The weekend of Sept. 15, 2023, a reported 40,000 people descended on Tampa Bay to attend ’90s Con, hosted by That’s4Entertainment. This was the first ’90s Con to take place in Florida, after two outings in Hartford, Connecticut. Friday began with an impressive roster of celebrities setting up at the Tampa Convention Center. Fans paid anywhere from $20 to $70 per selfie or autograph, and many came prepared with lots of cash to make all their meet-and-greet dreams come true. I walked the floor and enjoyed taking a few photos before the crowd grew. Nate Richert came over to photobomb my group’s selfie with Caroline Rhea, and Danica McKellar chatted with us about her move to Nashville, Tennessee. To the right of the celebrity area was the vendor section, where creators and artists sold their work. I had the pleasure of interviewing artist Guy Gilchrist, known as Jim Henson’s cartoonist, for an upcoming article.
Saturday’s schedule offered five celebrity panels and four creative panels. Kellie Williams, Reginald VelJohnson, and Jo Marie Payton from Family Matters were followed by Sabrina the Teenage Witch cast members Melissa Joan Hart, Jenna Leigh Green, Nate Richert, Nick Bakay, Caroline Rhea, and Beth Broderick, then the Disney legends Jodi Benson, Paige O’Hara, Linda Larkin, Susan Egan, Judy Kuhn, and Jim Cummings.
Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, members of the union were not allowed to promote struck work, so they couldn’t speak directly about their acting projects while participating in panels. Actors discussed their non-union projects, like podcasts or books, and shared more about relationships with cast mates through the years. Jo Marie Payton from Family Matters spoke about her love for Jaimee Foxworth (who played Judy Winslow), Darius McCrary (Eddie), Jaleel White (the famous Steve Urkel), and Orlando Brown (who played 3J). She gave the audience life advice: “While you’re here, give it all you can give. This is not a dress rehearsal, this is real life. Be the best you can, love as strong as you can. Let hate not be a part of your chemistry or your makeup. Because a lot of times, you can function a lot better dealing with your heart than your head. … We are all born to love and to care and to not be afraid.”
Although panels were included with the price of admission, only VIP/ADA ticket holders were guaranteed seats at every panel they wanted to attend; Full House and Boy Meets World fans lined up early to get a coveted spot at those discussions. Full House stars in attendance were Dave Coulier, Jodie Sweetin, Candace Cameron Bure, Andrea Barber, and Scott Weinger, joined by series creator Jeff Franklin. Podcasting seemed to allow a loophole regarding permissible topics of discussion, so Sweetin discussed her rewatch podcast with Andrea Barber and how she is noticing little details in the series — like Dave Coulier’s idea to have the mannequin in the Tanners’ alcove be dressed identical to Joey. Everyone in the room took a moment to remember Bob Saget, who passed away in early 2022.
The Boy Meets World group was by far the biggest at the convention. Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle — who currently host the rewatch podcast Pod Meets World — were joined by Betsy Randle, Anthony Tyler Quinn, William Daniels, Bonnie Bartlett, Lee Norris, Matthew Lawrence, and Trina McGee. When the group discussed important moments in their careers, Lawrence mentioned “going down to San Francisco and shooting Mrs. Doubtfire,” and he told me more about that on the “pink carpet” during media interviews.
“[Robin Williams] took me along when he would first try out all the prosthetics and the clothing and the bodysuit and everything, and we would just walk through the streets of San Francisco and we’d go up to random people … see if it was convincing,” Lawrence said. “And just to get to experience that with him, because he’d be, like, holding my hand and he’d prep me, give me a pep talk of what I needed to do, what I need to accomplish, being able to do that.” He also shared that Golden Gate Park is still a favorite San Francisco spot of his.
I wondered where Matthew Lawrence would like to go if he ever got to film another Disney Channel Original Movie with his brothers, Joey and Andy. “That’s a really good question. … South Africa. We’d go on a safari,” he concluded. It was so fun to joke with him about making a Jumping Ship 2.
DCOM dreams abounded at ’90s Con. My colleague and I chanted “Sí se puede!” with Mrs. Bartlett herself, Susan Egan of Gotta Kick It Up!. Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz also graced the pink carpet. Brown portrayed Jamie Grover in Quints and Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown series, and Kountz was Kalabar’s evil son, Kal, in Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge. Since we were at ’90s Con, I asked the couple what their favorite ’90s sitcoms were. Brown mentioned growing up watching the TGIF shows Full House, Family Matters, and Step by Step.
While most Halloweentown films came out in the 2000s, the first one premiered in 1998, almost 25 years ago! Cast members will reunite in October at the Spirit of Halloweentown festival in St. Helens, Oregon, where the DCOM was filmed. “It’s always so nice to be back there and to visit. I love the town in general; it’s just such a beautiful small town. So it always brings back a lot of memories and to see some of my friends and just kind of relive it myself. I’m so touched that they do that. I love it up there,” Brown said.
Jim Cummings, my generation’s voice of Winnie the Pooh, spoke with me about his new podcast, Toon’d in with Jim Cummings (which he did a live recording of at ’90s Con!). “I’ve been interviewing a lot of really incredibly cool people. I got Joey Fatone, I got Rob Paulsen on there. I got Maurice LaMarche. It’s a pleasure. And it’s the people that are kind of movers and shakers, and they’re influencers in their own right. And to get to hang out with them and pick their brains and listen about their careers. It’s very insightful… We have a pretty good time doing it, and it translates.” I told Cummings that one of my favorite works of his is Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, and he shared that one of his favorite parts of the job is singing.
Saturday was sold out before the convention started and was ultimately the fullest day of activities. Some attendees had purchased tickets to a concert with Nick Carter afterwards. ’90s Con wrapped up on Sunday with five more celebrity panel discussions. Halloweentown fans heard from Brown and Kountz, and Saved by the Bell devotees listened to Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkeley, and Mario Lopez. Boy-banders Joey Fatone, AJ McLean, and Howie Dorough joined forces with Chilli and T-Boz from TLC. The last two celeb panels were Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs of Charmed, and then a strong showing from Beverly Hills, 90210: Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, Gabrielle Carteris, Jason Priestly, Ian Ziering, and Brian Austin Green.
Tampa ’90s Con 2023 was an unforgettable weekend for thousands of fans, who heard Mr. Feeny recite Shakespeare, posed for photos with a few Backstreet Boys, and got the Tanner sisters to sign their Full House DVD boxed sets. I had a blast meeting and interviewing people who can appreciate the fact that I know the words to “Shake Your Whammy Fanny, Funky Song” from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The next ’90s Con will return to Hartford in March 2024.
Thank you for reading Past Foot Forward! We are an outlet covering nostalgic pop culture topics, with a focus on how they impact us today. Author Allison McClain Merrill is a freelance journalist with bylines in Vanity Fair, TODAY, GLAMOUR, SFGATE, Paste Magazine, Food & Wine, Insider, and more.
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