With Disney Channel's Girl Meets World, Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel got in on the ground floor of the recent TV revival trend, which is showing no signs of slowing down, with Punky Brewster, Dexter and Sex and the City follow-ups on the way, to name just a few. Cory and Topanga's love story ended in 2017 after three seasons, despite fans trying to convince anyone listening to make Season 4 happen on another network. Savage and Fishel can't be kept apart, however, as the former Boy Meets World stars reunited for an adorable new Panera Bread commercial that feels like a trailer for a new Hallmark TV movie.
Check out the Valentine's Day ad below, dubbed "Forever Flatbread," to see how adorable Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel still are together, nearly 27 years after Boy Meets World debuted on ABC.
Say it with me now: awwwwww, how cuuuuute! The Panera Bread ad not only brought together one of the cutest TV couples of the '90s, but the promo also delivered a bunch of pop culture references to beloved rom-coms from the past 30+ years. There are nods to Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally and Sixteen Candles, among others, and arguably the most visually recognizable callback in the bunch is when Ben Savage is outside the Panera restaurant, communicating with Danielle Fishel by hand-written signs, the way Andrew Lincoln did in Love Actually.
Speaking with US Weekly about the lovingly cornball new commercial, Ben Savage said that it was fun bringing that Love Actually moment to life, as it's one of his favorite films. He also talked about how he ended up coming to reunite with Danielle Fishel for the ad, saying:
It was so much fun. We had such a nice time together. Danielle was a total pro, and obviously, we’ve grown up together, so it’s always nice just getting the chance to reunite and work with someone that you’ve known since you were a kid. It just sounded like such a fun opportunity and just such a fun experience. And so, I think Danielle and I both were like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And we had a great time together, and I think it turned out pretty well.
Bringing everything full circle is the fact that Fred Savage, brother to the Boy Meets World vet, was the director on the Panera Bread commercial. Having shifted more into behind-the-camera work in his post-Wonder Years career – minus the occasional leading role in projects like Working and The Grinder – the elder Savage's second and third directorial gigs were directing Boy Meets World episodes.
The big question now, of course, is whether or not this commercial will convince the powers that be at Hallmark to make a deal for Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel to reunite for a tongue-in-cheek romantic feature that doesn't necessarily have to be focused on flatbreads or any other kind of fast casual restaurant food. If Lifetime can make a KFC Colonel Sanders movie with Mario Lopez, Hallmark can find a way to give Savage and Fishel more time to stare lovingly into each other's pepperonis. Er, eyes. And if Full House vet Candace Cameron wants to get involved to make it a true TGIF party, the more the merrier.
