Were Carol Black and Neal Marlens (the creators/showrunners) "one trick ponies"

[TMC]

Maybe calling them "one trick ponies" is an unfair assessment since they did also have Growing Pains and These Friends of Mine (later called Ellen) under their belt. But with all due respect, exactly how much credit should Black and Marlens get for the success of those shows when compared to The Wonder Years?

According this this New York Times article about their short-lived "dramedy" series for ABC, Laurie Hill, they were both miserable by the end of the first year of Growing Pains. It appeared that they weren't entirely comfortable doing a four-camera, joke-driven show.

So when a single-camera, laugh-track free show in The Wonder Years came about, they felt they had found a half-hour format compatible with their writing style.