‘Boy Meets World’ Star Ben Savage Reflects on ‘Comfort’ and ‘Nostalgia’ of ‘Girl Meets World’ Revival (Exclusive)

Boy Meets World was one of the most beloved sitcoms of the ’90s, and its popularity later spawned a revival series, Girl Meets World. Recently, franchise star Ben Savage reflected on the reboot show, explaining that he believes “comfort” and “nostalgia” are the main forces driving the appeal of TV revivals. “I think it was a wonderful chance to kind of continue to explore the show and certainly explore some wonderful themes and some wonderful characters,” Savage told PopCulture.com exclusively, alongside his brother Fred.

“I think there is just something about the reboots that, and Fred could speak to this as well, but it’s nostalgia, it’s comfort and it’s a nice opportunity to kind of explore the past,” he said. “We had a wonderful time. I think there’s a comfort and I don’t know, I think people really enjoy kind of the nostalgia of it all, as you’re saying.” Commenting on the idea of Boy Meets World fans growing up to become parents themselves and sharing the Girl Meets World experience with their own children, Savage said, “To us, that means the world to us. Because it’s a nice chance for generations to come together and for parents to watch shows with their kids. I mean, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a great opportunity to kind of explore those same stories and those same characters and those same lessons.”

Fred is no stranger to series revivals himself, as his iconic drama series, The Wonder Years was recently brought back as a reimagined show focusing on life in the ’60s through a different set of eyes. “It’s something that we’ve kept kind of the core DNA of the first Wonder Years,” he said. “It’s a story. It’s kind of a first-person narrative about a guy looking back on his childhood.”

“Our narrator is Don Cheadle and is looking back on his adolescence, growing up as a 12-year-old in 1968,” Fred explained to PopCulture. “So that core DNA is the same only this time it’s a brand new family. It’s a completely different family, takes place in Montgomery, Alabama. And I think like any great reimagining, it takes something that, like Ben was saying, something that’s familiar, something that we all know and recognizes, and then builds on that original thing.”

Tying the Wonder Years reimagining into the new Goldfish Mega Bites partnership the brothers have joined forces for, Fred added, “I think that with this new re-imagining of . And the good people of Goldfish have done the same with Mega Bites, which just takes something that we all know and love and remember and build on it and do something even bigger and bolder.”

He continued, “So it just seemed like this fit between what Ben did with Girl Meets World, built on something familiar and created something new. I’m doing it to Wonder Years. They’re doing it with Goldfish. So it seemed like a very natural partnership.” Fans can stream the entire series of Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World on Disney+.