Howard Busgang Meets World

We often talk about the powerhouse duo of Blutman and Busgang, the most prolific writers in the history of Boy Meets World. Well, now it’s time to hang with the other B in B&B…Howard Busgang!

Howard takes us behind the scenes of some of our favorite BMW episodes, and shares what he believes is the single best line of the series.

Hear about the fierce competitive nature of the BMW baseball team (and who won when they faced Home Improvement), why Howard considered Will the “Tom Hanks” of the show and how a sitcom writer transitioned into the world of deli meats and sandwiches - all on a new Pod Meets World! 

Follow @podmeetsworldshow on Instagram and TikTok!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:27):
This segment is brought to you by Samsung. Gentlemen, It's
finally happened, my manifesting, my dreams have come true. Well,
one of them has come true. As you guys know,
we regularly write down lists of things that we love

(00:49):
that we would hope to eventually have as a sponsor
of our podcast. And one of the things I have
written down for two and a half years is something
I am a fan of, have been an exclusive user
of for ten plus years, and that thing is a
Samsung phone.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Wow, it's happened, and you're excited.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Samsung is a I know my dreams are you know,
my dreams are real, manageable. They're not like I'm not asking.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
By APM.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
With your Samsung phone.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Slowly mindlessly, Well, nobody talks to me, just leaving me alone. Yeah,
I'm really excited about it. I always have just sang
the praises of my Samsung phone. Every time I've ever
taken a picture in any setting, people always says, are incredible.

(01:51):
It was my favorite thing that on tour. Two things
that would happen that always made me laugh. One is
that when we would take photos with people in the
meet and greets, we usually get you know, someone turns
around the photo for us to see, for us to
give like photo approval, to make sure the guest is
happy with their picture. And every time there was a
Samsung photo writer and Will go wow, look at that camera,

(02:12):
and I go to SAMs on.

Speaker 4 (02:14):
It's starting with Actually Jensen was because you remember like
one of our first meet and Greece.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
He was saying the photos.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (02:19):
I just kept seeing his face go.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Wow, okay, nice, what is what is the deal? What's
going on?

Speaker 3 (02:25):
And you explained it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
The second thing that happened was one night I said,
let's try to get us group selfie of the entire
audience and the three of us on stage, and we
all turned around and I held up my phone and
I was able to get every single person in there.
And now with the new Samsung Galaxy S twenty five Ultra,

(02:47):
which is the one I have and I love, it
is an updated camera. There's now fifty megapixels, so the
detail of a group like ultra wide lens photo is
truly remarkable. So anyway, I just that's great.

Speaker 6 (02:59):
I remember that night a little differently. I remember you saying, hey, Will,
can you take a picture of rider?

Speaker 2 (03:04):
And I in the entire audience.

Speaker 6 (03:05):
But it's nice that you thought I was in that
photo as well, So that's really sweet. Hey, can you
step back up course and just take a picture of
Rider and I'm the entire my friend Rider and our
big audience.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
That'd be great.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Thanks, Oh my gosh, writer. I also there's a feature
that I think you might appreciate because I appreciate it.
They have something called audio Eraser. You can record, like,
say Indie is in a play and you want to
record Indie in the play, but somebody next to you
is playing with their keys, or there's a baby crying.

(03:40):
There's like six different sounds.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
It like filters them out.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
They're all on their own channel. You can then select
the one you want to erase and it will remove
the background noise, so it's actually just the pure audio
of Indye on stage in the play.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
Pretty crazy?

Speaker 1 (03:56):
Is It's crazy?

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Pretty great science?

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Science man. Anyway, I thought you might appreciate that, And
from here on out, I would like to be referred
to as the Queen of Samsung. Is that a problem?

Speaker 2 (04:08):
How many things can you be queen of at one time?
Is my question?

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Her Highness of Samsung, Welcome upon reads world, I'm Queen
of Samsung.

Speaker 6 (04:19):
No, don't do, I'm rather strong, and I'm Tapanga.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Audio eraser is compatible with common video formats accessible in gallery.
Helps minimize six select sounds results. Very Galaxy AI features
by Samsung are free through twenty twenty five and require
Samsung Account login. Get your Galaxy S twenty five Ultra
now at Samsung dot Com. There are very few crew

(04:59):
members we have said more times over the first five
seasons of recaps than Mark Blutman and Howard Buskang, a
writing team who joined the staff for season two. In
the Big April Kelly mix up, this pair traveled to
Hollywood from the Great White North and conquered Boy Meets World,
unlike any writers before them or after sixteen episodes, the

(05:21):
most from any writer during the run of the show
and over only three and a half seasons. Is the
type of output people fear when they talk about AI,
and yet these two humans somehow made it happen and
crafted some classic scripts in the process. We've spoken to
Blutman on Pod Meets World already, so today we have
the honor of completing the one two punch as we

(05:43):
finally sit down with the other B in B and
B's B and B. Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf Band
on the Run? Breaking up is really really hard to
do what I meant to say, This little piggy Happiest
show on Earth. Long Walk to Pittsburgh Part two, and
that is is only half of the scripts.

Speaker 5 (06:02):
Howard wrote, you said, Who's afraid of Corey Wolf?

Speaker 6 (06:04):
Right?

Speaker 3 (06:05):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, he's surprise winning.

Speaker 5 (06:15):
It's great film to Romeo.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
And Juliet.

Speaker 6 (06:26):
Bible Communist Manifesto, some great stuff.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
By by mouth say tong and Howard bust Gang.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
That would be.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
Okay, let me do that again.

Speaker 5 (06:39):
I think we got it.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
War.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
I can say this with all the confidence in the world.
Boy Meets World is not the show you love without
the contributions of this writer. Welcome to the podcast. One
of the two most prolific thick writers in Boy Meets
World history. It's Howard bust Gang. Yeah there you are lost,
You there you are guys. Did you see that? Did

(07:11):
you see that?

Speaker 5 (07:13):
The cool glasses?

Speaker 3 (07:14):
The I am so much cooler now than when you
knew me.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Wow, I know we we have talked about. This is
my These are my dream glasses. And when I need
glasses that's what I'm doing right.

Speaker 6 (07:28):
Man's something that our lives are so different than they
used to be when now that.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
We were all like, he's got the whole apart glass.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, so I'm selling these on my website.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
That's what were you about, night Grab I'm in. It
is such a treat to see you again, Howard. Thank
you so much for being here.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Well, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to
be the seven and fifty six guests on yourself.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
It's a very honored position.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
I know, I know listen and if I was you,
I'd be doing the same thing. I wouldn't have had
me on for the first six years either, So I
totally get it. I think Craft Service needed to be
on first. I get it.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Oh, we had more interaction with Craft Service.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Than I'm with you, guys.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
I don't need to know Craig better.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
I mean, I do want to start with one question,
the amount of scripts you wrote? Did you sleep at
any point between nineteen ninety four and nineteen ninety six.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Well, that's great, it's it's uh. First of all, this
is this has been this little journey like being invited
on the show has been terrific for me. Because to
be honest, I don't really live in the like I
don't visit the past that often. I live in the
immediate future, like ten minutes.

Speaker 1 (08:52):
Mark, Yeah, ten minutes, Okay, it's great smart.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yeah, so I've gotten to Uh. I didn't even realize
how many we did, Like, I had no idea until
I kind of looked it up and I listed all
the shows. I watched a bunch of the shows, and
I'm not gonna lie. I became very impressed with myself.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yes I should, I was.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
I was like, really, I you know, I just didn't
know that the output. I didn't realize how much output
we did. Yeah, and I'm going this these these this
is funny, this is great.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yes, unbelievable, more than any other writers on On Boy
Meets World History, Like sixteen episodes in only three and
a half seasons.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Yeah, we were cut short in the in the in
the youth of our life, we cut it on at beneath. No,
it's I'm so proud of it and again watching it
again and seeing that it holds up and it's it's
funny and it's emotion all the things I'm sure you've
talked about with the previous seven hundred and forty six guests.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, we've talked about all those things.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yeah, all those things, so you.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
Don't need to cover those again.

Speaker 5 (10:05):
None.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Thank you so much for being great.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, we get a.

Speaker 6 (10:10):
Deep dive of all your episodes with the Craft Service guy.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
We were really covered everything.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
It was great. So I did ask if you slept
at all. But on a more serious note, did you
have much of a personal life during those seasons of
Boy Meets World or were you just in the room
all the time?

Speaker 3 (10:30):
You know, when you're on an American sitcom because I
worked a lot in Canada after that, but when you're
on American sitcom, your life is the show. Yeah, you
really give up your life for the show. And I
think and for me, what made it really wonderful was
the camaraderie. I mean, you say, you know, in the

(10:53):
room and with these these these fellow writers and everyone
on the show, many of which are still in my life. Right.
We used to say, Uh, Matt Nelson used to say,
you know, every day we go to war and if
we only get we were in a minefield, and if
we only get our leg blown up, it's been a
great day. So you know, and you're making a sitcom, right,

(11:13):
you're making but you know what it's like, there's a
lot of a lot of uh moving parts. So the
fact that we bonded as a as a group and
as a team, and we've stayed friends. I think what
makes the extra special for me?

Speaker 6 (11:31):
You know, I have to ask as a as a
television officionado and sitcom fan, how does that differ from
a Canadian sitcom? Is a Canadian sitcom just much more polite?

Speaker 3 (11:43):
Much more polite? Yeah? You camera say we have no conflict,
so how was your day wonderful?

Speaker 6 (11:53):
And they should walk in if anyone disagrees or right? Yeah, yeah, no,
I mean is it that is an American sitcom that
different from a Canadian sitcomer?

Speaker 3 (12:01):
Well, you know here here's yes, it's the Canadian sitcom
is more like the British sitcom system. You know, you
do eight right, Okay, you have five writers that kind
of thing, and you have fourteen dollars to make the shelf, so.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
The right, and it's Canadian dollars.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
So that's not dollars.

Speaker 6 (12:22):
That maple syrup thing is real. I'm sorry, it's a
twenty dollars bill. That is a real thing. So do
you guys know about this. No, the Canadian maple, the
Canadian twenty dollars bill smells like maple syrup. Hmmm, And
there's a people are saying, Oh, that's it, that's not true,
or it wasn't done on purpose.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
It absolutely smells maple syrup.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Yeah, I'm not here to disagree with you.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Thank you exactly because I'm a Canadian.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
Because I'm Canadian.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Well, let's start with your origins back in Canada. Most
of your early work on TV was actually in front
of the camera. Is that true?

Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yeah, I was a I was a stand up for
about twenty years, so I I did that. I never
had a job. I mean that was in college. I
started doing stand up and started in Montreal, moved to Toronto,
and actually in Montreal's where I met Mark Bletman, who
became my writing partner. Yea, and moved to Toronto. You know,

(13:21):
I had a very respectable career, I'm going to say,
and that's what brought me to Los Angeles to be
a sick to be a comic. Okay, yeah, yeah, and
I did that. I love that. But it was one
of those things where at the time, even then, I'm
like an old jew. I was like, already at twenty,

(13:43):
I'm going, I don't want to do this when I'm forty.
I got too much already. I couldn't. It was already
too much.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yeah was this the Was this the eighties?

Speaker 6 (13:52):
I'm just curious? Is this the eighties in LA? Like
that's just my whole kind of stand up scene?

Speaker 3 (13:56):
Yeah? Yeah, I moved in eighty eight to Los Angeles? Okay, yeah?

Speaker 6 (14:00):
Wow?

Speaker 4 (14:01):
Could you describe what your character was or what your angle?
Did you have like an approach or was it just
kind of you being you as a stand up?

Speaker 3 (14:10):
Is this not good enough? Like? Is this not?

Speaker 4 (14:15):
I know Bluodman had like a wrestling going and like,
so I'm very curious how you guys like where you
were coming from, because I can't imagine you being in
a wrestling mask or anything of that.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
ILK.

Speaker 3 (14:27):
So yeah, no, but there is there is a There
was a moment when he was first doing the wrestling thing,
and I thought, oh, it would be fun. I'll play
the manager and I you know, whatever a manager wears,
you know, a bad suit and a big gold chain
with a probably a thie on it, you know, something
like and as somebody gave me a cigar and I

(14:48):
he put this cigar in my mouth and I didn't know.
You're not supposed to win haal cigars.

Speaker 6 (14:52):
Jesus.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yeah, no, you know where this is going. So I
was inhaling scar and I passed out. So that was
was my manager rule. That was it. No, No, I
I did not. I was the I was the I'm
the lonely jew. I guess as what? Okay, yeah, that
was good.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
So you co created We Don't Knock, which is a
prank show for the CBC. I did, and Canadians are known,
as we talked about, for being wildly polite. So I
need to know two things. One, what is the craziest
prank that you pulled off? And did everyone just say sorry,
sorry sorry once the cameras were revealed.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
Okay, no, that's great question. So two things. First of all,
it was an incredibly critically acclaimed show for its time,
and it was a precursor to kind of uh you know,
kind of these yeah, these barging shows that came later.
But it was two things that happened. One thing was
it got It was incredibly acclaimed, but it also got

(15:52):
pulled off because CBC didn't like the fact that we
were barging in homes. Even though the name of.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
The show was real No, I don't knock right.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, they didn't quite get that, but the title guys.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
But the best one I which was actually the most heartfelt.
I went to a high school reunion in somewhere in
Manitoba and everybody who is like their sixtieth reunion and
they were all, you know, eighty years old, seventy years old,
and I was thirty years old. And I walked in
and I pretended to be one of the people who
was reunion.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Oh that's kind of great.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
Oh it's so sweet, you know, bow up, how are you?
It's been so long? My god? Is this erma? You
guys were dating? This is Oh my god.

Speaker 4 (16:35):
Did you do research ahead of time so you would know,
like how what they are, who they were, and how
they were related.

Speaker 3 (16:41):
No, unlike you, I'm not professional, so I could not
do research. I just went and they had name tags
so that helped. It was just it was beautiful. So
that was probably my you know, that was kind of
a special moment that we all post for a class
photo at the end. Oh my gosh, it was really.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Did any one say to you you look amazing or
did anyone say I don't remember you?

Speaker 3 (17:07):
Sadly, I think they thought I fit in, so I
don't know I told you. I guess yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Oh my gosh, you get so you mentioned that at twenty,
being a comic just felt already like I don't want
to be doing this when I'm forty. When did writing
become your goal?

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Uh? We we I went to do a showcase stand
up showcase at the laugh Factory and it was a
good showcase. But maybe THEE executive saw it and said,
you know, this guy would make a good writer. I didn't,
you know, I didn't know that. You know, I didn't

(17:50):
know how to be writer. I knew how to write jokes,
but I wrote a quickly. I wrote a script for
an episode of Coach.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
I don't know if you yes, I loved that show.

Speaker 3 (17:59):
Yeah, yeah, it was fun show to write, but you know,
not knowing how to be a writer, I probably wrote
it in six hours, you know, like you don't you
just start going, oh my god, this is the funniest
thing ever. And ABC, you know whatever. They it was fine.
But actually Mark read it, Mark blettmant and he said,
this is this is really good why don't we write togegether?

(18:21):
And that's what got us on track to writing. We
then somehow got on a show called Good Advice was
Shelley Long, which was her first show after Cheers. Okay,
and we got on that show, which was amazing for me.
It was I mean, this was a dream trunk come true.

(18:42):
At Canaane guy, You're on a sitcom in La. At
the time, I only had one car, which my wife
and I split, so I had to take the bus
down Venture Boulevard to where Mark would pick me up
and take me down to the studio in Culver City.
I was probably the only sitcom writer on a bus

(19:03):
in La.

Speaker 6 (19:04):
Amazing.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
Wow, Mark wouldn't come pick you up.

Speaker 3 (19:07):
He would not. Okay, it was nice, which is probably
the reason we still don't write. Okay, we don't write
that does Yeah?

Speaker 6 (19:13):
I again I have to ask as as the television guy.
So there's famous stories obviously about Shelley Long leaving Cheers,
how she left everything behind her leaving. What was it
like working with her on her first show after leaving
a show like Cheers?

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Okay? So in twelve months we did nine episodes. Ooh, okay,
they fired everybody several times they kept us because we
were too we would didn't cost them anything. They called
us the cockroaches.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Oh my god, to your face.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
No no, but they didn't call us to our face.
But we had we had a you know, we had
an office. I can't believe I'm talking about this. We
had an office with an adjoining room next to whoever
was the executive producer. And we okay, this I shouldn't.
This is horrible.

Speaker 5 (20:06):
Oh please, you.

Speaker 3 (20:07):
Would kind to lie on the floor under the crack
and listen to what was going on so we can
hear them talking about us, you know, approaches. And but
the thing is they were all fired and we stay.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah they don't. They just they don't die.

Speaker 7 (20:25):
They just they were always there and they're load to
the ground.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
And that was an experience the show.

Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, we stayed on that show, you know, the whole time,
even when they were off whole episodes. And it's funny.
The one time we went out, like somebody said, why
are you staying in your office? No one's there, go out.
We went to a movie, like we went to a
movie in Santa Monica, and I think at the movie
we ran into the casting director, like what why what

(20:57):
are you guys doing here? You should be you know,
I don't know what a cast director was doing.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
So that was our first experience. And then we we
went and did a show in Canada for a year,
and then we got we we got a call from
Michael Jacobs and uh I met him and he seems
somewhat impressed. He clearly had very low standards, and he
brought us in.

Speaker 5 (21:21):
So what was the connection of Michael.

Speaker 4 (21:22):
Was it just an agent or a manager call, or
was there somebody?

Speaker 3 (21:26):
I think I don't know. Mark would Mark, Mark would
no better. He's our, he's our, He's the historian, he's
the historian of the show.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
He lives ten minutes in the past. Yeah, well yeah,
the king of him.

Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yeah yeah. I think he knew someone at at at
Sony and and we we had the meeting and Michael
was impressed somehow and brought us on, and uh we
came in in season two.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Right. I'm assuming you didn't tell him the story about
being called the correous job.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
I'd like no one to speak of this anymore.

Speaker 8 (22:05):
Drop now, Okay, Now, if memory serves, Mark told us
that you were actually asked to be on season one
of Boy but decided against it because you thought it
was too young a show.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
Am I am I misremembering that.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
I don't think you're misremembering it because I listened to
that podcast I miss. I do not. I'm not. I
don't want to be contradictory, But do not remember that, right, Okay?

Speaker 6 (22:31):
I do not.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Perhaps he was offered the show so he kindly turned
down because he was waiting for me to show up.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Right, you wanted to be a partner.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
That's a nice thing.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
That's total okay. So what then when you get your
start with Boy Meets World in season two? Michael hires you?
First of all, what was that meeting? Like, Michael seemed
impressed with you, guys? What else do you remember from
the meeting? Was it a did it feel positive?

Speaker 3 (22:53):
It was very positive? In fact, I think again, I
think I brought my daughter at the time time, who
was like five years old, to the meeting because I
didn't have a babysitter. I don't know. My wife wasn't
she didn't want a babysit. I don't remember, but I
brought her and I think Bonnie, who was working outside,
watched Alexandra for the meeting. But we went in the meeting.

(23:16):
It was Bob Young was there, Michael was there, and
I remember the one thing I remember he said, you
guys are very facile. Oh, and I remember thinking, what
is facile?

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Give me addiction?

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Give me addiction here?

Speaker 5 (23:31):
But you don't you could just do it.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
You know, you're going for a writing job. You don't
really want to say, right, I don't.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Know what that means.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
No, it was no in so many respects. I mean,
it was obviously a dream come true and it remains
to this day, which which a dream come true, which
I can you know, it's coming back into my life
in many ways because of what I'm doing now and
the people. Should I just jump in to tell you
why it's come into my life? Yes?

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Please?

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Sure?

Speaker 6 (24:08):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (24:09):
Okay, okay, So you know I'm eight years ago I
moved away from Los Angeles. So I moved to a
small island to British Columbia, Okay, called Salt Spring, and
I still write. And my wife and I were looking around.
We didn't really have a plan, and we saw a
little shop that was available for a tiny little place,

(24:29):
and she said, why don't we open a little deli here?
And if it doesn't work, you'll have an office to
write in. So we opened a place called Buzzies.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah. So it's a Montreal Jewish delhi on an island
with more Bears than Jews.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yes, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (24:47):
No, it's truly. I'm blessed. I'm blessed because we've become
this destination because people go why, like they just cannot
believe we're here, right, you know we do. I'm probably
one of a few restaurantors who had their menu punched up.
I had writers come in, we punched up the menu.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, you know, I have said, can we beat roast beef?

Speaker 3 (25:13):
You know, we have sandwiches like we I make my
own my trust smoke meat, which is a version of Pistromi.
It's so our sandwiches. You know. We have the Hungry
jew we have the the the room the Rubens called
the Rabinowitz. So but but here's the beautiful thing about it.
I have you know, it's a good place to put

(25:34):
stuff that my wife doesn't want in the house. So
I got Boy Meets World signs, a few things over
and this is what amazing? What's it just? It's a
beautiful thing. I cannot believe how many people come in
and they look around, they look at the sign, they go,
boy meets World, what what did you do? And I

(25:54):
you'll work on the ship. And they tell me this
was not only their favorite show, they tell me how
important it was to them growing up. Yeah, I mean this, No,
this happens every day like it's truly. I didn't realize
at the time. You know, we're making a show.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, none of us, none of us us. So we
know you're telling the truth because we experience it every
day as.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
Well, every day, right, and it's just beautiful. And I
had one of my favorite lines from the show is
that I put in every script I've ever written ever
was Matt wrote a line called which you know, I'm
sure life's tough wear a helmet, which I love, and
I would put that. I would with his permission, Matt,
the writer, I would put I'd say, I got to

(26:39):
put this line in the show. So I had someone
bring me in a poster they made that said Life's tough,
where life's tough, eat a lutka. Yeah, I have that
at the show up somebody, I'm sure you get this. Also,
somebody just texted me a picture of them and their
and their cat, George Feeney.

Speaker 5 (26:59):
Oh you know that's great. I love that.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Yeah, we got a lot of dogs named Topanga.

Speaker 6 (27:05):
We got a lot of babies named to Panga, cats
named Feoenie.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
We get we we hear some some strange stuff.

Speaker 6 (27:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
Yeah, so it's uh, it's it's a gift that just
keeps on giving. It's really true. So kudos to all
of us. Little pat on the back.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Right, Yes, absolutely, that's so great. Well, you know we
need to plan a trip to go visit you. A modern.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
Rub sandwich is my favorite sandwichever.

Speaker 6 (27:33):
Look at Suzy, I gotta try your ruben because.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
He's got tiny he's got a tiny little yamaka on
the top. Just you know, we still live on island.
I didn't want them to row me out and throw
me off the island.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
So how far are you from Vancouver Island.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
We're an hour and a half by ferry from vancous In,
thirty minutes from Victoria.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Yeah, so you're in an island, right.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
Run an island island and you can find us at
Buzzies dot Ca.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Okay, that's all it, Buzzies dot Ca. Okay, great, I
can't wait to go. So when you start on Boy
Meets World in season two, did you catch up by
watching season one, and if so, what were your thoughts
of the first season.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
Yeah, no, of course we watched the show and I
think Mark talked about this it for us and this
was terrible time. It felt younger than what we were
used to writing. Yeah, yeah, it felt it felt younger
and I I feel like part of our job and

(28:44):
I think he may have talked about it was to
uh was to I don't know words age up the show.
I don't know if I like that word, but I
will say watching the episodes of season two now like
watching what we did, I I the it didn't feel

(29:05):
young to me, like it felt the time, the character,
everything felt right for the time and the place. So
you know, I don't know if we were there to
I hate to say the word be funny, but uh,
I I listen. I was watching it detached, but as

(29:26):
a fan now and I just got a big kick
out of it. I can't wait to show my kids
who have not watched my career. So kids, if you're listening,
it's hurtful.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
It's time.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
It's time. Yeah, you can also find your dad at
Buzzies dot C.

Speaker 5 (29:46):
Please call, please call.

Speaker 3 (29:49):
Well, we always need someone on the meat slicer.

Speaker 6 (29:51):
So you know you kidding? You put me in a deli?
I am all my life, I've all. I want a
sandwich named after me. Eventually, I want one that that lasts,
that's named after me, the Fredell, the Freedole, whatever, the
Wilfrid's or something film Freedole.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
But I need a sandwich named after me. It's kind
of what I'm I'm I'm going for.

Speaker 5 (30:09):
You're talking to the right guy.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
Yeah, let me get my team to punch that up.
I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, that's right, please please do. I love that.

Speaker 6 (30:15):
And I don't know what's in the sandwich. But there's
got to be ham. That's all I can.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Say, because it's got to eat the scenery, my friend.

Speaker 5 (30:24):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (30:27):
And a Jewish deli.

Speaker 6 (30:28):
Okay, but listen and bacon bacon wrapped ham at a
Jewish telli.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
It okay?

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Damn you joined.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Season two Boy Meets World was kind of right after
a big shake up creatively, as April Kelly left after
season one and her team and they didn't return for
season two. Was there any talk of that at all?
Did you. Were you aware of any of that going
into season two or not at all?

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Uh? All I know is I kept asking whose April?

Speaker 5 (31:02):
Did you?

Speaker 3 (31:03):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (31:04):
She was?

Speaker 3 (31:06):
No. I know you're wondering, who's this April? And it's
like the person whose name she'll not be spoken. I
have nothing, no, no one ever who's April. Why isn't
she here? So I you know, I'm sure she's a fabulous, creative,
wonderful human being. I have no I've never met her.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
I don't know anything, right, and no one would tell
you who she was.

Speaker 3 (31:26):
Ill that's the story I'm sticking to. I don't know. Yeah, no,
no one they she just left. I don't know under
what circumstances. I really don't know.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
Do you remember your first impressions of us?

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Uh? Well, you know, I think I think that it's
funny because now even now, you know, I say the kids, right,
I talked about you, and clearly you've grown up and
I've grown down so well. Obviously very impressed. But I

(32:01):
think at the time, again, this was such a learning
experience for me and being on a real show, you know,
a big American sitcom I had. I think that a
little bit of a Canadian inferiority complex, and I'm sure,
I know, I'm sure I was more scared of you
than you were to me. Like bears like bears, Hans, Buzzies,

(32:24):
dot Ca. I was just in total awe of the
whole thing, and I and you know, occasionally overwhelmed by
it because it all moves so fast. It all was
happening so fast, and I'm a little slow and laborious sometimes.

(32:45):
But where I love to be was. I just loved
being in the writer's room. I wasn't so much somebody
who loved the stage as much because it's hard for
me to work that fast and figure out now, don't
this do this? That wasn't that guy. So I've just
loved it being in that room. That was my safe space.

Speaker 6 (33:08):
When when you came to the show, did you come
to a show that was in transition or did you
come to a show and help with the transition?

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Was it kind of?

Speaker 6 (33:17):
Because we noticed such a big changes from season one
to season two, especially when we go back and watch
them now after we're now up to about to start
season six, you know, Lee Norris is no longer. There
were clearly going into high school. There was obviously some
kind of of order from somewhere that they wanted to
age the show up. Was that something that you and
Mark were responsible for or did you kind of come

(33:38):
into it as it was happening.

Speaker 3 (33:39):
Well, I don't want I hate these all responsible. It
sounds because it's such a team effort. But I'd like
to think that we were integral part of that discussion.
You know, we certainly involved in that discussion, and so
I know that we I know there was there certainly
was that conscious effort. Listen, you were you The fact

(34:00):
is you were getting older every year, So every year
there's a transition to be made. Yeah, right, And and
that's interesting to watch even even now as you go
back on the episodes, if you're if if you're uh
binging them and you start watching a Mike season season
three and then season four and all of a sudden,
you know, someone's got a beard like it's it's you know,

(34:23):
it's really interesting to watch. And every year was handled,
you know, very delicately. What are we going to do?
These questions were always asked, So I think we were
we were in an integral part of it. And uh
and it was a great amazing you know, it's a
great learning experience. I lot. I obviously, uh learned so

(34:44):
much from that show. And uh, but I was not.
I was not the guy who was great on the floor.
You know, m hm and Mike would say, you know,
when we'd shoot and Mike would say, we need a line,
we need a line, we'd all just kind of yell lines.
It it's you know, it's it's it's It's a very
intimidating experience because you're still desperately want to, you know,
get in there.

Speaker 5 (35:04):
You know, Wow, I jump in on that.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
I want to know, do you have a favorite line
that you pitched, whether it made it to the show
or not. Do you have a favorite a.

Speaker 5 (35:13):
Moment where you're you're most proud of throwing something out?

Speaker 3 (35:17):
Well, okay, you know, I'm sure other writers have told you.
You know, we don't like to talk about what lines
that we came up with, but I will tell you
things that still make me laugh and I go, oh
my god, that was mine. And this is not a
great line. It's not a great mine at all. But
I was watching the episode where Will is trying to

(35:41):
win publisher's clearinghouse. Yeah, oh yeah, they're still laughing at it.
And you know, you pull out the magazine. This is
not the best line in the show by any means,
but I just loved it because I remember pitching it.
It's the magazine when you got to seize. It's the
magazine Chester for people named Chester. And I actually have

(36:02):
that magazine at home to keep it.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
I've got to keep it.

Speaker 4 (36:06):
You know.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
It's so dumb, so right, but it's just I can't
help but smiles, so stupid, and which will delivered brilliantly.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Oh, thank you.

Speaker 6 (36:22):
So another question I have, I think we all have,
because we've noticed in some seasons it clearly seems like
before the season started there was an arc of where
the season was going to go. You could clearly see
what was going to happen. Okay, we're starting here, we're
ending here. As we're getting a little bit later in
the season, it seems a little less like maybe there

(36:43):
was an overall plan. Did you always write at the
beginning before we even got there, before the you know,
our first script was put in our hand. Did you
all sit down and and arc out an entire season.
Here'shere we're going to start, here's what we're going to end,
and here's how we're going to get to that point
or was it more just we by week?

Speaker 3 (37:01):
So this is a this is a situation. It's like
the best laid plans of mice and men, right, you know,
you would you would argue, you would see how the
season would go. But as you all know, by you know,
episode nineteen or something, you know, we're just so struggling
just to stay awake and survive and get through and

(37:21):
that we need a script tomorrow. And so that's that's
and that's no one's fault. It's just the nature of
the beast. So that's what what wiy. Things can get
a little messy at the end because you just just
don't have the time to do it. Yeah, right, Yeah,
it's just you know, it's nature. And listen, I'm just
shocked that we anyone's able to do this. I can't

(37:44):
imagine the old days when they did what thirty nine
episodes off a show, like really old days. So yeah,
we just some you know, by the end, we were
just just just struggling to just get to you know,
get get those scripts out. So I I I think,
you know, best intentions sometimes, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
Well you had five episodes in season two. Who's afraid
of Corey? Wolfe band on the Run. Breaking up is
really really hard to do on the air, and the
thrilla in Philla band on the Run was a favorite
one of ours to talk about. Do you remember the
background on this episode at all? Like it had a
slew of rock stars, Mickey Dolans, Ricky Nielsen, Billy Vera, Like,

(38:26):
how did this idea for you? How did the script
idea come to you? Was it you and Blutman or
was it handed to you?

Speaker 3 (38:32):
I hate to tell you this, I actually don't do
not remember how that one came. But we can make
something up.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
Let's make sense, sure, whatever you want, Let's make something up.

Speaker 3 (38:45):
I know, I you know, I don't. I don't recall
how that that one came, how that came about. And
it's funny again watching watching them and I'm seeing these
moments and suddenly they they come alive to me again,
like yet back there, you know, And I you know,
I think Mark talked about this and I think it's
Breaking up is really really hard to do. Yeah, watching

(39:09):
uh like Rider and Ben play their ninety year old.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
Selves so fun.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
I'm not gonna like I mean that, Actually, you know,
I don't. I don't look back like I said a lot.
I had a big smile from grint Eardia and you
guys were so funny. It was so funny, and I
I just I was very yeah, like I said, I
walked away going, Okay, that's not that's that wasn't that's

(39:39):
not too horrible. This is really good. It's beautiful.

Speaker 1 (39:42):
It was great.

Speaker 6 (39:43):
It was great.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know that's where we
brought ourselves. Like again, you know, I know how we wrote.
You know that that scene feels very authentic to who
I am, but stealing the roles.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
But well that's okay.

Speaker 6 (39:59):
So that's a good question then, because one thing I
remember is anytime, I well most of the time, when
we got a script that we saw your names on,
I knew it was probably gonna be a Corey Sean
Buddy episode. Yeah, so which which one between you and Bluckman?

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Which one was Corey and which one was Sean?

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Uh? I will tell you this between Okay, I don't
know that we did. We we were each that character.
I think we you know, you write, you kind of
tend to write in your own voice for both, and
then the actor kind of finds puts their voice on it. Yeah,
I will say for for you, Will, I felt that

(40:37):
I had the Will character.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Oh okay, so you were Eric. Oh that's great.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, I felt I had the Eric character down, and
I you know, everybody was so great. But I used
to say, you know, Eric is our uh well, Will
is our Tom Hanks, and that you will give you
and sometimes overboard. We went overboard a little bit occasionally.

(41:05):
But what I loved is that you would commit to
it no matter what mm hmmm, and just you would.
You would do it, even if you hated it, you
would do it. And for for us that that just
meant the world. That just just I love that. And
you know that sweet thank you something sweet to you?

Speaker 2 (41:28):
You did you did?

Speaker 1 (41:30):
You called them Tom Hanks?

Speaker 2 (41:32):
I mean, my god, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Yeah, I'll find a way to take it back, don't
we can.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
Well, you'll you'll make my sandwich and you'll call it
the Tom Hanks. That'll that'll get it.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Yeah, it's not and there's no bacon, there's.

Speaker 6 (41:41):
No happen It is a very sandwich called sandwich.

Speaker 3 (41:46):
And I'm kind of offended that you actually.

Speaker 6 (41:51):
So.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
Then in season three, you somehow have five more scripts,
including the iconic Happiest Show on Earth which shot at
Disney World, and we noticed you and Mark in line
as a cameo. What was your memory of taping in
Orlando like that week?

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Uh? Tough, yeah, okay, yeah, no, only because of where
you're shooting, and you know, you think you're going on
a vacation.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, you're all excited.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
I'm going on vacation. How much fun is this? And
then you get there crowds and you have you have
characters and uh so it's it's it just my memory
is really just it was. It was a challenge and
I actually I hope the episode turned out. I'm not
that familiar. I have watched it. Did it turn out? Okay?

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's not.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
We're not all on the same page. You know.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
What we talked about was that it felt like it
needed to be two episodes. The idea of of Topanga
winning this trip and there being a guy the and
Corey being jealous and then the girl interfering, all of
it felt like it could have used a two parter,
especially because it's such a big thing to go to Florida.
But we understand. Of course, it was one night where

(43:12):
all the shows did an episode where they were taking
place in Florida, and so you know, it felt like
a lot of story for our show to fit into
one episode. But of course we understand why it had
that constraint of it needing to be one episode. But
so it turned out well. Like as far as getting
the shots, the shots are all great. I mean, Jeff

(43:33):
McCracken was incredible that we also felt like there was
an opportunity to use more of the park, but.

Speaker 6 (43:40):
Instead of just the dolphin, behind the scenes of the dolphins,
the dolphins.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Anywhere anywhere. Okay, so you're saying I could put it
on my reel, It's okay, I would, Yes.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
I would.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
Okay, good.

Speaker 1 (43:54):
In season four, you wrote a real sleeper hit for us,
one of our less predict to Bowl favorites, B and
B's B and B.

Speaker 3 (44:03):
I love that about it. Tell me you didn't take over.
pH didn't get there this house, remember, I remember so much,
but I remember moments, but oh my god.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
He's leaving and he asks Corey to water the plants,
and Sean steals the key and takes over. He needs
to make money and so he we You guys, they
hatched this plan of using Phoene's house like a B
and B and it's so good. It's really, it's really
it was a really great episode that we enjoyed. We
enjoyed many moments in it.

Speaker 2 (44:36):
That's what Lenn Lesser was in this one from Seinfeld.
He was remember.

Speaker 6 (44:39):
Yeah, and he's singing and all that kind of ya.

Speaker 3 (44:44):
Can't I actually can't wait to watch that.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
You should.

Speaker 6 (44:47):
This is sad when we're the ones who remember stuff,
by the way, because we just watched it, you know,
a year on this, because this is episode and fifty six.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
You know, the craft service guy could probably talk about
Greg remembered this right away. Greg was great in this stuff.
I love that. What was Eric doing in that episode
in B and B?

Speaker 1 (45:12):
What is the one?

Speaker 2 (45:13):
What was he was overshadowed by the great A story?
Is what he was doing. I don't remember what Eric was.

Speaker 6 (45:22):
Doing in B and B's B and B and we
meet people yelling at their their radios right now because
they remember, but we don't.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
We'll google.

Speaker 6 (45:31):
But something not as funny as the A story because
the A story was hysterically funny.

Speaker 4 (45:35):
And again that's when you go to Boston with Phoenie
B story, that's great B story to where Eric's about
to get.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
You guys become friends friends. Yeah, is that the one
where you eat dinner twice or Phoenie eats dinner twice?

Speaker 5 (45:53):
Phner different?

Speaker 6 (45:58):
And then and then he blocks Eric with the with
the bartender, right, and which is inappropriate to begin with?

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Honesty?

Speaker 6 (46:07):
He was you know, yeah, she knew he was too
young to serve him alcohol, but apparently not too young
to take him home.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Uh so, yeah, it was in it was. It was
a great episode though, and it was one.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
Out of it. I'm so proud of it. I just
loved that episode.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Watch it, Watch it. You're gonna You're gonna enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
Another Sean Corey caper that was that was you saw.

Speaker 3 (46:26):
I just love those capers like I just love you know,
I love the again. Did you talked about band on
the run or on the air? I just love I
I I we love the caper. We love putting guys
in situations that were totally above your head. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:43):
I mean, looking at your list of episodes, you guys
tackled very high concepts. There was never kind of like
Corey and t Banga just get into a fight. You
have to, and then we have to deal with the consequences.
Like it was. Corey thinks he's a werewolf. The boys
get a pig, the show travels to Disney World, Shawn's
ex girlfriends kidnap him and plan on killing him in revenge.
You guys really take some big swings.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
Oh my god, you gotta be careful because you know,
I'm married. I'm not used to compliments.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
So she didn't say they were good. She said you took.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
Thank you, also married.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Did anyone ever talk about, by the way, the Boy
meets World Baseball Team?

Speaker 1 (47:30):
Let's talk about it, please please.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Daniel's dad, My dad, dad was on it. Yeah, was
a right, that's what I remember. Your dad was like, you.

Speaker 6 (47:37):
Would get the ball and it was scary, the frozen
rope from the warning What shows did you guys play?

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Improvement was the was the final? I remember because I
was there. You're there, so yeah, I.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
Only mention it because I talked about the camaraderie of
the room. The baseball team was just a pit like
for us. This was more fun and brought us together
in the best way possible because we called ourselves the
bad news bears, right, half of us, didn't half of them.
I could say I could they They they looked at me.

(48:10):
I wasn't ahead, and there was no expectation that I
could play or hit. So when I did, you were yeah,
they were all like, oh my, like it was.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Just that good job, good job, good job, honey.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yeah, exactly. And they were people who couldn't hit or
you know, and then there was the regards like like
Mark or Matt, who were exceptional and always upset about
the people who couldn't pitch or hit or do anything.
But we called the bad News Bears. We had no uniforms.
We played. We played Frasier, yeah, and Home Improvement, and

(48:45):
they were all in beautiful you know, they had to spend.
I mean they came out, you know, there was there
was music playing when they came out, you know.

Speaker 5 (48:57):
So we were just like the scrappy.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
We were challenging the Scrappy's. And somehow, and Barry Safchick
was our manager.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
Barry was Walter Mathow.

Speaker 3 (49:06):
Barry was Walton Matho and we get, you know, we
get those those speeches, you know, how we're going to
do this game, and somehow we just kept winning, right
and after every game they put on a newsletter about
how everyone did you know, and somehow we just we
just kept on winning and winning, and those days were

(49:29):
so much fun. And then we went to the finals
and UH played Home Improvement, playing for the fight. It
was like we were playing, you know, for the World Series.
It was so important to us, and I was I
remember one time in that last game and they put me.
Where do they put the guy they think can't play?

(49:52):
Although I could in the outfield, in the outfield where
in the outfield? Right field?

Speaker 6 (50:00):
Right?

Speaker 3 (50:01):
And I remember a ball is hit to right field
and I could feel the gasp.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Yeah, yeah, no.

Speaker 9 (50:13):
Anyone but Howard and going back to the fence and
I can't say my eyes were open or closed, but
the ball it I caught it.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
Yes, yeah, And this is this is sadly one of
the great moments of my life that I talked about.

Speaker 6 (50:33):
I remember this game, you winds yet you did didn't
didn't you know? You lost?

Speaker 2 (50:40):
That's no, that's right.

Speaker 6 (50:42):
But I remember going there like, Okay, it's the it's
the finals. We're playing Home Improvement. I was like, okay,
I'm going to go see a nice softball game. And
then I remember people from Home Improvement striking out, like
throwing the bat on the ground, and kicking dirt, and
I was like, oh god, there, everybody's taking this really seriously,
like it.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Was this four.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
No, no, you weren't there the first season, so.

Speaker 8 (51:06):
Seven.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Yeah, yeah, it's a very special time. And uh it was.
It was. It was so much fun. Uh So years later,
somebody uh said to me, did you write for It's
Adam Sandler? Did you write for Adam Sandler? And I know,
why what are you talking about? He said, there's a
there's a disc that he put out, a CD. Yeah,

(51:28):
that's called left Field, and you're listed as a writer
on this thing. And I go, what do you I
don't you know. I don't I didn't write it. I
don't know Adam Sandler. I don't know him. We crossed
past his comics. Anyways, long story short, I listened to
c D and he's playing a character in left field
that's standing out there going please don't hit to me,

(51:50):
Please don't hit to me. It's the if anyone knows
Adam Sandler, tell me, I want to know I'm listed
as a writer and I don't unless he was at
that game and he saw that moment's.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
Yeah, so funny. He may have been at that game.

Speaker 3 (52:07):
He may have been at that game. Horror on my face.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
That's unbelievable. I want to talk about Long Walk to
Pittsburgh Part two. It's another big script where Tapega returns
to the Matthew's house after walking in the rain in
the rain. Do you remember that tape night and all
the secrecy around the reveal of Tapega in front of
the audience, You know, I don't.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
I know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
This is why Craig came on before you.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
Now, I know, right. What did he say about it?

Speaker 6 (52:44):
He was amazing, he said it was the biggest, the
biggest audience reaction we had to that point, and it was,
you know, it was an episode that we all thought
was interesting because it's it was also what's her name
who came back who just unfortunately passed away, Olivia Hussey
who came on, who was Topanga's aunt. It was a big,

(53:05):
very big episode. Is also kind of the thing that
we that amazed all of us as we did the
rewatch is the fact that the writers very subtly and
yet abruptly, if that's possible, went from not using Tapanga
enough to her being integral to the show within episodes.
So that was one of the Long Walk to Pittsburgh

(53:28):
might be one of the ones that really sealed it
as Topanga being as important, if not more important, than
most of the other characters on the show.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
Okay, so I've got to put that on my watch
list too.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Yeah, no, I I I. I did not get to
that episode. You have the advantage of having seen it.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
In the one we did. We just we just watched them.
That's why we were just watching them again.

Speaker 4 (53:54):
Okay, so what is your favorite episode? Do you have
one that you remember well.

Speaker 3 (53:58):
Now that I the now that I've heard the story,
it's the B and B s being B and B. Yeah,
I know, I already love the setup. I love I'm
sure came home too early?

Speaker 1 (54:09):
Yep, he did.

Speaker 3 (54:10):
I'm sure you know. I'm already so excited about watching it.

Speaker 4 (54:15):
There's also a very little what we should do is
we should tell Howard one of his own episodes and
have him pitch us plots like scenes and see how
much they end up being exactly what they actually were
because he doesn't remember.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
That's pretty great, that's funny.

Speaker 3 (54:31):
I did love. Breaking up is really really hard to
do too.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
We love that.

Speaker 7 (54:37):
Which one is that one of the Wendy, right, that's
that's the love that episode that's to you as the
old Men. Yeah, yeah, which I mean you could argue
is the best scene in the history of the show.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
I mean, there really is an.

Speaker 5 (54:53):
Argument the history of the show. Season two.

Speaker 6 (54:55):
I mean, but it's just it's so iconic and so good,
and you and Ben just so great in it.

Speaker 5 (55:01):
We're having so much fun.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Yeah, it could you could really say that that was
arguably the best scene we've ever done.

Speaker 3 (55:07):
Oh that's very fine, but you know, and I love
Wendy and that I love loved it. But there were moments,
you know, there's a couple of cringe worthy moments, you know,
when they're talking about her, she's she's crazy.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
Oh yeah, that's.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
Where I'm like, Okay, maybe we could have been a
little more delicate about that, you know, I'm not Yeah,
I'm not sure I would do that the same way
right now, but but I just can't. I also couldn't
believe we went there too, Like, I can't believe we
actually went to this, to this place of of pushing

(55:44):
Wendy that far.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
Yes, she was great too.

Speaker 6 (55:47):
The actress that played her was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful?

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Right, Yeah, do.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
You remember I don't remember her name.

Speaker 3 (55:55):
Now I'm gonna ask you questions that you don't know.

Speaker 1 (55:58):
Yeah, I don't. I don't remember. We'll find out.

Speaker 4 (56:00):
Well, well, she played my girlfriend on Home Improvement before
the one episode of Home Improvement I've done.

Speaker 5 (56:05):
It's written by Susan stelle Jensen.

Speaker 6 (56:08):
Yeah, okay, So how many of or did any of
the episodes you write? Did any of the stories that
you pitch that made it in did any of them
come from your real life experiences? Did any did you
have a Wendy or did any of this stuff actually
happen to you?

Speaker 2 (56:21):
Guys?

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Yeah, I don't know. If you know me, I don't
have any real life experiences.

Speaker 2 (56:28):
I don't think that's accurate.

Speaker 3 (56:30):
I don't live in the real world.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
You live in the future. In the future, very very wessondo.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
I actually looked at it when I watched the episode.
When is that el Fanning? Like I thought, she Yeah,
she's really good. Yeah, here's here's what. But I do
know that we loved, we love coming up with like
the BnB episode, or like we love coming up with
Corey Sean Capers. That's what's the fun. And you know,

(57:04):
I'm sorry at the time, I probably wasn't the best
person to write to Panga.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
You know that's okay. I appreciate you recognizing that.

Speaker 3 (57:13):
You know, I know, and and I'm sure my wife
would tell you that I'm not the guy to write.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
If you wrote to Pega anything like Wendy, we'd be
having a different conversation.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
You know, we love we love the caper, so that's
where you would find those And you know, I'd like
to I'd like someone tell me I don't remember the
origination of the piggy story, which is insane. I just
you know, again, that's a little that's a buddy between

(57:42):
you know, a man, a man and a four legged animal,
and it's beautiful. Somebody did tell us.

Speaker 5 (57:46):
To tell us the origin of that.

Speaker 4 (57:48):
There was an origin somebody, I swear it's one of
our interviews, is the one.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
Where Michael went to go pitch a pilot. Did Jeff
McCracken tell us it?

Speaker 6 (57:57):
Then?

Speaker 5 (57:59):
Hysterical story?

Speaker 4 (58:00):
Now I feel like so like blud Man had a story,
there was somebody who had a pot belly pig. And
that's why our listeners probably will remember everyone's.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
Yaeling at us and the everyone's yeling at us in
their cars.

Speaker 3 (58:09):
By the way, I just want to the Pig has
been on before me too.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Right, yes, as our third guest, yea three times.

Speaker 1 (58:16):
We didn't have much time with the pig and so
we thought let's have him on very early. Amazing he
lived thirty years.

Speaker 3 (58:23):
You know, I'm going to have the pig on at
my deli.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
So for the opening of Wilson has excellent for the
Tom Hanks Veggie Sandwich on Ham, I want to.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
I want to talk a little bit about your memories
of when you guys left. So from what we've from
what we've gathered, you guys were taking over the room
in season five, but then Michael's other show got canceled
and he returned, and you two were interested in staying
head writers, and so you basically left. Is that the
gist it was?

Speaker 3 (58:58):
You know, Michael gave us, it was very generous, gave
us our start, did so many great things for him.
But you know, I I think I could feel there
was an expiration date to how long you know you
want to you want to move on and do other things. Sure,
and he was very he was very generous, and I'm

(59:19):
very grateful for the opportunity. But you know, when he
came back, I think we both felt that it was
time to kind of just exp or what else we
could do. You know, Uh, we got an offer to
do and this sounds horrible now because as I look back,
it was probably the dumbest thing that we could do.

(59:40):
We got an opportunity to be on a Tom Selleck pilot,
to do a show with Tom Selleck that was created and.

Speaker 5 (59:49):
But you never know what television that makes pro you
never know that move, you know.

Speaker 3 (59:53):
Yeah, but on paper, it sounded like this was going
to be you know, and a huge actor. With all
due respect Tom, maybe not the funniest man. That's a
lot of things great.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
Yeah, an awesome times seek Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
Maybe not the leading a sitcom, you know, as I
look back, right, So, but you're at the time you're
offered the show, it's it's it's an adult show. So
to see it, you know, it's it's the version of Oh,
a pretty girl just walked by. You know. Kind of
horrible again looking back, but uh, it just looked like

(01:00:30):
an amazing opportunity for us, and it all happened very quickly.
That was part of the thing. It was like I
felt like we were there and then we weren't there.

Speaker 5 (01:00:37):
Yeah, it was midweek.

Speaker 4 (01:00:38):
I remember saying goodbye to you guys. I think it
was during the the Ski Lodge episode.

Speaker 6 (01:00:43):
Which is why I didn't get a chance to say goodbye,
because I wasn't in that episode and I just came
back to do the next episode and they're like, oh,
Mark and harradigone.

Speaker 3 (01:00:50):
No, I wondered why you didn't say goodbye, And it's
bothered me.

Speaker 2 (01:00:53):
It's because you didn't say goodbye about that.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
It stayed with me a long.

Speaker 6 (01:00:58):
Time because I was, well, that's that week I was
hanging out with Tom Selleck.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, I have picture.

Speaker 3 (01:01:04):
I have pictures to you.

Speaker 6 (01:01:06):
But it was guy, I just came back and you
guys were gone, wait what it happened.

Speaker 3 (01:01:11):
Too abruptly, And it's one of those it's you know,
I don't want to say a regret. It wasn't maybe
a well as well thought out a decision as maybe
looking back, I would have liked. Although you know, again.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
You did the best you could.

Speaker 3 (01:01:26):
We did the best we could, but it all happened
too quickly, for for for us, for being on a
show for three years, four years and suddenly leaving like that.
So you know, I guess you know.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
The baseball team was never the same without baseball.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
Wasn't the same field. I guarded that, I guarded that fence.

Speaker 2 (01:01:44):
You did, okay, golden glove, golden.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Gloves and glove, eyes closed, eyes open. I was there.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Did you ever think at the time that you were
on Boy Meets World that thirty years later we would
still be talking about at it and it would still
be relevant.

Speaker 3 (01:02:02):
No. Yeah, that's the beauty of this. That's the same thing.
That's the lesson for you know, for people out there.
It's just it's just, you know, we all did our
best and it was special because the emotional element, the
dramatic element, so we knew we knew it was special.
And I'm not gonna lie. I don't know that I
appreciated that part of it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:24):
I don't think any of us did, to be honest
with you, thank you, But it's true, and we talk
about that all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
We didn't. None of us knew what we had. None
of us appreciated it as much as we should have.
But that's also just being young. When do you appreciate
anything when you're that age.

Speaker 5 (01:02:38):
Well, Howard, wasn't that young.

Speaker 3 (01:02:41):
I've always been this this always.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
You kind of have you?

Speaker 3 (01:02:47):
Yeah, look the same, look the same. I look like this.
I've grown into this a little bit more, you know.
For those you can't see, it's the silver fox thing
is kind of almost yeah, yeah, I like it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Well, Howard, thank you, Thank you so much for being
our seven hundred and sixty fifth guest.

Speaker 3 (01:03:04):
You know what, it's an honor.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
You lived up to it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:08):
I mean, yeah, it's worth I've been sitting at the
zoom for the years.

Speaker 4 (01:03:13):
Just waiting for the badly, just waiting for the ball, being.

Speaker 3 (01:03:18):
The little pig, and when the little pig got called,
it hurt a little bit. I'm here and I appreciate
this so much. And you know, if you ever hear
little bells going off, it's people talking about you and
our little DELI.

Speaker 1 (01:03:34):
Can we please come visit you in Buzzy Yes, yes,
of course we'd like to come visit.

Speaker 3 (01:03:40):
They'll be lining up, are you kidding?

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
It'll be on the front page of Buzzies Dot see.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
Me and greet me a meet and greet.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
Thank you, there you go. Thank you guys so much.

Speaker 3 (01:03:54):
I really appreciate it. You. This was a lot of
fun and continued obviously six. Yes, you guys are great
and so much fun to listen to.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
So thank you, Thank you so much. Howard. It was
great to see you. We'll see you at Buzzi's.

Speaker 4 (01:04:07):
OK.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
Bye.

Speaker 4 (01:04:10):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:04:11):
He's funny.

Speaker 3 (01:04:12):
He is so funny.

Speaker 6 (01:04:13):
He's got that kind of dry self deprecating thing that
I love, same kind.

Speaker 1 (01:04:17):
Of self deprecating, but he's also deprecating.

Speaker 4 (01:04:22):
But he's one of those guys like I love I
love it when he's like I was more about the
room because he did not break.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
Up that much.

Speaker 4 (01:04:30):
He was very unassuming, especially compared to blud Man, because
bluff Man was like always hanging out with me, like
talking to me and like and you know, just one
of us in a way, and Howard was always there.

Speaker 5 (01:04:42):
And but I don't I didn't connect with him.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
And now I'm like, man, I would love to know
Howard because I totally missed you know you went with
especially at that age is like fifteen, I went to
whoever was the biggest personality.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Talking totally do you know what I mean?

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
And so somebody like Howard, who's like wit and intelligence.

Speaker 5 (01:04:58):
Was sort of more back rounded.

Speaker 2 (01:05:00):
I wouldn't have leaned into.

Speaker 5 (01:05:01):
Because I just didn't think like that.

Speaker 4 (01:05:03):
It was just like, Oh, I just listened to whoever's
talking to me, So yeah, I'd love to get up
there and have a sandwich at.

Speaker 5 (01:05:10):
His deli in that really would be so fun so funny.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
Geez well, thank you all for listening to this episode
of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us
on Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send us
your emails Podmeets World Show at gmail dot com and
we have got merch.

Speaker 2 (01:05:26):
Tom Hanks doesn't need a sandwich.

Speaker 1 (01:05:27):
March I do meets the World show dot com will
send us out.

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
We love you all, pod dismissed.

Speaker 6 (01:05:37):
Pod Meets World is nheart podcast producer and hosted by
Danielle Fischel, Wilfordell and Ryder Strong Executive producers Jensen Carp
and Amy Sugarman. Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo,
producer and editor, Tara sudbachsch producer, Maddy Moore, engineer and
boy Meets World super fan Easton Allen. Our theme song
is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon, and you can follow
us on Instagram at podmeets World Show or email us

(01:05:59):
at Pods World Show at gmail dot com.