
then six seven years later that seventies show, so it's

(14:25):
all about timing.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (14:28):
But then those producers took me to another show, which
was The Fresh Prince of bel Air, so I got
to experience that it was Brandon Tartakoff's last show that
he brought to NBC or that shepherd through NBC. I
stayed with them for two years, did regular production assistant work,
some post production is set to work, and then those
producers got me into the Directors Guild to be second

(14:50):
second ad or at that time third stage manager, to
run the background for a sitcoms that started Patty LaBelle,
Morris Chestnut, Vivika fac Dwayne Martin and that was called
Out All Night. That only lasted for about thirteen episodes.
But that's where I really got to know Lynn McCracken better,

(15:10):
who I had met at Fresh Prince, and then she
had this new project and she said, I really want
a male second for me because she had a regular
female Renie Holmes, who's a fantastic ad So because you
guys mean, Will ryder Ben and Lee Norris were going

(15:34):
to be the main guys, and so she just wanted
a male figure in the ad team, so she brought
me on. Arlene Grayson beloved. Arlene had a friend also
who she wanted to be the second. So that guy
who was also named was Steve. He was there for
the first three weeks, I believe, our first run of three,
and then either he got another gig or something. But

(15:56):
I also know his way of working in Lynn's way
of working were two different things also. So then anyway,
then I moved up from running background for your first
three weeks up to the second ad position and then
season three is when it became your first AD. And
after Arlene passed, Karen McCain had become our main producer,

(16:17):
so she and I kind of went through trial by
fire together and so I always have fond members of Karen.
But so that was kind of it.

Speaker 4 (16:25):
That is, that is quite a story to go from
tram guy to you know, on Fresh Prince to running
a stage within three four years.

Speaker 5 (16:37):
Uh, yeah, you're probably closer to four or five. Yeah, five,
But yeah I was. I was the most blessed person
on earth, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
I remember you told me a story.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Didn't you tell me a story once about how you
weren't When you're a tour guide, you're not supposed to
point out the ambulance building.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Yes, why can you tell a little bit about that?

Speaker 5 (17:02):
Yeah? It was Steven Spielberg's a production company for those
who don't know, And it was this cool Adobe building
just looked different than all the others, still universal buildings,
And if trams got stopped there due to filming happening
on the back lot, sometimes trams would get backed up
and you might be stopped right there in front of
the road that leads your right to amblin. You can

(17:23):
see it, and I guess they worked it out so
you wouldn't point it out, and people wouldn't try to
sneak on the lot to go, because this is right
in the height of VT had just come out, and
you know, he was Jaws had already been out close encounters.
He was at the height of his popularity back then,
So I think it was more of just a security measure.
But of course, most tour guides were famous for doing

(17:43):
things they shouldn't be doing on their last tram. Ever,
when they knew that they were quitting and they were leaving,
and they would do all sorts of things like point
out amblin. Or one guide walked through the Red Sea,
got on, says follow me, and he led the tram
through the Red Sea as it was partying. Another took
his shoes and threw it into the ice tunnel, which

(18:03):
is just like a big clothes dryer. And so for
the next eight trams that went through, these shoes would
go up the side and tumble back down, and go
up the side and tumble back down. And that's what
everybody got treated to. That was gig.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Were you there when they were filming the Burbs?

Speaker 5 (18:22):
Yes, they just did soundstage work for the most part.
I don't think they're out on the back lot too much.
So what we got to see other than the call sheet.
We get everybody's call sheet that day, so we knew
who was filming. Norman ly your head, you know, the
Jeffersons and simmer Spoons, always going on murder, she wrote
night Writer. Once in a while air Wolf would show

(18:45):
up there the A team was always off campus somewhere,
so we never see them. But it was a lot
of fun.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
So that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
Do you still remember the tramscript?

Speaker 5 (18:56):
Oh? Jeeze. If I had an old fashioned I would
probably recall more than I care to realize.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Oh man, I also want to talk to you about
the show you mentioned out All Night starring Patty Leabelle
Moor's Chestnut, Vivica A Fox, Taj Maury and then you
guys had appearances by TLC, Mary J. Blige, Dion Warwick,
Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross Boys to men, Marky Mark and
Bobby Brown just to name a few.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, who only went thirteen? I know, why did that
only go thirteen? With all those people in oh?

Speaker 5 (19:29):
Then because her premise, her premise was that she was
a nightclub owner, and so there was always about gearing
up for whatever is happening at the club that week,
and then somebody would come on, you know, whether it's
Natalie Coledyon, Warwick, Luther, Vanjos, everybody that Daniel just mentioned.
And so that was fun we got to see them,

(19:50):
but it also brought its own version of chaos every week,
you know, because they their reps and their people had
different agendas and the way they handle things. But we
always had lots of of people in the club and
that was my gig, was trying to you know, run
the background there and learned a lot about crowd management
on that show.

Speaker 4 (20:09):
Did you have a favorite guest star or a favorite
story from that show?

Speaker 5 (20:13):
From that show, Dion Warwick was fantastic. I just remember
loving her. Luther Randress was a lot of fun. He
was it was hard to contain. He was almost like
the dog on up that he'd be talking to you
and all of a sudden you'd see somebody he'd recognize
to go oh, and he go running on. You know,
wait wait, wait, no, we were heading to this set
because they literally need us in ten seconds. You know,

(20:35):
things like that for dealing with us as kids, exactly
nothing prepares you for you guys.

Speaker 4 (20:45):
So Lynn McCraken is the one who brings you over
to boy Meets World. Do you remember first meeting us
and first working with us? What were your first impressions
of all of us?

Speaker 5 (20:56):
Oh? Absolutely, well, then stands out first because Ben is Ben,
and then was this little ball of energy with curly hair,
and I had just met Michael Jacobs two three times
before our first table read, and Uh, I was doing
There's something about Ben that seems familiar, and then the
two of them were in the room at the same time.

(21:17):
It's like, ah, but you guys were great. Uh, each
and every one of you writer I connected with fairly
quickly because we both come from Sonoma County, California. He's
from the Sebastopol area. I'm from Santa Rosa and UH,
so that you know, that was an instant connection. But

(21:41):
Will I got, as he mentioned, I got to know
him better because he was out of school before you
guys were, and so he would hang out with us
on the patio, meaning me and Kathy g Gongorio and
d D and either Beth or Tracy whoever happened to
be there working on the set that that year.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (21:59):
And I remember Will trying to teach me how to
play magic the gathering, and which was exercise and futility
on his part, but she tried. Danielle, I remember your
week especially well, just because of your story and everything
that surrounded the part of Tapanga, and I feel so

(22:20):
bad I don't remember the original actress that much because
Topanga is you you were a topanga And I do
remember Michael and I think it was Bludman and bus
Gang came by our office and talked to me and
Lynn just briefly, and I think they know pretty much.
They had their mindset about what was going, but they

(22:42):
were just doing their due diligence. And they're saying Danielle
and Marlow was it Marlow who was also yeah, being considered.
They said, you've dealt with them on set and everything.
How are they? And we were going, They're fantastic, They're great.
And we talked about Danielle saying she's just so focused,
she's so into the project. She's MARTA's heck, and we

(23:07):
couldn't imagine anybody better. But we love Marla too. But
we could tell they had their they had their decision
made at that point. It was just one of those
little things though.

Speaker 2 (23:15):
I love that. I love that's a that's a little
aspect of it.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
I never knew where it was like there were even
there were even conversations with you guys about just like,
before we move forward with this.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
Do you have any dirt on her? Is there anything
anything anything bad about her? We should know?

Speaker 1 (23:32):
And you were like, no, parents, really is what a
lot of time?

Speaker 5 (23:35):
Right?

Speaker 3 (23:36):
Right?

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Kids? What are the parents like on set? Because if
they're obnoxious, then that kid is going to be a problem,
you know, yes.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
Yes, well, I I have been so blessed with because,
as you guys now, I worked for over twenty years
in Nickelodeon. After I was done with you guys, and
so you know, kild Show, Kid Show, Kids Show, Kid
Chow a lot of parents and uh your groups of parents.
I would stand up against any of the shows that

(24:04):
I was on, but I was very fortunate that the
majority of the parents that I had were fantastic in
Nickelodeon as well. But I remember you guys coming in
in the early days and everybody's getting dropped off by
their respect of parents, usually in a minivan of some sort,
and you come in, sleepy, we take you to school.
He starts a very hard, complex day. And then I

(24:27):
remember cut to the final season where you guys were
all driving your own BMW's Mercedes things like that, and
Ben was running a little late, as he and Matthew
tended to do once in a while on season seven,
and so Dde was like Ben's rennie Ldia. I said, okay, Dad,

(24:49):
will go out and wait for him this time. So
I went outside and Ben comes rolling in at whatever
he was driving at the time. Park said, next to
all you guys. He gets out and he looks at
all cars, and he looks at me, goes, we've changed
a lot over the years, haven't we absolutely outside, absolutely
get inside?

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Yes, it was yeah, we we we We can't say.
Ben and Matt towards the end had a more pliable
relationship with the schedule than some other people there.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
And that's not to say that they were, you know,
would show up hours late, but you know, fifteen twenty
minutes here or there was not unheard of.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
But that's funny because also I was. I was going
to college back then too, so like at that point
I was like coming from class and I would show
up late. I remember. So I'm curious, like in a
weird way. It probably got harder to wrangle us as
we got older, yeah.

Speaker 5 (25:48):
But understandably so. And it was stuff that I could predict.
And you guys came to me, you said, I've got this,
this this so I could shape the day, you know,
or have d d you know, shape the day to
be a little more accommodating to what was going on
and still meet our needs. And you guys always upheld
your ends of the bargain, even Matthew and Ben. And

(26:11):
it was a little easier than when you're young. When
you guys are so young, you don't even know what
you're doing. Half the time. You're just going on impulse,
You're going on hormones, You're going on a lot of things. Yeah,
so you guys are a little more like you know,
cats trying to herd cats. But you guys, you guys
are always trusting. You guys were always well, they're not

(26:34):
going to ask us to do this, and that's something
that really needs to be done. And we would try
not to ask extra things of you guys because we
wanted you to have free time, have the time where
you could just be kids and screw around together and
laugh and whatever. And that was hopefully going to make
a better working environment and a better experience for you guys.

Speaker 3 (26:55):
Well did I mean, I can tell you that the
working environment aspect of it. You know, I'll speak for myself.
If there was anything on the set that I had
a problem with, and that was rare. You were always
my go to guy like you, you made it you
made it that place where it was like we knew
that we could go.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
We've we've said the same thing with like Jeff McCracken.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
There are certain people on the set where it was like,
if we had any problem, we knew it was a
completely and totally safe space. And for me, especially because
you and I spent a lot of time together and
played golf, it was like you were if anything.

Speaker 1 (27:24):
Happened, you were always the first person that I would
go to.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
And yes, yeah, I just want to thank you for
that because you always made it a very very safe,
open kind of environment to where there wasn't anything we
could go and we couldn't say to you.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Do you have a very specific story about Steve, don't you?
Which one about overhearing overhearing some crew? Yeah? I do.
I didn't know if we want to get into that.
I mean, I guess it's a great It's well, it
just shows you. It just shows you how the kind
of the difference.

Speaker 3 (27:53):
It was first season, right or no, no, no, it
was it was right around when the Subway episode was Okay,
it might not have been that week, but it was.
If it wasn't, it was the week after because the
same person I remember having a weird conversation with that week.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
So it was either a week or week after that.
There was a crew member and I.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
Walked out and Danielle and Ben were I wouldn't say
talking to this person. I'd say this person was talking
to them and he was having a very very in
depth conversation about how to receive oral pleasure outside of
a nightclub. Oh my gosh, to Danielle and Ben, who

(28:34):
I think Danielle's fourteen at the time. And I went
right to you, like right to you, and I was like, Steve,
this is not good.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
This guy's bad news.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
You're like which one? And I just pointed him out.
Never saw the guy again. It was just that fast
and that like, Okay, I don't know if you remember
this or not.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
I had forgotten, but now that you're mentioning it, I
sure do remember it now.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, And I have no memory of it at all.

Speaker 7 (28:59):
Yes, it was.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
It was one of those things where it was just
like oh my, oh my god, you know, and I
think I went up to you and again, being the
son of two lawyers, I was like, this dude's liability.
You know, this is not a good thing, and you
were I just remember you're just very calm, very like.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
But that's how it always was.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
You were never going to explode, you were never going
to It was just like, o hey, let's talk about it,
let's figure out what's that.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
It was great. So yeah, I don't think people, I
mean probably people outside of the industry have no clue
how difficult the AD position is and how essential it is.
It's it's you know, it's it's The eighties are the
unsung heroes of the entire film industry and television industry,
because you know, it's it's a position where you are,

(29:44):
you know, you have the director who is making creative decisions,
figuring out shots, and but somebody has to actually run
the stage and actually has to make sure the trains
run on time, the actors show up. There's so many
moving parts and and so often the AD is good
at that aspect of the job. But then is just

(30:06):
an awful person to deal right, not that they're stressed
out and they're so emotional and they're you know, they're
just they're just screaming and yelling and it creates a chaotic,
very stressful environment. And so the magic you know, somebody
like you, Steve who can be a great manager, get
everybody in line, earn everybody's respect, and still be kind

(30:29):
and still be positive and still make people laugh and
like keep everybody on a like that is I mean,
you know, I just took it for granted because I
was a kid. I didn't know the second I moved
into other sets and I saw, you know, oh, man,
the first ad makes or breaks the show, and like
you made the show man. It was always just we
knew we were We knew we were safe, we knew

(30:51):
we were taken care of everything, went to schedule everybody,
and you were also a friend. You were fun to
be around you. So you managed to like maintain authority
without being awful, which is really hard.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
And you look like you said it's exactly like you
said where it was like when Tony and I played
the pranks or stuff like that. If the worst we
would get is like disappointed dad, And that's what you want,
you know, somebody screaming at you. You just don't hear anymore.
But the hey, guys, you know, I'm glad you're safe.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
But that was the oh, like we disappointed in the world.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
To let Steve down, that was like the worst thing
ever so, yeah, certainly appreciate that.

Speaker 5 (31:30):
That was great. Yeah, well, it's the it's the greatest
gift and the curse of working in kids television. I'm
sure many of your guests have already said this, but
it's watching you guys do these amazing things at such
a young age. But then you grow up and it's
so fun to watch you grow up. But then it
forces the show to end because you're now not kids anymore,

(31:52):
and you've gone off and you're like, oh, and so
I've gone through, you know, seventeen eighteen versions of these
kids going through and it kills me, but especially you guys,
because you guys were the first. You are arguably the best.
I used to get in trouble by Josh Peck all

(32:13):
the time because I tell one meets World stories on
the sense of track and Josh, because we'd be doing
something and you go, oh, this reminds me, and sometimes
these guys are doing this, and then it got to
be a running joke and we get to something and
Josh ability have a funny boy meets world story for
Steve's I ought.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
Now we've got podcast beef with Josh.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
Yes, yes, well what you mentioned before that we would
that I tried to play teach you to play Magic,
which led Ryder and I this random memory.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Do you remember we had a.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
Card printed up for you that was on your podium,
the kel Jorian Frost Beast.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
I think we actually called you the Kills.

Speaker 5 (32:55):
For a little too long. I think, yes, Oh my god, man,
I remember you guys writing on my script too, next
to all my cues that I'd have, and you'd write
que the something something monkeys or que the whatever, and
like okay, writer and will have been here. And then

(33:17):
Matthew started in later because he saw you guys. He
was like, okay, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (33:21):
He did the same thing we did just twenty minutes later.

Speaker 7 (33:28):
I love me, Maddie.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
When did you get the bug to direct?

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Like?

Speaker 2 (33:45):
At what? In what you know?

Speaker 4 (33:46):
You said like season three ish was around the time
that you became our first ad.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
At what point then did you.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
Start thinking, ooh, director, I want to I want to
get to that. And then how did you end up
getting the opportunity to direct her for episode?

Speaker 5 (34:02):
I don't know exactly where it came. It was just
a slow growth process because I was just having so
much fun doing what I was doing and as you
guys said it was. It was a busy enough job,
so I was just kind of focused on that or
going home to my family after. Those are kind of
my big draws of attention. But then somewhere, as I

(34:22):
guess maybe season five, just started to think about what
if I was doing the how would I approach it.
It was just more like self quizzing, self testing, how
would you handle this situation? And so for because I
have these wonderful people to observe, and mostly David Trainer
and Jeffy Cracken, but we get you know, David Kendall
once in a while, and you know, it's a really

(34:43):
good people. John Tracy did early on did a show
or two, and I did some pilots with John as well.
So it was a wonderful array of approaches and personalities
to draw from. And then on other shows I'd seen
other guys, but this was a nice, up close personal
I knew all the people involved. So then an episode

(35:05):
became available in season seven, and so I talked to
Karen and they said, hey, you know, I know, but
if nobody else comes up, would Michael and you even consider?
And she said, well, I already have and I've already
brought your name up, and as I really it was
just yeah, just in passing. But now that I know

(35:25):
that you want to let me talk about specifics with
him about this show. And so it just kind of
came around that way and the next thing I knew,
things started moving very quickly.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
Wow, that was a big episode, That's what I was
gonna say. How did you say? I mean, when you
got the script for what is arguably one of our most.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
Bizarre in depth artistic I mean, it was there was
nothing normal about that episode at all.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Were you freaked out when you read the same episode
you're gonna do it?

Speaker 5 (35:55):
And it was a first time writer too, it was
Erica Montafo was part of the Disney Fellows program, so
it was her first script.

Speaker 6 (36:01):
Me.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
I seem to do that a lot. Karen McCain first
time producing me that you know, I find these situations.
But it was all possible because of you guys. Of
even though Michael wasn't really there that much that week.
I remember Bob Tischler was kind of the one who
was present at that time. But because of Karen, because

(36:22):
of Russell, because of the crew, you know, and my
team and all stepping up. They carried me along and
it was a long night because I was piecing together
and it was involved. But I was so thrilled that
everybody got to do their own thing and it was
really Danielle's story and that was a lot of fun.

(36:44):
And then you headed up the b story, the detective aspect,
but everybody got to do their own thing. And I
remember talking about with Ben about, you know, just be
of the bog Guart thing. Don't try to do a
bog Guart imitation, and he's like, oh, thank god. You know,
she was stressing about it all weekends, like no, no, no, no,
I don't think we should go there, and just everybody.

(37:05):
I remember Trina just loving her her wardrobe that she had.
And one of my favorite shots still with the exception
of daniel being sucked into the vortex, is Writer. When
we introduced Writer and him pouring the shot that just
kept going and going and going, and that Writer just
the first time, I said, yes, keep that, that is
so great.

Speaker 3 (37:25):
Yeah, and then you do it, and then you do
the doesn't he do the the two finger gun salute too?

Speaker 5 (37:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (37:30):
It was great ya Isaac, Isaac, so fun. Then I
just remember I had never seen Calsablanca, like any of
the references. I just remember being like, what are we doing? Okay,
just I'll just tell me where to go, what to do.
But I remember it being an incredibly smooth week. Like
I remember because at that point we were we were

(37:52):
getting a lot of new directors. It was sort of
like a lot of actors turned directors or a lot
of favors like friends of Michael would suddenly show up
and be directing, and they didn't all go well, and
I remember being very frustrated and starting to feel like
we were sort of a petri dish for uh other,
you know, for people to try directing. And when you

(38:13):
got your shot and it was a complicated episode, we
were all so happy and it went so well, and
I was like, oh, now somebody who actually knows what
they're doing is stepping into this role, and like who
deserves it? It was such a great feeling. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (38:24):
Yeah, so you're basically saying, you guys are much more
delusional than I ever thought.

Speaker 7 (38:30):
Let's put it this way.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
You had you had mastered then then you had mastered
the art of not letting us see the craziness you
were going through.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
That might have been it because it was.

Speaker 7 (38:39):
It was it.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
I mean everything about that week with the huge sets,
we had tons of extras.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
They were. One of the thing I remember about the
Cosablanca set, especially the actual restaurant set, was how deep
it was.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
I mean we had a lot of very kind of
shallow sets of the boys bedroom stuff like that, there'd
be some depth to them, but this was one that
you want to It went all the.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Way back, which just changes everything.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
And so we're looking at all these were shooting in
hallways that hadn't been there. We're doing special effects. I mean,
the whole thing is in black and white. It was
just one strange thing. After I was like, yeah, I
give it to Steve Great.

Speaker 5 (39:17):
So yeah, Michael was even worried about Michael was worried
about that, I found out later and he said, are
we going to be okay? And Karen like, it's Steve Yeah,
and then she would come back down here, We're going
to be okay. It was a departure for everybody. I
think that's why everybody was maybe a little more rejuvenated.

(39:37):
It was something out of the norm. Of course, we
got to do something. I remember Walter Glover or DP
at the time. You know, was thrilled that it was
in black and white because then you got to try
all this different kind of lighting that you wouldn't on
a normal episode of White means World. So everybody came
to play, and Danielle looked like you were built for
that time period. The wardrobe, the hair, it's fantastic. Everybody

(40:01):
was great. Maddie at the piano, Betsy's singing Bill with
his fez, and.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Jack, Rusty always doing he had the mustache the whole time.
Rusty's just doing this the whole time. It was so
that episode sticks.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
I can't wait to get there because that episode sticks
out to me for so many different reasons, including that
Danielle and I actually got to work together, which is nice.
So she's there, we go, now she's back. But yeah,
it was like that whole week was just a ton
of fun. And you're right, I think after a while,
you've done the same show week after week after week.
The story's changed, but you're essentially doing the same show

(40:36):
and playing the same characters. So to then just to
take it out of that and do something so outland
is so crazy. Uh it does it kind of It
gives you that that morale, pep right when you need it.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
So it was that was a fun week.

Speaker 7 (40:49):
That was a really funny guy.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
I want to talk about Steve's having a baby.

Speaker 4 (40:53):
Steve's having a baby to you, there's so many things.
One do you remember us saying that? Was it annoying?
And how old is that baby?

Speaker 3 (41:03):
Now?

Speaker 5 (41:04):
That baby is about to turn twenty six in less
than a month.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
Oh my gosh, that's not possible.

Speaker 5 (41:13):
And he's starting to attain his pilot's license, going through
that step in order to be a commercial pilot. And
we'll talk later whether you should fly that airline or not.
Just kidding, wow, But yeah, but I remember being gone,
you know, all the all week. But then Chase was born,

(41:36):
I think the day before the audience show, and so
we were all wiped out and everything, of course, but
I wanted to be because it was the one hundredth
episode and I wanted to be part of it, And
so I came back to just run the floor for
one small scene that I couldn't possibly screw up by
not knowing what was going on, and it was some short,

(41:57):
little three page scene down and dirty, and so I
could just be part of it. But then everybody was
going Steeves having a baby? What is this? I had
to get caught up by Michael Say and all of
you guys, what was going down?

Speaker 7 (42:12):
Baby Eves baby?

Speaker 5 (42:16):
And then that was my curse for the rest of
our run because.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
We say it all the time, we still say it,
Steeves out a baby.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
My gosh. So you were with us until the very end.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
Were you excited when the show ended because you knew
now you were going to get to continue to pursue
a directing career or were you sad to see boy end?

Speaker 5 (42:44):
I wanted to continue directing with you guys, and that
darn Sabrina had to go leave t G I f
because we would have come back with your news story
and Michael had already relayed to me I would have
gone a chance to probably do two more episodes of
the following year. So that would have been fantastic to

(43:06):
do the next two things with you guys again.

Speaker 3 (43:10):
So I think the way I'm sorry, I'm going to
mean to interrupt, you were told that if Sabrina had stayed,
we were going to do an eighth season.

Speaker 5 (43:18):
It was not a done deal, but ABC was leaning
toward to my understanding, the way it was told to
me that TJF would have stayed together if they had
two anchor shows for the four slots. Uh. And since
we were the original, obviously we were one. And if
Sabrina had not jumped to networks, that would have given

(43:40):
their second anchor, and they would have approached one more
at least one more season with the new story of
you guys, have you moved out?

Speaker 3 (43:49):
So it's Melissa's fault, then let's get her back out here.
You blame mel because it's her fault. I just want
to make sure that the blame is pointed squarely at
Melissa John.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
I worked with her. I worked with her one week
after Boy Meets World where she was directing, and I
kept rubbing that into her. Okay, good, I'm happy to
be here, but I'm only here because you screwed us
all over.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
Okay, I'm glad. I'm glad that she got some miss
for that.

Speaker 5 (44:15):
Good.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
I'm glad to hear that.

Speaker 4 (44:18):
I also want to talk to you about all that.
I mean truly considered SNL for kids. I mean it's
also another show that has aged incredibly well. I mean,
the entire younger generation just says it completely shaped their
sense of humor, so it must feel amazing to have
uh I have had such a hand in that and

(44:38):
introduced the world to Keenan and kel Amanda bynes Nick Cannon,
Gabriel Iglesias.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
What are your memories from that show.

Speaker 5 (44:46):
I didn't initially get to work with the original cast.
I was brought in when the show moved to Los
Angeles from Florida and had the new cast, which involved
Lisa Foyle's and Jack Desenna and some really really fun cast.
Then Keenan came back and did a guest spot, so

(45:07):
I worked with him then, and then I got to
do the tenth anniversary special, so Keen and Michael both
were there, and Josh came back, and you know, a
lot of the original cast members, and so that was fantastic.
I'd worked with Amanda on The Amanda Show just before
I did Drake and Josh and all that. But it
is definitely the Saturday Live for kids. It was fun

(45:30):
having the music act and sometimes we'd have two on
the same week and then we just record them both
and then split them up in editing, so it was
something different all the time. It was it kept you
on your toes very much. We couldn't do the whole
show live in front of the audience, being on the
what we've always called the kid clock. It just didn't

(45:51):
fit with your workday what the state of California would allow,
and so there was a lot of pre taping and
stuff like that. But it was fun. And I got
to tell you, Keenan and kel together they bring a
special brand of intuitive humor, improv just smart and two
of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Also, that

(46:14):
was a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 (46:15):
I can't remember did you do the episode that I
was in?

Speaker 5 (46:19):
No?

Speaker 1 (46:20):
No, okay, okay.

Speaker 3 (46:21):
I couldn't remember who who directed the episode that I did.

Speaker 5 (46:25):
Yeah, no, And I was not too happy about it.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
That's right. You were off doing something else. I think
that's right.

Speaker 5 (46:30):
Yeah, yeah, or just a way on a trip on
a week off or something like that. But yeah, yeah,
I was.

Speaker 3 (46:36):
Like, what, So I have a question for you then,
because most of your career has obviously been working with kids,
and you've been doing it for twenty years after Boy
Meets World ended, have you One of the things we
talk about in this podcast a lot is just kind
of growing up as a child actor. What it's like
some of the challenges, some of the struggles, some of
the great parts, some of the parts that aren't so great.

(46:58):
Have you noticed a difference in child actors from the
time you started to now with the advent of social media,
with everything kind of going on, have you noticed the
change on the set in what it's like to be
a child actor.

Speaker 5 (47:13):
Yeah, I think so, And it's always hard to put
my finger on it, because I would I think the
natural easy answer to be, you say, is they're a
little more savvy and they know a little more coming in.
But you guys were really savvy. You guys were very prepared.
So I don't know if that's exactly accurate, but there
is something. I think they've just been exposed more to

(47:34):
the behind the scenes stuff what goes on in a show,
so maybe not everything catches them off guard as being
something new and foreign as it might have for you guys.
And so it makes me think, you know, way back
when the Brady Bunch happening, and what was elect for
those guys, when there was no other real standard and
things to watch at that point. The I just no

(47:57):
matter what generation it is of these shows, at what
the young actor has to go through, and this is
what the people don't realize that not only is the
acting part, and that takes up a big part of
the day. And a lot of people are savvy enough
that they know about set school, but they don't know
about the pr work that happens right after the post

(48:18):
production adr work that happens, you know, all the time.
So you guys are literally being taken here, here, there, there,
and then you get home and you're supposed to learn
rewrites that are coming through. And there is no time
in the day for kid actors to be kids under
most circumstances. And it's really sad. It's nice that they're getting,

(48:39):
you know, financial a little financially secure at a much
earlier age than most people do. It's nice that they
are getting this worthy experience, and there's so many pausitives
come out, but it's all earned, and it's earned to
the end degree, and people don't realize that. And so
when I see you guys who are normal, functioning, delightful

(48:59):
people in society, that's not always the case on that
perilous road that sometimes it eats people and spits people out.
So I think also the new kids or the newer generation,
they may be a little more prepared for that because
I think their families are a little more prepared. I
think they're managers or agents. If you have good agents

(49:20):
who really care about the client, they're a little more
depth at handling the whole situation. So I don't know
if that really answers your question, but no, it does.

Speaker 3 (49:29):
It's interesting just to see kind of the progression of
the child actor now. Yeah, I think is certainly different
than it was back in the day.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
When people find out that you worked on Boy Meets World,
what do they ask you?

Speaker 5 (49:44):
Inevitably they have a favorite, one of you guys is
a favorite, and so what's right? Or like, what's Danielle like?
And I get asked by the ones who really know
the show, what was it like when daniel got her
haircut at that frequently? And I say, you just don't know.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
That was what a hectic night.

Speaker 5 (50:09):
It was traumatic for me and I just had to
stand there and have my arm around her shoulder. I
wasn't the one who was doing this, and uh so, yeah,
we get asked that, and we also get uh uh,
a writer, A writer will as cool as they seem
as I know they're cooler.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
Right, Yeah, they were playing do you know, the kil
Jeury and frostby magic, the gathering or playing magic the gathering.

Speaker 5 (50:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of them don't know the
things that you know. Writer is a perpetual student, you know.
I still remember the day when Writer said, Hey, if
I could just go to school the rest of my life,
if I didn't need money to stay alive, you know,
that's what I would do. I would just do that,
And uh, will they don't know that the extensive amount

(50:58):
of voice over work, I fairly big roles on very
big projects that Will did, And they don't know that
Danielle has now become this accomplished director herself, and so
they just don't know the inner workings. And it's a
it's always fun to relay that that news.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Yeah, is there a week I won't even say an episode.
Is there a week on Boy Meets.

Speaker 3 (51:19):
World for good or for bad? Excluding your directing debut? Yes,
that's that stands out for you.

Speaker 5 (51:28):
I don't know about that. To me, it's it's all
this amassing of these wonderful stories and memories that you
just remember from you know, like Daniel's hair cutting week.
I remember when we all found out that Steve Hibbert
one of our beloved writers played the part of the
gimp fiction.

Speaker 7 (51:48):
We all freaked out.

Speaker 5 (51:50):
I remember we were getting ready to start a run
through and it was it was one of those first
things where you guys were all about to make an
entrance from something. So you're all behind the set and
I think Jeff McCracken was directing, and he's like, and
action and nobody came out, and he goes action, nobody
came out, and then all of a sudden you hear

(52:11):
Ben going Hibbert the Gimp, and then just all you
guys are laughing from behind set, and all the writers
is breaking up, and the network looking back, like what
he's hilarious. And then Will had another moment. I remember
when we were doing the Wilderness Store set and Rusty,
who's usually rock solid on his lines, just was going

(52:33):
up on a line, just could not get it right.
And Rusky puts all this pressure on himself and he starts,
you know, getting mad at himself, which is just making
the situation worse. And so he literally like four takes,
you know, had not gotten this line. He's like, oh,
and he's getting out of somewhere in front of the audience,
and so we we said again, we're going to start
one more time, and then Will had the first entrance,

(52:54):
so I just said, you know, checking with you to
make sure you know that we were going again, like Will,
are you all right? And then Will says, yeah, but
what's Rusty's problem, which just bust everybody uprooke the curse.
Rusty was fine on the next take because it just
had interjected this humor. So it's, you know, it's stories
like that. I remember cutting through behind the kitchen windows

(53:18):
once during the take David Trainer's directing and Michael had
rerunened something, but I wasn't. This is when I was
the second ad, so I was backstage hair and makeup something,
handling something, and something big came up. I had to
get to Lynn out of the set. And all week
long we'd rehearsed it one way and we were not
looking toward the kitchen. We were way over body the
refrigerator in the door going into the living room, and

(53:40):
Michael had changed something. I didn't know you guys are rolling.
I cut right past the window and I hear it
cut and I'm like, oh no, that could only be
for one reason. That was me and Lynn's like looking
at me and David trainor came goes. If it is
anybody else but you, I don't know. I'm so sorry.
I'm going back now.

Speaker 3 (54:00):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
You never want to be the person that ruins it.
You never want to be the person that ruins it.

Speaker 4 (54:05):
No, No, So Steve, having worked on so many successful shows,
what do you think makes a show super successful versus
a show that you know does a few episodes and
then gets canceled?

Speaker 2 (54:18):
What do you think the secret sauces?

Speaker 5 (54:21):
It's that perfect blend between the writing staff and the cast.
How can it be anything But it's the writers who
initially create interesting characters that are going to take us places.
But then they find the right cast who can take
those words and breathe life times one thousand percent into them.

(54:42):
And then the writing staff will take the cue from
what the actor has developed and then start feeding into
that path that has been laid by the actors. What
is this character like? What does this character do? What
are the course you know what? And then they start
writing to those strains and when you find that perfect
sweet spot. To me, that's it. And I know other

(55:03):
shows get popular because of some big headlining star. Is
there in the lead position? And people are tuning in
for that, But for most of the shows, I think
it's that other blend. Yeah, and you guys had it.

Speaker 4 (55:18):
Thirty years later, looking back at Boy Meets World, what
do you think of all of it now? Do you
have an overwhelming feeling like what you did? You ever
think we'd still be talking about it this many years later.

Speaker 5 (55:30):
I wasn't sure. I sure, I knew it was something
of quality, was something of substance, and you know, once
again not to keep referencing the Pretty Bunch, but you
know that had this longevity that people always talked about
and idolized, and it's like, well, why can't this show
be like that? It has characters that you love as

(55:51):
a fan, It has stories that deliver a message that
brought a lot of import to a lot of people's lives,
or might have helped solve a question that they had
about their own lives. And so those are two big
key components. So I sure hoped that it would. And
then when Girl Meets World came around, I said, well,
that's just gonna lock this in. And now with this podcast,

(56:13):
I hear more about Boy Meets World now, possibly than
I did in the first five years. After we were done. Wow,
and so kudos to you, guys. I mean, this show,
this podcast is wow. It's taken off.

Speaker 4 (56:30):
We feel very we feel very fortunate with it, and
we're so happy that you came up with the idea
for it.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Yeah, thank you for coming up with this.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
I thank you. We I don't.

Speaker 4 (56:39):
I'll never forget the day you I'll never forget the
day you made the phone call and said, you know, guys,
I think I think the three of you should start
a podcast.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
And you don't get enough credit for it, and we
don't give credit where credit is due.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
We really do like to give so we're not.

Speaker 5 (56:52):
For maybe I had one too many old fashions.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
And anybody but writer will give credit to anyone but writer.

Speaker 5 (57:06):
I can tell that there's one of your reactions. It's
not quite the same as the other kid eat.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
Man.

Speaker 5 (57:13):
Anytime, anytime I can come up with great ideas for you, guys,
you just let me know. I love that.

Speaker 1 (57:19):
We really do.

Speaker 5 (57:22):
Well.

Speaker 4 (57:22):
Steve, thank you so much for being here with us,
that it was so good to reconnect with you. I
would love to try to arrange a lunch for the
four of us to where we could actually spend some
more time just catching up with you. You have been one
of the people, and there are surprisingly and maybe not
surprisingly because you know the people we worked with.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
But when you have people that you.

Speaker 4 (57:42):
Can look back on in your life, especially when you
were a kid, that were like true pillars of somebody
you knew you could count on, who made you feel safe,
who you could rely on, who you could tell things to, Like.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
We have a lot of those from the show.

Speaker 4 (57:57):
We actually you know, the more we bring crew on
and cast on and we talk to them and we
say we always knew we could go to you. That
far out weighs the number of people we go never
really liked that person, you know, but you are one
of those people, and truthfully of one of the people
at the forefront. Like if we had to put together

(58:19):
a short list of three to five, you'd be on
that list for each and every one of us. And
we knew how seriously you took your job. We knew
how seriously you took protecting us, and you made our
day to day fun even when we were pistols and
not showing up on time or going through something in
our lives.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
We knew that we needed to do better.

Speaker 4 (58:39):
Because we didn't want to let you down, but you
also never made us feel bad about ourselves, and we
owe you an enormous debt of gratitude and a big
thank you for that.

Speaker 5 (58:49):
Oh well, thank you. That means the world to me,
coming from three people who are still very very very
dear to me. And I've always said the friends, I
don't like picking favorites of shows and everything, but you
guys are right there.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
I wasn't gonna ask, but I'll take it.

Speaker 5 (59:13):
I do have three casts that I am very very
partial to, and you are one of those three. For sure.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
I'll take I'll take top I'll take top three.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
I'll take top three.

Speaker 5 (59:22):
I like that three absolutely, all.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
Right, Steve, But we'll be we'll be in touch for
a lunch soon.

Speaker 5 (59:28):
That sounds great. I'll let you know next time. I'm
in LA since I lived way up in Washington State.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Yeah, you live in Washington State now, I do.

Speaker 5 (59:38):
I can see Portland, Oregon from my house, so I'm
south as far south as you can get. But is it.

Speaker 3 (59:43):
Easier to hit the Fairway wood up there than it
was down here in La?

Speaker 5 (59:47):
No, because it's so rainy. I played like twice a year.
It's always raining.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
Well, we will be in Portland sometime next year. We
will also let you know when that happens, and maybe
you just hop on over to Portland and we'll get lunch.

Speaker 5 (59:59):
Then that's that's an easy dude.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
Yeah, okay, great, thank you.

Speaker 5 (01:00:04):
It's great to see you, to see you, oh.

Speaker 4 (01:00:09):
Man, so much fun to reconnect. Can you believe Steve's
having a baby is going to be twenty six?

Speaker 1 (01:00:16):
No, and a pilot some day you get so jealous.
Welcome to whatever airlines. This is Steve's having a baby.
And we know you have your choice.

Speaker 7 (01:00:24):
Of all the like what's.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Gonna be just we don't even know his name is
just having a baby. It's Steve's having a baby. That's
what we know. You have your choice of Steve's having
a Baby's guys.

Speaker 4 (01:00:38):
Could do you think we could convince Steve's having a
baby to just be our pilot. We need to get
we somehow need to There's a few things we have
to figure out, like, you know, a plane and all
that stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
But becoming billionaires first spye a plane.

Speaker 4 (01:00:53):
Well that was really great to see him, and yeah,
what a what a guy.

Speaker 1 (01:00:58):
It was so funny to hear his voice even more
than seeing, because it was always his voice that ran
our stage. He would be in the headphones, he would
be announcing things, all right, everybody, and he would count.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
We would be looking at each other exactly.

Speaker 4 (01:01:11):
We would have to be looking at each other and
in the stage, and he was right, you know, right
off camera. And so the sound of his voice is
a cue for us to do a million different things.

Speaker 7 (01:01:22):
Yes, yeah, and so.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
Yes, the sound of his voice just feels like I
have to do something. I'm running late, especially the reason
we have anxiety over dressing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
We're rolling. We're on a bell.

Speaker 7 (01:01:33):
Oh, we're on a bell.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
Okay, Yeah, because I mean people, don't you when you're
rolling a set, they ring a loud bell and all
these red lights flash above every door, so nobody comes
in or out of the sound stage. Yeah, going on
a bell that means that I do.

Speaker 3 (01:01:47):
I just got a little a thank you for Like,
I don't know my lines and I missed a cue.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
I'm having a waking actors dream right now. It's horrible.
You have to stop walking because you could even hear
people walking backstage. So it's like if you're at the
craft service table and we're on a bell, you have
to stand still with your snack in your hand. So funny.
Oh man, oh Man.

Speaker 4 (01:02:10):
Well, thank you all for joining us for this episode
of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us
on Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send us
your emails pod Meets World Show at gmail dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
And we have merch.

Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
Help us out. Steve's buying some.

Speaker 4 (01:02:24):
Merch Podmeetsworldshow dot com runch why writer send us out,
writer writer.

Speaker 7 (01:02:34):
Stop right?

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
What We love you all? Pod dismissed. Pod Meets World
is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel,
Wilfernell and Ryder Strong executive producers, Jensen Karp and Amy
Sugarman Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor,
Tara Sudbox producer, Jackie Rodriguez, engineer and Boy Meets World

(01:02:57):
super fan Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle
Morton of Typhoon. You can follow us on Instagram at
Podmets World Show or send us an email at Podmetsworldshow
at gmail dot com.