Kenny Johnston Meets World

00:00:18
Speaker 1: Well, I once again am completely in the dark, and therefore you guys are both in the dark as well about what this opening to our show is going to be. All I was told just thirty seconds ago, is that producer Jensen Carp, husband of this podcast, is I found another clip I think maybe an audio clip, and so he is here, he is, He's going to join us to share with us another audio clip.

00:00:45
Speaker 2: No idea what it.

00:00:46
Speaker 3: Is, Nike will be audio For those who see this on or listen to it on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your beautiful show.

00:00:55
Speaker 2: It's a video clip.

00:00:56
Speaker 3: It's a video on YouTube, and you know, every once in a while, I will go searching. It's one of my skills. It's almost like an archaeologist of sorts trying.

00:01:05
Speaker 4: To find the Indiana Jones of YouTube.

00:01:07
Speaker 3: Trying to find fossils of the past. I like to call him embarrassing fossils you don't necessarily know are on the Internet. I don't know, just trying my hardest. And this one I'm not going to say as a hidden gem. I didn't find something, you know, that's just like being unearthed. Right now, we've gotten emails about it. A couple of times, but I have never heard this person talk about it. Will do you remember rapping about the way movies were made?

00:01:36
Speaker 5: Oh my god, yes, I like to.

00:01:43
Speaker 3: So. Will was a Nickelodeon star before being on Boy Meets World. And by a Nickelodeon star, I mean, he was like all over the channel.

00:01:50
Speaker 2: He would like the face of Nickelodeon.

00:01:52
Speaker 6: He was.

00:01:53
Speaker 3: He was like a big interstitials commercial guy. They sent him out to meet celebrities, like I just watched a very cute interview he did with Weird Al And one of the things that I really have taken from watching these clips of Will is he was like a really precocious kid, like when he was younger than Boy Mets World. When he was like even in his kind of preteens, that kid had zero fear. Like it's like it's actually semi terrifying, like if.

00:02:18
Speaker 4: A zero and a bunch of nicotine. He was just fueled by purples and cigarettes.

00:02:30
Speaker 3: Like a celebrity wouldn't even like push back on him a little bit, and Will would not step down. He would like to ask the same question again. He was like a little Heraldo.

00:02:37
Speaker 5: He was the coolest kid ever. He was.

00:02:40
Speaker 3: He's extremely cool and he was listening too, and I like, this clip is so funny to me number one, as a big rap fan, but like two, it's so crazy because like he was on a sketch show. Can you explain this sort of sketch show.

00:02:58
Speaker 6: Yes, So, so Nickelodeon at the time was looking for their quote unquote flagship show, so they created something called Don't Just Sit There, and it was exactly was a young Saturday Night Live. We had a band, we had special guests, we would do skits. And I was not on the first season, and then one of the hosts didn't work out, so I came on I think season two, and it was my first on camera job. I was eleven years old and I got to move to New York City. I moved there with my older brother Gary, and I went to a studio every day and we got to you know, they took us to you can't do that on television, and we got slimed and we got to know everyone on Nickelodeon. It was like back in the eighties. So it was it was pretty awesome.

00:03:41
Speaker 3: It looks fun And so one of the sketches on this SNL like show for kids is that I think the theme of the week has to do with like Hollywood and making movies.

00:03:51
Speaker 6: No, this is actually even worse. So we were moving. Nickelodeon Studios was Viacom. Nickelodeon was in New York City, and they moved to Universal Studios in Orlando. And when you went on the Nickelodeon Studios tour, this was the video that played to everybody to show them how movies were made.

00:04:13
Speaker 3: So Will is employed to create a rap about how movies are made. And you see this in the theme park. And so I figured we watched this and play it and listen to it, and then at certain points we'll deposit and just talk about what we're watching, because I do think just for our own health, it's worth maybe checking in on each other.

00:04:35
Speaker 2: My name is Will and now i'm your host.

00:04:39
Speaker 1: Charge.

00:04:41
Speaker 2: Do you see shooting in the studio?

00:04:45
Speaker 4: Then you bring a picture and we took it.

00:04:53
Speaker 3: Oh my god, he's dressed like a rodeo clown.

00:04:57
Speaker 5: Yes, what are you wearing? It's like what they told me too.

00:05:01
Speaker 3: It's so confident.

00:05:02
Speaker 4: Can we talk about the squiggles, the little those nineties.

00:05:07
Speaker 2: We're in the's commercial too.

00:05:10
Speaker 4: That is the thing, right that like pseudo confetti look, I had a mullet, Danielle.

00:05:14
Speaker 5: It was okay.

00:05:16
Speaker 2: The mullet was very cool.

00:05:17
Speaker 6: Wearing my shirt said fresh boy, and that's who I was supposed to be wash fresh boy.

00:05:23
Speaker 3: Hey, wait, will do you remember taping this?

00:05:25
Speaker 5: I do, I absolutely do.

00:05:27
Speaker 3: Were you into it?

00:05:30
Speaker 7: Yeah?

00:05:30
Speaker 5: Because you know?

00:05:31
Speaker 7: So.

00:05:32
Speaker 5: Here's the other thing a lot of people don't know about me.

00:05:33
Speaker 6: Is one of my favorite things to do from the time I was like eight to twelve was breakdance.

00:05:38
Speaker 4: So fun.

00:05:40
Speaker 5: So I've never seen you BREAKDANCEDO.

00:05:43
Speaker 4: Can you still do it?

00:05:44
Speaker 5: Can you have no idea? I'm forty seven. I would probably hurt myself. That's a wow. I've never seen you dance like that. I never did again.

00:05:52
Speaker 6: I think I slow danced at my wedding and after a little bit of of the free bourbon bar, I might have danced a bit, but I'm not a dancer.

00:05:59
Speaker 7: Guy.

00:06:00
Speaker 3: Let's watch the rest.

00:06:01
Speaker 2: Come on over here and dig the a d this joy stick in my head. I make the picture go go ho and depend on how I could it. That's the way the story goes.

00:06:13
Speaker 1: Wow. Yes, oh my gosh, Well that's spectacular.

00:06:20
Speaker 6: You want to know something, I remember every word you.

00:06:25
Speaker 5: All right, let's do it. Let's do it. Go ahead, start. Oh god, you can't even know. I can't sorry, why wait? Give me this, Give me the start, give me the very start of it. How did it start again?

00:06:36
Speaker 3: You think we know?

00:06:37
Speaker 5: But give me the just start to start the video one time.

00:06:39
Speaker 6: Let's say, my ny is Will and now I'm your host. I'm the editor in charge of what's called video post. You see, shooting in the studio is only part one, because then we bring the picture here and we begin off.

00:06:56
Speaker 3: The spirit of fresh Boy fresh sweating profusely here right now, by the way, you still know, now we know what we have to do at the next live show.

00:07:08
Speaker 7: Yes you are.

00:07:10
Speaker 4: You are totally coming on stage as fresh Boy at the next live show.

00:07:13
Speaker 5: I want pants. That's one of two rap songs I've recorded.

00:07:18
Speaker 3: Wow, bye, guys, I got something to fun.

00:07:20
Speaker 7: Exactly sure.

00:07:22
Speaker 6: The other one is the ron Stoppable is the Impossible rap, which went big in the in the what the late two thousand or mid two thousands. So yeah, that was my second rap. So Nickelodeon was so much fun to work with. Every week you're in a food fight, you did something.

00:07:36
Speaker 5: It was great. There was well yeah, so Wow. Thank you for that.

00:07:40
Speaker 2: Producer Jensen Carr, husband of.

00:07:42
Speaker 6: This podcast, husband of this podcast, Thank you for that.

00:07:45
Speaker 3: I will continue to search the internet far and high and low and high and wide. I will do it and I will find something for all of you.

00:07:53
Speaker 7: Take care.

00:07:54
Speaker 2: Thank you, Please don't no, no, We're happy with this one. Thank you. Bye bye. Oh man. That was good will boy like.

00:08:05
Speaker 5: A pig over here. Wow, very impressive.

00:08:07
Speaker 2: Welcome to Pod meets World. I'm Daniel Fishel, I'm right or Strong.

00:08:11
Speaker 6: And I'm the editor in charge of what's called Video Post Fresh Boy Fresh.

00:08:28
Speaker 1: Now, as you guys have heard discuss many times during our time on Boy Meets World, we have ran into a lot of awkward situations as kid actors.

00:08:38
Speaker 2: But the one most people.

00:08:40
Speaker 1: Talk about, at least now that we've started this podcast is what's the deal with the other Harley Kiner?

00:08:46
Speaker 5: What is the deal? What is the deal?

00:08:48
Speaker 1: So we had Danny on to tell his story and he talked to us about how, you know, basically, a mental break during a table read hospitalized him and then in essence forced him off the show. And of course this left production in a little bit of a pickle because he was in that week's episode and we had to come up with a replacement. They could have done a bunch of different things, but what they chose to do was just throw another actor into an already existing character, and there we have the other Harley Kiner. So, in one of the stranger decisions by Boy Meets World producers and honestly ninety sitcoms as a whole, they decided to cast a totally different actor, one who did not really look like Danny at all, to play the same character, Harley Kiner, and they said nothing about it in the middle of the season, and the actor they cast was Kenny Johnston. Now, let's be honest, Kenny walked into an unwinnable situation, as we talked about during his one episode Wrongside of the Tracks, the recap we did a few weeks ago. He did a great job, but filling the shoes of Danny and doing it surrounded by confusion and a bunch of broken hearts was impossible to over for all of us cast and ultimately the audience. So he did not return, which made way for Adam Scott to come in as Griff Hawkins, and that one episode with that Harley Kiner was never mentioned again, and then Danny's Harley does return in season three to close that loophole a little later. Are so Kenny after Boy Meets World would continue to act. He showed up on TV shows like News Radio and Modern Family, and he is still working today. So we've now heard Danny's story, We've heard Blake and Ethan's story, We've even heard Adam Scott's story, and today we hear another story. Let's please welcome to the show the other Harley Kenny Johnston.

00:10:42
Speaker 5: Hello, Hello, how are you?

00:10:47
Speaker 7: I'm good?

00:10:47
Speaker 5: How you doing doing well?

00:10:49
Speaker 1: We were just at Will was specifically just talking about He's dying to know which character you played on News Radio because Will, we'll probably be able to quote your lines from it.

00:10:59
Speaker 5: Also, which episode were you in?

00:11:01
Speaker 7: Oh geez, I don't know. I think it was the second season. I played a FedEx guy and they gave me a name, which was really nice. So I was in like two scenes. Okay, and the man, I haven't seen that show in a while. Is it Vicky Thomas? Who's the girl in at the Redhead?

00:11:18
Speaker 5: The Redhead? Oh? Yes, yes, I know, she plays Bat but I can't Yeah.

00:11:23
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, So she had a big crush on him, and she grabbed the the FedEx guy and took him in a room and that was it.

00:11:31
Speaker 6: Okay, I do remember this episode.

00:11:36
Speaker 7: Okay, I think my name was it was Danny. I think they gave me a name.

00:11:42
Speaker 4: It's always a plus when you get a name, right, Just give me a name, not FedEx guy.

00:11:51
Speaker 5: That's so funny.

00:11:52
Speaker 1: Well, welcome, Thank you so much for being here with us today. We are really happy that we were able to get in touch with you. Did you ever think you'd be talking about an episode of Boy Me Toworld in twenty twenty three?

00:12:06
Speaker 7: Never? Never, never, never, never never. But you know, every now and then, I actually work part time in his school over the years, and every now and then the students will be like, wait a minute, were you horrid? Yeah, and you know the students lit up. So you know, the show is really carried over the years. I think you know what I mean, through the generations, which is great.

00:12:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really has meant a lot to people. We were actually just talking about this the other night, writer and I were saying, no matter what age we have been, there's always been a seventeen year old who's a fan.

00:12:38
Speaker 2: Like, no matter how old we get.

00:12:40
Speaker 1: There's still always subwhere there's a seventeen year old who likes the show.

00:12:43
Speaker 7: Yeah, exactly, which is great. But no, I'd never in a million years would I thought I'd be doing a podcast, which is great. I hear the podcast. You guys have like gazillion followers.

00:12:55
Speaker 1: I don't know about a gazillion, but we have a lot of very loyal listeners that we love, who love the show and love knowing about every detail. We Actually when we first started the podcast, we thought, well, we're going to have to figure out how much people actually care to know, like maybe some of the real inside baseball stuff they won't care about.

00:13:14
Speaker 2: And what we've discovered is that people.

00:13:15
Speaker 1: Just love it all. They want to know all the details they can. And so, as I mentioned in your introduction, we have had on Danny McNulty who came on to talk about his experience playing Harley Kiner. We had Adam Scott come on to tell his story as Griff Hawkins, and we talked to Ethan Sipple and Blake Soaper at the time who's now Blake Senate about their roles as Joey and Frankie. And you are like the last piece that's the puzzle, very bizarre puzzle.

00:13:44
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's funny because when they were casting it, I guess Danny couldn't do do Harley anymore. So I think Michael Jacobs said that you're the last piece of the puzzle.

00:13:54
Speaker 2: Well that's so funny.

00:13:55
Speaker 1: Okay, So that is actually exactly what My first question for you is, what do you remember from your audition for Boy Meets World and what was the setup for how Harley Kiner was coming to you.

00:14:08
Speaker 7: Well, I didn't know that much about the script. You know, I knew about the character obviously, and it was a great character. And when they were interested in me and they brought me back, you know, to the producers and explain that there's already a character Harley and stuff and you're going to be replacing him, and that was all I knew, and I was like, I don't want to know anymore. Let me just focus on the scene and stuff like that, and uh and yeah, they just like what I did, and you know, I was I was kind of the bad boy character at that point in my life anyway, So.

00:14:37
Speaker 3: There's really much of a stretch. In fact, they saw me.

00:14:43
Speaker 7: Out on the back lot, you know, beating some guy's car up nice perfectly.

00:14:48
Speaker 5: That guy.

00:14:48
Speaker 7: We need that guy.

00:14:51
Speaker 1: Okay, So it was also part of it was a choice that they you were like, listen, I don't want to know too many details because I don't want that in my head. I just want to be able to take this character and make it my own. Did they try to show you clips of Danny? Did they want you to do any sort of Danny imitation? Or was it really like, listen, You're just going to take this character and make it your own, but of course, within the confines of it needs to be kind of this bad boy character.

00:15:16
Speaker 7: Yeah. They from what I remember, they didn't want me to know too much about the previous Harley got, which I think I think he played it a little more straight than I did. I played a little more goofy, which I think they liked the contrast. So yeah, I don't think they wanted me to see his work.

00:15:35
Speaker 4: Here's a question, have you seen his works since?

00:15:37
Speaker 5: Yeah?

00:15:38
Speaker 7: Or did?

00:15:38
Speaker 1: Had you seen it before? Had you seen an episode of Boy Meets World with him as Harley?

00:15:42
Speaker 7: No? No, I didn't see anything. You know, back then, we didn't really have you know, we didn't have the internet at our lecture to just look up all the episodes. So no, I didn't really know much about it. I looked up, you know, I got the TV Guide out and did as much research and recorded something on VHS I think. So yeah, I think I watched a couple of episodes that I taped, but Harley wasn't in those.

00:16:05
Speaker 1: Okay, great, So they were just regular episodes of Boys World, so you were at least familiar because yeah, it's like part of you want to know, right.

00:16:12
Speaker 7: It's little Brother. I'm like, wow, this is great. The show was great.

00:16:15
Speaker 1: So okay, so do you remember your first day on set and were you nervous walking into this, this replacement situation.

00:16:25
Speaker 7: I wasn't too nervous, you know. Michael was really great, and it was everyone was really warm and welcoming, and all you guys were really you know, I think, very accepting of the guest stars and stuff like that. So I wasn't really that nervous, you know. And that my two co stars Beneath Kicks, Yeah, they were great and we I think the three of us hit it off immediately and we were heard seeing and doing all kind of comedy bits, you know. Yeah, so it was fun. It was fun right off the bat.

00:16:53
Speaker 2: Good, okay, good.

00:16:54
Speaker 6: Yeah. I'm glad to hear I'm going because it was such a it was kind of a slap in the face week for us that, you know, just with Dan, with everything that happened with Danny in the beginning of the week, and and so it was it's nice to know that that didn't cause us to slip into a kind of like who's this person walking? You know. That's the thing that I was afraid of, is that you were going to come on here and maybe be.

00:17:12
Speaker 5: Like, yeah, it was you. Guys were nice, but it was a little bit.

00:17:15
Speaker 6: Cold because we had a little bit of a boomerang effect from everything that happened. So I'm glad that we were. We were trying to hold it together a little bit ourselves.

00:17:23
Speaker 7: Fright. Yeahs were great. And let me ask you, I mean I might have known back Dan some of the details, but what did happen?

00:17:28
Speaker 2: Yeah? I was just gonna say, do you know?

00:17:31
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think I don't writer?

00:17:33
Speaker 2: You want to you want to take it?

00:17:34
Speaker 7: Yeah?

00:17:34
Speaker 4: So Danny, Danny had been on already like what seven episodes? Yeah, yeah, So he had done seven episodes as Harley, and they had written this episode, and we showed up at the table read and he had a real mental breakdown, like he just did not during the table read. He you know, he was struggling with mental illness essentially, and and couldn't get through the table read, barely got through the table read and and had had to go to the hospital, ended up in the hospital for multiple weeks. And so, you know, we as kids, nobody explained to us what was happening. We just were at this table and watched Danny not be able to finish the script, like not be able to say his line.

00:18:14
Speaker 2: I couldn't focus.

00:18:15
Speaker 4: I couldn't focus. I mean he had struggled with dyslexia anyway, so he was just not in the in the right mind frame to be able to read the script, like physically couldn't read. And you know, we I mean, I think what what we interpreted as kids was that something had gone on with drugs or.

00:18:31
Speaker 5: We didn't know that he was on drugs.

00:18:33
Speaker 4: We knew was that he was gone. And then you came in I think even later that day or the next day, and it was you know, and we just no one ever explained it to us. We never saw Danny and Danny did come back eventually, I think.

00:18:45
Speaker 2: The next season three, but yeah, he came back for one more and that was it.

00:18:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:18:51
Speaker 4: So this episode is a very bizarre moment in all of our memories, you know, where we have the episode with you playing Harley, which is also just kind of a bizarre choice, like why didn't they just make a new character.

00:19:02
Speaker 5: But instead they kept the script exactly as it.

00:19:05
Speaker 4: Was written and brought you in to play the same character, and it's it's you know, So it's one of those things we were like, what was going on that week? And then with this podcast we were able to bring Danny back and he was able to explain what was happening in his personal life and what was.

00:19:18
Speaker 1: All this time we've never really known, We've never really known what the situation was.

00:19:23
Speaker 6: Which was unfortunately perfectly in keeping with mental illness at the time in the nineties, where it was just like, let's not talk about it. It's for no showed under their road and the and one of the things we were saying is we we kind of said, well, because we were kids, they didn't let us in on it, and it's a mental health thing which nobody talked about but the adults didn't know what to do either. I mean, it was just kind of everybody like, all right, let's move on and hope he gets better, and just nobody spoke about it. So it was a it was a one of the more bizarre weeks we had, I would say, of the entire seven years of the show. And that's why you were so integral, because it was just all of a sudden, it was like, and here's the new Harley Go.

00:19:57
Speaker 1: And so it was it's really nice to hear, like Will was saying, it's really nice to hear that you felt warm and welcomed by everybody, because I also thought it's possible that even for Blake and Ethan, they didn't know what was going on, and so then to have somebody new come in, there was of course a possibility that you would have felt some sort of discomfort or awkwardness for any of us. So it makes all of us feel really good to know that your memory and the feeling you were left with was that you were very that you were welcomed, and that you were you know, given freedom to do your own things as the character.

00:20:30
Speaker 7: Let me ask you, did the producers explain at all what happened with Danny.

00:20:34
Speaker 2: Or they just know they didn't really know either, They weren't sure.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: He ended up being hospitalized for a month and was put on lithium and the but that took some time, Like he was taken to a mental health hospital, and it took some time for them for him to get a diagnosis. And like Will was saying, I think the adults really didn't know. They didn't know whether you know, the discussions we have now around mental health are it is night and day.

00:21:02
Speaker 2: It used to just be it was. It also felt like a violation to talk about it.

00:21:07
Speaker 1: Like, oh, it's you know, it's a private thing, and I don't think anybody knew how to handle it or what to say. And so, you know, they didn't really know. So we didn't know what was going on. We just knew, Hey, this guy's coming in, this guy Kenny is here.

00:21:20
Speaker 5: Now, well, we knew the.

00:21:21
Speaker 4: Show must go on. You know, that attitude of like the show must go on was such a thing, which is just you know, that's what when we just watched the episode and for the first time, and it's it's.

00:21:31
Speaker 5: Bizarre because it could have so easily.

00:21:33
Speaker 4: They could have easily just had you come in as you know, Harvor something some other name and just like not reference. But it's interesting that they gave you all of his lines. You're calling Ben Baboon, which is what that character had done before. You know, it's like, it's it's clearly Harley Kiner. So it's a very bizarre choice that only could have happened in the nineties when there were no reruns.

00:21:54
Speaker 5: Well, what makes it even more bizarre is that our show was the king of rewrites, writing everything all the time up to and including in front of the audience, and then this happens and it's like, we're not going to write anything, like wait, what you do? That's all you do?

00:22:10
Speaker 6: So it was very strange, just every kind of and again, there is a very real possibility that the shock we felt as actors, they felt in the writer's room, where it was just this kind of everyone got into this weird tunnel vision of all right, put the show on, what the hell just happened, let's figure out next steps, and because nobody's kind of processing what actually took place.

00:22:36
Speaker 5: So that's true too. That's that could be true as.

00:22:39
Speaker 6: Well, is that we again it goes back to one of the overriding themes of this podcast. When you're a kid, you think the adults know everything that's going on and they know how to control everything, and they yeah, exactly, they are.

00:22:50
Speaker 5: We're thank god they're here because they and they don't either.

00:22:52
Speaker 6: Everybody's kind of stumbling through, especially something like this, which was so out of left field that it could be everybody just was was drop shocked again, had no idea what was going on.

00:23:03
Speaker 7: And it was this episode that he had the breakdown on when yeah, like.

00:23:06
Speaker 5: The day you got there, it was either the day, Yeah, that either.

00:23:11
Speaker 6: Happened in the morning on Thursday and then you were there for rehearsal Thursday night, or that happened on Thursday and you were there Friday morning.

00:23:18
Speaker 7: That's right, because but yeah, I remember I read in the morning and then they brought me back that same day for producers.

00:23:23
Speaker 5: Like, yeah, oh, that must have been Monday. Excuse me.

00:23:25
Speaker 6: It would have been Friday and Monday, so they probably had the weekend to figure out what they do.

00:23:29
Speaker 5: But again they'd have the weekend to rewrite, I know.

00:23:31
Speaker 6: So they just probably went keep it as it is, brought you in Monday, and then that was it.

00:23:37
Speaker 5: So gosh, so strange.

00:23:49
Speaker 1: Were you told that this was maybe going to be a recurring role, did you?

00:23:53
Speaker 2: Did you have any idea?

00:23:54
Speaker 7: Yeah, I thought they did tell me that that this is one of two episod sodes I'm probably going to be in, But they were a little bit up in the air, you know. And and you know, I worked enough at that point not to get my hopes up to go, I'm going to be on the show, you know, regularly. But I was hoping, of course, you know, it would be at least a few more episodes or a couple more episodes.

00:24:16
Speaker 1: But right, wow, okay, And so do you have any real specific memories from shooting in front of the audience or working with Blake and Ethan? Like you said, you guys, the three of you got along very well and kind of fell into a natural rhythm together. Do you have any specific favorite memories from that week.

00:24:35
Speaker 7: So long ago? But but no, I just think, you know, the thing that we had together, and I think Ben, you know, was really great. And the other actor I can't think of his name as far as.

00:24:47
Speaker 2: Writer or strong. Yes, this name right here?

00:24:50
Speaker 7: Yeah, my god, you look great, by the way. So but no, I really, you know, I was a little nervous stepping into a character that was already there. So I was really focused on my lines and trying to to uh, you know, put in a really good performance and fit in and you know and make a good impression and all. But but no, I was just kind of I was really uh impressed by everyone's professionalism and how well you guys were already you know, what a good team you were and this was season two, correct, Yeah, yeah, so it was great. It was stepping into such a professional stage and the teacher was great, you know. And I think the scene with the motorcycle was my favorite.

00:25:33
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:25:33
Speaker 7: It was like, you know, goofing around a little bit, and the teacher looked at me once with his eyes. I was like, oh my god, this guy is for real, you know, and uh and uh And I think that was probably my favorite scene. With the baseball bat, that's cool and the beautiful Harley I got to sit on too, that wass.

00:25:49
Speaker 5: That we talk about all the time. Yeah.

00:25:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had you watch the episode so that you were familiar with the episode before you came on the podcast.

00:25:57
Speaker 2: Watching it.

00:25:58
Speaker 1: Now, when was the last time you saw Did you see it when it originally aired? Have you ever seen it since.

00:26:03
Speaker 7: I've seen clips of it, I think, you know, on on cable, you know, late at night or something. I'm like, hey, there I am. And then you know, when my my students, I was a teacher's assistant for a while, when my students, you know, got a kick out of it. You know, I would go back and watch it and go, wow, that was pretty fun. You know, that's great. I haven't seen it for a long time. I watched it last night at the house.

00:26:25
Speaker 1: It is And what was that like for you? What did you think about it? You know, nearly thirty years later, I forgot how.

00:26:30
Speaker 7: Many characters were in it. I was like, I totally forgotten. I mean for you, for you all, what was that kind of a standout episode in that what in that regard like Nancy Carrigan was in it, and there was so many different things happening in that episode or yeah, that's what.

00:26:47
Speaker 4: We couldn't believe that all of these all of these things happened in the same episode. Was like you came in playing Harley, which is already made it upizarre week Will went off and did this whole extra scene with Nancy Kerrigan in New York made it a very bizarre episode, and then also just it's a very dramatic episode. You know, it ends with like this heartfelt moment between me and mister Turner, and it was just like, oh, this is the beginning of that whole relationship. So it ends up being a seminal episode in a lot of different ways.

00:27:14
Speaker 3: That's what That's what.

00:27:15
Speaker 7: I was watching when I was watching it last night. I mean, your character had this kind of real, you know, enlightenment or it was going through this struggle about you know, Marie dumb and stuff. And I was like, wow, maybe maybe I should go back and watch all the seasons if it was just deep, if all the episodes of Great.

00:27:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know it got deep, man, I mean and this is kind of the beginning of that.

00:27:33
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:27:34
Speaker 1: So do you remember then after the taping how you were told or were you told that you weren't going to be coming back, or did you just not get that phone call for the second episode?

00:27:43
Speaker 7: Yeah? I did not get the phone call. And like I said, you know, they they he was really nice. You know, he wasn't promising anything. Mich sure, but you know, they liked me, and it did seem like I was going to come back for at least one more episode, but just just never got that call. And and you know, I was working on other stuff, which was great. I wasn't just sitting.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: Around waiting exactly, which is nice.

00:28:03
Speaker 7: But I knew something happened with the character. And I guess I didn't really research it looked too far into it, but I knew there was a possibility that maybe he would come back as well. You know, yeah the actor.

00:28:15
Speaker 4: Had you done live like a multi camera live audience show before, Yeah, I did.

00:28:21
Speaker 7: I did a show called Teach in nineteen ninety. We did, uh, I think we did thirteen episodes.

00:28:26
Speaker 5: I remember Teach. I remember Teach. Yeah, absolutely.

00:28:30
Speaker 6: It was like coming up was it was almost like a welcome Back Cotter kind of Yeah.

00:28:34
Speaker 5: Absolutely, it was ahead of the class kind of.

00:28:36
Speaker 7: Welcome back Cotter. It was like a dead Poet Society meets Eddie Murphy meets Welcome Back Cotter kind of thing.

00:28:41
Speaker 5: Oh I remember Teach absolutely.

00:28:43
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:28:43
Speaker 7: Yeah. So we ran like I think six episodes and then and then we are lead in was a Red Fox show and then he had a heart attack and unfortunately and that killed us as well. So yeah, but yeah, so I've done a you know, a fair amount of sitcom before that, you know, with the live oriens, and there's nothing like that, you know, I mean it's the best. Oh yeah, man, they're still I think it's almost like there's a lot of them come back in the last like five years or so. It seems like it more you know, sitcom for camera.

00:29:16
Speaker 2: That's what we're hoping for, right Well.

00:29:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, but please please.

00:29:21
Speaker 1: We've been I was I was just doing some press for a movie I directed, and it was one of the things they asked me. It was like, do you think there are going to be more multi camera comedies coming out?

00:29:30
Speaker 2: And I was like, this must be.

00:29:32
Speaker 1: In the in the universe, because it was it was it must be something people are talking about. And Will and I are both like we love it so much as a medium, and I'd love to see more of them. I mean, Kenny, you have a very full IMDb page. Does Boy Meets World ever come up for you? I know you mentioned for your students when you were a teacher's assistant, which I'd also love to get into. But yeah, are you ever out and about somewhere and somebody stops you? And of all the things they could mention they mentioned Boy Meets World.

00:29:59
Speaker 7: No, not in a long time, maybe about fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, you know, when it was still you know, they.

00:30:07
Speaker 5: Would rerun it and still on reruns.

00:30:09
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, still and reruns you know at the supermarket, you know, twenty somethings would go, oh my god, that's Harley. That's Harley. And which is great because I only did one episode, so you know, after I after I had done it in air, after a few years, I'm like, no one's going to remember me just from that one episode. I mean, but but yeah, but people did recognize me, you know, back then, but not not much anymore though.

00:30:31
Speaker 1: So tell me about your your time as a teacher's assistant and what is that like a second career you have that you love and tell me tell me. We talk about that a lot on our podcast, about actors who have other passions and pursue other jobs, and we're always so supportive of that because you know, most of the time you hear about an actor doing something else, and in the press, it's presented like a sad story, like, oh, it's so sad they're doing this other thing, and you're a lawyer.

00:31:00
Speaker 5: Now I'm sorry, exactly.

00:31:04
Speaker 7: What two hundred thousand a year as yeah, exactly.

00:31:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah.

00:31:09
Speaker 2: So tell me about your teaching work.

00:31:11
Speaker 7: Well, it was a got. I got the job around two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight when everything crashed, the market crash and it was the Great Recession, and I got worried and things slowed down for everybody. But I was also at that age where I wasn't the young guy anymore and I wasn't the dad yet, so I was at that hall. So I was like, maybe I should, you know, find something I can have just for some some extra income. So my friend worked at a nursing school actually was called West Coast University. It's a private nursing school credited, so you know, it was very very popular at the time. Everyone was running into nursing right around that. Sure, So I just became a teacher's assistant and I helped them design study guides and kind of like a proctor. I would sit in on test and which was great because I wasn't the teacher that theyd of hated. I was the in between, you know, that the guy they kind of liked, and it was fun. Yeah. So I did that for probably about seven to ten years and uh, and those kids were still you know, watching Boy Meets World and you know, a lot of the shows. So so it was fun and I liked it a lot. I got a lot out of it in terms of helping these people, you know, get their their BSA in nursing, which which isn't easy. They wore tests, it's hard. So yeah, yeah, and it would it would get their BSA in three years.

00:32:30
Speaker 3: So it was.

00:32:31
Speaker 7: It was. It was an accelerated program. Yeah. So there's a lot of stress, a lot of heartbreak and disappointment when they didn't pass because their parents would put so much money, you know, because it was the program itself was a lot of money. It was like, you know, one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So so it was great. It was really rewarding and gave me a little, you know, a little side income. And then things picked back up and then I got back into the young dad and that's kind of.

00:33:00
Speaker 1: So tell us about what you're doing now and where we can find you. I know, all of our dear listeners are going to want to know more about you. So what's going on in your life now?

00:33:08
Speaker 7: Well? I did a I did a Hallmark Christmas movie.

00:33:11
Speaker 2: Oh that's what Will wants to do?

00:33:14
Speaker 7: My dream?

00:33:15
Speaker 2: My dream?

00:33:17
Speaker 5: Did you not like Christmas? And then find Christmas? Is that what happened? Like this is not?

00:33:22
Speaker 6: And then all of a sudden like wait a minute, my heart's melted.

00:33:26
Speaker 4: Yes, oh my gosh, that's awesome.

00:33:28
Speaker 7: You know, I haven't watched many, but once I booked the job last I think last summer, I started going back and watching them, and it's true, it grabs your heart. You're like, oh my god, these movies are so good. You're thinking, you know, it's like Hallmarks, you know, but but no, it was. It was a great It was a good one. I think we got a lot of good feedback on it was called the Princeton Pauper Christmas.

00:33:48
Speaker 4: Yeah where did you shoot? Did you shoot it in Canada?

00:33:51
Speaker 7: Or was it we shot it here? We shot it here, But they do they a lot of a lot of the crew. They shoot a lot of them up there.

00:33:58
Speaker 4: But no, imagine that there's one that's actually Christmas Town where they make.

00:34:02
Speaker 6: All the Hallmark presents.

00:34:05
Speaker 5: This Christmas Town.

00:34:06
Speaker 7: Yeah, exactly exactly, but we we did shoot it. It was a fictitious town. I think I forget the name of it, but we shot it in a thousand Oaks at one of the Marriott's or double trees up there. But they most of the movie took place in this hotel where the prince and the pauper switched places. That's a famous old story, the Prince of Pauper. So they had the whole hotel locked down for like two weeks and we shot the movie, the whole movie in two weeks. So it was great. You know, we didn't have to you know, go to different locations around the city. We set up camped there and it was fun. It was a great experience. Everyone was great.

00:34:41
Speaker 2: So that's wonderful. So do you also have a social media I do.

00:34:47
Speaker 7: It's Kenny Johnston seven seven seven at Instagram. Okay, person, the I G at the I G Twitter. I'm not I'm not too too up on it yet, but you know, I'm more of a lurker in Twitter.

00:34:58
Speaker 2: That's I am.

00:35:02
Speaker 7: I don't have anything to apologize for you. So it's hopefully. And there's also a movie. It's it's getting really good reviews on on demand. It's one of the high one of the best rented movies. It's called The last Deal. Okay, and it's a great story. It's it's about one of the last marijuana dealers that had his own a legal practice before everything became legal, and he was he the the bureaucrat. He couldn't get a legal license because all of the companies already had their license and they didn't want any more to get any license. So he made one last deal and it didn't go very well.

00:35:44
Speaker 5: So it's a great idea. Yeah, great idea.

00:35:47
Speaker 7: Yeah. So that's it.

00:35:48
Speaker 5: That is not that is not a Hallmark movie.

00:35:50
Speaker 7: That is not a.

00:35:53
Speaker 6: Christmas marijuana Christmas Cannabis has got to do one last deal before he hangs it out.

00:35:59
Speaker 5: I don't see that yet.

00:36:00
Speaker 7: Nice the Hallmark people don't know about that, that one. But yeah, you know, check that out if if you have any of the listeners are into watching, you know, sitting home on a Friday going what to rent, what to rest? Last Deal and it's very entertaining.

00:36:16
Speaker 2: Great.

00:36:16
Speaker 1: Well, my final question for you is, almost thirty years later, how do you reflect on your one week as Harley klink Kiner.

00:36:26
Speaker 7: It was a blast. I mean watching it last night, you know you always look back at your work. I'm like, what am I doing. I'm here really just.

00:36:33
Speaker 2: You know, but it was we thought you were great.

00:36:36
Speaker 7: Yeah you were, Thank you guys, But it was it was a lot of fun, you know, and I haven't worked that much so you know all the jobs like that. You know, at that age you're just like wide eyed and just you know, so there, you know. So uh. But but the response over the years of just the show in general, you know, the success of the show and what it meant to you know, that generation into so many people. I was just really happy to be a part of that. You know.

00:37:02
Speaker 1: Well, we are really happy that you were a part of it as well, and we are so happy that you took your time out today to spend this time with us. You are a huge part of Boy Meets World, Cannon, I mean, and and in our memories.

00:37:14
Speaker 7: Yeah. Absolutely, it's so great to hear the inside of that. Yeah. Really have no idea that all that was going.

00:37:21
Speaker 1: On, I know, And it's crazy that in twenty twenty three is how is where you're learning about?

00:37:26
Speaker 2: You know, like it's so funny, it'szy think back.

00:37:30
Speaker 7: I'm like, whatever did happen?

00:37:32
Speaker 5: What was going on with that?

00:37:34
Speaker 7: Wow?

00:37:35
Speaker 5: Well doing really well? He's great. Yeah, doing really well now, which is which is awesome. So he's in a great place.

00:37:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Well, thank you again, Kenny, thank you for joining us.

00:37:43
Speaker 7: Well, thanks for having me.

00:37:44
Speaker 4: Yeah, good to see you, Kenny.

00:37:45
Speaker 2: Great to see you. See you again.

00:37:47
Speaker 7: Take care.

00:37:48
Speaker 2: Maybe we could get Will and Kenny into a Hallmark movie together.

00:37:52
Speaker 7: Yeah.

00:37:52
Speaker 4: Will plays the one who loves Christmas. He plays the one who hates Christmas, and we.

00:37:56
Speaker 6: Switch can type where I'm the one trying to do the last marijuana.

00:38:00
Speaker 1: Oh wait, no, I've what if we what if we switch out Kenny with Danny halfway through?

00:38:05
Speaker 4: I like it.

00:38:06
Speaker 5: I like the same jacket on guys.

00:38:09
Speaker 4: Something occurred to me while while we were talking to him. I think I think part of the reason that they didn't rewrite it is that they were hoping Danny would come.

00:38:17
Speaker 2: Back, right.

00:38:19
Speaker 4: I think I think they were that you think, yes, I think they were hoping. They hired they hired Kenny, they brought him in, and I think part of them was hoping that Dan because they didn't know what was going on, and they just thought, oh, he just needs a day to rest or a couple of days. They were hoping to just have rehearsal with Kenny and then maybe not have to rewrite the whole script if Danny could come back. And you know, I think I think, I think it's it's it's it's actually not a horrible idea at the time, because they were, you know, they didn't know how serious it was.

00:38:49
Speaker 5: They could have just been like.

00:38:50
Speaker 1: Just were probably in touch with him and or the hospital, and they probably were still trying to figure out exactly what it was, so it could have just been a we don't know, right, and if you're getting a we don't know, you think you fingers crossed he's coming out of there.

00:39:07
Speaker 6: I texted Kendall during the conversation just to see if there's any Hey, do you remember this, and he said, I honestly don't know. I think it was he said, I don't remember any of it, and I think.

00:39:15
Speaker 5: A burly Kendall doesn't remember anything about.

00:39:18
Speaker 6: It, he says, because I asked him, I said, do you what was the thinking behind not rewriting and bringing in a new actor? He said, I honestly, I can't remember. And I think I think all of us were in such a blur. It was such a daze that it just went by like it just everyone was kind of, but it.

00:39:34
Speaker 4: Just doesn't because you know, we've we've we just watched two twenty and you know, obviously they wrote to the fact that Danny was not there for.

00:39:43
Speaker 5: The next episode.

00:39:44
Speaker 4: Yes, so that's what's so Yeah, that's what's intense. It's like, why didn't they address it, you know, three days earlier.

00:39:50
Speaker 6: And I think they were today it's going to be he'll be back tomorrow and we he had food poisoning or you know, it's like he just maybe he did.

00:39:57
Speaker 4: He also wouldn't be horrible for poor Kenny, who then would have been told, no, thanks.

00:40:03
Speaker 2: Thank you, here's to make it to tape night.

00:40:06
Speaker 4: We're going to bring in the old guy anyway. Yeah, yeah, man, it's you know, this industry is just brutal.

00:40:11
Speaker 7: Man.

00:40:12
Speaker 6: It's your friend's baby. It's show business. You know, that's your great It's really really what happens. You know, they just yeah, the show must go on is the nice way of saying that. But the problem is there's a lot of people left in the wake when that happens sometimes.

00:40:26
Speaker 1: So yeah, well, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Pod Meets World. You can follow us on Instagram, pod meets World Show. As always, you can send us your emails pod meets World Show at gmail dot com and we have merch is it marching gise pod meets Worldshow dot com will send us out.

00:40:46
Speaker 5: We love you all, pod dismissed.

00:40:50
Speaker 6: Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel, Wilfredell and Ryder Strong executive producers, Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman Executive in charge of production, Daniel Romo, producer and editor, Taras Sudbach, producer, Jackie Rodriguez 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 at pod meets World Show or email us at Podmeets worldshowat gmail dot com