Pod Meets World Could Get Awkward When Trina McGee Comes on as a Guest

One of the trending podcasts right now is about the classic ’90s sitcom Boy Meets World. It’s hosted by three of the main stars: Will Friedle, Rider Strong, and Danielle Fishel. They’re rewatching all of the episodes, giving their commentary, and telling their behind-the-scenes stories.

If you enjoyed the ’90s family comedy, there is a good chance that you’ll like this podcast. It’s been enlightening to hear how Fishel struggled to become a part of the main cast in season 1, that Friedle felt uncomfortable kissing different actresses on a weekly basis, and Strong was overwhelmed by his sudden limelight as a teen heartthrob.

Not everything that happened behind the scenes was glamorous. Sometimes people you loved who were on the cast (and a friend) suddenly were no longer there, such as the case of Lee Norris who played Stuart Minkus. Apparently, ABC didn’t want another nerd character in their TGIF lineup, because they already had Steve Urkel with Family Matters. So, unfortunately, Norris’ character was cut from the show after season 1 wrapped.

Fishel had to deal with unique circumstances from the very beginning of the series simply because of her gender. The podcast discusses the pay disparity between Fishel and her male coworkers.

The podcast could get really interesting if certain actors from the sitcom decide to drop in for an episode or two — namely Trina McGee who played Angela Moore. Angela was Shawn Hunter’s longtime girlfriend and Topanga Lawrence’s best friend. She was the only reoccurring character who wasn’t white. She was part of the cast in Seasons 5–7.

McGee Uses Twitter to Talk About Racist Remarks Made 20+ Years Ago

Back in 2020, McGee decided to take to Twitter to vent out her frustrations with Boy Meets World. She accused three people on the cast of making racist remarks and/or exhibiting discriminatory behavior. I’m not entirely sure why she decided to call out her old castmates 20+ years later — this seems odd to me. Racism is bad, absolutely. My issue is calling it out decades later on Twitter — it comes across as more of a publicity stunt than an actual authentic conversation about diversity and inclusion. Her tweets also are kind of awkward at points, such as the above one that has the line: “I plan on enjoying the squirm of cowards.” That’s… definitely an interesting way of addressing an old issue.

McGee isn’t really well known outside of Boy Meets World, so I’m a little suspicious that this move was done to get attention more than anything else. In that regard, I think her effort worked because a lot of media outlets picked up her tweets. Buzzfeed had a series dedicated to her tweets and her fellow castmates’ responses. I think her views and feelings on past racism are valid, but I don’t really get forcing public scrutiny by using Twitter. I’m also not a fan of Twitter in general.

I mean, did she want to talk about what happened 20 years ago or did she want to get former castmates canceled?

I’m not surprised that a predominately white cast of teenagers and early 20-somethings would have lackluster if disgraceful etiquette when it comes to diversity — especially when dialing things back to the 1990s. It’s not hard at all to imagine people who are barely adults making ignorant and selfish remarks. I honestly think every person under the sun has said (or will say) ridiculous and offensive things when they’re young. That doesn’t excuse their behavior, but it doesn’t mean they need to wear a Scarlet Letter for the rest of their lives. It’s a little weird to me how unforgiving and ready people are to condemn others. People are ready to throw stones. People are grabbing their pitchforks and torches.

I would say there is an epidemic of poor conflict resolution thanks in part to the ubiquitousness of the Internet.

Anyway, McGee did mention specific instances where she was disrespected. She was wronged. She clearly didn’t want to keep that a dirty secret.

So what exactly were the pejorative remarks and discriminatory actions? Before I get to that, I just want you to know Rider Strong wasn’t a part of this, so you can rest easy if you’re worried about that.

Essentially, Ben Savage who played Cory Matthews was accused of making microaggressions on set to try and keep his place as number one. He apparently exhibited some macho behavior because it was technically his show. McGee claims they were never close friends, and they didn’t interact a whole lot in general. He is the one actor in all of this mess who hasn’t really had a response. He might be unaware that McGee made these comments on Twitter, his publicist might have told him not to respond, or he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. But he’s not engaging with the dialogue of it.

Will Friedle, who played Eric Matthews, called Trina—while she was doing her hair for the show—Aunt Jemima. I’ve read some comments that people think he may have been trying to make a pun out of the name Angela, and he rather stupidly didn’t know that calling a black woman Aunt Jemima is deeply offensive. This may have been an innocent or awkward blunder, but it still stung.

Friedle apologized for calling McGee “Aunt Jemima” back when it happened. So it’s weird that it’s being brought up more than 20 years later.

After McGee’s tweets, Friedle sent her a three-page letter saying, essentially, that he had worked on himself since the show to better learn what is appropriate. He apologized again for his insensitive remark from years ago. McGee accepted his apology and talked about it on her Twitter. I’m still not sure why she had to bring up the Aunt Jemima comment in the first place when she and Will had already discussed it years ago, and he apologized then. Did this need to become public knowledge?

What happened with Fishel is kind of strange. McGee appeared on Girl Meets World as a guest star. She said Fishel was cold and distant. She thought Fishel was doing the kind of microaggressions she used to do to fit in on Boy Meets World. Fishel fought to be a main cast member, so she was always insecure about her place on the show. Fishel apologized and said she was focused on other things during GMW. She was concerned about the child actors on the new show. McGee accepted this apology.

I find the mention of this interaction on GMW weird because no one should ever assume that just because someone is being cold, aloof, distant, or unresponsive that it’s because of something you did. People have other circumstances besides you to deal with. Their less-than-gregarious demeanor can have to do with something that’s completely unrelated to you. If you can’t figure out a cause or a problem you’ve had with someone, you can often safely assume their mood doesn’t have to do with you. It’s better to chat with that person, send them a text, or just about anything else than blast them on Twitter to find out whether they were upset about you or something else.

I can totally believe that McGee had to deal with different circumstances than her white castmates. I absolutely can believe that people said stupid and racist things to her. I doubt in the ’90s there was diversity training on sets, or at least really effective and comprehensive diversity training. This was a time when intimacy coordinators didn’t exist, when child actors felt like puppets and they feared doing anything wrong, and a mental breakdown could result in termination. If there had been a skilled HR team for Boy Meets World, racist tensions and issues would have been resolved and left in the past.

Age and Life Experience Were Major Factors in Behind-the-Scenes Tensions

There is another problem, and it somewhat has to do with casting. McGee is significantly older than her castmates. During the original series run, she was in a completely different phase of life than her coworkers. She was married and had children.

McGee was arguably the most mature of the younger stars. This can cause problems right here because you have some younger folks who are still impish, playing pranks, and running their mouths. Today, most of the young stars are in their 40s… McGee is in her 50s. Here is a list of the actors' ages as of September 7, 2022:

• Ben Savage: 41 years old
• Danielle Fishel: 41 years old
• Rider Strong: 42 years old
• Matthew Lawrence: 42 years old
• Maitland Ward: 45 years old
• Will Friedle: 46 years old
• Trina McGee: 53 years old

It’s wild to me that McGee was playing a teenager at the age of 28. She even had a pregnancy during the show and had to hide it. She was 31 years old when the series ended, well past the typical college age.

Savage was 13 when the first episode aired, Rider was 14, and Friedle was 17. By the time McGee would be on the show, Savage would be around 17, Rider 18, and Friedle 21. This age gap speaks volumes about people’s maturity. Savage was a minor and Rider was barely an adult. They were teenagers dealing with teenage problems. They couldn’t legally drink. McGee was dealing with marriage and motherhood.

I absolutely love McGee in the role of Angela, but now that I’m older and looking at the show retrospectively… I can’t help but argue that Angela should have been played by a younger actress who would have been on a similar page to Savage and Rider’s maturity levels.

It’s odd to me that McGee would complain that she and Savage weren’t really friends. An age gap of roughly 11 years would have made it difficult, not impossible because she and Strong are on friendly terms.

To put it matter of factly, high schoolers and college freshmen usually aren’t on the same level as someone who is in their late 20s.

Teacher’s Bet Episode

Recently on the Pod Meets World podcast, the hosts discussed the season 1 BMW episode Teacher’s Bet. In the episode, Eric has a girlfriend named Linda. Someone at the mall called her a racial slur based on her Japanese ancestry. She bursts into tears and Eric comforts her. Cory is then inspired to read Anne Frank and do a lecture on it to teach his class about the evils of prejudice.

On the podcast, Friedle said that they couldn’t talk about the episode and have a conversation about racism without mentioning Trina. “We dealt with this a lot in the ’90s, we’re younger and — at times — you don’t realize that you can be a part of the problem, and that’s one of the things that Trina brought up and has talked about,” he said.

“We have all discussed [it] with her, and I can’t wait to actually have a deeper conversation with her about it,” Will went on. “I had said stupid, insensitive things at the time thinking that I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and that was kind of par for the course at the time. You didn’t know, you thought you were having a total conversation with a good friend, or thought you were making a joke, or thought you were doing something that had no racial undertones whatsoever until then somebody sits you down and goes: ‘We’ve got to talk about this,’ which we did, and we’re going to again because I know she’s coming on soon. But we couldn’t have this conversation without mentioning that I think, because it was important.”

Fishel said in response to Friedle, “It’s a great time to mention that this was a very white cast, a very large white cast.” Rider said, “And white writing staff.”

Friedle chimed in: “It was not a racially diverse set in any way, shape, or form, and all that stuff matters. There’s an interesting kind of balance between addressing certain problems on the show that weren’t actually being addressed on the show.”

Fishel clarified what he said by saying, “Addressing them societally without actually looking at our environment.”

Looking Ahead: The Podcast’s Future

So what’s going to happen when McGee visits the podcast? Will it be a real and honest conversation about racist behaviors that took place decades ago or will it be a time to air out dirty laundry? This could end up being a total trainwreck or an intelligent conversation that’s enlightening.

Clearly, Rider, Friedle, and Fishel are more evolved and secure in their lives than they were as teens and 20-somethings. I would hope they come to the table with more maturity than when BMW had its original run. I also hope McGee doesn’t use this opportunity to put them down. It’s not a good idea to hold grudges against children, teenagers, and young adults — especially if those people do change their behaviors and work to be more conscientious. They don’t need to be pat on their backs for their growth, but they shouldn’t be dismissed as intolerant entitled brats when they have grown up.

Savage hasn’t been involved in the podcast. He is focused on other things, like running for city council in West Hollywood.

The bombshell guest interview, if the podcast gets to it, will be with Maitland Ward. She played Rachel, and her character was uncomfortably sexualized. She was the love interest for Jack and Eric, and beyond that, there wasn’t much character development for her. The actress left Hollywood and became a porn star. Ward says in her new book that working in adult entertainment is liberating compared to Hollywood. If Pod Meets World gets to interview her, it’s going to stir the pot. For one, she apparently had to try on lingerie for the BMW producers.

Are fans of the show really ready to hear about the more toxic things that happened behind the scenes? And are the hosts of Pod Meets World really prepared for heavy conversations on racism and misogyny? Now is the time to start listening to this podcast, so you can hear all the juicy details as they arise.

By the way, the cast did get together earlier this year for a reunion on GMA.

Originally published: https://medium.com/p/d75bbe5f0fa