Shortly before The Wonder Years began its fourth season, the series received Emmy Awards, for best writing and best directing. This was certainly an auspicious way to begin a new year, and served to express the appreciation of the Television Academy for the series' high level of quality.
Part of the show's success, undoubtedly has a lot to do with the fact that it has continued to adapt to the changes in its cast of characters.
"Kevin's gotten older," explains Todd Langen, who left the show after its third season, "and one of the things we dealt with last season is that you couldn't 'get away' with kid things anymore, and you couldn't depend on Kevin's cute little smile to pull you out of situations. It's become a little bit more of a challenge to address his adolescence basically, and not rely too much on the cuteness of the situation. I think they could probably last right through Kevin's high school graduation."
"The interesting thing about this show is that as the actors continue to grow up, there's always something new that's happening," elaborates Mark Perry. "I believe this show could go on for a while, just because it's a reflection of life. I honestly don't know. We could follow Kevin through college and eventually make him a grandfather, though we'd have to break a couple of records to achieve that. Neal and Carol have joked that when he hit the disco era, the show's over. But, by 1996, there may be a certain charm in disco."
Bob Brush, the guiding force of the series, contemplates the fourth season, noting, "Wait until you see the kids this year. They're adolescents and they're growing like crazy. Josh Saviano has gone from a little squeaky voiced nerdy kid, to a guy who has grown a foot in the last year. Those are the real-life things that you play. We're dealing with that in the show. One of the things that's going to happen this year is that Paul Pfeiffer is going to begin to outgrow his nerd image, because that's just the way it is. That of course will put more pressure on the Kevin/Paul relationship, to accept each other as they're growing, to keep the relationship going and accepting change. Certainly accepting change is a large part of the show.
"The way our show works," he continues, "is that we're usually not written very far ahead, so it comes as a surprise to us. One of the things we're tracking is that Kevin and Winnie are going to try and keep together a long distance relationship, which, when you're 14, is no small task. There is going to be a threat to that relationship in Kevin's school-a gal who is definitely a temptation. There is only one Winnie, and she is the wonder years. Winnie is everything good, sweet, true, wonderful, pure and everything about love at 14.
"We'll see an exploration of the parents and more of the relationship between Kevin and his father, because dads are so important to boys at that age. Kevin Arnold's obviously a very smart kid, because he's so reflective, although part of that is the narrator. But his is a combination, because he's a kid who is trying to find himself in the best ways possible, and he needs help in that. I think he looks to his dad a lot for that kind of guidance. One of the things about the Arnold family, and one of the reasons they're interesting, is that they're a family which, at any moment, can approach nonfunctionality. We've done a lot of episodes where the family has become almost non-functional, and then always finds a strategy to work their way out of the crisis. Certainly Jack Arnold is a key to that. The same with Norma. What's nice about the show is it's not anchored. Not only are the kids growing, but the times are changing. Unfortunately one of the little problems we have is that the times get a bit less interesting once we approach the seventies. But I'm sure the show will go on. I hope it goes on with the same vitality over the years, and I think that will come from being sure that this show shifts and changes in a way that's true to the characters. There is never a lack of stories to do. Our problem is never a lack of stories, but, rather, if we have stories that we can do the right way. The geography of the young teenager is so chock full of guideposts, stopovers and things to look at, that I don't see it ever becoming a problem keeping the stories moving."
Overall, Bob Brush sees his experience on The Wonder Years as being ... well, wonderful.
"But you have to remember the caveat that episodic television is a war," he concludes, "and you're dealing with untenable schedules. You do the best you can under tremendous schedule pressures. Doing a show a week is a tremendous challenge, and I think it's part of what makes it good sometimes, because you can't weep over the ones you feel you missed on, because you're always on to the next one. In retrospect, five years from now, I think it will have turned out to be a truly wonderful experience. Right now what it is is day-to-day, fighting the battle of getting the next episode done. It's hard work, and it's hard because we care so much about Kevin Arnold and what's going on. When you care about something and you want it to be as perfect as you can make it, you're always dealing in a dicey area. You're always faced with one question: how are we going to do the next one?"
Judging by its past track record, the cast and crew of The Wonder Years will continue to do "the next one" with class, style and an eye towards the human condition.
|
Table of Contents | |
|
COPYRIGHT © 1991 BY EDWARD GROSS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE USED OR REPRODUCED IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER WITHOUT
THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. ANY PERSON WHO DOES ANY UNAUTHORIZED
ACT IN RELATION TO THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE LIABLE TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AND
CIVIL CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES.