Clarissa Explains It All
We all know the star of Clarissa Explains It All, Melissa Joan Hart, is currently starring in her hit sitcom Melissa & Joey alongside fellow 90s television star Joey Lawrence, but what has become of the rest of the Darling family?
Jason Zimbler played Clarissa’s annoying little brother Ferguson Darling. After Clarissa ended, Jason turned to live theater and eventually co-founded The Re-Theatre Instrument, a theatre company that re-imagines classic plays. Zimbler also appeared in the music video “All My Friends” by the XYZ Affair which features quite a few former Nickelodeon stars.
Sean O’Neal was Clarissa’s ladder wielding (just) friend, Sam. Since Clarissa O’Neal has been seen in the buddy cop film Cop and a Half. Most of his acting recently has been in the musical theatre world, however. O’Neal has also been pursuing a music career as seen on his strange website.
Elizabeth Hess played Clarissa’s mother, Janet. Hess seems to be the most prolific actor to graduate from Clarissa. She has done a lot of theatre from regional productions to Broadway. She has also been teaching acting in a lot of different places. Judging from the pictures of her on the internet, she is really happy.
Joe O’Connor played Clarissa’s dad, Marshall. Joe has really stuck to television acting having appeared on Boston Public, Charmed, Reno 911!, Weeds, and Castle. Most notably, however, O’Connor has a recurring role on Mad Men as Pete Campbell’s father-in-law.
All That
All That was Nickelodeon’s sketch show that was for kids, by kids. The show has produced stars like Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, and Nick Cannon. Not every cast member has a spot on Saturday Night Live or a wife named Mariah Carey, though.
Kel Mitchell was Kenan Thompson’s partner in crime. After All That, the two starred on their own Nickelodeon show Kenan & Kel. Kel then landed a role in the now cult favorite Mystery Men, went on to host the dance show Dance 360, perform regularly on G4’s Attack of the Show, and provides voices for various children’s programming. Kel’s main project is a movie called Chicago Pulaski Jones, a dance-comedy-action film with Cedric the Entertainer and Tommy Davidson.
Lori Beth Denberg provided vital information for your everyday life on All That. She even got the chance to continue her Nickelodeon fame on the panel show Figure It Out. She quickly graduated from Nick to the WB and landed a recurring role on The Steve Harvey Show. Then… not much. The last thing she did was crush Justin Long as the fat cheerleader in Dodgeball, which came out in 2004.
Josh Server was on All That from 1994-2000. That’s a pretty long time. After his stint on all that he was in a few more Nickelodeon projects like The Amanda Show, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, and Drake & Josh. According to his Twitter, Josh is currently working in real estate and spending a lot of time on OKCupid.
Boy Meets World
The “boy” of Boy Meets World, Ben Savage had some big shoes to fill after his brother Fred stole America’s hearts in The Wonder Years. After 7 years of playing Cory Matthews on Boy Meets World, Savage went on to not really do much at all. He was in a few made-for-tv movies and most recently appeared on Chuck and Without a Trace. Savage also starred in a short called Closing Time which screened at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Will Friedle played Cory’s dimwitted older brother Eric on the show. Friedle has kept pretty busy in the last 11 years that Boy Meets World has been off the air, lending his voice to popular cartoons like Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, Static Shock, and the newly rebooted Thundercats cartoon. Of course, I’ll always remember him for his role opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt in the 1997 Trojan War, a movie in which he goes on an adventure to try and buy condoms.
Rider Strong played Cory’s best friend from the wrong side of the tracks, Shawn. After Boy Meets World, Strong starred in the cult horror/comedy Cabin Fever directed by Eli Roth. Strong has also lent his voice to several of the same super hero shows as his old pal Will Friedle. He has also made television appearances on Castle and Bones.
Danielle Fishel played Topanga Lawrence, the love of Cory’s life. After Boy Meets World, she was mainly known for being the spokesperson for the NutriSystem diet. That is until she gained all of her weight back that she lost through the program. After that, Fishel hosted The Dish on the Style Network, which was a lot like The Soup except even less people watched it. Here’s something I just found out while researching his that doesn’t really apply to the topic, but should be noted: Danielle Fishel went to her high school prom with Lance Bass who came out in 2006.