Anthony Tyler Quinn finally explained why his character Mr. Turner disappeared on Boy Meets World.
On Boy Meets WorldMr. Turner left the show in the middle of season 4 after getting into a motorcycle accident in the episode “Cult Fiction.” Though there would continue to be some references to the character as well as archival footage of Mr. Turner, Quinn would never appear again on the show. while chatting on Pod Meets Worldthe actor revealed that his character’s abrupt exit was actually the result of a sudden change in focus on Boy Meets World.
Anthony Tyler Quinn Was Initially “Excited for Season 4”
Quinn said, “I saw [series creator] Michael Jacobs across the stage, and I want to say congratulations and [ask] what do you think about how my character’s developing and how he’s interacting with everybody? He goes ‘Great. We think it’s all great. We’re very excited and can’t wait for Season 4. He shared a little bit with me about what he wanted to do with me for Season 4. They wanted to dive a little deeper into our relationship, Rider… So, I was very excited for Season 4.”
The actor continued, “So that was the end of March in ’96. Remember that conversation ’cause in June of ’96 I get a phone call from Michael Jacobs and he’s like ‘Okay. I got some bad news.’ And I was ‘Okay. Uh-oh.’ He’s like ‘so, you’re not coming back for Season 4. Maybe sparingly like five or four episodes. But definitely not Season 5. You’re not coming back.’ Now, I get the concept that in show business there’s no such thing as job security, but this just seemed like a radical reversal. Cause we just had a conversation two months ago that everything was great. So, I just go, ‘What happened ?’ and he goes, ‘So the network and the studio came at us last minute with some change. They said the kids are going into high school now and we wanna explore that whole dynamic, so we’re going to change it up. It was kind of unexpected [and] last minute, so there was nothing we could do to save it. He goes, ‘It is what it is,’ and that was it.”
Still, despite getting the bad news about his character, that wasn’t the only problem that Quinn faced. He went on to say, “This is where the story gets interesting. This is in June of ’96. Now, you fast forward to February of ’97 I was gearing toward pilot season in ’97 because I had to get a job… So I was getting really close to landing this pilot I had auditioned for Fox. I jumped through all the hoops and wanted to bring me to [the] studio and meet everybody there at the network.”
He continues, “And I was thinking ‘This is great.’… So they’re going to bring me to network. I get a phone call from my manager, and he goes, ‘We have a huge problem.’ And I’m like, ‘Of course, there’s a huge problem. Why wouldn’t there be a huge problem.’ I’m like, ‘What’s the problem?’ He’s like, ‘Disney’s not letting you out of your contract.’ I was honestly confused because it’s been nine months since I got that phone call from Michael… I’m like ‘You mean, Boys Meet World,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I told him, ‘You know as well as I do that they called me and told me I was being dismissed.’ He said ‘Well, they say your contract is still active, and they’re not letting you out of it.'”
Still, that situation was resolved as the actor revealed that after some back and forth, he was released from his contract with Boy Meets World and finally allowed to move on to new projects. His character of Mr. Turner would eventually return for the series’ spinoff Girl Meets Worldwhere Quinn reprized his role for three episodes.