ABC is rebooting the classic comedy series The Wonder Years, but with a significant twist. This new version of the nostalgia-heavy series is focused on a black, middle-class family living in ’60s-era Montgomery, Alabama.
As revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, the reboot “has received a sizable pilot-production commitment” from ABC and is expected to debut as part of ABC’s 2021-22 TV season. The Wonder Years is executive produced by Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, with Saladin K. Patterson (The Big Bang Theory) also executive producing and writing the pilot. A full writer’s room will be formed once ABC approves the pilot script.
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At least two familiar faces from the original Wonder Years will be involved in the reboot. Co-creator Neal Marlens is attached as consultant, while original series star Fred Savage will executive produce and direct the pilot.
THR notes, “Sources say Daniels, Velez, Patterson, and Savage brought the idea directly to ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke, who previously singled out The Wonder Years as one of the programs that made her want to work in television. Savage and Patterson are close friends, with the former having directed the latter’s untitled Leslie Odom Jr. multicamera pilot last year.”
The original version of The Wonder Years ran on ABC from 1988 to 1993. Set during the late ’60s and early ’70s, the series centers around Savage’s Kevin Arnold and his family as they deal with the trials and tribulations of middle-class life in the era of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. The series also features narration from an older version of Kevin (voiced by Daniel Stern).
The Wonder Years quickly proved to be a critical and ratings hit for ABC, with the series earning the first of several Primetime Emmy Awards after only six episodes had aired.
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The Wonder Years looks to be the first major TV project for Daniels following the recent conclusion of Empire, which was forced to end its final season early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Empire is one of many movies and TV shows impacted by the pandemic.
Find out where The Wonder Years falls in IGN’s countdown of the top 100 TV shows of all time.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com The Wonder Years: ABC Developing Reboot Series With Black Family