Antenna TV Request: "The Wonder Years"

[stevearino]

Dear Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.,

I have a proposal for Antenna TV: in honor of its impending Reboot this Fall, it's my humblest of suggestions that Antenna TV make a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for Antenna TV to become the exclusive Digital OTA home of the hit '80s Family Drama "The Wonder Years," showcasing all 115 half-hour episodes of the critically-acclaimed series 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network (including Music NOT Included on the DVD set).

Created by Neal Marlens & Carol Black, "The Wonder Years" enjoyed a successful 5-season run on ABC from January 31, 1988 - May 12, 1993, initially debuting after the 1988 Super Bowl before becoming a regular series on March 15, 1988, initially airing Tuesday nights at 8 P.M. ET after "Who's the Boss?" and later moving to Wednesday nights at 8 P.M. ET leading in to the '80s Hospital Drama "Doogie Howser, M.D." (itself being rebooted for Disney Plus as "Doogie Kameāloha, M.D."); the series starred Daniel Stern as Kevin Arnold, a 30-year-old man recalling his youth of the 1960s beginning in 1968, when Kevin was 12 years old as portrayed in the show by Fred Savage.

At the start of the series in Summer 1968, teen Kevin (Fred Savage) was preparing to attend 7th Grade at Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School in his hometown of Culver City, Iowa (the setting for the show revealed late in Season 4, towards the end of the series' run), where he was classmates with, among many others during that time, Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano), and hoped-for girlfriend Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar); as with his school life, Kevin's home life was ordinary, where he lived in Culver City, Iowa with his parents: dad Jack (Dan Lauria), a Korean War vet who worked at the fictional NorCom; mom Norma (Alley Mills), who at the end of the series became a successful businesswoman and Grandmother; teenage brother Wayne (Jason Hervey), more of a Bully to Kevin than a Brother; and their elder teen sister Karen (Olivia d'Abo), who eventually married live-in Boyfriend Michael (future TV "Friend" David Schwimmer) towards the end of Season 4 in Spring 1992 (1972 in the series' time frame).

Other characters over the course of the series included Kevin's '60s & '70s Classmates and Teachers, among them Becky Slater (Crystal McKellar, Danica's younger sister), Kevin's Nemesis and one-time Steady Gal; Mr. Cantwell (Ben Stein, former Speech Writer for Richard Milhous Nixon and future Game Show Host with "Win Ben Stein's Money"); and Kennedy Junior High Principal Mr. DiPerna (character actor Raye Birk, known for a number of '80s & '90s film/TV projects e.g. "The Naked Gun" & guest appearances on shows such as Disney's "Home Improvement").

In the Hour-Long Series Finale telecast on May 12, 1993 on ABC, the series ended in the show's time frame on July 4, 1973 during Independence Day, when Kevin, by this time 17 years old, left Culver City, Iowa to find himself and become independent, only to discover his best gal Winnie kissing a fellow lifeguard at the Pool Resort where Kevin worked as a waiter that Summer--at least, for a short time; Winnie, after being fired from the resort, made a pact with Kevin to always keep in touch, eventually writing to him regularly for the next 8 years; Paul went to Harvard and became a lawyer; Wayne, after his dad Jack dropped dead in 1975, 2 years after the series' setting, inherited the furniture business Jack started after Jack left NorCom midway through the last season; and Karen returned, pregnant with who became a Baby Boy, and though Kevin and Winnie didn't end up together and married, Kevin did eventually get married to another woman, with whom he had a young son.

In the years since then, reruns have aired on Nickelodeon via Nick at Nite, ABC Family, The Paramount Network (then officially TNN: The National Network), and ION Television, as well as on Streaming Media via Hulu.

Likewise, rumor had it that Marilyn Manson (whose real name is Brian Warner) played Paul Pfeiffer on "The Wonder Years" in his youth; that rumor, as we all know, is False. Paul was actually played by Josh Saviano, who in a case of Life Imitating Art, like his character Paul, grew up to be a Lawyer--in Josh's case, he's specifically a Corporate Lawyer based in New York City.

Fred Savage, as an adult, became TV's answer to Ronny Howard and, after retiring from Acting (save a temporary comeback in "The Grinder" opposite Rob Lowe in 2015), has concentrated his efforts on TV Directing, directing most recently the "Wonder Years" reboot Pilot set in Montgomery, Alabama but filmed entirely on location in Atlanta, Georgia, with Don Cheadle set to play the new lead character, Dean Williams, as an adult, with child actor Elisha Williams set to portray Dean as a 1960s kid & teenager in Montgomery.

Whereas the reboot is being produced by Lee Daniels Entertainment for 20th Television (a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company since 2019), the original series was produced by The Black/Marlens Company in association with New World Television and Distributed by Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. absorbing Rerun rights from Turner Entertainment Co.

Presently, Series Rights are split between The Walt Disney Company (via 20th Television) and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (Warner owning the Broadcast Rights to the series since 1997, when reruns began airing on Nickelodeon, Warner retaining Broadcast rights ever since then).

Tentatively, Antenna TV shall add "The Wonder Years" to its regular lineup on September 4, 2021 with a weekend-long "Wonderful Wonders of The Wonder Years Marathon," showcasing through September 7, 2021 all 115 episodes of "The Wonder Years" as originally aired on ABC, after which Antenna TV shall showcase regular reruns Weeknights at 8 P.M. ET

Sincerely,
Steve Arino