Lara Olsen Meets World

The gang is headed back into the writer’s room to hang out with Lara Olsen, a co-writer on some of the most iconic (and controversial) Season 5 Boy Meets World episodes!

We hear how she jumpstarted her writing career as a 2-for-1 special, what led her to BMW and how she crafted the episode where America’s favorite couple ran into a little problem named Lauren.

We also learn about why maybe one script was a little confusing and go behind the scenes of her work on Kim Possible. Also, we won’t let her leave until she updates us on her current gig of rebooting Baywatch! 

And do you want to buy something from Will’s unsuccessful clothing brand? Learn all about it on a brand new Pod Meets World…

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
So if I am, If my wife and I are
in for the night and it's time to like, oh,
we're just gonna watch a movie or whatever, we typically
uh change into comfy pants.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Of course, everyone about that who doesn't.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, I this is only about this is like once
a week for me. I'm not. I don't even take
off my boots. How I am.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
I keep my teens on and then yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
But so the other night, I was like, no, it's
a comfy pants night. And I went in my drawer
and I pulled out my app prey board.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
Oh yes, okay, explain you explained you started a coy
maybe a dozen years ago.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Wait, it was in the nineties.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
It was early two thousand because Greg and I have
to live with my brother here. Yes, my brother Greg
spent some time in Thailand and he found these Thai
fishermen pants, right, which are these big like yoga e
com sie. You pull them up they are three times
your size. Then you fold them over and tie them

(01:27):
off and pants.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Basically they're so baggy and yes, they're amazing, And.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
We did and we started this company called apprey Board Pants.
We had about four or five hundred pairs. Explain the
name oh, so Apprey But you know, so Greg was
always a bit big into like skiing and surfing and snowboarding.
So after you would ski, you would you would relax
and party, and it was called appray ski, Whereas like
you would go to the bar, you would take off

(01:55):
your ski trunk, so he wanted to call it Appray board.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
It was after your.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
Boarding, you get to throw on these awesome pants. And
so we made this company. And this is like all
pre social media, so we had no real way to
promote it, but we we you know, built the company.
We made up catalogs, We had a catalog shoot. I
think Shiloh's in them at one point in the catalog shoot.
And yeah, I still have like three hundred and fifty

(02:19):
bears left.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
They are so well designed because I have, you know,
from when I went to Thailand. I have like a
pair of purple Thai Fishermen pants which are just basically
like a giant piece of fabric and you tie it.
But you guys had like really nice thin fabric that's
super soft and huge pockets. Yes, I was like, oh
I can put books in here. It was perfect.

Speaker 5 (02:43):
This is gonna weigh down the pants that you can Daniel,
did you gave me a pair? I didn't have a
pair in the early ots, but you have recently given
me a pair. Uh, and I love them, But I
really think you we need to put three hundred and
fifty pairs of those on Pod meets World Show.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
They probably go pretty quickly. Actually, I mean they're.

Speaker 5 (03:05):
Comfortable, they have a piece. They'd have a piece of
your past history writer Rider and I are only expecting
our two thirds cuts. No, but seriously, like you, there's
no people. They're great pants, They're super comfortable. You made
them in pretty colors.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, no, there was.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
And you know what was funny is my girlfriend at
the time was Jen Morrison, who went on to then
Starr in Once upon a Time and all these big shows,
and she was like, I'll be in your catalog.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
So it's like she's the catalog model.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Do you have a copy of the catalog? I think
I have eight thousand, okay of the mook.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Because we shouldn't change like we should the business, you know,
so if you buy a pair of the pants, you
also get a catalog.

Speaker 6 (03:54):
Or whatever.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
I think it's like Shiloh, my brother Greg's in them.
I can't remember Shiloh is in it?

Speaker 4 (03:59):
My trainer at the time, Scott Dolea is all like,
we all went to the beach and did this big.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
But you know who else is in them? Darcy, Wow,
it is it's Shiloh and guys, I'm serious.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
We need to put this on. We need to put
these up.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Oh my god, if I told Susan that we were
getting rid of the oppery board, I think she'd want
to renew our vows. Like, yeah, they are all perfectly
still packaged and ready to ship. We've got all of
them folded and tagged. They're beautiful.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
So yeah, we have them in sizes from small to
very small.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
They're two hundred and fifty dollars each. You can get
yours now it's a world show.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Oh that's so funny. I'm going to need a thousand
dollars a pair to cover the actual cut.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
That So yeah, no, we got your still got a bunch.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
But yes, if you'd like to sell them, they're there,
so we got we.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Have the inventory.

Speaker 6 (04:50):
Doble.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
I'm glad you liked them. That's good. That's good.

Speaker 4 (04:54):
I am the creepy guy, by the way, who will
lie on my bed watching TV with my jeans and
my socks and I've been walking around you guys.

Speaker 5 (05:02):
Don't you feel like the germs of the outside are
on your clothes and like.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
No, no, I feel like if I'm like not wearing
shoes and socks, I feel like I'm not ready to
deal with life. It's like it's too and.

Speaker 5 (05:17):
You've got to be ready to deal with life at
all times.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
You never know what's going to happen.

Speaker 5 (05:21):
We run outside, yeah, sure, okay, but like you could
still go outside in your appery board pants.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
I am.

Speaker 5 (05:31):
I am an immediate almost an immediate come when I
know I don't have to go out anymore, even if
that's say three pm, if both my kids are home
from school and we don't have plans to have to
go to softball but you know, baseball practice or karate
or something like that. I am an immediate out of
my outdoor clothes into my indoor closed person. I've only

(05:55):
recently had to start wearing shoes inside because we have
hardwood floors in the entirety of our house and I
developed metal sargia, which is the sargia it's a pain
in the ball of my foot, and not just necessarily
in the ball but in any of that part under
your toes, that that foot pad under your toes.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
See, being barefoot is a really big problem. Do we
have to update your wiki feet now?

Speaker 2 (06:24):
I do? I have to have hit your wiki feet.

Speaker 7 (06:26):
You know what?

Speaker 5 (06:27):
You know what I'm thinking of getting is those naked feet,
those shoes that look like feet.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Oh my friend has those and we're not friends anymore.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
Exactly, That's what I'm thinking.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
I don't thinking.

Speaker 5 (06:36):
No one will want to be just for my indoor shoes.
I have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
So I have plantar fasci itis, but in the.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
Feet of your foot, correct, correct, And so from walking
around barefoot and hardwood floors for too much. I was
like reading all about it, like, well, what am I
going to do about this? And the number one cure
was icing and wearing shoes, and so I care.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Never McDonald's.

Speaker 4 (06:58):
It's never McDonald's for donuts, right, exactly, never donuts.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
No, exactly.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
By the way, you went to McDonald's the other day,
is the chicken Big maca officially out?

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yet I didn't know. I didn't see that. I did
not see that on the menu. It wasn't there, Jensen said,
wasn't there. So welcome to pod meets World.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
I'm Daniel Fisher, I'm Writer Strong, and I'm Wilford.

Speaker 7 (07:23):
Hey everyone, Amy Roboch here along with TJ Holmes, and
we have a very exciting announcement to.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Make to all of you.

Speaker 8 (07:30):
We are expanding. We are now going to be coming
to you Monday through Friday for a new part of
our Amy and TJ franchise, if you will, the Morning Run.
We're going to help listeners navigate the busy news cycle
and the historic political season that the country is facing.
And we're going to do this now each and every day.

Speaker 7 (07:50):
Wow, we have a news franchise now, I like the
way you put that. We're going to be covering all
the latest news headlines for all of you. We'll have
entertainment updates, and we'll even give some perspective on the
current events that are happening right now. And this, by
the way, is in addition to our already established bi
weekly podcasts that we hope you guys are tuning into
as well, with more in depth conversations and interviews. So

(08:13):
we're going to be with you Monday through Friday with
Morning Run. Listen to Morning Run on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 5 (08:29):
When the name Lara Olsen appeared on the schedule for
Podmets World, we quickly message Jensen, asking who the heck
is this guest. Is it some obscure rapper he's trying
to sneak onto the podcast. Is it a background actor
who stood by the blood Drive sign once and looked
directly into the camera. No, it was actually writer Laura Runnels,
Proving that we aren't the only ones who've grown up

(08:51):
over the past thirty years. Some of our co workers
also got married. Laura Runnels now Olsen join the writer's
room for season five, alongside her writing partner Patricia Carr
and Dove headfirst into the show with their names attached
to three important scripts from that season, The Sabrina the
Teenage Witch, time Traveling tie in Noguts No Cory, the

(09:13):
Ski Lodge Nightmare for Tapanga, Heartbreak Corey easily one of
the most discussed episodes of all time, and finally they
got the teleplay credit for First Girlfriend's Club, the almost
revenge Murder of Sean in a Scary Boatouse.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
In other words, their impact.

Speaker 5 (09:29):
Was felt immediately Laura would stay with Boy Meets World,
an early stop on her impressive resume, through season seven,
and after the finale, she would go on to work
as a writer, producer, and showrunner on hit after hit,
from Riba to Private Practice to Life Unexpected to even
Kim Possible.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Really, yes, I didn't know that cool.

Speaker 5 (09:49):
Finding a gap on her IMDb page is about as
difficult as finding a casino I haven't been to. And
now she is working in a whole new nostalgia, tasked
with rebooting Baywatch for a new generation, something we will
definitely ask her about, and now with a whole new name.
Welcome to the podcast, writer Laara Olsen.

Speaker 9 (10:11):
Yes, yes, oh.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Welcome. So good to see you. Good to see you
guys too.

Speaker 5 (10:18):
Oh my gosh, I feel like we are on set again.
You haven't changed a day.

Speaker 2 (10:22):
I know well, you guys.

Speaker 10 (10:24):
I watched those three episodes you guys wanted me to watch,
and I was same to you, like.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Oh my god, my god, they look it's so funny.
It's so good to see you.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
And before we jump into talking about Boy Meets World,
I want to talk a little bit about the fact
that your resume looks like you worked exclusively in cartoons
before you got to us Extreme, Ghostbusters, Jumanji, Cat Dog.
How did you break into that side of the business
as a new writer.

Speaker 10 (10:51):
Well, I just got an assistant job, so I like,
I needed I needed to pay my bills. Somebody said, oh,
this animation thing, this guy needs an assistant at Sony,
so I got a job working there. They were like,
why do you want to work here? Because I had
I have an MFA from UCLA and playwriting, and I
was like, I need to pay my bills. So They're

(11:12):
like okay. But my boss there was very open to
I was just like, can I come sit in the
room when you guys are talking? Could I take a
stab at that seat? So I was just like volunteering
to do that all the time. And then he was
really supportive of me and Patty as well. So we
got like, do you guys want to do an episode?

(11:32):
And we got put with somebody not of Jumanji, but
initially this other guy who was really annoyed.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Wait, so Patty was also working at Sony.

Speaker 10 (11:43):
No, I was, but Patty and I were working together.
We had done one other job before that, which was
I don't know, you guys probably don't remember this, but
there was a USA up all night. Yeah, it's like, oh,
I forgot who the actress was. But she did these
little wrap arounds of late night movies on us.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
Do you remember this. I do remember this.

Speaker 10 (12:04):
Yeah, And so we wrote some of those and got
paid like two hundred dollars. We were like, so, but
she got us that job. So when I got the animal,
when I got volunteer, when I got the offer for
the animation thing, it was.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
You brought her with you.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Yes, So who was the person at Tony from Animation?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
I'm just curious.

Speaker 10 (12:24):
Oh yeah, Ron was there. Like, well, that's how I
got to cat Dog is through the Sony connections, because
let's see, I'm not cat Dog. Sorry, Kim Possible.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, okay, I didn't know you wrote it, Kim Possible.
I don't think I knew that.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
I don't think.

Speaker 10 (12:41):
Yeah, I don't think.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
I knew that.

Speaker 10 (12:43):
That's awesome, but it was that's a small world. So
like we were even while we were on Boy Meets World,
we were still writing animation because we needed to like
bridge the gap of income in between on the hiatus,
so we would write a few animation things. But yeah,
so this guy got saddled with and he really wasn't happy.
It was so clear that he was like, uh, find

(13:06):
And then we turned in our draft and he was
like what And we got so much work for him
from him, so we got That's where. He was an
editor on Extreme Ghostbusters and he did Starship Troopers and
he'd like anybody that was ever looking for writers, he
would recommend us. He did Cat Dog and then he
knew the guys who were doing Kim Possible, so he
recommended us over there.

Speaker 5 (13:27):
So you and Patty Patricia Carr were a writing team.
Did you always want a writing partner? Did you like
having a writing partner?

Speaker 10 (13:36):
I loved having a writing partner. Patty and I went
to high school together, so when she moved out here,
we realized that we were both out here. We were
very young, and we both wanted to write for TV.
So we said, let's trade our spec scripts and give
each other notes, and so we did, and we had

(13:56):
written the same spec Roseanne like the same a store,
the same beast story. So we were like, either we're
both hacks or fine that we should write together. So
we threw out that we wrote two specs and one
of them is what got us the job on Boy
Meets World. I think it was a mad about you
but we got an agent off of that, and then
we got a meeting off of that, and we actually

(14:18):
got called in to meet on you wish Yes, but
then they said, I think Michael was like, would you
be interested in being on Boy Meets World? And we're
like yes, So we ended up getting on Boy Meets
Worlds and like it all happened pretty quickly once we
wrote the two new specs that well, yeah.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
For our dear listeners who are not necessarily writers or
even in the entertainment industry, could you explain how being
a writing team is different than say, someone whose name
might appear alone on a script.

Speaker 10 (14:51):
Yes, you split a salary now, and we.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Were yep, there you go.

Speaker 10 (14:56):
We were We were both aware that at the time
when we started, women would get hired because they had
to hire a woman. Yeah, it was like there was
this mandate of you got to hire a woman.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
There at least needs to be one woman in this room.

Speaker 10 (15:10):
Yes, so we were like, you know what if there's
two of us. We even had T shirts made with
two women's holding pens. I wish I still had one
that said exploit us. So anytime that we had a
meeting or something, we would leave our T shirt like
you get two women for the cost of one woman.
So I don't think that's why we got hired in

(15:31):
the world. I think they liked cinner material and stuff,
But I think that that that was our feeling of,
you know, doing that. And then when you work with
somebody that you work well with, it's it's nice because
for many reasons you had, like you have somebody to
like experience the the success with who's experiencing your same success,

(15:54):
so that you're not like bragging or you're not like
you're just you're just like we did we have a success.
This is exciting.

Speaker 11 (16:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (16:01):
And then at the same time, when something is annoying,
you can complain to each other but not get like
that person's not going to go repeat what you said
right to somebody else.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
You have a confidant, a built in confidant.

Speaker 10 (16:16):
Yeah, And we really we worked very creatively well together,
and it made us be able to do things very quickly.
We wrote a lot of scripts on Boy Meets Worlds
after our first script that everyone was like excited about,
like what this doesn't suck yay.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (16:32):
I think we experienced that a lot so we could
write quickly, and so we wrote three or four episodes
the season that we were there. I think, so great.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Had you watched Boy Meets World before you came.

Speaker 10 (16:43):
In, No, I hadn't. I knew of it, but I
was in my twenties, so I was not the target
audience for it. Every relative I had who was in
college or younger, I mean I was like, I don't know,
a couple of years out of college. I wasn't that old.
But everybody in college or younger, every relative I had.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Was like, what this is so cool?

Speaker 10 (17:10):
We got so excited. And that's why I don't have
any of my swag left from the show, because I
gave it to the to the youngsters. I mean, you know,
not that much, but like the kids that were like,
what the jack Like my my young niece wore that jacket.
You guys remember that jacket? Yeah, so she had that,

(17:34):
so kudos at school and stuff because of it. But
they would just like contact me about, oh my god,
Cory kissed that right. They would just get so excited.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Do you remember your first interview? Do you remember interviewing
for the job I do.

Speaker 10 (17:53):
It was with Mark and Mark Mark Butman and Hard
best game, Okay, And we went in and they had
read or we had a Mad about You script and
they liked it. So we talked about that script and
then it was there going to be their first time
running a show, so they were talking about what they
wanted to do with the show. I mean, it was
just very friendly. We just all like laughed and talked

(18:16):
about comedy and about the show. Like I mean, we
had by that time watched a bunch of episodes, so
I believe we cause you guys were gonna well Eric,
Eric had graduated and so it was like we were
talking about oh and he's going to go to college
and what they wanted to do with that and stuff
like that. It was very friendly and it was like

(18:38):
it was our very first meeting that we had ever
had to staff, and we felt like, oh, this went well.
And then like on the drive, like we got an
offer right away.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
So it did it had Okay, it had gone well.

Speaker 7 (18:54):
Yes.

Speaker 10 (18:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
So when you started in season five, Mark and Howard
were the showrunners. They were running over, yeah, because.

Speaker 10 (19:01):
Michael had gone over to run you wish and Mark
and Howard were running the show. They had been on
the whole time, right, they had.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Been on second second season second Okay.

Speaker 10 (19:11):
So yeah, they were running the show and then they
left at the point when Michael came back over. Right,
I wasn't in on whatever like was behind that decision,
but they but I think like Michael came back over
to run it and so whatever.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Whenever that happened in the season.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, again, it happened during the ski Lodge episode,
if I remember correctly, Yes.

Speaker 10 (19:33):
Because on the credits when I was watching these episodes again,
the Valentine's episode they did the story for and then.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Pat you wrote it.

Speaker 10 (19:41):
Yeah, you guys are fast right this one, right, so
we had their story or like we had there they
did the outline and.

Speaker 5 (19:47):
You had already written the ski Lodge episode, and so
they were like, you're the perfect people to fill in now,
yes and write the second half.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
So wait, writer, then the when because you at one
point said that Mark and Howard came out and said
they they were leaving, and they did it, and.

Speaker 3 (20:01):
I think I don't remember the see, so it was
during which makes sense.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
I remember we were filming an episode, and I probably
what happened is you wish had been canceled because we're about,
you know, halfway through the season and they only did
so many and so Michael was like, all right, I'm
coming back to boy this World, and Mark and Howard
were like, we're going to go on to other things
because they wanted to do adult shows anyway, right, So
they they came and made this like, you know, announcement.
We kind of all said goodbye and yeah, I remember

(20:24):
them coming to say and I was like, what, they're
leaving you? And then Michael was back.

Speaker 6 (20:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
So wait.

Speaker 4 (20:29):
So then as you were writing the Ski Lodge episode, Yes,
what about.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
Me did you hate?

Speaker 3 (20:37):
And why did you think I was such a bad actor?

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Because he's not in that one.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
I'm just curious. I'm curious about like decision.

Speaker 10 (20:45):
I'm guessing that you probably I don't remember because it
was so long ago, but I'm guessing you did have
a storyline that probably got cut for time that would
be yes, because we like, like you were so good
to write for because you could do anything, and as
a matter of fact, like we would give you stuff
sometimes it was so ridiculous and you would just be

(21:07):
like okay, you know, like I like one memory, like
it didn't end up on the show, but there was
an episode where everybody you probably I may have talked
about this when I saw you on the strike line,
but where Eric doesn't know how to read. I don't

(21:27):
know if you remember that, but I do table read.
It was at the team and you were sounding out
words and you were just like.

Speaker 12 (21:36):
Okay, and you know, like after that table read was
the only time that you ever were like, so, could
I not do that storyline?

Speaker 4 (21:52):
We?

Speaker 10 (21:56):
Yeah, I mean college, I think I know how to read.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
Mister sounds really bad. If Eric doesn't even know how.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
To read, Eric can't read, I don't remember this.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yes, Oh god.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
That sounds like a very That would have been an
eighties very special episode back in the day.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
Oh my god, that's funny.

Speaker 4 (22:16):
Oh now, how I mean, if if you, if you'd
talk about this, because I don't, We don't know.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Maybe it didn't at all.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
Did the dynamic in the room change when Mark and
Howard were no longer running it and Michael came back?

Speaker 10 (22:31):
Well, yes, just in the sense that Michael. It didn't
change with the rest of the writers. It wasn't like
it was not like a big oh my, it was
just sort of it was all handled like I had
no idea, but I was also the lowest on the
totem pole at that point, so we were like, oh,
and then Michael was there. It wasn't like a whole

(22:55):
scene or something like that. Yeah. Yeah, And it did
seem like for them they had gotten the show running
experience out of it and then it was like, yeah,
like they're moving on just saying they wanted to. They
were interested in doing more adults, not adult.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
But like grown ups.

Speaker 10 (23:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
Was it collaborative in the room? Did like was everybody
pitching together? Did you feel welcome as the newer writer
on the on the cast?

Speaker 13 (23:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (23:22):
That is one thing about that show is there was
not a hierarchy, especially once Michael was there, because it
was Michael and then it was everybody else. We're all equal,
and Michael was very, very encouraging of people pitching and
like there was never any wrong pitch, you know there

(23:43):
have been in other comedy rooms. It was a very
it was a very like we worked long hours, but
it was a very nice room in my experience. I
was also just Patty and I were so thrilled to
be there, so we were like we would sweep the
floors if they need us to.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Were were you guys the only women?

Speaker 10 (24:02):
No, so Barbie Feldman had also gotten and moved up
because she had been a Barbie Adler now because she
had been an assistant to Susan somebody Susan. Yes, she
was not on the staff when I was there, so
I didn't know her that well. And then Erica on
Talfa was a Disney fellow and then she got put
on the staff.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
So yeah, so when did Erica come in? She didn't
come until like maybe water a fifth season, right.

Speaker 10 (24:30):
Yeah, I think she was fifth or sixth, Like she
might have been an intern on the fifth season and
then got putting on put on staff on the sixth. Gotcha?

Speaker 5 (24:40):
Was there a character that spoke most to you, especially
as one of the you know, rare female voices we
had on the show. Was there a specific character you
really like related to or felt like spoke to you?

Speaker 10 (24:52):
Probably? I'm trying to think you guys were all so
good and easy to write for. That's that's the thing. Like,
But I think Patty and I were pitching stories for
Tipanga a lot, like just getting more of the not
just the girl as a prop, not that the show
ever did that. But it's like not like, oh, how

(25:14):
is Topanga going to work into Corey's story, but like, oh,
what's tapanga side of this too? Yes, what's going on
with Topanga? I think? And Idelson was also there. I
just want to.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
We had quite a few Season five, quite a few
women voices.

Speaker 10 (25:30):
Yeah, so, so I think we brought that sensibility and
just our experiences in life as women. We were able
to have Topanga and Angela also have a point of view.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Men and women have different points of view on stuff.
Come on.

Speaker 10 (25:52):
So and then I guess, yeah, Maitland. What was her
character's name, Rachel, Rachel. Yeah, I just I think of
her as Maitland, So yeah, Maitland too once she came
out because she was season.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Six, six, six or seven.

Speaker 9 (26:05):
Yeah, yeah, if you watch Dancing with the Stars, I
can say this and Krena will probably say the same thing.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
I don't think that we had great dancing chemistry.

Speaker 9 (26:20):
Then you need to be listening to sex lies and
spray tend my partner Arden.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
He was so intense that meaning really nervous.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
With Cheryl B. Kenneda didn't wear a lot of clothes.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
No, she was, she did, she did super ankles Warm.

Speaker 9 (26:35):
Get the behind the scenes of what goes down on
and off the dance floor.

Speaker 11 (26:40):
Dancing with the Stars breaths body image issues for women.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
The thinner you are, the more attention you end up
getting on that show.

Speaker 9 (26:47):
Injuries my phone wings, Hey Christian, Hey business, Yeah, I
saw you dancing with the Stars. I saw what happened
to your arm, and I have the perfect guy.

Speaker 4 (26:57):
To fix it.

Speaker 10 (26:58):
Honestly, got to Clara, I'm trying to survive. I'm just
trying to like make it out out of this season.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Ego, she wanted to kill me. It was real bad
insecurity on the show.

Speaker 11 (27:08):
It was like everyone was talking about my weight and
it really affected my confidence so much for like years.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
To come, and betrayals.

Speaker 14 (27:16):
Because of that one betrayal, I knew this is probably
my last season.

Speaker 9 (27:20):
Listen to Sex, Lies and Spray Stands with Cheryl Burke.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Speaker 15 (27:26):
My name is Cheryl Burke and I approved this message.

Speaker 5 (27:37):
Okay, so your first episode is season five, episode six,
No Guts, No Corey and absolutely Insane TGIF tie in
that involves us time traveling to World War two. This
had to be the deepest end in all of television
to jump into what do you remember from that week?

Speaker 10 (27:58):
Well, so it's more than just that story because and
I don't know if you guys ever knew this before
there was the Cat tie in. Patty and I had
outlined a Thanksgiving episode that was like, well, no, we're
not going to do that. We're not doing Thanksgiving, We're
going to do a Titanic episode tie in with Titanic.

(28:20):
But Titanic had not come out. So we did a
whole thing with Titanic and Corey AND's Panca being on
Titanic or something, and then they were like, no, Titanic's
not going to do well, and that was from Disney.
He's like, oh, that's well, nobody will know what this is.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
No one's going to get that one. That's a flop because.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
The movie was supposed to be a flop because it
was gone, like everybody's talking about it in Hollywood is
like a disaster.

Speaker 10 (28:45):
Yeah, so that got thrown out, and so then there
was the crossover episode, and nobody else wanted to do
that one because because it's crazy Cat traveling through so
and then not only that, but so then Patty and
are like we'll do it. But we were also like
still like our other episodes, like yeah, no Thanksgiving, no Titanic.

(29:06):
We like, we'll do the crossover. We're fine. And then
all of the TGIF shows had to pick a time
period right, and the other shows snapped up the fifties
and the seventies, and in the nineties.

Speaker 15 (29:24):
They told us we could do the eighties right exactly,
so we knew, like the eighties like that wasn't a
thing at that point. We were joking like, oh yeah,
look at us with our can of new coke, Like, what.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Are you talking right?

Speaker 2 (29:39):
What's the eighties now?

Speaker 10 (29:42):
Eighties would look like the eighties now, But in the
nineties it was just like what are you going to
do in the eighties, we tried to do the twenty
I think somebody else had done the twent like all
the interesting decades were gone, so we're like, okay, so
world Wars. So that's how we got World War Two.
And also Eric's first storyline on that episode, do you remember.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
That I do this is the one because this is
the only time I remember coming in and saying okay.

Speaker 10 (30:09):
So then that was yeah, that was the blood And
then they.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Tell us about the blood.

Speaker 10 (30:16):
There was a storyline that I don't remember the full
extent of, but it had to do with Eric thought
he would do his part by donating blood, and so
he was just like going, We're like donating lots and
lots of blood, and there's blood. So there were like
but that's that was what I remember. We ended up
having to pull out because it wasn't tasteful or something
like that.

Speaker 4 (30:37):
Now, so when you were told you could pick your well,
essentially you have kind of the forties left, so you're
doing World War two?

Speaker 1 (30:47):
Was this also all based.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Around the idea that they were going to be pumping
up a night of Sabrina?

Speaker 1 (30:55):
Right? Yes?

Speaker 10 (30:56):
Yes, Now that was an ABC mandate. Is they wanted
to do a crossover with the Cat because Sabrina, Like,
they really liked doing crossovers.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
I think there was there were they liked synergy.

Speaker 10 (31:09):
Yes, yes, so they knew they came up with the
idea that the cat was going to go into every episode. So, uh,
the cat did? I don't even was was Family Matters?

Speaker 4 (31:22):
No, it was gone by this point. It was gone
by so we figured out Family Matters had been moved
to NBC or something prime time. Okay, so that the
night started with Sabrina and then goes off.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
Then we're next, and then you Wish, You Wish and
teen Angel.

Speaker 10 (31:40):
Yeah wow, yeah, okay, so you wish I had preference
over the decade to.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
Boy, yeah, you wish got to pick.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
So we were the only non last, always last. Every
time we got to pick something, we were always the
last people.

Speaker 4 (31:54):
I know.

Speaker 10 (31:54):
But you know what, the joke is on everybody because.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
No one talks about those other episode.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Here we are.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
We're doing a you Wish podcast next, So.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
It's gonna go for one month.

Speaker 10 (32:06):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
One thing.

Speaker 10 (32:08):
One thing that we did talk about in the room
about the forties was oh, this will be great hair.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
For t and wardrobe. Oh yeah, I missed. I missed
my calling for decades.

Speaker 6 (32:19):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 5 (32:21):
So then your second episode of the season is Heartbreak Cory,
an incredibly iconic episode and the introduction of the great
Linda Cardellini as Lauren. The Ski Lodge is quite possibly
the most mentioned episode to me.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yes, do you remember.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
Where this entire storyline was born? What was the dialogue
in the writer's room about every aspect of the storyline?

Speaker 10 (32:51):
Okay, I don't know if I have all those details,
but I know that Patty and I were instrumental in
pitching like what if he kisses somebody else? Okay, like
in what that level could be, like is it just
an emotional thing? Is it actually a kiss? And I
think it Like one thing that happened to is once.

(33:14):
Look because we were sitting in the casting room when
Linda Cartelini came in and everybody was like, oh my god.
So once she was cast also it was easy to
see like, oh, she's not a villain. This is like
that there was a way to play that for like, oh,
Corey really loves to Panga, but this girl is great,

(33:37):
So yeah.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
I love that. I love that.

Speaker 5 (33:40):
Linda herself was one of the reasons we get such
an episode. One of the things we loved about it
is that there is no telling from the writing or
audience reaction to the audience about how they're supposed to
fit feel She's not supposed to be a villain.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
She is just a.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
Great girl who has real feelings for Corey, and Corey
has real feelings for her, and you can see how
they could have a great relationship.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
And is that bad? Is that good?

Speaker 5 (34:16):
We don't It doesn't really lean you one way or
the other. You have to decide for yourself, which really
plays in the episode.

Speaker 10 (34:23):
Yes, and I think what you guys were talking about
before is that appealing to like the sensibility of how
that would make women go what would I do in
that situation? Too? So it's not just like, oh, Corey,
what's you going to do? It's like, oh my god,
what's Tapanka gonna do?

Speaker 7 (34:37):
What?

Speaker 10 (34:38):
You know? And really play that and also, oh, we
understand like Lauren and what she did, and she didn't
do anything wrong she you know, but.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
We talked about this.

Speaker 6 (34:53):
Right, We talked it on her feelings specifically, the first
time we walk into the ski lodge, it is Corey
into Panga together.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
There she is knowingly going after another woman's man.

Speaker 5 (35:05):
But she doesn't have a responsibility to anyone who has
a responsibility's.

Speaker 10 (35:14):
She is also just doing her job to begin with.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
Which, by the way, she's this poor girl is on
twenty four hour ships.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
She's there for three days strength that's three days straight.

Speaker 10 (35:26):
I noticed that too. Rewatching did not occur to me.

Speaker 4 (35:32):
This poor girl is running the entire lounge by herself
and now has met this man and has been up.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
For three days. But that's the other thing.

Speaker 4 (35:41):
We talked about, is that that's what great television does.
I mean, my wife I got again because you hated
me as an actor and hated my talent. I wasn't
in this episode. So I got to sit back and
just watch this as a fan. And I'm not sure
since it aired if I'd ever seen it. And I'm
sitting there watching it with my wife, and there was
times you were pausing it and having these conversations where

(36:01):
it's like, wait a minute, and then were we looked.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
At each other's like, but that's what That's what good
TV is supposed to do. You're supposed to have the
different points of view, You're supposed to have these discussions.
You're supposed to did she do anything wrong? Okay, who
was responsible? Well it's his fault, yes, but she was complicit.
Oh it was great. So fully enjoyed it.

Speaker 10 (36:18):
And you know, I don't know, thinking back to before
that point, if the show had really done little arcs,
that that might have been one of the first times
that there was an arc of are they going to
like what's happening with them? Are they going to get
back together? That like stretched over several episodes, and then

(36:39):
we were doing more of that as the show continued,
because it worked really well, I think.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
But then okay, so then that leads to my next question,
which is, because we just watched the next one, you
did the first First Girlfriend's Club, and so whose idea
was it to not then make fine being the letter
the a story of that storyline. It's like you left
us hanging, and then we wanted to jump into that one,

(37:07):
and that seemed to be kind of pushed to the
side and just kind of bracketed the episode. Wait, now
you remember how that happened?

Speaker 10 (37:14):
No, I because that was in all of the change
over there.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
Right, the Bluntman and bus gang leading.

Speaker 10 (37:20):
And I think, I think, I think what happened is
initially I don't know for sure, so this all may
be not true. So I'm supposing, in combination with like
deep memory that the Valentine's episode they had wanted to
do a thing with with Sean and it was like
a first girl like First Wives Club was.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
A big movie, so doing that.

Speaker 10 (37:44):
And so that had been the focus of that episode.
But then off of how well the other episode had gone,
it was like, let's put this in there too, Like
let's let's gutch on that because it's it's a Valentine's
Day episode. But we already had like the girl, like
those three girls, and I think those girls had all

(38:04):
been former. I wasn't on the shoe, but they had
all been former, like yeah, ventures Sean's and stuff too,
So yeah, that would that would be my guess as
to why that happened. And then we leaned more into
it moving forward if I'm remembering correctly, because there was
a episode. Oh yeah, I don't remember all of the

(38:26):
other ones, but I remember, And then Lauren came back
at some point.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Yes, she comes back.

Speaker 5 (38:31):
Now it may be that hindsight is twenty twenty and
even just based on what you said there, where like, oh,
this first episode of Corey having this emotional connection and
a kiss with Lauren felt like it went well, And
yet in the planning of the season maybe wasn't anticipated
to be as big of a moment as it turned
out to be, so much so that the following episode

(38:53):
was going to be a Sean and Angela Valentine's Day episode.
But did you feel a lot of pressure tackling such
a big moment in Corey into Panga's relationship In hindsight,
of course, it's the most talked about aspect of the
Corey to Panga relationship.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
But I don't know that we would have known that
at the time. So did it feel pressure filled?

Speaker 10 (39:14):
I mean, I think the way that we didn't break
stuff too much in advance on that show, okay, And
I mean at the time too, like that shows just
weren't done like that because you had to do so
many It was just like what's next, what's next with
the right can we They didn't have the same kind
of arcs, So I think it was more like a
standalone situation, especially in sitcom. But I think Michael was

(39:39):
very aware. I mean, we could hear the audience reaction too,
so like when we were shooting the show, you were like,
oh my god.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Right, people are reacting.

Speaker 10 (39:48):
People are really reacting to this, And so yeah, I
guess we were following through before it was even on
the air and following through on that and that was
probably coming from you know, Michael of like in the
room too, But like Michael would have been the one
to go, we got to do, we got to follow
through on this, and we would all then pitch and

(40:09):
you know.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
Do you remember what the sort of like rules of
Weymeet's world were like what were the discussions in the
room as far as like, this is what's going to
happen with Corey into Panga, this is going to be
Sean and Angela's storyline. Did you guys have guiding principles
or sort of like commandments going forward?

Speaker 10 (40:26):
Like with pitching storylines, it worked differently, like when there
were arcs, then you would pitch you know, like what
could be the next step in the arc. But otherwise
a lot of times people would just share stories. And
I think that's where the people that were like the
younger people on staff, which I was one of at
the time, we would pull so many things from our
lives because we were just high school wasn't that far before.

(40:50):
So we would talk, oh, our friend had this happened
in high school? Or this happened in high school, and
maybe Topanga could have this happen. And then there were
a lot of there was a lot of you know,
interact with Feenie. What lesson could Peenie teach everybody? There
was the family element was important on the show too,
Like Alan would factor a lot into like, oh, the

(41:12):
father or son's relationship and then when when Eric and
Jack and Rachel were there too, that would be like, okay,
they would have a like that would kind of be
broken separately. But then sometimes we would come back and
talk about what about an episode about brothers, Like everybody
would just kind of pitch. It would be like, do

(41:34):
you know the term blue skys? Is any bit ever
use that before?

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Like blue skys?

Speaker 10 (41:38):
Just like pitch anything, like yeah, really see what Yeah they.

Speaker 4 (41:42):
Do at Google where they paint it's the the the
ceiling is painted blue.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
It's the Blue Sky Room.

Speaker 10 (41:47):
So you go go in there and you're like, what
about this? What about this? And so? And then when
something would land that would seem like, oh, this is
a story, then we would like break it out a
little bit more like a B story or something like that.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
So there wasn't a plan like coming into season five,
this is going to be the season where this happens
by the end or no, wow, okay no.

Speaker 10 (42:08):
In fact, the beginning of season five that was when
Mark and Howard we're doing it for the first time.
That was just really episode by because those episodes were
more just like episode by episode. Bob Tischler was new
on the staff at that point, too.

Speaker 4 (42:21):
Yeah, okay, do you remember a specific storyline or a
script you really wanted to do where you thought the
room wanted to do that got you know, traction, and
then all of a sudden, it's like, no, we're not
going to do that.

Speaker 10 (42:31):
Well the Thanksgiving episode, I don't even remember what the
story was, but we liked it, and then it was
for whatever reason, like Thanksgiving was.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Not happening, Thanksgiving's not hit fit Like, yeah, ABC, I.

Speaker 10 (42:43):
Think it was like, we don't want to do Thanksgiving
episode because then it's like a syndication thing.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
Like they want Evergreen.

Speaker 10 (42:49):
Yes, exactly, but we liked whatever we had done on
that outline. But usually I feel like there was one
episode and I don't know which one it was, that
that was kind of far along in the process and
ABC was like, you know what, we changed our mind,
we don't want to do that episode. It was I
don't think it was one I was writing, and so

(43:12):
then we had to start a starting over doing another.

Speaker 4 (43:15):
Oh, he dick, What's what's the craziest pitch for one
of the characters of Boy Meets World that you remember?
Because Eric not being able to read is a pretty guy.
I apparently got all the way to the table read,
which is I.

Speaker 10 (43:27):
Still remember you sounding out words and I forget I
think Shack taught you, like Jack was going to teach
you to read or something like that, and you were like,
reading is fun. Wasn't the lesson you took away? That
was probably the craziest, the craziest, and that I can
remember because afterwards it was like all of the writers
were like what were we all thinking?

Speaker 2 (43:51):
How did we let this go?

Speaker 8 (43:52):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (43:53):
Because read Eric's like reading his acceptance letter to college,
He's reading, He's doing all these different things, so oh god.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
That's weird.

Speaker 10 (44:00):
Yeah yeah, And like in the room too, we would
do table reads in the room, like Michael would always
play Corey, like Barbie would always play Topanga, like we
all had. I don't even remember who I ever was,
Like I think I got switched around to different things,
but who played who played shot?

Speaker 4 (44:17):
Matt Nelson played Eric Eric.

Speaker 10 (44:22):
I think when Mark and Howard were there, Mark played Eric.
Mark and Howard would both play Eric, and I think
Manel played Erek.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
I don't remember.

Speaker 10 (44:31):
I think like Eric was just like all the work.
But what like I would just do like, oh to
Panga's mom, you're his mom, you know, or stage directions
or something, but we read it in the room with
the right Eric doesn't know how to read, and we're still.

Speaker 5 (44:47):
Like, that's definitely one of those slap happy things that
you guys are cracking up at and you're going, we
have to keep it in. It's so goofy, it's so funny.
And then of course you at the table read and
you go, ABC's never going to let us put this
on the air.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Let's say it was also.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
Yeah, quite seriously.

Speaker 10 (45:09):
There was also there was one and I don't remember
what season is Michael's Kids. There was one thing where
there was like a writer's room for someone. Yes, okay,
there was a writer's room and the writers were all
so young and Michael's kids were going to be the
writers and Jeff's kid and we were there until I

(45:29):
think three in the morning pitching lines so that could
have a write a line, oh boy, And and the
kids were so nervous, like on the day, I think
the kids were so nervous. But it was, you know,
Michael really wanted all the kids to have an equally
excellent line, and there were four of them, so it
was something about like you guys are.

Speaker 5 (45:54):
Yes, and then probably no one got their line out
on the day because then we all have.

Speaker 10 (46:00):
To rewrite it.

Speaker 1 (46:00):
Anyway, a bunch of writers having to pitch lines for
writers on a TV show who are going to be
played by children.

Speaker 10 (46:16):
Yes, like but that like the thing was when we
had to be there late like that, there was always
like some food of some kind.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
I was going to say, They said you, well, yeah.

Speaker 10 (46:26):
Get some excellent food from somewhere.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
And that was your that was your recompensation.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
Okay, So you're in the room the first time you
hear Corey and Topanga are going to be married. Yes,
how does that go over? And what do you feel
about that situation?

Speaker 2 (46:46):
Well?

Speaker 10 (46:47):
I wrote that episode two, which you probably did, you know, Okay,
I think that got floated and I don't remember who
floated it, and it seemed like that makes sense. Like
and also though, if we're going to get them married,
they should stay married. So and we had to run

(47:07):
it by is ABC okay with them getting married because
like we weren't. The feeling I think was, let's not
get them married and have them break up and get
back together again, right right?

Speaker 5 (47:17):
Because are we comfortable saying they're going to be married
for the rest of the run of the show.

Speaker 10 (47:21):
Right, because that's not fun when people are breaking up,
that's fun.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
That's fun when it's not as serious.

Speaker 10 (47:28):
Yes, And we also knew and they're not going to
have a baby, like, we don't want anybody to be
having a baby. That's not fun to see. We don't
want to necessarily be pregnant to Panga, you know. Like
so I think it felt like the fans would probably
enjoy it in a sort of like wish fulfilly kind

(47:50):
of way of like, oh, they love each other and
they get married in college and it's so great, And
I think that was that was true.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
And we also there was no pushback.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
There weren't other people going like, you can't marry they're eighteen,
they just graduated high school, we can't marry them off.

Speaker 10 (48:04):
I mean, I think we had all of those conversations,
and that's what the parents represent, you know, just like yeah,
and also just the idea of when you're young, and
we were young too, but like you do these things.
The grown ups in the room had the perspective of
you don't know what you're getting into when you get
married at nineteen years old, but the younger staff members

(48:28):
were like, well, yeah, but you also like I could see,
I could see I could see having done that. I
didn't hear, you know, but like you do those kinds
of things because you do feel like it's going to
last forever and you know so Wow.

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it comes to love, choose you first.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Hi, everyone, I'm Amy Rovoch and I'm TJ.

Speaker 8 (49:32):
Holmes, and we are well not necessarily relationship experts. If
you're ready to dive back into the dating pool and
find lasting love. Finally, we want to.

Speaker 11 (49:42):
Help listen to I do Part two starting September nineteenth
on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get
your podcasts.

Speaker 5 (49:56):
I want to go back to First Girlfriend's Club for
a second, because this was something we talked about when
we watched the episode. What would the outcome have had
been if no one showed up for Sean?

Speaker 2 (50:11):
What were the girls going to do?

Speaker 10 (50:14):
I think when I rewatched it, it was also like, yeah,
I think the goal was save Angela from being in
a relationship with this guy who's just going to break
his break her heart.

Speaker 5 (50:31):
Right, But so what were they going to make Sean do? Say, Okay,
I'll break up with Angela.

Speaker 10 (50:36):
Just like keep him from showing up on the date.
Then she would get mad and realize, oh, he breaks
his promises, okay, so that he would he would break up.
I don't think they were gonna they were handcuffing that
to like hurt him, but to just hold him in place.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (50:53):
It's still more believable than ordering ten dozen roses the
night of Valentine's Day to Lawrence.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Okay, one other, one other question.

Speaker 5 (51:07):
And it makes sense now knowing that it was an
idea started by Mark and Howard and then got handed
off to you to finish writing. But another major plot
hole that that we noticed is that Angela sent the
bouquet to the guy's apartment and Sean reads the note
out loud, no Angela, and then the guys go without

(51:29):
Angela to the boat house and Angela goes, why don't
they take Angela with them?

Speaker 2 (51:34):
And go, wait, he's meeting you at the boat house.

Speaker 10 (51:37):
I don't know, Okay, I don't know because my husband
and I watched all the episodes and we were both like,
why were they We must not mention this. Yeah, we
got to sneak off right away and deal with that
without involving her, like why why.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
Yes, it was We were like, wait a minute.

Speaker 5 (51:58):
So knowing now, I'm really glad that that that we
talked about, that that this was when Mark and Howard left,
because we also that was a that was a plot
hole for us in even just the history of Boy
Meets World.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
We knew they leave at some point.

Speaker 5 (52:12):
I wonder if we'll know when that was when the
season comes around, and now we know, so, okay, then
you leave us after Boy Meets World is over, and
you basically never stop working. You have a small return
to some animated projects, including Vickim Possible show we talked
about in two.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
Thousand and two.

Speaker 5 (52:32):
But then you find yourself on the very successful Reba.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
Were you happy to get back onto a sitcom?

Speaker 10 (52:39):
Yeah, I mean we we we went boy Meets World
and we did a show called Daddio.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
Oh okay or was that No?

Speaker 10 (52:47):
That was Daddy. We did Daddio. So we did have
a show in between, and for some reason that doesn't
always show up on IMDb, but Daddy always just have
a season. So we did some more animation to fill
in the income the gap. Yeah, and then we did
Riba for five years then till death, and then we
didn't get staffed. So that was eleven years of sitcom

(53:08):
and then we switched over to hour long, but we
went onto Reba was created by Alison Gibson Montgomery, who
came on on season six a Boy Meets World. She
actually brought some people that she had liked working with
on Boy Meets When Ellen and Rob left Boy Meets World,

(53:28):
Allison came in. Allison was on season six and seven.
She created Riba, and she brought Patty and I and
also Gary Miller. I think that was the only people
from Boy. So we went over onto Riba and so
it was like it was really fun. That was a
really fun show where I have had really great experiences

(53:50):
on sitcoms, like I've been like with the casts especially
most of the shows that I worked on had tremendous
not just talent, but just lovely people, you know, So
that it was it was fun to go to set.
It was fun to talk to the actors. It was
very collaborative. It was like a mutual respects back and forth,

(54:12):
like we know what they can do, they trust. I
don't know that I'm that I'm correct. You guys may
have all been like, what are they thinking? Like that
you trusted you guys were, Yes, but that you that
you trusted also that we were going to fix something
if it wasn't working. Yes, So that that Riba had

(54:32):
that also in Daddio, which was short lived, which just
didn't get the viewership to stay on the air, but
it was the same thing there. So yeah, I really
like working on sitcoms and switched over to hour long
because there were just fewer of them. Yeah, yeah, and
then yeah, and when I look at the shows like

(54:53):
the lasting popularity of Boy Meets World and of Riba.
I go, why aren't people making sitcoms right? Because they're
hugely they're you know, they just they when it takes
a while to necessarily nail one down that has the
right chemistry, because you really have to have that chemistry

(55:14):
with the with the cast. But when you get that,
there's nothing like it. Its like you feel like you
know them in a way that I don't think that
you have that even with great dramas. I don't feel
like I know the people in succession like they're my friends,
like I like watch them, but it's not, you know, well.

Speaker 4 (55:35):
I think one of the reasons unfortunate is all the
greatest sitcoms of all time, like literally you're talking about
the Office and Mash and Cheers, all of them needed
a time to build their audience, Seinfeld, These shows that
are almost going to be canceled, every single one of them,
and nobody gives anything the time to grow anymore. So
if it's not not a hit on the second night,
you're done. And it's like, that's just not how sitcom works.
You gotta you build your audience, You move a night,

(55:57):
you do this, you find and then you get these
huge hits and they just don't allow anything to grow anymore.

Speaker 10 (56:03):
So no, and you also have to for live comedy
like that, you start to learn on the staff. And
when we came on Boy Meets World, we already knew
because you guys, it was established. But it takes a
minute to see what the actors do really well because
and then you start writing for the actors, and then

(56:23):
you also start to see, oh, I was wouldn't have
anticipated that dynamic, you know, between these two, like they're
funny when they're like trying to do a project together,
Like all of these things that you find over the
course of say, I don't know, it's not that many episodes,
but like seven eight episodes you started. Oh, it takes

(56:44):
a little while to get that, to get that going,
and at the same time that the audience is getting
to know the show.

Speaker 5 (56:52):
And you have to do that for every season because
at the start of every season, now you've aged up,
you've added a new character, and now you have to
like reconc figure what are those dynamics and how is
this all working?

Speaker 2 (57:02):
What's what's funny here?

Speaker 10 (57:04):
Right?

Speaker 2 (57:04):
Do you still work with Patty?

Speaker 10 (57:07):
No, I mean Patty and I are still friends. We
stopped writing together I guess it's about seven years now,
because when you split a salary, it's fine when there's
twenty two to twenty four episodes, but there's things were
going to even network shows were like, yeah, twelve episodes,
ten episodes, like, it's just not sustainable of a way
to earn a living. And so we split very amicably.

(57:32):
But I see her. I see her fairly often. I
saw her. Wee can have ago, We go to lunch
all the time, we talk on the phone, so it's
it's and we really enjoyed working in comedy, and we
liked working an hour long too, but our heart was
always with live comedy. There's something that's just so great
about that audience feedback. And with my masters in play writing,

(57:56):
that's what I always wrote that. It's why I went
into TV. I would write half hour long comedies that
took place on one set and I wasn't thinking about that.
That's just what I would end up doing when I
was writing, and I because and then I would go here,

(58:17):
and there's just something like it's that laughter when it's
my words but it's not me, and that the actors
are taking it and making it so much funnier than
I could have even imagined, and the director is involved
it like there's something that's just so I don't feeling fulfilling.
But it's even more than that. It's just it's just

(58:39):
like it's not transcendent, because that sounds like, well it's not.
It's not transcendent something, but it's it's it's so wonderful
to have that immediate reaction. It feels like love is
what it feels like.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
You were you a television fan growing up? Yes, what
were your favorite jokes?

Speaker 10 (58:57):
Well, I would sneak to watch a lot of shows.
I liked Charlie's Angels, and my dad would only let
me watch I had, Like he would circle in the
TV guide today you have one half hour. So I
would watch like the first half hour of Charlie's Angels.
Then I would arrange mirrors, like to reflect a TV

(59:19):
in a room, and I would pretend like I'm in
the bathroom, but really I'm like watching the mirrors. And
Three's Company another one that I wasn't supposed to watch
because it was you know, men and an adult living together. Yeah,
but I would. My brother was sick and so my

(59:43):
parents would have to go take him when they were
learning to do dialysis for him, so opportunity. While they
were gone, you'd watch eight hours of TV the company
was running. In the mornings. I would watch that. I
Love Lucy, always watch that. The Jeffersons. Every day school.
I would come home, watch one episode of The Jeffersons

(01:00:05):
and then go do my homework. So, yeah, I like
all uh Gomer Pyle used to rerun I don't know
if that's funny at all. Brady Bunch I loved.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
Yeah, we were old school sitcom.

Speaker 6 (01:00:17):
I love that.

Speaker 10 (01:00:18):
Yeah, And I wouldn't watch for like, you know, fifteen
hours or something, but it would just be like, oh,
this is on, Yeah after school, I'll watch with my
grandma for an hour. I'll watch on my own. My
parents loved Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart, so we
would watch those Like those would just go over my head.
I didn't understand why they were funny when I was little,

(01:00:40):
but I loved watching them. But yeah, like a little
bit of mash but that was really over my head.
I couldn't.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
So when you when you graduated with your MFA and
you decided to try your hand at writing a you know,
half hour sitcom, did it just come instinctually or were
you aware of like oh I need to learn this
ructure or break this down or was it just in you.

Speaker 10 (01:01:03):
It was a sort of a combination of both. Like
you get a hold of scripts and you look at, okay,
how long is it? How is it formatted? But I
had like oh, Roseanne was another one I watched a
lot and mad about you. But you would just watch
them get a sense for like, okay, what what do
they do with this show? You know, who has a

(01:01:25):
story in the B story? How many beats? How many
pages does it have to be? What breaks look like?
And then you would just imitate it right. But with
the with the ability to write comedy, which I think
is there's a musicality in to it. And that's how
I can usually tell because after a while, when you
write comedy, you don't really know when you've read it
again and again and again, you're like, I don't know

(01:01:47):
if it's funny, So I have to rely on that.
It's like this this rhythm yea, they go like okay,
and when I think, oh, something's not working there, it's
because there's like one little beat missing. So that's where
the instinctive stuff comes in.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
Well, let's talk Baywatch for a second.

Speaker 5 (01:02:06):
It has been in the news all month because of
the documentary, but you have been tasked with show running
the reboot, which is a massive job and dare I
say a little bit of a tricky one in twenty
twenty four. So what can we expect from the return
of the red bathing suit.

Speaker 10 (01:02:25):
Well, it is not picked up. I'm writing the pilot.
I'm actually I don't even know what I'm supposed to say.
I'm writing the second episode right now, okay, because that's
part of like the whole thing. I usually read a
pilot and then you write a second episode and then
they decide. So when my agent approached me and said,
would you be interested in readbooting Baywatch? I was like
yes because and then I was like, what I remember

(01:02:49):
about Baywatch was, oh, here they are on the beach,
Like this is just like a happy, a happy thing
that I watch.

Speaker 5 (01:02:58):
You know.

Speaker 10 (01:02:59):
After I was cocktail way sing at the Laugh Factory,
I would come home and I would turn on Baywatch
and it was just like, oh, okay, here I am
watching Baywatch. And I didn't really remember any specifics, but
I do remember people in red bathing suits.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
Slow motion running on the beach, Ye running on the beach.

Speaker 10 (01:03:16):
So I wanted to capture that element of nostalgia. I
wanted to come into it from a female perspective, so
I won't give anything away there, but I wanted to
be like, Okay, a woman, let's what's the woman coming
into this? And then I just I wanted to I said,

(01:03:36):
I wanted to make it more diverse, like not just
the diversity of the cast, but the diversity of the
kinds of beaches that there are. It's not just right,
you know, there's Malibu, but there's also Venice and there's
also Santa Monica, just like more just make it contemporary
that way, and then base everything on characters like that

(01:03:58):
we care about the character and that that's really what
was driving the show in my pitch of what I
wanted to do with it, And just make everybody very
real and it's a grounded soap, but still have humor,
have action, have people making mistakes, like just make them

(01:04:24):
real people. And I wanted everybody that was a lifeguard
to be there for a personal reason, not just because
they look good in a bathing suit, because like peop
look good in a bathing suit, but like you know,
so like, oh what drew people? Because when you learn
a little bit more about it, lifeguarding is really it's
mostly you know, you're helping somebody stepped down a sting, right,

(01:04:44):
But then it's dangerous, like you're risking life and you
have to be ready to risk your life. And it's
actually goes through the it's a branch of the fire department.
And I don't know if it's a branch, if that's
the right word, but it is maybe a subdivision, yes,
So so like that's a it's a calling for the
people that do it part time, for the kids that
are in the summer and stuff. A not isn't necessarily calling,

(01:05:07):
but it's like a it's a career. And so I
just you know, wanted to lean on Diress a little
bit too and just be a show that you were
tying into the characters. But then it was also fun
to watch because it's the beaches are beautiful and the action,
the action is exciting, and so so far it's been

(01:05:28):
a really like it's the development process always takes things
a little bit like it's a winding path. But the
core of what I pitched, and I pitched something not
to try to get the job. So I pitched something
that I would be like, I would be interested in
writing this, and I could write this, so what would
I want to do. So that that was my approach,

(01:05:50):
and I just kept being surprised that I was making
it to the next level because I was like, this
is a huge property. Yeah, oh okay, yeah, I'll go like,
I will go now talk to this person. Okay, I
will do a little bit more and come back in
and talk to Oh okay, I will you know. So,
and then it was down to the final few people

(01:06:13):
and I was pitching it to Fox and I was
just like, and there's no way I'm getting this, And
then I did. And it wasn't because I don't didn't
believe in myself or anything. It was just like, this
is such an iconic right right sho, So I like,
surely many people will want to do this show. There's

(01:06:33):
like a lot of good writers out there. So yeah,
so I have been I have really I have really
liked the process so far, and I don't know when
I will find out if it's picked up or not.

Speaker 5 (01:06:46):
Well, congratulations on getting this far and we look forward
to the announcement that it's making it to air, we
will all celebrate you all.

Speaker 4 (01:06:54):
Is it about middle aged X smokers who are horribly
out of shape trying to run?

Speaker 16 (01:06:58):
So I first, okay, I actually I actually did like
check and see how like oh could I looked at
all of you guys to see like their thing.

Speaker 2 (01:07:11):
And we didn't get putting that in bathing Zoo. It's
really great talking to you.

Speaker 5 (01:07:23):
So coming onto the show in season five, here we are.
Did you ever think we would still be talking about
Boy Meets World years?

Speaker 10 (01:07:32):
And I am so thrilled because I loved working on
the show and at the time when we were on
the show, like I don't think that ABC understood we
were in the top ten when I was season five,
season six, we were in the Sometimes it would be
like number three for the week is Boy Meets World,
And then we were somehow not promoted, like there would
be banned for all the Friday night shows except for
Boy Meets World. I know it would be like what

(01:07:55):
the you know you would have when we went into
meetings after Boy Meets World, it would be like, uh,
like I just don't mention that you were in Boy
Meets World because it was a kid like it was
thought of as a kid's ship show. Yeah, so I
have really just been so pleased at the lasting power

(01:08:16):
of it because, like I I think I rewat it
now and I'm like, it makes you laugh. I like
it has heart to it in a way that's not just.

Speaker 3 (01:08:27):
The adult actors are just amazing, amazing.

Speaker 10 (01:08:31):
Yeah, yeah, well Feenie is like so good, and I
think and you guys were so good. Like the chemistry
with you guys was was so good. And as you
guys were getting older too, like sometimes child actors don't
mature into great adult actors, but you all did. Just

(01:08:58):
so I want to tell you something. I'm going to
tell you something. You're too young.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
Oh, thank you, you've saved it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
You're too old.

Speaker 10 (01:09:07):
You're right right middle, You're right. No, no, you're right
in the middle of the ages of the Like it's like.

Speaker 2 (01:09:14):
You saved it.

Speaker 10 (01:09:14):
Have you saved it? The lead guy is like.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
Forty eight, I'm forty eight.

Speaker 10 (01:09:19):
You are not forty eight.

Speaker 3 (01:09:21):
I am forty eight. I just turned forty eight.

Speaker 10 (01:09:24):
Oh okay, well then see, you don't.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Want me go cast your show. You don't want me.

Speaker 10 (01:09:34):
I hope, like I hope that doesn't get taken out
of context what I said, I did really like every
every totally we.

Speaker 5 (01:09:43):
Are we are No, Laura was so great to see you.
I know you had a heart out. We wanted to respect.

Speaker 10 (01:09:50):
Right now because it got real scheduled, so like I
don't need to keep you guys, but like I'm fine.

Speaker 3 (01:09:55):
Okay, So then why don't you want to something?

Speaker 10 (01:09:58):
D just went south? But yeah, you guys, you guys
going back to Boy Meets World. As you matured, you
were such like you guys could all do comedy, you
could all do drama, you could all do like play
any moment like it was just it was great. And

(01:10:20):
then so so I really have loved that generations have
continued to discover it. And I was on a show
called Mixology. It was a short lived show on ABC.
It was a half hour drama about people who meet
in a bar. And there were the more experienced writers
and then which I was one of at that time,

(01:10:41):
and then they brought in some youth because it was
like the young so that they could talk about what
it's like going to a bar and hitting on people.
And so there was a guy on the staff who
was on Friends, and then there was me and Patty
on Boy Meets worlds and the youth were like, oh
you on Friends, that's nice, okay, but you guys were

(01:11:02):
on Boy Meets World, so like show. And then at
that moment, I was like the hipsters because they were
all like the young woman's world. I think that this
is going to be a thing. And there was also
a time Patty sat on a there was a thing
a bunch of women were talking about, like women's health issues,

(01:11:26):
like what we had done some stuff on nine O
two one OHO with some women's health issues. So so
it was all of these women writers who were talking
about how you put women's health issues on shows and stuff,
and so it was like they all talked about the
storylines and then the questions opened to the audience. Hey,
so my question is for Patty Carr, So you wrote
on boy Meets World. And she was like what and

(01:11:50):
that just like everybody just kept happing questions about Boy
Meets World, boy mes World and yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:11:56):
So it was like, yeah, we conventions, we have the
and we have the greatest most loyal fans, greatest fans.

Speaker 10 (01:12:03):
Absolutely new fans. My kids have both watched the shows.
My kids have both watched Boy Meets World. Then Girl
Meets World, then Boy Meets World again. But just like, yeah,
they love it.

Speaker 2 (01:12:17):
It was a great show. We were all lucky to
be a part of it.

Speaker 5 (01:12:19):
We are thankful that you came and recapped some of
your time there with us.

Speaker 2 (01:12:23):
We would love to have you back.

Speaker 5 (01:12:25):
I know you stayed with us for seasons five, six,
and seven, so we will have you back again.

Speaker 10 (01:12:29):
I'd love to come back. And it's so good to
see your faces. It was good to see you guys
on the strike line too.

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
Yes, all right, thank you so much, good to see you.

Speaker 10 (01:12:38):
Bye bye you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:12:40):
Oh man, so much fun.

Speaker 5 (01:12:41):
I can't I can't believe that there wasn't more of
a episode, like a season arc.

Speaker 1 (01:12:48):
Yeah, I think, yeah, I think maybe that was unique
to season five because you look at season four and
there were like there were more plans as far as
but the shake up in the room to start season
five and the shake up, shake ups in the cast,
it was kind of a chaotic. It seemed like it
was a little.

Speaker 2 (01:13:05):
Little episode to episode exactly what we said.

Speaker 4 (01:13:09):
Yeah, I wrote, I wrote only a single episode of
Girl Meets World, but I had to go then after
when I was pitching the idea and outlining it and
then writing the script. I had to go to Michael's
apartment with all the other writers where the entire season
was laid out. So that was obviously something that they changed,
because I mean, it was this episode's going to lead
to this episode, and we read all we read through

(01:13:31):
everybody's script. It was like they were all done by
the time the season started, at least at least four
you know, move forward enough to know where the storyline
was going. So maybe it was just the chaos of
Michael leaving, Michael coming back, you know, Blutman and bus
Gang taking over them leaving, We're bringing in these characters
were not that they just kind of went, you know
it for a season, let's just fly by the seat

(01:13:51):
of our pants ours.

Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
And we kind of caught that vibe a little bit.
And when you've.

Speaker 4 (01:13:56):
Got that coupled with a brand new director that none
of us have worked with, who's doing the bulk of
the shows, at least at the.

Speaker 1 (01:14:03):
Beginning of the season, you felt.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
That, I mean I felt like a rocky shake up.

Speaker 1 (01:14:07):
Yes it did.

Speaker 4 (01:14:08):
It felt a little discombobulated all the way through, and
it's catching its stride now, but you felt that at
the beginning of season five, especially coming off of season.

Speaker 2 (01:14:16):
Four that was so so serialized.

Speaker 3 (01:14:19):
Yes that it just yeah, you definitely felt it.

Speaker 4 (01:14:21):
But the thing that throws me is it also shows
psychologically how much of a difference there was between us
and the writers, because when I look at it, Laura
and I were like basically the same age.

Speaker 3 (01:14:35):
I mean, she's a little bit older than me, but
not much.

Speaker 4 (01:14:38):
And in my head they were the writers, so she
was way older than me because she was on the
writing staff, when.

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Really that wasn't the case.

Speaker 4 (01:14:45):
There were people that were like not that much older
than us that were helping to write the show.

Speaker 2 (01:14:49):
Yeah, yeah, so funny.

Speaker 5 (01:14:51):
Well, thank you all for joining us for this episode
of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us
on Instagram pod Meets World Show. You can send us
your emails pod Meets World Show at gmails and we
have merch.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
Too Fat for Baywatch March.

Speaker 15 (01:15:06):
Pod It's worldshow dot Com will send us out.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
We love you all, pod dismissed.

Speaker 4 (01:15:17):
Podmets World is nheart podcast producer and hosted by Danielle Fischel,
Wilfredell and Ryder Strong. Executive producers Jensen Carp and Amy Sugarman,
Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, producer and editor,
Tara Sudbaksh producer, Maddie 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

(01:15:38):
at Podmeets World Show or email us at Podmets Worldshow
at gmail dot com