Five Fun Behind the Scenes Facts About BOY MEETS WORLD 20 Years After the Series Finale

I’ve got a few fun, behind the scenes facts about the series Boy Meets World from co-creator Michael Jacobs, as this week marks the 20th anniversary of the show’s series finale. The series was a funny and sweet coming-of-age story about Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, real-life younger brother of Fred Savage, who played Kevin Arnold in my other favorite coming-of-age series, The Wonder Years.

The show followed Cory through struggles and adventures involving his family, friends, school, and first love, Topanga, who he went on in the series to marry. Savage starred alongside Danielle Fishel as Topanga, William Daniels as Mr. Feeny, Rider Strong as Shawn, Will Friedle as Eric, Betsy Randle as Amy, and William Russ as Alan. Many fans of the series have watched and rewatched the show through the years, but Jacobs offered Yahoo! a few insights into the series that you may not have heard before.

1. William Daniels (Mr. Feeney) Quit the Show Before the Pilot - Jacobs had written the script for the first episode, but when he took the script to executives, they told him the conversation between Mr. Feeney and Cory was too advanced for their target audience, and he should re-write. He wrote a new script, and did a table read that none of the cast was very impressed with. Daniels called Jacobs and said he wouldn’t be staying on in the role. Jacobs asked if he would hold that thought for just 12 hours, and Daniels agreed. Jacobs brought back his script, with the approval from executives, and Daniels was so impressed with what he thought was a revision, that he remained in the role, and the rest is history.

2. Topanga Was Named After the Famous Southern California Canyon Road - Jacobs recalls that he had been trying to think of a name for the lead female character that was unusual, to fit her personality. He said he got a call from a studio executive while he was driving in his car, asking for the name, when he looked up at the street sign he was stopped at, and said, “Topanga.” They loved it! But he said if they had called him five minutes earlier, her name would have been Canoga! The name Topanga has Native American origin, and means “where the mountain meets the sea,” so it feels totally fitting for Topanga’s hippy parents to have named her that. It was meant to be.

3. Shawn and Jack’s Dad, Chet, Was Always Going To Come Back After Dying on the Series - Chet Hunter, played by Blake Clark (The Waterboy, 50 First Dates), was deadbeat dad to Shawn, and later seasons character Jack, played by Matthew Lawrence. He is in and out of the picture, disappointing Shawn at every turn, until he seems to finally clean up his act, confront his demons, and be a good guy. Once this is accomplished, he dies of a heart attack. But Jacobs said that when Clark thanked him for the opportunity, Jacobs told him he wasn’t done on the series, much to Clark’s surprise! Jacobs said, “I thought he would be better dead than he was alive. I don’t know if he was, but he was real effective dead.” The character went on to appear from beyond in three more episodes.

4. Mr. Feeny Revealing That He Knows Cory’s Real Name Was Meant to Show the Closeness and Love Between the Two Characters - In the closing moments of the series, Mr. Feeny refers to Cory by his real name, a guarded secret throughout the show. Jacobs explained, “We wanted the audience to understand the relationship between Feeny and Cory transcended teacher-student for one reason,” he explains, drawing a direct connection between the “Cornelius” moment and one of Feeny’s final lines of the series. “It set up [the line]: ‘I love you all.’ When he calls him Cornelius, it is an act of love — even though Cory says ‘Shh.’”

5. Cory’s Younger Brother Joshua Was Played By Michael Jacobs’ Son Danny After a Last-Minute Casting Change - “We brought in another kid, and this kid ran around the set and broke stuff on set! I called my wife and said, ‘Bring [Danny] to set.’” Danny had very little time to get prepped for the scene, but he came in and nailed it in one take. “When Ben said, ‘Boy meets world, now I get it,’ and the audience laughs and laughs hard, Danny never broke — Danny never turned to look at the audience.” And to end the sequel series, Girl Meets World, Jacobs brought his son back one more time. “We brought in another kid, and this kid ran around the set and broke stuff on set! I called my wife and said, ‘Bring [Danny] to set.’” Despite no prep time, Jacobs’s son nailed the scene in one take. “When Ben said, ‘Boy meets world, now I get it,’ and the audience laughs and laughs hard, Danny never broke — Danny never turned to look at the audience.”

It’s really fun to hear a few tidbits about the series we grew up with that have held up in our memories. Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World are available to stream now on Disney+. Go give them another watch!