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Wonder Years, The

"I didn't realise it at the time..."“I DIDN’T realise it at the time, but it was at that moment my relationship with dad changed…utterly.” Hugely addictive now-and-then coming-of-age soft-focused nostalgia, neatly wrapped up into half hour Cocker-capped capsules spun from the mind of a toothy FRED SAVAGE and the voiceover of DANIEL STERN. Over a hundred or so episodes our hero Kevin Arnold (“And then there was me – the klutz!”) grows from a big-cheeked scamp to a world-weary, though not always world-wise, high school student along with best mate Paul Pfeiffer (JOSH SAVIANO) and “best girl” Winnie Cooper (DANICA MCKELLAR), along the way doing just about everything Americans grown-ups of the late 80s thought American kids did in the late 60s/early 70s (go camping, get spots, fall out with dad, make up with dad, join the school choir, get a job delivering pizza, go to a “make out party”, wave a brother off to war, see a sister hook up with Ross off Friends, and fall in and out of love with the girl next door a million times). Sure, it was shamelessly saccharine at times (“The thing is, we didn’t have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves…for growing up”) but for every bludgeoning bon mot there were the escapades of dopey older brother Wayne (“Hamster patrol!”), no-nonsense dad Jack, doe-eyed mum, sorry mom, Norma, and the butt of a thousand sight gags, Coach Ed Cutlip.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Martin M

    December 17, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    ….not co-starring a young Marilyn Manson….

  2. Droogie

    October 14, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Used to enjoy watching this lots as a teen, especially for the fab soundtrack and the lovely Olivia D’abo as Kevin’s older sexy hippy sister Karen. I remember my first girlfriend splitting up with me around the same time and being absolutely heartbroken, so turned on The Wonder Years for some light comedic distraction. Unfortunately it was a dramatic episode where Winnie breaks up with Kevin for good during a school trip. To say I was a blubbery mess by the end is an understatement.

  3. Andrew Barton

    October 14, 2021 at 12:21 pm

    Alley Mills, who played Fred Savage’s mother on The Wonder Years, went on to star on The Bold and The Beautiful, one of the 4 remaining soaps on the air now.

    Her on-screen husband Dan Lauria later appeared in the short lived drama Amazing Grace alongside the late Patty Duke and Gavin Harrison, the latter mainly known for roles in A Country Practice and Home and Away.

  4. Richardpd

    November 2, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    I remember this was on Sunday evenings on Channel 4 for years.

  5. Droogie

    November 2, 2022 at 10:22 pm

    One of the strengths of this show was its great 60’s soundtrack. The reason it’s wasn’t repeated or on DVD for decades was the nightmare of clearing the copyright on every track. Loved hearing cool bands who were bigger in the USA than the Uk being played, like The Association.

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