Syndication Files 11.25.09: The Wonder Years

Posted by Porfirio Diaz on 11.25.2009

What better way to celebrate family unity during the Thanksgiving holidays than by remembering the television classic, The Wonder Years. Experience the tale of young Kevin Arnold dealing with social issues in the 1960s, complex relationships, and the translation from adolescent to adulthood. Let me be your unseen narrator guy for this special edition of the Syndication Files.

Welcome to the historic 20th edition of the Syndication Files! Can you believe that? I have twenty columns of the Syndication Files kept within the golden white chambers of 411mania, not to mention a couple other columns outside of the Movie/TV zone. Wow, that's like something special and stuff.

You know something? All of my columns have been superb! I don't think I have ever written one bad column. Not one. You may say that a couple ("all" if you're heartless) of them really sucked, especially that G.I. Joe cartoon column. That was terrible terribly great! I realize that everybody has an off-week at one point or another, but not me. That column was too perfect. Plus I make fanboys angry. I bet it's most likely due to their jealously of reading an poor unsatisfactory retching outstanding piece of cartoon nostalgic penmanship.

If my hybrid-like forming smug hasn't chased you away from this webpage, then please continue and enjoy one of the greatest pieces of work ever displayed on television.

If you're not here by the time of this reading, then screw you. What do you care? You'll be gone by then (but please come back anytime).


Syndication Files #

The Wonder Years


Theme opening: "With a Little Help from My Friends" by Joe Cocker

The Wonder Years has been on a lot of viewer's "greatest television shows of all time" list and with good reason. It's a show that combines the observation of life through the eyes of a young boy during a major social change in the United States with the unique spirit of a family oriented comedy drama.

The show was created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens, who were also responsible for another family hit show, Growing Pains. After working on that show, the husband and wife producers wanted to create a program about the life of a young boy living during the late 1960s. A young Fred Savage was riding high from his national exposing performance on The Princess Bride and was cast to play that young boy. The creators also included an unseen narrator played by Daniel Stern as the adult Kevin Arnold. After rounding out the story, setting, and characters, The Wonder Years was ready for liftoff. The pilot episode aired on January 31, 1988 on ABC.

It's important to consider that the show debuted right after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII (Redskins def. Broncos in a 42-10 snoozefest). Having a new show debut right after the Super Bowl is always a good plan, as football fans and normal viewers would normally stick around to see what's on after the Big Game. Just look at Family Guy. Millions of football fans stayed to watch the pilot episode and helped The Wonder Year off with a great development in viewership.

The premise takes us through the life of 12-year old Kevin Arnold during the conflict of the Vietnam War, the mainstream growing hippie revolution, and the newly elected presidential Richard Nixon era. The show would touch on these subjects but the focus stays mostly on Kevin's teenage growing pains and conquests. He's only experiencing what other boys his age go through: family tribulations, friendship, and the occasional homework hardships. Not to mention his relationship statue with sometimes girlfriend, sometimes "just friends" Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), young idol for many teenage viewers.


Sharing their first kiss

This scene from the pilot episode is established by having the viewer find out that Winnie's older brother was killed in action in Vietnam. Of course Winnie is bummed out about it. Kevin follows after her through Harpers Woods, where the two have a tender moment. In a move filled with emotion, the two end up sharing their first kiss. As the show progresses, the young lovebirds can't quite figure out the concept of love and relationships. After all, they're only in the early teen years. The two can't decide which path they want to go on together, so the series would proclaim them in an undeclared relationship. You know that the two were meant to be together but because of their stubborn childlike behavior, it doesn't always go that way. Kevin is just too cool to be tied down to just one girl.


Every children's nightmare

At least Kevin has his best friend, Paul Pfeiffer (Marilyn Manson Josh Saviano), by his side. Paul is a very intelligent student with a flaw in that he's as interesting as a screen door. He's one of those bookworms that like to play it safe, never taking a chance of what life has to offer. Kevin repeatedly gets irked by this development and just has to lash out at him for being dull and uninteresting (and possibly for being Jewish). Friends like to rip on each other all the time but this is usually a one-sided fight. Paul is more intelligence than Kevin but Kevin uses his mean spirited temperament to knock Paul down a peg.


Ouch

And that is why Kevin Arnold is a jerk. He's got a good heart but he torments Paul with hurtful words (that's one of the more feminist sounding sentences from me) and he screws up whatever chance he has to get together with Winnie (because he's too pimp). Kevin is portrayed as a loser and as someone that loses any common sense through crucial moments. The thought of that just brings out an ugly side of his youth. I guess boys will be boys.

Maybe he gets this attitude from home. You have Kevin's all too-loving homemaker mother Norma (Alley Mills), tough badass father Jack (Dan Lauria), his pain-in-the-ass brother Wayne (Jason Hervey), and his hippie sister Karen (Olivia d'Abo). They are a kooky bunch, I can tell you that much, but they're a typical normal family trying to fight thought troubled times. Out of all the ffamily members, I liked Jack the best. While I do like Wayne's tormenting attitude towards Kevin (or "butthead") in an "I kick you in the nuts" sort of way, its papa bear that doesn't take no guff from no one (Guff? I mean sh---*pummeled*). After all, he's a middle-managed businessman. Businessman don't want crap from others. If either of his children starts to slip, he will lash out at them with such force that they will be scared-straight for the rest of their lives!

He's also a Korean War veteran that hate's the ideologist changes that is happening around the country that he fought for. He has that grumpy old man "hey you kids, get off my lawn" attitude, only the kids are the mainstream 1960s philosophies of the country and the lawn is his own 1950s conservative or traditional ideals (deep, huh?). The fact that his daughter is an Earth-loving tree hugging hippie does him no favors.

Norma is there to provide family unity and embarrass Kevin in every way possible.


Wait wait wait. THIS is every children's nightmare

There's a realistic nature of how these actors portray their on-screen counterparts, which plays into the success of the show. Here is a normal boy with a normal family and a normal life being projected onto the television screen. I'm sure at one time or another we had to face problems that Kevin had to deal with as a teenager: asking girls out, failing tests, and having crushes on hot teachers just to name a few. Everyone here faces the same political and social problems that we do. Different generation, different environment, same problems.

The show is considered a comedy but the show doesn't play it as a traditional comedy. There are no laugh tracks or studio audiences to take away the cherished feelings of the show. The emotions feel honest and the actors do a great job of displaying those emotions during important situations. Remember that episode where the family got a new car or when they bought their first color television? How about when Kevin and Winnie finally did become a real couple? There are never any exaggerated feelings nor feelings that felt hollow. When the family received that color television on Christmas, every other problem in their lives felt insignificant for that one moment. Having a color television was a big deal back then. Just picture "N64 kid" as a family of five and turn it down 40%. Excited but not excited enough to put on the internet where you'll be forever known as an Internet meme. It's more like a "Kodak moment" excitement.

Then there's the unseen narrator guy, noted for providing the voice of adult Kevin Arnold throughout the series. He helpfully plays out the scene for the audience, as well as telling them what his on-screen self is thinking. Usually the line of thinking would match the viewer's own conclusions about Kevin's actions and decisions. When you think about it, this show is really a look back at an adult's childhood memories with judicious commentary. The unseen narrator uses this method to look back at the situations he faced and provide the audience with a wiser reflection to his younger years. He's also known to throw around a snarky comment or two at his express. There are some things adult Kevin would definitively want to re-do but instead he makes it feel more like a lesson plan of life.

"Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up." – Adult Kevin


Sharing their last kiss

People loved The Wonder Years and the momentum rode on for six seasons before everyone realized that the cute little dumplings had to grow up to young adults. You could already see the hormonal changes in the characters at the start of Season Five. Despite the continued excellence of the story, the interest was quickly draining. The producers and cast wanted to end the show on their own terms, so the story was set in place to end the series with one of the most surprisingly finales of all time.


Shocking is more like it

Don't look at it as an "eff you" moment. The finale teaches us that we never know what to expect in life. The path we take doesn't always lead us towards the path we want. Take it as another lesson in life. The last few minutes talks about the futures of all the characters, which is a very touching and gives the audience a sense of closure. The final episode aired on May 12, 1993.

"Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place...a town...a house like a lot of houses...a yard like a lot of other yards...on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is...after all these years...I still look back...with wonder." – Adult Kevin

That pretty much sums it up.

The show was a monstrous hit on television. Despite having a short first season (6 episodes), the show still managed to win an Emmy for "Best Comedy Series" in 1988. The show would go on to win other awards, including a Golden Globe for "Best TV-Series – Comedy/Musical" (1989) and a Peabody award (1990). Even Fred Savage, at age 13, was nominated for "Outstanding Lead Actor for a Comedy Series", becoming the youngest actor ever nominated for a major award. Savage also used The Wonder Years as a platform to star in blockbuster movie classics…namely The Wizard but that's another story.

So that's the end of the The Wonder Years. It's a great show, one of the best of all time. I don't know if it belongs of my "Top 10" list but it's all a matter of perspective. The show is not currently being syndicated at this time nor being released in official DVD box sets due to the cost of securing the music rights. That sucks but hopefully in a matter of time there will be ways to watch this great show.

On that note, I'll end with this hilarious observational video.


The Silent Years

That is so true.


Commercial Break


Stand in line gentlemen

Adam Samberg back with another great digital short called Two Worlds Collide.

Featuring "Reba McEntire". Hot.


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Syndication Files Upcoming Show Listing

10/28/09 - Are You Afraid of the Dark?

11/4/09 – Super Mario Bros

11/11/09 - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

11/18/09 - Roseanne

11/25/09 – The Wonder Years

12/2/09 – In the Heat of the Night

12/9/09 – New York Undercover

12/16/09 – Cancellation Compilation #1

In the Heat of the Night was actually a request from one of my many ten fans. Whoa, that strike feature is working overtime today.


Ending Credits

Wait…how was this column historic again?

America, how could you let The Twilight Saga: New Moon become the new Titanic? This is a bigger black mark to this country of ours than the failing economy.

This is quite possibly the greatest product ever (hint: look at the pictures and customer reviews). Make sure you buy one now! Also make sure you are nowhere driving near me at anytime.

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday everyone!

And with that, I'm out of time. Out like teenage girls with free time and money going out to see New Moon for the 5th time.