Boy Meets World star Will Friedle has revealed his character was going to receive his own spin-off series. Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast Pod Meets World (a sneak peek of which was also shared to Instagram), Friedle told viewers Eric Matthews was set to move to Los Angeles. The actor also went into detail about the planned pilot episode.
Friedle revealed in his final podcast episode that he was prepared to leave Boy Meets World in order to pursue a spin-off series with co-creator Michael Jacobs (Maybe I Do). “I was going to leave the show at one point – I mean, to the point where Michael and I had had meetings. We had meetings with ABC. He’d already written it,” the actor told his co-hosts and former co-stars, Rider Strong (Too Late) and Danielle Fishel (Gravity Falls), admitting that he did not think his character would be back for another season. Friedle went on to explain that it could be seen in one particular episode that his character may not be returning. “We’ll get to certain scenes where there’s a scene where Billy actually says, ‘Do you know what you’re going to do in life?’ And I talk about, ‘No.’ And it was because there was a good chance I wasn’t going to come back the following season, because Michael and I – well, it was all Michael, but I was in on the pitches – pitched an idea to where Eric moves to Los Angeles,” Friedle said, talking about the way the Matthews’ teacher and neighbour, Mr Feeny (William Daniels) set up his character’s future.
During this time, which he said was around Season 4 or 5 rather than the final season, Season 7, Friedle also revealed that the pilot was already planned out when he and Jacobs had already met with the ABC and Disney. “We not only had meetings and talked about it, and he had a pilot… but he wrote to it on Boy, so you can actually see a time where it’s like, ‘Oh, they’re writing me off,’ and it was because Eric was going to have a spinoff.”
The Spin-Off Would Have Taken Place in Los Angeles
During the podcast, Friedle shared with listeners what the pilot episode would have looked like, specifically going into detail about the opening scene. “I remember it was Eric was driving his car, and the start was going to be he jumps the ramp at Santa Monica, at the Santa Monica Pier, and just, the car slams onto the beach like this,” Friedle explained of Eric’s first experience in Los Angeles, using his hand to show the car’s movement. His character was, of course, absolutely fine and the start of his new adventures away from his hometown in Philadelphia. “Eric stumbles out and just walks into the ocean, and that was going to be the start of the episode. It was going to be like a young Friends, and he was going to have me meet all these people in Los Angeles.”
Friedle claimed he did not know why the spin-off did not go ahead, but likened it to other spin-offs pitched before it. “I’m not even sure why it never happened, to be honest with you. I just never left Boy. I never got a reason why we didn’t do it,” he explained, making it clear the original series would always hold his heart. He also spoke of another spin-off series that never made it to air, focusing on his character and his character’s best friend, Jack Hunter (Matthew Lawrence). “They talked about doing an Eric and Jack show. I think that probably would have been pretty good.”
What is Boy Meets World about?
Boy Meets World is a sitcom focusing on the Matthews family, following the life of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) as he navigates school, adolescence, and family life. The series ran for seven seasons from September 1993 till May 2000, and was co-created by Jacobs and April Kelly (Becker). The series produced a spin-off that did make it to air in 2014 for three seasons, Girl Meets World, starring Rowan Blanchard (Snowpiercer) as Riley Matthews and Savage reprising his role as an adult Cory. Boy Meets World also starred William Daniels, Betsy Randle, Lee Norris, Lily Nicksay, William Russ, Anthony Tyler Quinn, Alex Désert, Lindsay Ridgeway, Trina McGee-Davis, and Maitland Ward.
Boy Meets World is currently streaming on Disney+. Pod Meets World is currently available on Apple Podcasts. Check out this nostalgic trailer for the show below:
