Before becoming America’s favorite educator, Mr. Feeny was known to the world as William Daniels. A primetime Emmy award-winning actor from St. Elsewhere, and the voice of KITT from Knight Rider. KITT was the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that drove around a future lifeguard before David Hasselhoff was wearing the red shorts on Baywatch.
But to most millennials, Daniels was our favorite neighbor and teacher, Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. After school on ABC, Feeny taught us life lessons as much as he did for Corey and the gang. Today, we show our appreciation and respect as we celebrate his 99th birthday!
Feeny Turns 99!
Corey Matthews, Shawn Hunter, and Topanga Lawrence graduated in 1998, so it doesn’t surprise anyone that their mentor, Mr. Feeny, has made it to age 99. America’s teacher followed those kids from elementary school to junior high and high school, never getting off their backs! They would never be able to escape their next-door neighbor.
If that wasn’t bad enough, as soon as the kids from John Adams High, Principal Weeny, I mean Feeny, decided to enroll to further his own education. As if that wasn’t bad enough and the borderline stalking at this point, he decided to attend Pennbrook. Like the rest of us, Dean Bolander knew Feeny too well.
Once a teacher, always a teacher, so Feeny would move into a professor role at Pennbrook. No shocker there. Luckily for the students, Feeny was there to protect them when a fellow professor who looked like he could have been a long-lost brother to Corey sexually harassed Topanga. He was also to hook Jack and Eric up with a couple of on-campus jobs at the student union.
Feeny Meets World
Wouldn’t that have been a great spinoff? His dynamic with Eric on the show was one of a kind. Boy Meets World was a staple of the TGIF lineup for seven seasons. The show may have become more popular with the nostagiac resurrgence. William Daniels is a huge part of that. Feeny life lessons have been taught to generations now.
He is the teacher that the kids on a sitcom didn’t get the best of on an episode-by-episode basis. He was a mentor and a respected character throughout the series. As a kid, you may look at him like a no-fun disciplinarian, but as an adult, there’s much respect for Mr. Feeny. Well, minus the whole stalking his neighbor and students throughout their education, and possibly traumatizing them.
Final Thoughts
Throughout the 90s and the Boy Meets World years, Mr. Feeny was the television teacher we learned the most from. If it wasn’t telling us about how “friendship is a real gift,” “you don’t need to be blood to be family,” or you’re doing your best “Feeny call,” we show our appreciation to a legend!
I’m not sure if I would like my neighbor, or one of my teachers, following me like Feeny did, but it must’ve been nice to have someone mentor and care that much for his students. So today, we say “Happy Birthday, Mr. Feeny!” We celebrate 99 and can’t wait til 100. So “Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do Good.” “Class dismissed.”
Point of Vision 
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