October 15, 2025 • 32 mins
Welcome to the ballroom, Mr. Feeny! It was Dedication Night and Danielle was joined by the one and & only William Daniels as she performed to the Boy Meets World theme song in the ballroom.
It was a night filled with emotions and nostalgia, with the BMW cast sitting front row. But what did Danielle think about what the judges had to say about her Jive? And did she finally get her very first 8?
Plus, find out why this week was the hardest yet and how things will be different for the show’s upcoming tribute to Wicked. It’s time for class - on a brand new episode of Danielle with the Stars!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's Danielle Fischol, podcaster, TV director and mom of two
and tonight, maybe more than ever forever known as Topanga,
and that's because I am currently competing on the thirty
fourth season of Dancing with the Stars, participating in the
tradition of Dedication Night, despite having absolutely no dance experience
(00:36):
before stepping into a practice with my pro partner Pasha Pashkov,
and throughout this journey, I have decided to record my
experience in the form of a podcast called Danielle with
the Stars, hoping that maybe in one hundred to two
hundred years, people will discover it amongst post apocalyptic rebbel
and hear what it was like to push yourself every
(00:58):
day to possibly win a Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy.
I am just off the press line from Dedication Night
and absolutely jam packed an emotional night of celebrity and dance.
I danced the jive to the season five through seven
Boy Meets World theme song by twenty cent Crush featuring
Phil Rosenthal, and I dedicated it to ninety nine and
(01:23):
a half year old Bill Daniels aka mister Feenie, who
joined me on the dance floor. Why did I pick Bill.
I'll tell you exactly why I picked Bill. I consider
him to be the patriarch of Boy Meets World, and
Boy Meets World is a show that forever changed my life,
(01:47):
not just personally but professionally. And Bill was a shining
example of what it meant to be a professional and
to be kind and to be good with kids. He
didn't have to be He could have treated us like
snot nosed kids, because we were a lot of times
we were having fun and goofing around and I came
(02:11):
to the set with little to zero experience, and he
never treated me that way. He always treated me like
a peer, which is really saying something. So I have
taken Bill's lesson of how to be a professional with
me onto every set I have gone on to since
the day I met him at twelve years old. Being
(02:32):
able to honor Boy Meets World tonight felt so special,
like such a gift. I knew full well that I
was representing every nineties kid, every early aughts everyone who's
grown up watching Boy Meets World and has no doubt
(02:54):
learned tons of lessons from mister Feenie. Life lessons, school lessons,
how to be a good person, lessons I knew that
this was a great opportunity to channel all of that
love and respect that you all have for him, and
then through me and through dance, give him his flowers.
(03:15):
And I was talking to Bill about it before we
went out there, and I said, everyone here is so
excited that you're here. And I said, and everyone online
is talking about how special this is and how happy
we are to be able to do this for you.
And he said, Danielle, I would do anything for you.
(03:36):
And I thought, Yeah, what an honor that he even
let me do this at ninety eight years old. To
leave your house early in the day and then be
on a stage for eight plus hours, do a dress rehearsal,
sit in a dressing room.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's a lot to ask of somebody. And I know
he let me do it, as again Bill showing me
a lot of respect and treating me like a peer.
But he didn't need to do it, and I'm so
honored that he did. So I want to give you
in case you don't know who Bill is other than
mister Feenie, I do. Just want to give you a
(04:19):
little bit of a bio. William David Daniels was born
in Brooklyn, New York, in nineteen twenty seven, and he
was a child entertainer himself. He was in a family
variety act as a kid, dancing and singing, and he
even made his Broadway debut at just the age of sixteen.
Soon after, he was drafted in nineteen forty five and
(04:39):
served as a disc jockey for the Army radio station.
He would then use the GI bill to enroll at
Northwestern University to study acting and drama. Once he graduated,
he quickly became a hard working and highly regarded performer
who would rack up hundreds of credits. He'd returned to
stage as an adult dozens of times, and a he
(05:00):
heard in nineteen sixty seven's cinematic classic The Graduate as
Dustin Hoffman's father. He famously starred as John Adams in
both the Broadway musical, where he was nominated for a Tony,
and then the film version of seventeen seventy six, he
played Doctor Craig on Saint Elsewhere, a role that won
him two Emmys and made him and his wife and
(05:20):
co star Bonnie Bartlett, the first husband and wife team
to take home the award on the same night in
twenty years It's also worth noting they are currently the
longest active Hollywood marriage at seventy four years. Seventy four
years to be married. Some people don't even live to
(05:43):
be seventy four years old, and they have been married
for seventy four years. Bill would also voice Kit, the
car partner of David Hasselhoff, in the show Night Writer
and Yes. He was also the strict and kind hearted
educator George Feeney on all seven seasons of Boy Meets World.
Who would have ever predicted it would be the role
(06:06):
of his illustrious career. He'd also appear on Gray's Anatomy
and later show up on Girl Meets World to reprise
mister Feenie in the Disney reboot. Bill has also made
it his life goal to give back to the communities
who gave to him. He's constantly speaking up for civil
rights and kindness. He was president of the Screen Actors
Guild from nineteen ninety nine to two thousand and one,
and he loves the legacy Feenie has left behind, especially
(06:29):
the effect it had on viewers who have then gone
on to enter the field of teaching. In the audience
tonight was so much of our boy Meets World family,
will Fredell, Betsy Randall, William, Rusty Russ, Alex de ser,
Trina McGee, Bonnie Bartlett, Bill's wife, Writer really wanted to
(06:51):
be here, but he is working out of town. Tony
Quinn also wanted to be here but could not make it,
and Matt Lawrence is in Africa, wanted to be here
but couldn't make it. And Lee Norris lives in North Carolina.
So I know that everyone was asking me tonight, what
does it mean to you to have your Boy Meets
(07:12):
World cast in your family there with you to celebrate
the show. And I would love to take credit and say, yes,
they're there to support me, but the truth is every
single person came out because they wanted to show their
love and their respect to Bill, and he so rightly
deserves it. Of course, my real family was also there.
(07:34):
That's my chosen family, my Boy Meets World family, But
my real family was there, my mom, my dad, Christine,
my dad's wife, Jensen's anti Candy was there, my brother
was there. It was really nice. Obviously, Jensen's there every week,
not just supporting me in the audience, but also making
sure all my guests get in the thought that they
(07:56):
have their credentials and bringing people back and forth and
just truly taking care of everybody, which means a lot.
I also had visiting me tonight Janice Leanne Brown The
Star of Wizards Beyond Waverley Place and Kenzie Richardson The
Star of Vamparina. Those are two shows I'm able to
direct for on Disney Channel. It was very sweet of
(08:18):
them to come out. They looked beautiful. They were all
glammed up and absolutely gorgeous, and we got to take
some pictures on the ballroom floor, so.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That was really fun. I am not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
This was a hard week. It was a hard week.
We've reached the point in the competition where we're almost
at the halfway point. Next week is week six and
there are eleven total weeks of Dancing with the Stars,
so we are all tired. I think today maybe I
(09:02):
think today's day thirty, since I've had a day off,
and those days of working are not inconsequential. We're dancing
a minimum of four hours a day, plus doing interviews
for the packages, plus doing like OTF interviews, which also
are for the packages, and we're also doing press interviews.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's they are busy, busy days, and then on top
of that just trying to keep your body healthy and
trying to stay healthy. This week, lots of people were sick.
Andy was sick, Jen was sick, Pasha and I. The
rehearsal space that we normally rehearse in that has beautiful
floors that are great to dance on, was completely booked
(09:45):
up for some reason. Everybody wanted the same rehearsal time apparently,
and so we went to a different location and they
didn't have as nice as floors. There was concrete right
below the wood floor, and so for four hours we
did a jive, jumping and bouncing on concer great floors,
and both Pasha and myself woke up the next day
and felt like we had the flu. Like our bones,
(10:08):
our muscles, everything hurt. And it took a full forty
eight hours for me to feel like I was even
remotely normal, And even then I don't feel super normal.
My right hamstring, the one that I tore, has somehow
made a miraculous recovery. I don't My doctor wants me
(10:29):
to go and have more imaging when all of this
is said and done, just to kind of see where
the dust is settled, and I'm amazed that I have
a torn hamstring. It feels really good, and now my
left one just is not great. But you know, this
dance also just doesn't come super easily to me as
(10:52):
much as I would want it to, because I'm a fun, bouncy,
jumpy person. The stamina required for it it was a lot.
And also, you know where we needed Bill to be
in what we call the garage, that little part of
the Dancing with the Stars ballroom that's like a garage.
Bill was going to be in there, and we had
to then get to the center of the dance floor,
(11:14):
and not just the center, but like the upstage center,
because for a jive, you want to be able to
see a lot of head to toe and if you're
too far down the stage and close to the garage,
too close to say, carry Ann or beyond carry Anne,
then you won't see a lot of feet. You're gonna
just mostly see waste up. And so if we knew
(11:35):
we wanted people to be able to see our footwork,
we needed to be pretty far upstage, which meant our
dance started basically with a full sprint, and when you're rehearsing,
you don't necessarily have the room that has the long
enough distance for you to practice that sprint. So a
lot of times throughout the week we were not sprinting.
We were just starting the dance, you know, like we'd
(11:56):
like do a little jog and then we'd start the dance.
And then yesterday, when we got here for camera blocking
and we were actually in the space, I looked at
Pasha and I was like, this is far and yeah,
so I basically started the dance already winded, which is
not easy.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Like the amount of.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Stamina required to do a jive and to do a
jive well and to rehearse a jive all week is immense.
We also had done some choreography Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday that Pasha thought he was pretty happy with, and
it wasn't perfect. We knew we were going to work
on it on Sunday, and then when we arrived on
(12:35):
Sunday morning, Pasha said, don't hate me, but I'm going
to change eight counts. And I was like, what what
did you just say? And he was like, yeah, I
watched our tape back last night and I'm just not
thrilled with these eight counts. And I think we can
do better, and I think the judges might be harsh
(12:56):
on it, and I really want to change it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And man, I want to be the.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Type a person who after four or five days of
rehearsing something and then just throw me a curveball and
I'm like, I got it. I am that way with directing,
I am that way with acting because I have my
ten thousand hours in those things.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I don't know what I'm doing with dance, and my
brain really locks onto things. Once my brain locks in
and goes, this is the routine, this is your choreography.
It is hard to shake it loose. And he changed
it on Sunday, and like I wasn't my best self,
(13:41):
Like I just wasn't my best self. Pasha definitely saw
the very frustrated side of Danielle, the side that was
like why are we doing this? And I was really
beating myself up and I was super frustrated, and I
felt like I was on the verge of tears a
couple of times. And you know, there's nothing Pasha could
(14:07):
do at this point that changes the way I feel
about him. He is solid as a human being, solid
as a man, solid as a dancer.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
He is just.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Truly a plus and so even though I was very
frustrated with him, and I let him know that I
was very frustrated with him, I think he also knows
that it doesn't change a thing about the way I
feel about him, and I respect him and I appreciate
his opinion, and I know that if he felt so
(14:45):
strongly that he wanted to change it, it was for
good reason. But that doesn't mean that in the moment
it wasn't hard and that I wasn't a little upset
by it. I also think this week, being dedication night,
I felt an enormous amount of pressure to put on
an even better performance than I normally do. This wasn't
(15:06):
even a night about me. It was a night about
somebody named Bill Daniels, who I love and respect so much,
and I didn't want to go out there and not
do a good dance. I also felt an immense amount
of pressure to perform for you, guys, because I know
that this night was me channeling all of your love
(15:28):
and respect for Bill and mister Feeney and boy Meets
World and sending it all to him. And so it
was just a hard week. You know, and everyone's storylines
are emotional, and everyone has their family there, and the
kids were in and out of the rehearsal space, and
you know, we also didn't get to rehearse with Bill.
Of course, he's ninety eight years old. He's not leaving
(15:49):
his house and driving to Hollywood for rehearsals, so we
didn't really get to rehearse with him. We just, you know,
so a lot of things changed kind of the last second.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
It was.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
It was a rough week. I feel really relieved that
it's over, and I just hope that it was an
enjoyable night. I haven't watched the performance back yet. I
don't know. I don't know what everyone saw. I feel
like I messed up. I know I messed up. I
don't know exactly where, but I know I made mistakes,
(16:25):
and I immediately after the dance, I just felt I
was worried I had let Pasha down.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And I never want to let Pasha down.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Because he works so hard for us. So I did.
On a happier note, I did get my first eight
from Bruno, who seemed to really enjoy the performance, and
I squealed when I saw him hold up the eight.
(16:55):
I was so happy about it. It really means a
lot to me. I was like, on such a special
night to get my first EID, I'll remember it forever,
so that makes me very happy. And I loved having
Kim there. Kim Johnson is just so well trained in ballroom.
She's won a mirror Ball twice. She is incredible. I
(17:17):
thought she was so well spoken. I thought her critiques
and her feedback for everybody was so great. Her with
the pen trick that she showed me, Pasha and I
both audibly gasped when we were on the floor, We're like,
oh ooh, we are definitely taking that with us into rehearsals.
Can't wait to put that into play. I thought she
was lovely and so great to have here. I thought
(17:40):
she really added to the judge's table tonight, and that's
hard to do as a guest judge. She really did
a great job. I thought I totally one hundred percent
understand exactly what Carrie Anne was talking about. It really
pained me to hear people booing her, because it takes
(18:02):
courage for us to be out there dancing, and it
also takes courage for them to have to critique us
and to give their honest opinions, even when they know
they're not going to land well with the audience. I
always appreciate them being thoughtful and giving feedback because it
is something for me to work on. When she said,
she's starting to feel like all of our dances look
(18:23):
the same, and I thought, Okay, we've had a tango,
we've had a cha chaw, we've had a quick step
in a jive. Of course, a quick step in a
jive are kind of similar in the sense that they're
both a little bouncy. They're also very upbeat. Tango would
have been a perfect opportunity for me to not have
my bright, bubbly, vibrant personality on display. But it was
(18:45):
the first week of Dancing with the Stars. My story
of why I chose my anthem song being Stronger because
I had, you know, survived breast cancer. There were a
lot of reasons why that night. Although not a traditional
tango smile because tango's a little more serious, I was
a smiley person during my tango and it was a choice.
(19:06):
I could have been a very serious tangoer, but that
just wasn't the mood for our dance, so I smiled
through it. So if you think about it from their perspective.
I did a tango where I smiled. I did a
cha chaw where I smiled really big. I did a
quick step where I was smiley and bubbly, and tonight
I did a jive where I was smiley and bubbly.
(19:27):
I knew exactly what she meant, even though I had
not thought about it going into tonight, like, oh, I
wonder if all these faces and dances look the same.
But the minute she said it, I thought, she's right,
and this is a TV show at the end of
the day, and her saying, listen, I'm looking forward to
seeing something else. That's what what I know. That's not
(19:49):
the word she used, but what I heard was I'm
looking forward to seeing another side of you. And the
good news is next week they're going to get it.
They're going to get it for and I have no
doubt that when I show Carrie Anne a totally different
side of me and she sees a completely different dance
(20:09):
style and a completely different demeanor from me, I know
she will pay attention and I know she will say something.
I know she's giving me thoughtful feedback because she is
rooting for me. So that was about how that's my commentary.
And then Derek was very sweet. I feel like, poor guy.
When there's four people, it's just so hard for anybody
(20:30):
to get thoughts in. But I thought what he had
to say was very kind. Everybody is very kind. We
also had a last minute song change. Apparently the first
part of the song they used a different verse, and
someone at ABC is a very big Boy meets World
fan and saw our dress rehearsal and was like, hmm,
(20:53):
you have to include the verse about wandering down this
road that we call life. It has to be in there.
It's what everyone wants to hear. And I was like, oh, yeah, duh.
I don't put in too much. I don't get too
much commentary on the song choices. So I just kind
of like, whatever they did, they did. But I'm so
glad they made that change. It was really nice. Also
(21:13):
looking really forward to hearing what Sharna Burgess has to
say about tonight and all of the dances. In case
you are unaware, she has joined the Danielle with the
Stars family. She has her own show on our feed
now called Sharna Burgess in the Fourth Chair. She is
sharing her thoughtful comments on how what she thought of
the dances. She's giving us her own scores. She has
(21:36):
her own scoring method, which maybe is a little more
harsh than some of the Dancing with the Stars judges are.
So if you haven't heard that yet, I highly recommend
that you check it out because she is interesting and
endlessly knowledgeable. So she's a great person to take lessons from.
If you have not subscribed to that feed, please make
sure to do that now. I thought everyone's dances tonight
(22:01):
were unbelievable. I I cried for every single one. I thought,
having the kids come out the way they were incorporated.
Olivia and Dylan's dance, her little broken wrists and her
pointed toes, and the lift where he carried her down
(22:23):
the staircase, and then her running out to him at
the very end. So sweet. Cornelia, Andy's daughter, and her
little pointed fingers when she went running off the floor
with her little arms out like this, just so sweet.
I learned tonight in his package that Cornelia is his
adopted daughter. I did not know that they are just
(22:46):
so sweet and so lovely. Robert Irwin, My goodness, I
got to spend quite a bit of time today, maybe
about thirty minutes sitting next to Terry Irwin in the
hair and makeup trailer, and I really got to tell
(23:07):
her from just the bottom of my heart how unbelievably
special he is. She has done such an amazing job
raising those kids. And I told Robert when we were
in the skybox, if my sons grow up to be
(23:30):
a fraction of what he is, I will just I
don't need any other accomplishment in my entire life. Everything
you see of him, there is not one insincere or
disingenuous thing about him. He is everything that's good in
the world is wrapped up in Robert Irwin. And also
(23:54):
he looks like a freaking movie star. He's like a
movie star who also happens to be the greatest human
that's ever lived. Like what that does not seem fair?
But let me tell you, he is all of those things.
So I can't say it enough. Vote for Robert or
when I freaking love the kid. I thought Whitney's dance
was beautiful. I thought Jen's dance with her mom was incredible.
(24:17):
I thought Elaine dancing with her best friend. Passion and
I were talking about what an incredible show this is,
where in one night you can honor your mother, Jordan,
honoring her father, Whitney, honoring her husband Scott and Mark
(24:39):
Gay husband being honored. Bill Daniels ninety eight years old,
Andy adopted daughter Dylan, five year old little sister alex Earl,
twelve year old sister from a very tumultuous time in
their family. Elaine dancing with her best friend at a
(24:59):
song in a dance about female friendships? Was there anything missed?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Like?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
We just ran the gamut of things that you could
honor and dedicate, no overlaps and just I mean truly unbelievable,
unbelievable night of television and then surprise, nobody had to
go home, which I know last week some people were
(25:27):
surprised that they sent somebody home on Disney Night, and
so I was just like, oh gosh, this competition is serious.
They're sending somebody home every single night. And then tonight
to find out nobody was going home, it felt like
the right thing to do. It felt like everybody was
just on such an emotional high that it would have
felt really, really bad to send someone home. I really Also,
(25:52):
I have to say I love the twist of dedication
night having it be somebody who you can incorporate into
the dance. I do think making it so that everyone
does have to incorporate someone to the dance limit some
people so maybe in the future they can do it's
your choice. You can do it to somebody who's living
in which case they come out with you, or you
(26:15):
could do it to somebody who has passed. But I
thought it really added a very special touch to a
dedication night, which has always been one of my favorite weeks.
But I think having people there was it was really nice.
It made it extra special. I wore a very Tapenga
(26:45):
coded I have a very Topanga coded look. I don't
know that's coded. Actually it's just flat out to bang it,
no code. I have lots of crimmed tear. I have
butterfly clips. This actually feels very much like the episode
where Corey hates to Pega's hair and I guess it's
like a dinner party at the boy's apartment. That was
(27:07):
definitely the inspiration we took that picture tried to replicate that.
We tried to do a very nineties makeup look. The dress.
The pattern was based off of the green shirt that
Tapega wears that I wear in the hair cutting episode.
That ends up being tied around my waist after I
get my hair cut or when I cut my hair,
So that shirt was the inspo for the dress. And
(27:30):
then I wore keads because I needed to do a
lot of jumping and a lot of hopping, and high
heels were just not going to be in the cards
for me today. So then I also got to wear
a very cute little ruffled sock. Pasha got to dance
in jeans like the first time in seven years. He's
ever been this comfortable, he said, hands down, it's his
favorite costume he's ever worn. He got to wear a
(27:52):
white T shirt and a sparkly flannelish looking shirt. It
was actually based off of Sean's outfit from the episode
where he and Corey are secretly they're sneaking around behind
Christiana Lokan's back. It was based off of a picture
of Sean in the library where he's peeking back around
(28:14):
the library bookshelf and he's wearing a blue flannel shirt.
That's what Pasha's look was based on. And Pasha shaved
if he clean shaved his face the first time in
two years he's done that. He trims normally, but he
did a clean shave. I saw him this morning and
I was like, oh my gosh, you look like you're twelve,
and he said, yeah, well, I'm trying to look like
a high schooler. I thought he completely pulled it off.
(28:35):
He was very comfortable. I'm like, you're gonna have to
find a way to incorporate this outfit into tour because
this is just way too comfortable. Same for me, although
I will say I actually missed the high heels. My
feet being flat all my being flat all week kind
of hurt. I think I'm just used to heels now.
So I will wrap up this conversation by also telling
you the jewelry and the watch that I'm wearing today.
(28:59):
I absolutely of this vintage ap watch that's green, perfectly
matched my dress. I love it so much. And then
I'm wearing a pinky ring from my girlfriend Jamie at
Forever Fine Jewels. I'm also wearing her dangly earrings here
and then this earring here. So this was a very
(29:23):
special gift from the Lou Collective. They are on Instagram
at shop Lou Collective LU and they have got all
kinds of cute stuff. She actually came to the owner
of the shop came to a Pod meets World show
and we got to meet, and I started following her
and her amazing shop, and she sent me a message
(29:44):
and said, I'd love to send you a little gift,
and she showed me a few pieces, and this was
the one I was just obsessed with. It's a little
like Little Crawler, so cute, very shiny, very sparkly. And
I will tell you more information about the designer in
my Instagram posts that I'll make, and then of course
I will add that to the highlight back to this watch.
(30:06):
So it's a vintage ap Ladies Royal Oak Offshore and
it is courtesy of Eric Wind and Wind Vintage. He
has been so generous loaning me different watches for the week.
The minute I know what I'm wearing the next week,
I send a picture of it to Eric and he
then sends me back a list of the watches that
(30:28):
he has. I get to look through them, my favorite
kind of shopping, and he sends one to me to wear,
which is so nice. And then of course I have
also been mixing in some of my personal pieces. As
a matter of fact, next week, I think I know
exactly which personal piece I'm going to wear. It's another
watch that is near and dear to my heart. I'm
(30:49):
so lucky that I have friends that let me use
their gorgeous talents and their passions and the jewels and
the watches that they have become ex berts in and
let me borrow them week after week so that I
could share them with you. Next week it's Wicked Week.
Very excited we are going to be able to do
(31:09):
a full departure from our normal style. I think Carrie
Inn will be very happy. Pasha and I are very
excited about our song choice and I'm looking forward to it.
So Guest Judge John m Chu, I can't even believe
I'm going to be in the same room with him.
That is incredible. He is an amazing director. So very
(31:33):
excited for him to join us, and I'm looking forward
to it. I hope Tonight's dance and this dedication night
was as special to you as it was to all
of us. It really meant a lot to all of us,
and to all of you Boy Meets World fans and
all of you supporters who have been voting for me
(31:54):
week after week. Thank you so much, And on behalf
of Bill, thank you for sending us all your love
and all your support and uh, we can't wait to
keep doing this for you week after week until you
know the wheels fall off. I appreciate you all.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'll see you next time. Bye. Danielle with the Stars
Produced and hosted by Danielle Fischl. Executive producers Jensen Carp
and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, Producer,
editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch. Theme song by Justin Siegel.
Follow us on Instagram at Danielle with Stars and vote
(32:34):
for me
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's Danielle Fischol, podcaster, TV director and mom of two
and tonight, maybe more than ever forever known as Topanga,
and that's because I am currently competing on the thirty
fourth season of Dancing with the Stars, participating in the
tradition of Dedication Night, despite having absolutely no dance experience
(00:36):
before stepping into a practice with my pro partner Pasha Pashkov,
and throughout this journey, I have decided to record my
experience in the form of a podcast called Danielle with
the Stars, hoping that maybe in one hundred to two
hundred years, people will discover it amongst post apocalyptic rebbel
and hear what it was like to push yourself every
(00:58):
day to possibly win a Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy.
I am just off the press line from Dedication Night
and absolutely jam packed an emotional night of celebrity and dance.
I danced the jive to the season five through seven
Boy Meets World theme song by twenty cent Crush featuring
Phil Rosenthal, and I dedicated it to ninety nine and
(01:23):
a half year old Bill Daniels aka mister Feenie, who
joined me on the dance floor. Why did I pick Bill.
I'll tell you exactly why I picked Bill. I consider
him to be the patriarch of Boy Meets World, and
Boy Meets World is a show that forever changed my life,
(01:47):
not just personally but professionally. And Bill was a shining
example of what it meant to be a professional and
to be kind and to be good with kids. He
didn't have to be He could have treated us like
snot nosed kids, because we were a lot of times
we were having fun and goofing around and I came
(02:11):
to the set with little to zero experience, and he
never treated me that way. He always treated me like
a peer, which is really saying something. So I have
taken Bill's lesson of how to be a professional with
me onto every set I have gone on to since
the day I met him at twelve years old. Being
(02:32):
able to honor Boy Meets World tonight felt so special,
like such a gift. I knew full well that I
was representing every nineties kid, every early aughts everyone who's
grown up watching Boy Meets World and has no doubt
(02:54):
learned tons of lessons from mister Feenie. Life lessons, school lessons,
how to be a good person, lessons I knew that
this was a great opportunity to channel all of that
love and respect that you all have for him, and
then through me and through dance, give him his flowers.
(03:15):
And I was talking to Bill about it before we
went out there, and I said, everyone here is so
excited that you're here. And I said, and everyone online
is talking about how special this is and how happy
we are to be able to do this for you.
And he said, Danielle, I would do anything for you.
(03:36):
And I thought, Yeah, what an honor that he even
let me do this at ninety eight years old. To
leave your house early in the day and then be
on a stage for eight plus hours, do a dress rehearsal,
sit in a dressing room.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's a lot to ask of somebody. And I know
he let me do it, as again Bill showing me
a lot of respect and treating me like a peer.
But he didn't need to do it, and I'm so
honored that he did. So I want to give you
in case you don't know who Bill is other than
mister Feenie, I do. Just want to give you a
(04:19):
little bit of a bio. William David Daniels was born
in Brooklyn, New York, in nineteen twenty seven, and he
was a child entertainer himself. He was in a family
variety act as a kid, dancing and singing, and he
even made his Broadway debut at just the age of sixteen.
Soon after, he was drafted in nineteen forty five and
(04:39):
served as a disc jockey for the Army radio station.
He would then use the GI bill to enroll at
Northwestern University to study acting and drama. Once he graduated,
he quickly became a hard working and highly regarded performer
who would rack up hundreds of credits. He'd returned to
stage as an adult dozens of times, and a he
(05:00):
heard in nineteen sixty seven's cinematic classic The Graduate as
Dustin Hoffman's father. He famously starred as John Adams in
both the Broadway musical, where he was nominated for a Tony,
and then the film version of seventeen seventy six, he
played Doctor Craig on Saint Elsewhere, a role that won
him two Emmys and made him and his wife and
(05:20):
co star Bonnie Bartlett, the first husband and wife team
to take home the award on the same night in
twenty years It's also worth noting they are currently the
longest active Hollywood marriage at seventy four years. Seventy four
years to be married. Some people don't even live to
(05:43):
be seventy four years old, and they have been married
for seventy four years. Bill would also voice Kit, the
car partner of David Hasselhoff, in the show Night Writer
and Yes. He was also the strict and kind hearted
educator George Feeney on all seven seasons of Boy Meets World.
Who would have ever predicted it would be the role
(06:06):
of his illustrious career. He'd also appear on Gray's Anatomy
and later show up on Girl Meets World to reprise
mister Feenie in the Disney reboot. Bill has also made
it his life goal to give back to the communities
who gave to him. He's constantly speaking up for civil
rights and kindness. He was president of the Screen Actors
Guild from nineteen ninety nine to two thousand and one,
and he loves the legacy Feenie has left behind, especially
(06:29):
the effect it had on viewers who have then gone
on to enter the field of teaching. In the audience
tonight was so much of our boy Meets World family,
will Fredell, Betsy Randall, William, Rusty Russ, Alex de ser,
Trina McGee, Bonnie Bartlett, Bill's wife, Writer really wanted to
(06:51):
be here, but he is working out of town. Tony
Quinn also wanted to be here but could not make it,
and Matt Lawrence is in Africa, wanted to be here
but couldn't make it. And Lee Norris lives in North Carolina.
So I know that everyone was asking me tonight, what
does it mean to you to have your Boy Meets
(07:12):
World cast in your family there with you to celebrate
the show. And I would love to take credit and say, yes,
they're there to support me, but the truth is every
single person came out because they wanted to show their
love and their respect to Bill, and he so rightly
deserves it. Of course, my real family was also there.
(07:34):
That's my chosen family, my Boy Meets World family, But
my real family was there, my mom, my dad, Christine,
my dad's wife, Jensen's anti Candy was there, my brother
was there. It was really nice. Obviously, Jensen's there every week,
not just supporting me in the audience, but also making
sure all my guests get in the thought that they
(07:56):
have their credentials and bringing people back and forth and
just truly taking care of everybody, which means a lot.
I also had visiting me tonight Janice Leanne Brown The
Star of Wizards Beyond Waverley Place and Kenzie Richardson The
Star of Vamparina. Those are two shows I'm able to
direct for on Disney Channel. It was very sweet of
(08:18):
them to come out. They looked beautiful. They were all
glammed up and absolutely gorgeous, and we got to take
some pictures on the ballroom floor, so.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
That was really fun. I am not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
This was a hard week. It was a hard week.
We've reached the point in the competition where we're almost
at the halfway point. Next week is week six and
there are eleven total weeks of Dancing with the Stars,
so we are all tired. I think today maybe I
(09:02):
think today's day thirty, since I've had a day off,
and those days of working are not inconsequential. We're dancing
a minimum of four hours a day, plus doing interviews
for the packages, plus doing like OTF interviews, which also
are for the packages, and we're also doing press interviews.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
It's they are busy, busy days, and then on top
of that just trying to keep your body healthy and
trying to stay healthy. This week, lots of people were sick.
Andy was sick, Jen was sick, Pasha and I. The
rehearsal space that we normally rehearse in that has beautiful
floors that are great to dance on, was completely booked
(09:45):
up for some reason. Everybody wanted the same rehearsal time apparently,
and so we went to a different location and they
didn't have as nice as floors. There was concrete right
below the wood floor, and so for four hours we
did a jive, jumping and bouncing on concer great floors,
and both Pasha and myself woke up the next day
and felt like we had the flu. Like our bones,
(10:08):
our muscles, everything hurt. And it took a full forty
eight hours for me to feel like I was even
remotely normal, And even then I don't feel super normal.
My right hamstring, the one that I tore, has somehow
made a miraculous recovery. I don't My doctor wants me
(10:29):
to go and have more imaging when all of this
is said and done, just to kind of see where
the dust is settled, and I'm amazed that I have
a torn hamstring. It feels really good, and now my
left one just is not great. But you know, this
dance also just doesn't come super easily to me as
(10:52):
much as I would want it to, because I'm a fun, bouncy,
jumpy person. The stamina required for it it was a lot.
And also, you know where we needed Bill to be
in what we call the garage, that little part of
the Dancing with the Stars ballroom that's like a garage.
Bill was going to be in there, and we had
to then get to the center of the dance floor,
(11:14):
and not just the center, but like the upstage center,
because for a jive, you want to be able to
see a lot of head to toe and if you're
too far down the stage and close to the garage,
too close to say, carry Ann or beyond carry Anne,
then you won't see a lot of feet. You're gonna
just mostly see waste up. And so if we knew
(11:35):
we wanted people to be able to see our footwork,
we needed to be pretty far upstage, which meant our
dance started basically with a full sprint, and when you're rehearsing,
you don't necessarily have the room that has the long
enough distance for you to practice that sprint. So a
lot of times throughout the week we were not sprinting.
We were just starting the dance, you know, like we'd
(11:56):
like do a little jog and then we'd start the dance.
And then yesterday, when we got here for camera blocking
and we were actually in the space, I looked at
Pasha and I was like, this is far and yeah,
so I basically started the dance already winded, which is
not easy.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Like the amount of.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Stamina required to do a jive and to do a
jive well and to rehearse a jive all week is immense.
We also had done some choreography Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday that Pasha thought he was pretty happy with, and
it wasn't perfect. We knew we were going to work
on it on Sunday, and then when we arrived on
(12:35):
Sunday morning, Pasha said, don't hate me, but I'm going
to change eight counts. And I was like, what what
did you just say? And he was like, yeah, I
watched our tape back last night and I'm just not
thrilled with these eight counts. And I think we can
do better, and I think the judges might be harsh
(12:56):
on it, and I really want to change it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And man, I want to be the.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Type a person who after four or five days of
rehearsing something and then just throw me a curveball and
I'm like, I got it. I am that way with directing,
I am that way with acting because I have my
ten thousand hours in those things.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I know what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
I don't know what I'm doing with dance, and my
brain really locks onto things. Once my brain locks in
and goes, this is the routine, this is your choreography.
It is hard to shake it loose. And he changed
it on Sunday, and like I wasn't my best self,
(13:41):
Like I just wasn't my best self. Pasha definitely saw
the very frustrated side of Danielle, the side that was
like why are we doing this? And I was really
beating myself up and I was super frustrated, and I
felt like I was on the verge of tears a
couple of times. And you know, there's nothing Pasha could
(14:07):
do at this point that changes the way I feel
about him. He is solid as a human being, solid
as a man, solid as a dancer.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
He is just.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Truly a plus and so even though I was very
frustrated with him, and I let him know that I
was very frustrated with him, I think he also knows
that it doesn't change a thing about the way I
feel about him, and I respect him and I appreciate
his opinion, and I know that if he felt so
(14:45):
strongly that he wanted to change it, it was for
good reason. But that doesn't mean that in the moment
it wasn't hard and that I wasn't a little upset
by it. I also think this week, being dedication night,
I felt an enormous amount of pressure to put on
an even better performance than I normally do. This wasn't
(15:06):
even a night about me. It was a night about
somebody named Bill Daniels, who I love and respect so much,
and I didn't want to go out there and not
do a good dance. I also felt an immense amount
of pressure to perform for you, guys, because I know
that this night was me channeling all of your love
(15:28):
and respect for Bill and mister Feeney and boy Meets
World and sending it all to him. And so it
was just a hard week. You know, and everyone's storylines
are emotional, and everyone has their family there, and the
kids were in and out of the rehearsal space, and
you know, we also didn't get to rehearse with Bill.
Of course, he's ninety eight years old. He's not leaving
(15:49):
his house and driving to Hollywood for rehearsals, so we
didn't really get to rehearse with him. We just, you know,
so a lot of things changed kind of the last second.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
It was.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
It was a rough week. I feel really relieved that
it's over, and I just hope that it was an
enjoyable night. I haven't watched the performance back yet. I
don't know. I don't know what everyone saw. I feel
like I messed up. I know I messed up. I
don't know exactly where, but I know I made mistakes,
(16:25):
and I immediately after the dance, I just felt I
was worried I had let Pasha down.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And I never want to let Pasha down.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Because he works so hard for us. So I did.
On a happier note, I did get my first eight
from Bruno, who seemed to really enjoy the performance, and
I squealed when I saw him hold up the eight.
(16:55):
I was so happy about it. It really means a
lot to me. I was like, on such a special
night to get my first EID, I'll remember it forever,
so that makes me very happy. And I loved having
Kim there. Kim Johnson is just so well trained in ballroom.
She's won a mirror Ball twice. She is incredible. I
(17:17):
thought she was so well spoken. I thought her critiques
and her feedback for everybody was so great. Her with
the pen trick that she showed me, Pasha and I
both audibly gasped when we were on the floor, We're like,
oh ooh, we are definitely taking that with us into rehearsals.
Can't wait to put that into play. I thought she
was lovely and so great to have here. I thought
(17:40):
she really added to the judge's table tonight, and that's
hard to do as a guest judge. She really did
a great job. I thought I totally one hundred percent
understand exactly what Carrie Anne was talking about. It really
pained me to hear people booing her, because it takes
(18:02):
courage for us to be out there dancing, and it
also takes courage for them to have to critique us
and to give their honest opinions, even when they know
they're not going to land well with the audience. I
always appreciate them being thoughtful and giving feedback because it
is something for me to work on. When she said,
she's starting to feel like all of our dances look
(18:23):
the same, and I thought, Okay, we've had a tango,
we've had a cha chaw, we've had a quick step
in a jive. Of course, a quick step in a
jive are kind of similar in the sense that they're
both a little bouncy. They're also very upbeat. Tango would
have been a perfect opportunity for me to not have
my bright, bubbly, vibrant personality on display. But it was
(18:45):
the first week of Dancing with the Stars. My story
of why I chose my anthem song being Stronger because
I had, you know, survived breast cancer. There were a
lot of reasons why that night. Although not a traditional
tango smile because tango's a little more serious, I was
a smiley person during my tango and it was a choice.
(19:06):
I could have been a very serious tangoer, but that
just wasn't the mood for our dance, so I smiled
through it. So if you think about it from their perspective.
I did a tango where I smiled. I did a
cha chaw where I smiled really big. I did a
quick step where I was smiley and bubbly, and tonight
I did a jive where I was smiley and bubbly.
(19:27):
I knew exactly what she meant, even though I had
not thought about it going into tonight, like, oh, I
wonder if all these faces and dances look the same.
But the minute she said it, I thought, she's right,
and this is a TV show at the end of
the day, and her saying, listen, I'm looking forward to
seeing something else. That's what what I know. That's not
(19:49):
the word she used, but what I heard was I'm
looking forward to seeing another side of you. And the
good news is next week they're going to get it.
They're going to get it for and I have no
doubt that when I show Carrie Anne a totally different
side of me and she sees a completely different dance
(20:09):
style and a completely different demeanor from me, I know
she will pay attention and I know she will say something.
I know she's giving me thoughtful feedback because she is
rooting for me. So that was about how that's my commentary.
And then Derek was very sweet. I feel like, poor guy.
When there's four people, it's just so hard for anybody
(20:30):
to get thoughts in. But I thought what he had
to say was very kind. Everybody is very kind. We
also had a last minute song change. Apparently the first
part of the song they used a different verse, and
someone at ABC is a very big Boy meets World
fan and saw our dress rehearsal and was like, hmm,
(20:53):
you have to include the verse about wandering down this
road that we call life. It has to be in there.
It's what everyone wants to hear. And I was like, oh, yeah, duh.
I don't put in too much. I don't get too
much commentary on the song choices. So I just kind
of like, whatever they did, they did. But I'm so
glad they made that change. It was really nice. Also
(21:13):
looking really forward to hearing what Sharna Burgess has to
say about tonight and all of the dances. In case
you are unaware, she has joined the Danielle with the
Stars family. She has her own show on our feed
now called Sharna Burgess in the Fourth Chair. She is
sharing her thoughtful comments on how what she thought of
the dances. She's giving us her own scores. She has
(21:36):
her own scoring method, which maybe is a little more
harsh than some of the Dancing with the Stars judges are.
So if you haven't heard that yet, I highly recommend
that you check it out because she is interesting and
endlessly knowledgeable. So she's a great person to take lessons from.
If you have not subscribed to that feed, please make
sure to do that now. I thought everyone's dances tonight
(22:01):
were unbelievable. I I cried for every single one. I thought,
having the kids come out the way they were incorporated.
Olivia and Dylan's dance, her little broken wrists and her
pointed toes, and the lift where he carried her down
(22:23):
the staircase, and then her running out to him at
the very end. So sweet. Cornelia, Andy's daughter, and her
little pointed fingers when she went running off the floor
with her little arms out like this, just so sweet.
I learned tonight in his package that Cornelia is his
adopted daughter. I did not know that they are just
(22:46):
so sweet and so lovely. Robert Irwin, My goodness, I
got to spend quite a bit of time today, maybe
about thirty minutes sitting next to Terry Irwin in the
hair and makeup trailer, and I really got to tell
(23:07):
her from just the bottom of my heart how unbelievably
special he is. She has done such an amazing job
raising those kids. And I told Robert when we were
in the skybox, if my sons grow up to be
(23:30):
a fraction of what he is, I will just I
don't need any other accomplishment in my entire life. Everything
you see of him, there is not one insincere or
disingenuous thing about him. He is everything that's good in
the world is wrapped up in Robert Irwin. And also
(23:54):
he looks like a freaking movie star. He's like a
movie star who also happens to be the greatest human
that's ever lived. Like what that does not seem fair?
But let me tell you, he is all of those things.
So I can't say it enough. Vote for Robert or
when I freaking love the kid. I thought Whitney's dance
was beautiful. I thought Jen's dance with her mom was incredible.
(24:17):
I thought Elaine dancing with her best friend. Passion and
I were talking about what an incredible show this is,
where in one night you can honor your mother, Jordan,
honoring her father, Whitney, honoring her husband Scott and Mark
(24:39):
Gay husband being honored. Bill Daniels ninety eight years old,
Andy adopted daughter Dylan, five year old little sister alex Earl,
twelve year old sister from a very tumultuous time in
their family. Elaine dancing with her best friend at a
(24:59):
song in a dance about female friendships? Was there anything missed?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Like?
Speaker 2 (25:05):
We just ran the gamut of things that you could
honor and dedicate, no overlaps and just I mean truly unbelievable,
unbelievable night of television and then surprise, nobody had to
go home, which I know last week some people were
(25:27):
surprised that they sent somebody home on Disney Night, and
so I was just like, oh gosh, this competition is serious.
They're sending somebody home every single night. And then tonight
to find out nobody was going home, it felt like
the right thing to do. It felt like everybody was
just on such an emotional high that it would have
felt really, really bad to send someone home. I really Also,
(25:52):
I have to say I love the twist of dedication
night having it be somebody who you can incorporate into
the dance. I do think making it so that everyone
does have to incorporate someone to the dance limit some
people so maybe in the future they can do it's
your choice. You can do it to somebody who's living
in which case they come out with you, or you
(26:15):
could do it to somebody who has passed. But I
thought it really added a very special touch to a
dedication night, which has always been one of my favorite weeks.
But I think having people there was it was really nice.
It made it extra special. I wore a very Tapenga
(26:45):
coded I have a very Topanga coded look. I don't
know that's coded. Actually it's just flat out to bang it,
no code. I have lots of crimmed tear. I have
butterfly clips. This actually feels very much like the episode
where Corey hates to Pega's hair and I guess it's
like a dinner party at the boy's apartment. That was
(27:07):
definitely the inspiration we took that picture tried to replicate that.
We tried to do a very nineties makeup look. The dress.
The pattern was based off of the green shirt that
Tapega wears that I wear in the hair cutting episode.
That ends up being tied around my waist after I
get my hair cut or when I cut my hair,
So that shirt was the inspo for the dress. And
(27:30):
then I wore keads because I needed to do a
lot of jumping and a lot of hopping, and high
heels were just not going to be in the cards
for me today. So then I also got to wear
a very cute little ruffled sock. Pasha got to dance
in jeans like the first time in seven years. He's
ever been this comfortable, he said, hands down, it's his
favorite costume he's ever worn. He got to wear a
(27:52):
white T shirt and a sparkly flannelish looking shirt. It
was actually based off of Sean's outfit from the episode
where he and Corey are secretly they're sneaking around behind
Christiana Lokan's back. It was based off of a picture
of Sean in the library where he's peeking back around
(28:14):
the library bookshelf and he's wearing a blue flannel shirt.
That's what Pasha's look was based on. And Pasha shaved
if he clean shaved his face the first time in
two years he's done that. He trims normally, but he
did a clean shave. I saw him this morning and
I was like, oh my gosh, you look like you're twelve,
and he said, yeah, well, I'm trying to look like
a high schooler. I thought he completely pulled it off.
(28:35):
He was very comfortable. I'm like, you're gonna have to
find a way to incorporate this outfit into tour because
this is just way too comfortable. Same for me, although
I will say I actually missed the high heels. My
feet being flat all my being flat all week kind
of hurt. I think I'm just used to heels now.
So I will wrap up this conversation by also telling
you the jewelry and the watch that I'm wearing today.
(28:59):
I absolutely of this vintage ap watch that's green, perfectly
matched my dress. I love it so much. And then
I'm wearing a pinky ring from my girlfriend Jamie at
Forever Fine Jewels. I'm also wearing her dangly earrings here
and then this earring here. So this was a very
(29:23):
special gift from the Lou Collective. They are on Instagram
at shop Lou Collective LU and they have got all
kinds of cute stuff. She actually came to the owner
of the shop came to a Pod meets World show
and we got to meet, and I started following her
and her amazing shop, and she sent me a message
(29:44):
and said, I'd love to send you a little gift,
and she showed me a few pieces, and this was
the one I was just obsessed with. It's a little
like Little Crawler, so cute, very shiny, very sparkly. And
I will tell you more information about the designer in
my Instagram posts that I'll make, and then of course
I will add that to the highlight back to this watch.
(30:06):
So it's a vintage ap Ladies Royal Oak Offshore and
it is courtesy of Eric Wind and Wind Vintage. He
has been so generous loaning me different watches for the week.
The minute I know what I'm wearing the next week,
I send a picture of it to Eric and he
then sends me back a list of the watches that
(30:28):
he has. I get to look through them, my favorite
kind of shopping, and he sends one to me to wear,
which is so nice. And then of course I have
also been mixing in some of my personal pieces. As
a matter of fact, next week, I think I know
exactly which personal piece I'm going to wear. It's another
watch that is near and dear to my heart. I'm
(30:49):
so lucky that I have friends that let me use
their gorgeous talents and their passions and the jewels and
the watches that they have become ex berts in and
let me borrow them week after week so that I
could share them with you. Next week it's Wicked Week.
Very excited we are going to be able to do
(31:09):
a full departure from our normal style. I think Carrie
Inn will be very happy. Pasha and I are very
excited about our song choice and I'm looking forward to it.
So Guest Judge John m Chu, I can't even believe
I'm going to be in the same room with him.
That is incredible. He is an amazing director. So very
(31:33):
excited for him to join us, and I'm looking forward
to it. I hope Tonight's dance and this dedication night
was as special to you as it was to all
of us. It really meant a lot to all of us,
and to all of you Boy Meets World fans and
all of you supporters who have been voting for me
(31:54):
week after week. Thank you so much, And on behalf
of Bill, thank you for sending us all your love
and all your support and uh, we can't wait to
keep doing this for you week after week until you
know the wheels fall off. I appreciate you all.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
I'll see you next time. Bye. Danielle with the Stars
Produced and hosted by Danielle Fischl. Executive producers Jensen Carp
and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, Producer,
editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch. Theme song by Justin Siegel.
Follow us on Instagram at Danielle with Stars and vote
(32:34):
for me
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