Holy hell, it’s really happening.  ABC’s 1990s sitcom Boy Meets World has long been a fan-favorite series, and the show’s popularity hasn’t seemed to wane much in the last 12 years it’s been off the air.  As such, the news that Disney Channel was developing a sequel series titled Girl Meets World was met with much enthusiasm.  The potential series would focus on the 13-year-old daughter of soul mates Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel), Riley, but much it was unclear whether Savage and Fishel would be willing to return to the characters.  Fans can rest easy now, though, as word comes that the actors are set to reprise their roles in Girl Meets World.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: Fishel posted a letter to fans about the upcoming series. Check it out after the jump.]Per TV Line, Savage and Fishel have officially signed on to star in the pilot for Girl Meets World.  The potential series is still in the early stages of development, but with Savage, Fishel, and Boy Meets World creator/executive producer Michael Jacobs onboard I can’t help but be over the moon about this news.  Early word is that the adult Cory is now a history teacher at his daughter’s school (aka the new Feeny), and The Matthews also have a 14-year-old son named Elliot.  Casting is underway for the title role of Riley as well as her best friend, a “dark and edgy” girl named Maya (Shawn 2.0?).  It's worth noting that the order right now is only for a pilot, so Disney Channel could ultimately decide not to move forward with the full series after they screen the pilot.  That said, there's a crazy amount of fan interest so they'd be stupid not to at least order a few season one episodes to see how the ratings fare.It’s definitely encouraging that Savage and Fishel are on board, and I sincerely hope this enthusiasm from those involved with the original show means we’ll see a return from other favorites like Eric (Will Friedle) and Shawn (Rider Strong).  It’s just not Boy Meets World without Plays With Squirrels.Update: Here is the entirety of Fishel's letter to fans via her Tumblr account:

First of all, let me say that you, the fans of Boy Meets World, have been awesome.  That word is often used incorrectly by people, including myself, on a daily basis but you have truly been awe inspiring.  You, yes, even YOU, are the reason that Girl Meets World WILL BE MADE.

I do not know how many BMW cast members will be returning for GMW, or how often they may appear if and/or when they do appear.  I am going to do my best to not speak for others with this open post.    But because I have known Michael Jacobs, Ben Savage, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, and Bill Daniels for 19 years, I know we share many of the same feelings regarding the 7 wonderful years we spent making BMW. Those years were among the most warm, hilarious, insightful, educational years of my life and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.  Another thing I wouldn’t trade for anything is the integrity and the heart with which BMW was made.  I promise with the entirety of my heart that we will make GMW with the same honesty, innocence, and intelligence that you learned to expect from BMW.

I say this because making the decision to do the show involved more conversations than you can possible imagine.  These conversations were with the same people I mentioned above because they were all instrumental in creating and maintaining the heart of BMW.  The first comment out of every person’s mouth was, “Let’s only do it if we think we can create something as special as we did with BMW.”  When the news leaked that GMW was in the making, literally days after I first heard about the project myself, Michael Jacobs and I had a conversation and we talked about how we were both so blown away by the reactions from all of you.  We felt honored. We felt nostalgic. We felt touched by the excitement in your comments, tweets, Tumblr, and Facebook posts.  But most of all, we felt inspired.  We felt inspired to bring these characters back to life and to tell you more of their stories. Michael said to me, “Danielle, when I read what people say BMW meant to them it makes me so very proud of all of us.  I think it is important for us, for as long as we are fortunate enough to have this opportunity to do GMW, that we all look each other in the eyes every so often and make sure we know we have something of value to offer the audience.”  I think we have that with GMW.

I say that so that I can say this: GMW is a new show.  It isn’t BMW brought back to life but in current day.  It will have familiar faces, familiar themes, and familiar messages.  It will also have new faces, new themes, and new messages. BMW never spoke down to the audience and we are going to do our best to never do that with GMW.  But please keep in mind that this there will be episode 1, of season 1, of a brand new show.  We started at the same place with BMW but we evolved and we evolved quickly.  For those of you who knew and loved BMW, please allow this show to evolve as well.  Stick with us. Give us a chance.

In the meantime, a sincere thank you to every one of you for all of your tweets (I read them all, every day. It killed me not to be able to talk about it!), even those of you who asked us not to do it. There were only a few of you but I know why you don’t want GMW to happen and I appreciate that BMW meant enough to you that you don’t want to see its legacy tarnished. I can assure you, we don’t want that either. Your love, dedication, and appreciation means more to us than you could ever know and it will be the driving force behind our passion to make the best show we can possibly make. Thank you for giving us the chance to do it again.

Love,

Danielle