Antenna TV Request: "The Wonder Years"

[stevearino]

Dear Sean Compton,

I have a proposal for Antenna TV: to make a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for Antenna TV to become the exclusive Digital OTA home of the hit 1988-1993 Family Drama "The Wonder Years," a loving showcase of all 115 half-hour episodes of this Modern TV Classic 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network (including ALL 100% Original Music as heard on the show, especially those omitted from the DVDs and/or Hulu and Disney Plus Streams such as Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help from My Friends," which on Hulu and Disney Plus is replaced by a version sung by a Soundalike Singer in each episode, "Love Them from Romeo and Juliet" as heard on the episode "The Phone Call," "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors and "Here Comes the Sun" by Richie Havens as heard on "Heart of Darkness," "Tammy" by Liberace as heard on "Little Debbie," and "Brothers" by Enrico Morricone as heard towards the end of the Hour-Long Series Finale among other songs omitted from the Complete Series DVDs that shall be restored lovingly for Antenna TV airings of "The Wonder Years," along with Doris Day's "Que Se Ra Se Ra" as heard on "Tree House," "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat and Tears as heard on "Summer Song," "Variations on a Theme" as heard on "Whose Woods are These," "Long May You Run" by Neil Young as heard on "Family Car," "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat & Tears as heard on "Kevin Delivers" and "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green as heard on "Alice in Autoland" among other songs that shall be lovingly Restored for Antenna TV airings of "The Wonder Years" that were omitted from DVDs).

Created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black, "The Wonder Years" was a hit '80s Family Drama originally airing on ABC for 5 seasons from January 31, 1988 - May 12, 1993, with the 1988 Pilot originally telecast after the 1988 Super Bowl before beginning its regular run on March 15, 1988 with an encore Presentation of the Pilot Episode, airing Tuesday nights at 8 P.M. ET after "Who's the Boss?"; the show (originally conceived as a Feature Film before it was re-conceived as a TV series) starred Daniel Stern as Kevin Arnold, a 30-year-old Man recalling his youth--his "Wonder Years" so to speak--from 1968-1973, when he was ages 12-17 growing up in Culver City, Iowa.

For the role of the younger version of Kevin, 12-year-old Fred Savage was cast without ever auditioning for the role, after previously appearing in such films as "The Boy Who Could Fly," "The Princess Bride" and "Vice Versa." Like most young boys his age, Kevin grew up living with his parents in Culver City, Iowa (as revealed in Season 4), among them dad Jack (Dan Lauria), a former Korean War vet who worked at the fictional NorCom as an Executive there; mom Norma (Alley Mills), a typical '60s Housewife; 16-year-old sister Karen (Olivia d'Abo, who in recent years I was surprised to learn was born/bred British but adopted a neutral American accent for "The Wonder Years"), a cultural Hippie who later married live-in Boyfriend Michael (future TV "Friend" David Schwimmer) in 1972; and 15-year-old brother Wayne (Jason Hervey), who during Seasons 1 and 4 was also Kevin's schoolmate, 2 grades ahead.

Kevin's best friends growing up were Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano), who was allergic to just about everything; and hoped-for girlfriend Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), whom Kevin DID NOT end up with at series' end.

In 1989, towards the end of the first season, Neal Marlens & Carol Black, who are husband and wife, left the show due to Black's Pregnancy and were succeeded as showrunners for the rest of its run by Bob Brush; other friends and acquaintances of the Principal characters also appeared regularly, including Kevin's Middle School Principal, Mr. DiPerna (Raye Birk), stern but meant well; Coach Ed Cutlip (Robert Picardo), the Gym Coach who never married and one Christmas did Mall Duty as Santa Claus; and Becky Slater (Crystal McKellar, Danica's real-life Kid Sister), Kevin's romantic Nemesis.

Besides playing the present-day, grown-up Kevin Arnold, Daniel Stern also directed 10 episodes of "The Wonder Years" during its first 4 seasons--among them "Pottery Will Get You Nowhere," "Brightwing," my personal favorite among those Daniel directed, "Mom Wars," and his final directed-episode, "Triangle"--when he wasn't making movies during this time such as "Home Alone" (where he played Marv the attempted Burglar), "My Blue Heaven" (alongside Steve Martin and Rick Moranis), and "City Slickers" to name some.

If MY name were Daniel Stern, I'd have, outside the 10 self-directed "Wonder Years" episodes, recorded most of my "Wonder Years" dialogue on set trailers during breaks from filming my movie scenes in various films such as the aforementioned ones "Home Alone," "City Slickers" and "My Blue Heaven," using headphones to record my off-camera Kevin Arnold narration tracks.

Of course, I'm NOT Daniel Stern, nor can I speak for him or whether he actually did so or not behind the scenes.

In 1993, after 5 seasons, ABC, due to combined production costs and declining ratings, officially cancelled "The Wonder Years," with the Hour-Long Series Finale telecast on May 12, 1993; reruns continued airing in Syndication until 1997, after which it aired on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick at Nite lineup from October 13, 1997 - February 2, 2001, on TNN from February 2001 - October 2001, and on ABC Family (now officially FreeForm) from 2001-2005.

Presently, domestic distribution rights for "The Wonder Years" are split between Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (which owns rerun syndication rights to the series as of 1997) and The Walt Disney Company via 20th Television (which owns streaming rights to the series as of 2019).

Tentatively, Sean, Antenna TV shall add "The Wonder Years" to its regular lineup on Monday, July 1, 2024 with the show airing Weekday afternoons at 4 P.M. ET / PT, replacing weekday airings of "Benson."

Sincerely,
Steve Arino