Top 10 The Wonder Years Characters

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Close Calls: Grandpa Arnold, Mr. Collins, Doug Porter, Mr. Diperna, Miss White

10. LINDA SLOAN

Linda Sloan was a character in only one episode of The Wonder Years but she made enough of an impression to land at #10 on my list. She was Kevin's lab partner who had a secret crush on him but he was too blinded by a more conventionally beautiful girl to realize the best person for him was right next to him. Kevin's plan backfired on him and we never saw Linda again, but I really wish we had. Her portrayer, Maia Brewton, had a great energy and chemistry with Fred Savage.

9. BECKY SLATER

Kevin's greatest nemesis - Becky Slater - appeared on and off throughout the first couple seasons of The Wonder Years. Played by Danica McKellar's real life sister, Crystal, Becky was a thorn in Kevin's side as he went from dating her to despising her all while he kept his eyes on Winnie. She was great as the bratty and vindictive ex but she also had a couple really sweet moments especially when Kevin broke her heart. Another "also ran" in Kevin's love life who could have had more screen time.

8. COACH CUTLIP

So many characters were pretty memorable from Kevin's years in junior high and then they disappeared when he went to high school. Perhaps the best example was Coach Cutlip, the difficult gym teacher with "the biggest inferiority complex since Napoleon." Whether he was torturing Kevin and the boys in gym class or dressed as Santa at the mall, he was always good for a couple laughs and, in the latter case, a couple actual poignant moments.

7. KAREN ARNOLD

Karen is the lowest ranked Arnold family member by quite a bit and part of that is because she's absent for large swaths of episode. She does have a couple really strong episodes (most notably when Kevin accompanies her and her hippie friends skipping school and when the Arnold family visits her and Mike and finds out they are living together). But ultimately the series just did not use her enough to really warrant her being any higher than this. I think if the show was made today (the original one that is), she would be a more prominent character.

6. WINNIE COOPER

Kevin's love throughout the series, Winnie Cooper is a tough character to slot. She's so important to the story but at the same time, I don't think Danica McKellar is the strongest actor on the series. So it's almost more the idea of Winnie Cooper (and her memorable theme music) instead of the actual character who belongs on this list. The way Kevin talks about her is relatable to anyone who remembers their first crush and Winnie did have some strong moments. But she's a rare character where the idea and concept is stronger in many ways that the character herself.

5. PAUL PFEIFFER

Paul is another tricky character to place on this list because it's a tale of two eras for Paul. In the first couple years, he is the perfect best friend for Kevin. Nerdy and needy but also more sure of himself in many ways, it's easy to see why he and Kevin are friends but also why they complement each other so well. He also has a ton of funny moments in the first couple seasons. As he got older though, he became much less enjoyable and the two characters didn't really gel like they used to. So #5 seems about right because early seasons Paul would be higher and later seasons Paul would be lower.

4. WAYNE ARNOLD

The older brother from hell, Wayne was the source of so much torture in Kevin's life but he was really a much more complicated character than he seems on the surface. He had some really funny moments when he was just being a pain and that would have been enough to get him somewhere on this list. But he's as high as he is on the list because of the times the show tried to understand where he was coming from and how a lot of his outward bullying was due to insecurity.

3. KEVIN ARNOLD

The protagonist of the show comes in at #3. I know there would be no The Wonder Years without Kevin but sometimes he was just such a frustrating character when he made infuriating decisions. And like all kids on the show, he was less compelling as he got older. But at his best, he was wholly relatable, inherently charming and very sympathetic. Of course it's worth noting that no other character also served as the narrator but Daniel Stern's narration added so much to Fred Savage's performance. The two characters, so to speak, are forever linked and very integral to the show's success.

2. NORMA ARNOLD

Is it a sign I'm getting older that the parents top my list? I don't think so because they really are the two best and most consistent characters on the show. Norma was such a great character because she symbolized what so many housewives were going through in the era the show was set in. We saw her discontent and struggle to find her way as her kids were getting older and she was needing fulfillment. Although there were heartbreaking fits and starts along the way, it was very gratifying to see her find her way over the course of the series.

1. JACK ARNOLD

I can't think of a character who better fit the description of "gruff" in TV history. We got to see a lot of sides of Jack as early as the third episode, the classic one where Kevin went to work with his father. If Norma was a typical 60s housewife, Jack was a typical 60s working dad. But it wasn't all smiles like it might have been on a sitcom actually from the era. He was someone who was very frequently unhappy in his job and trying to do his best for his family. It didn't always manifest itself in the best ways, but the show did a great job of showing his struggles. Often it was from young Kevin's perspective but that didn't matter, Jack was an extremely sympathetic character. The show wouldn't have worked nearly as well without him.