The Wonder Years

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Image:Wonder Years.jpg The Wonder Years was a television dramedy created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1993.

The Wonder Years tackled the social issues and historic events of the 1960s and early 1970s through the eyes of main character Kevin Arnold, who also deals with teenage social issues (mainly with his best friend Paul, and his top love interest, Winnie Cooper), family trouble and other issues. While the stories unfold, the story is narrated by an older, wiser Kevin (voiced by Daniel Stern) describing what is happening and what he has learned from his experiences. This popular technique was later reproduced in the sitcoms How I Met Your Mother, State of Grace and Oliver Beene.

The show's theme tune was Joe Cocker's cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends". This song was featured among others on the soundtrack for the program.

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Major characters

  • Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) - An average white American teenager attending junior high (and later high school) growing up in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
  • Gwendolyne "Winnie" Cooper (Danica McKellar) - Kevin's main love interest. She lives on the same block as Kevin. Their first kiss and her older brother's death in Vietnam play an important part of the pilot episode. In one episode her parents decide to get divorced out of their grief over the death of their son.
  • Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) - Kevin's lifelong best friend. He is an extremely intelligent and an excellent student. In the final episode it is revealed that he went to Harvard for college. He is allergic to everything.
  • Jack Arnold (Dan Lauria) - Kevin's father, a Korean War veteran. Originally, he worked at NORCOM, a generic large corporation, in a middle management position he hated. Later, he started his own business building and selling handcrafted furniture.
  • Norma Arnold (Alley Mills) - Kevin's stay-at-home mother. She met Jack as a college freshman. When he graduated, she moved across the country with him and didn't finish college.
  • Karen Arnold (Olivia d'Abo) - Kevin's older hippie sister. She eventually gets married and moves to Alaska. Her only appearance in the last season is in the last episode.
  • Wayne Arnold (Jason Hervey) - Kevin's older brother, who enjoys physically tormenting Kevin and Paul. He takes over the furniture business when Jack Arnold dies, during the epilogue of the future in the last episode.
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Other characters

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Final episode

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Reflecting on how everyone eventually grows up and how childhood comes to an end, Kevin and Winnie have one last passionate day together before going their separate ways once and for all. Winnie goes to Europe to study art, while Kevin stays in the States, gets married, and has a son. The two write to each other for eight years. Kevin's father dies in two years (the cause of death is not mentioned, but many fans infer a heart attack based on his lifestyle and personality), and his brother takes over the family business. The fates of many supporting characters are resolved, and the narrator (adult Kevin) tells us: "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 other 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."

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Trivia

  • According to one popular urban legend, Josh Saviano (Paul Pfeiffer) would become Marilyn Manson.
  • The series was known for frequently exploring situations of adolescent awkwardness and eliciting feelings of embarrassment from sympathetic viewers. This prompted some to adopt the phrase "Wonder Years moment" as a label for a similar circumstance occurring either for a televsion viewer or for a third party engaged in a social situation in which another has committed a faux pas.
  • International titles for Wonder Years
    • Germany - Wunderbare Jahre
    • France - Les Années coup de cœur
    • Finland- Kesä 68
    • Sweden - En härlig tid
    • Denmark - Mine glade tressere
    • Brazil - Anos Incríveis
    • Latin - America - Los Años Maravillosos
    • Spain - Aquellos Maravillosos Años
    • South Korea - 케빈은 열두살, which translates into "Kevin is 12 years old." (The title of the series remains the same even though the character grows older each season.)
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External links

de:Wunderbare Jahre fr:Les Années coup de cœur nl:The Wonder Years pt:Anos Incríveis sv:En härlig tid

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