Alley Mills Says Show Was Cancelled Over ‘Ridiculous’ Harassment Lawsuit Against Fred

[TMC]

...Savage and Jason Hervey

https://www.thewrap.com/wonder-years/

“The Wonder Years” actress Alley Mills is opening up about the reason the hit ABC period show was canceled after six seasons — and she blames a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fred Savage that she called “ridiculous.”

“When we shot the series finale … nobody knew whether or not ‘The Wonder Years’ was going to be renewed,” Mills, who played Norma Arnold, said in a recent interview with Yahoo (watch it below). “And that’s because of a completely ridiculous sexual harassment suit that was going on against Fred Savage — who is, like, the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth.”

The lawsuit Mills is referencing was filed in 1993 — the final year “The Wonder Years” was on air — by costume designer Monique Long, who was 31 years old at the time. It alleged then-16-year-old Savage and his co-star Jason Hervey, who was 20-years-old at the time, verbally and physically harassed her.

Long said in the lawsuit that the actors harrassed her to the point of being unable to do her job, and it resulted in her firing.

At the time, ABC and the actors denied the accusations. A rep from ABC declined comment when TheWrap reached out on Friday. Savage and Hervey did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and an email request to Long was not immediately answered.

In her Yahoo interview, Mills expressed frustration because the cast was asked not to speak on the matter: “We had a gag order on us, and I wanted to scream on television, ‘This is ridiculous!'”

“So I just thought [the lawsuit] was a big joke and it was going to blow over,” Mills said, pointing to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

“It’s a little bit like what’s happening now — some innocent people can get caught up in this stuff; it’s very tricky,” she said. “It was so not true. It was my dresser, and I don’t care if she’s listening — I probably shouldn’t be telling this, but I don’t care because it was so long ago and it’s gotta be over now.”

The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, which Mills said she found “incorrigible.”

“I just thought this was a joke. You know, they bought her off, which really made me mad,” she said. “That was incorrigible that the network did that; they should never have paid her off. They wanted to avoid a scandal or something, but it made them look guilty. You know, you don’t pay someone off when there was no crime, you just fire the girl.”

[TMC]

Let's see, Fred Savage:

- Was accused of sexual harassment

- Played an abuser/killer in No One Would Tell

- Played a sexual abuser on Boy Meets World

- Played a serial rapist on SVU

Interesting. In fairness, there is a thing to play against type when you want to be taken seriously as an actor; not necessarily because that is the kind of person you are.

The Wonder Years mom blames “completely ridiculous sexual harassment suit” against Fred Savage for cancellation

January 31 marks the 30th anniversary of The Wonder Years’ premiere after the 1988 Super Bowl, and Alley Mills, who played Norma Arnold, is speaking out about the lawsuit that a costume designer filed alleging sexual harassment by Savage and co-star Jason Hervey. She says The Wonder Years would’ve lasted beyond Season 6 had it not been for the lawsuit, which was settled out of court. Mills says Savage “is, like, the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth,” adding that the cast and crew didn’t know their show would be canceled when they filmed the series finale in 1993. Mills says she thought the lawsuit “was a big joke and it was going to blow over. It’s a little bit like what’s happening now — some innocent people can get caught up in this stuff; it’s very tricky.”

[jets4life]

Surprised there has not been much talk about this. Back in 1993, it was news that an ex-worker on the show was accusing Savage and Harvey of sexual harassment. They say time vindicates people, and the fact that Savage (and to my knowlege), Harvey have never been accused of anything like this in over 25 years, leads me to believe this was the work of a disgruntled former employee.

Ironically, the same thing was happening to Mario Lopez of Saved By The Bell at the same time period. Both networks financially settled with the accusers.

[Schmoopie]

Wow that's shocking. I didn't even know that had happened (the accusations I mean). Interesting.

[Confidenceman28]

Yeah this happened back in 1992 eaely 1993 this was the reason the show was cancelled in 1993 the show was suppoed to go on another season or 2 so we xan see kevin go to college


https://youtu.be/evzGr5GYJfQ

[TMC]

Originally Posted by jets4life

Surprised there has not been much talk about this. Back in 1993, it was news that an ex-worker on the show was accusing Savage and Harvey of sexual harassment. They say time vindicates people, and the fact that Savage (and to my knowlege), Harvey have never been accused of anything like this in over 25 years, leads me to believe this was the work of a disgruntled former employee.

Ironically, the same thing was happening to Mario Lopez of Saved By The Bell at the same time period. Both networks financially settled with the accusers.

I'm guessing that it wasn't talked about too much because it came long before social media was a thing. Thus, it was much easier for networks to keep the transgressions of their stars under the lid. So all that we really have is a "he said/she said" scenario.

And not that this is an excuse, but people would probably like to chalk it up as a case of Fred and Jason being young and immature. It would be a lot different if they were "adults" and should've known better.

I'm actually more surprised that only now, are people really taking the charges that Fred Savage's misbehavior on set seriously. He had previously gotten in trouble when he was working on this show called The Grinder.

[James]

ABC would have been wise to treat that dumb costume designer like it did Paula Jones!

[jets4life]

Wow.

It turns out that the costume designer (Monique Long), was telling the truth all along. Savage was recently fired from the Wonder Years reboot for multiple instances of misconduct. It's a shame, really. Considering he got away with it at 16, and until recently, there was no evidence of him doing anything similar in the past 30 years, led me to believe it was just a disgruntled ex-employee.

It's just so disappointing to learn that Savage has probably been getting away with this behavior for 3 decades or longer. As for Jason Hervey, the fact that he worked in the pro wrestling industry for a substantial percentage of his adult life at some capacity, led me to think he was more likely to harass women in general, since sexual harassment of women is ingrained in the industry at such an extent.

[jets4life]

Originally Posted by James

ABC would have been wise to treat that dumb costume designer like it did Paula Jones!

The costume designer has been doing work in the industry for four decades, and it appears by looking at her resume, that she quickly found work on other hit TV shows, so that throws ABC's version of her being "disgruntled and lazy" into question, as she has always worked on major sets in Hollywood.

I was reading about the case today, and Monique Long recently commented that she felt vindicated, and other victims were treated the same way- were dismissed, or had their reputation threatened or tarnished. In 2018, Fred Savage was accused of harassment by crew members of "The Grinder" and had got away with it, only to be fired last month from The Wonder Years reboot.

It's also interesting about what Savage had said about the incident in a prepared statement:

"I have witnessed tremendous courage over these past few months, watching brave women who have come forward publicly fighting through the shame and stigma of harassment. I’ve seen first-hand the growing support in this movement that has always felt so lacking. As someone who has always tried to live honorably and with integrity, it never dawned on me that my name could be on the other side.

I was made aware that a woman working in the costume department of a show I was on almost three years ago has claimed that I treated her harshly on set simply because she was a woman. These accusations are completely without merit and absolutely untrue. Fox conducted an extensive internal investigation into her claims, a process in which I fully participated. After concluding a thorough investigation, Fox determined that there was absolutely no evidence to support these accusations. None of her claims could be substantiated because they did not happen.

I have been working in the entertainment industry my whole life and have always endeavored to treat everyone on any set I work on respectfully and professionally. While none of the accusations being leveled at me are true, I wholeheartedly support all people who feel they are being mistreated come forward and speak to human resources and those in charge. We have witnessed so much bravery from those speaking out recently, but I will just as boldly protect myself and my family from those seeking to tarnish my good name. I cannot let these people in particular denigrate me while harming the message of thousands of women and others who have suffered and continue to suffer."


-----


The first bolded statement is clearly a lie. Savage had already been accused of harassment when he was 16, so when he states it never "dawned on him that he could be on the other side," this is factually incorrect. I also find the second bolded statement interesting since it reflects the statement ABC released in 1993. Both networks seemed to have launched a smear campaign against the victims of the harassment. It makes me wonder just how many victims have had to endure unwanted harassment by Savage in the past 30 years. He has been getting away with this since he he was a child.

[James]

Originally Posted by jets4life

The costume designer has been doing work in the industry for four decades, and it appears by looking at her resume, that she quickly found work on other hit TV shows, so that throws ABC's version of her being "disgruntled and lazy" into question, as she has always worked on major sets in Hollywood.

I was reading about the case today, and Monique Long recently commented that she felt vindicated, and other victims were treated the same way- were dismissed, or had their reputation threatened or tarnished. In 2018, Fred Savage was accused of harassment by crew members of "The Grinder" and had got away with it, only to be fired last month from The Wonder Years reboot.

That's an injustice if I ever saw one! She's still employed while this country is in an economic slump?! She should have been blacklisted 1950s style!

[TMC]

#FredSavage is just like his buddy #DanSchneider ... let's get into it.

[jets4life]

Originally Posted by James

That's an injustice if I ever saw one! She's still employed while this country is in an economic slump?! She should have been blacklisted 1950s style!

It should have been Fred Savage, who has been exposed for being a bully and creep, that should have been blacklisted back in 1993, when the initial allegations came out.

I'm glad his career is over, and we will likely never see him again. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[James]

Originally Posted by jets4life

It should have been Fred Savage, who has been exposed for being a bully and creep, that should have been blacklisted back in 1993, when the initial allegations came out.

I'm glad his career is over, and we will likely never see him again. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Well, Joe Biden is still President despite what happened with Tara Reade and others. The media should have kept silent about Fred Savage and dismissed the allegations from that golddigger Monique Long as Russian disinformation! Then we could have let the show go on until at least the Arnolds experienced the Reagan Administration!

[TMC]

Originally Posted by jets4life

Wow.

It turns out that the costume designer (Monique Long), was telling the truth all along. Savage was recently fired from the Wonder Years reboot for multiple instances of misconduct. It's a shame, really. Considering he got away with it at 16, and until recently, there was no evidence of him doing anything similar in the past 30 years, led me to believe it was just a disgruntled ex-employee.

It's just so disappointing to learn that Savage has probably been getting away with this behavior for 3 decades or longer. As for Jason Hervey, the fact that he worked in the pro wrestling industry for a substantial percentage of his adult life at some capacity, led me to think he was more likely to harass women in general, since sexual harassment of women is ingrained in the industry at such an extent.

In a couple of online interviews from several years ago, actor Luke Edwards said that Fred acted like an extreme prima donna during the filming of The Wizard. A glorified extra who worked on that movie also said that Fred wasn't very nice.

[TMC]

Dan Lauria shares his thoughts on why The Wonder Years was cancelled, the behind-the-scenes scoop, and what would've happened to the characters.

Brooklyn-born Dan Lauria is a renowned actor and beloved TV Dad to many. He is best known for playing the memorable role of Jack Arnold in The Wonder Years, and also Jack Sullivan on Sullivan and Son. Dan is someone who has been immersed in the TV business long enough to have seen Hollywood undergo some massive change, which is something we dive deep into during this episode. He has endless stories about some of the iconic greats, many of which were his friends, co-stars, and even mentors.

Dan hasn’t spent his career merely acting on TV, but also writing, and being fully entrenched in the mounting theater scene. Join us on today’s episode as we talk about his deep-rooted affinity for old movies, his influential time overseas serving his country in the US Marines, his uncensored thoughts on the film industry and how it’s evolved, and how he went from hometown Sports hero, to acting legend.

We chat about his early days in the business working restaurant jobs with Bruce Willis and John Goodman , his extensive list of IMDb credits, and the impact his iconic character, Jack, had on America in the hit TV show, “The Wonder Years.” Dan dives into the details of the show’s untimely ending, and shares what would have happened to each of the characters, had the show continued. He gets into the reasons “The Wonder Years” was so successful, including the use of masterful storytelling, solid writing, and sparing editing. It’s no wonder the show got its own reboot on ABC.

We go all the way back to Dan’s high school days, and talk about what it was like to be a schoolboy at Lindenhurst High School on Long Island, New York, and eventually a college kid at Southern Connecticut State University. We also talk about his enriching experience in adulthood with the Big Brothers & Sisters program, and even his newfound tik-tok dancing skills.What you might not know about Dan is that during his early years, in between theater jobs, he was a substitute teacher and a football and wrestling coach. He’s also been known among his friends to have “double-feature night,” where he plays back-to-back classic movies at his home and invites his friends and fellow cast members to partake.

Dan is not only an impressively talented and well-accomplished actor, but he is a true humanitarian and someone I now call a friend. We hope you enjoy this inspiring episode!