Rider Strong is getting emotional while revisiting “Boy Meets World” decades after the beloved ‘90s series ended.
The actor, who stars alongside Will Friedle and Danielle Fishel on the “Pod Meets World” rewatch podcast, admits he once thought the show was too sentimental, but now appreciates how its heartfelt life lessons helped make it timeless.
During an exclusive chat with The Blast, Rider also opened up about his love of ‘90s nostalgia, why he misses the pre-social media era, his upcoming fictional true-crime podcast “The Red Weather,” and the one thing from the nostalgic decade that he hopes makes a comeback.
Through a partnership with Simple Mills, Rider is embracing all the ‘90s nostalgia and memories in a fun and tasty way. During an exclusive chat with The Blast, the actor shared why he felt this partnership was a good fit for him.
“They came to me with this crazy idea that there is a taste of the ‘90s, which I hadn’t really thought about,” he told The Blast. “But then you know, when I actually tried the snacks, they’re amazing, and they actually do bring me back to that time. I’ve just been embracing my nostalgia and my sort of position in other people’s nostalgia but it’s a reality that I’ve sort of come to recognize, and really a process that started with doing the podcast ‘Pod Meets World,’ and watching the show.”
He added that many people look at him, Danielle, and Will “almost as if we grew up together.” Rider said it’s a “good feeling” that there such a positive association with the actors and the show, so when Simple Mills proposed the partnership, he knew immediately he was “totally on board.”
Bringing That ‘90s Feeling Back
Rider has a true love for the ‘90s and shares why he thinks millennials are drawn to the nostalgia of the decade.
“It’s the last technology moment before we had cell phones and social media and I think that makes it really a special time,” he said. “We were all so present in each other’s lives. I guess that’s true about the ‘80s too, but I think maybe because it was the end of the era.”
Rider also brought up that the ‘90s are also remembered for independent cinema and indie music without “the corporate thing,” and “culture and art was being made by individuals.”
Something from that era that Rider would love see circle back around is probably not what you might think.
“In some ways, the clothing has already come back, but the specific angle on clothing that I would like is that you can look like crap,” he said. “Like the grunge era where it was like you could just be comfortable and embrace it. I remember consciously thinking that if I cared about how I looked, I was being superficial or lame. And now we all care about how we look constantly. We’re such a visual culture and always on Instagram or whatever. I would love to just be able to dress without having to care about what I look like. That would be great.”
Why Rider Strong Feels ‘Boy Meets World’ Is So Timeless
It’s no surprise that “Boy Meets World” has captured the attention of many different generations. When asked why he thinks that’s the case, Rider started off by saying, “it’s just a good show.”
“I think the quality, it really took itself very seriously, which I think, you know, at times, lent to a sentimentality and a self importance that could maybe be insufferable to some people, but proven over time to be the thing,” he said. “When you have Mr. Feeney teaching life lessons and really kind of heavy handedly, like telling Corey this is the lesson of this week’s episode, people have come to really appreciate that, because I think television always has had an element of frivolity and it’s not supposed to be taken seriously.”
Rider also shared some insight into how “Boy Meets World” was different than other popular shows of its time.
“As opposed to the contemporaries from the ‘90s like ‘Saved by the Bell’ or other sitcoms, they really just went for jokes,” Rider shared. “Maybe they were funny and maybe they were entertaining, but I don’t think they lasted in people’s lives to the same degree as ‘Boy Meets World’ did because ‘Boy Meets World’ really hit hard.”
Rider recently watched the final episode of “Boy Meets World” and recapped it on the podcast. He told The Blast he hadn’t seen the final episode in about 12 years, and it hit him in the feels.
“It was so emotional. I was bawling. I was sitting there on my couch and I’m crying on screen, and then here I am crying,” he said. “I have a personal connection to it, but I think there’s something about the show. It got under people’s skin and I think at the time I remember thinking, ‘Man, this show is really sappy,’ but I think it worked out. I think it was worth it.”
More About Rider Strong’s Podcasts
In addition to “Pod Meets World,” where Rider rewatches “Boy Meets World” with Will and Danielle, he is also working on the second season of “The Red Weather.”
“‘Pod Meets World’ is the main one and that’s where Will and Danielle and I have been rewatching ‘Boys Meets World’ because I had never seen the show. I had seen some of the first season and then I had gone to a film festival event where they screened the final episode 12 years ago,” he said. “But otherwise, I never watched ‘Boy Meets World.’”
The three costars started the podcast journey about four years ago it’s “taken over” their lives and put them on a national tour of about 25 cities.
“For us, we always felt like ‘Boy Meets World’ was something that kind of happened to us because we were kid actors,” Rider told The Blast. “It’s like turning around and embracing the identity and embracing the show has been this incredible community building exercise where we feel like in some ways we kind of own the brand of ‘Boy Meets World’ for the first time in our lives.”
In addition to that podcast, Rider is also working on “The Red Weather,” a fictional true crime podcast where he takes personal history and his real life and inserts a fake crime of a girl who disappeared in 1995. He recorded, worked with actors, and interviewed his own family. It was released in January and he’s gearing up for a second season.
“I am so proud of it, and so now I am working on season 2, creating another crime and doing the same sort of thing again, but this time taking on the Hollywood aspect of my childhood,” he said. “I am really excited about that because it’s basically filmmaking but without having to raise millions of dollars for cameras and crew because I get to work with actors, I write a bunch of episodes and I am directing and acting. It’s really fun.”
Back-To-School Time Is Here, And Rider Strong Isn’t Immune To The Insanity Of It
With back-to-school time heading straight for us, Rider shared some thoughts that are going through his head about this upcoming school year, and some back-to-school tips.
“This year is a big one because my son’s going to middle school, so he’s adjusting to that. I am terrified,” he said. “I don’t know if I have any good advice because I haven’t figured it out myself as a parent. I am just trying to downplay even though I am terrified, I just don’t show my fear to my child, which is I think the way.”
He said he approaches it in a way where he doesn’t “freak out” in front of his son and says everything will be “fine.”
“So I would say, just play it cool and downplay the importance of how big going back to school actually feels,” he added.
