Interview Transcripts

"Prime Time Live", Oct 3, 1991	Daniel Stern on "Regis and Kathy Lee", June, 1991?
Dan Lauria on "Regis and Kathy Lee", July 1991?	Alley Mills on "Regis and Kathy Lee", 1993?
Olivia D'Abo on "Regis and Kathy Lee"	Fred Savage on "Regis and Kathy Lee"
"Entertainment Tonite", Jan 12, 2002	"A & E 'Biography'", June 1, 2002
"Danica on Tavis Smiley, Sep 14, 2007"

"Prime-Time Live" Segment: "The Savage Years" - produced by Neal Shapiro, Edited by Jack Pyle. From Oct 3, 1991.

SAM DONALDSON: Since it can't be easy to go through all those mid-teen changes while you're being watched on TV by millions of people, our Judd Rose decided to spend some time with one of those boy wonders - The Wonder Years' Fred Savage.

(Shot of the space shuttle blasting off the pad.)

JUDD (V/O): 1988...it was a very big year. There were some big winners...

(Clip of Brian Boitano ice-skating.)

(Clip of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")

(Clip of Gorbechev and Reagan waving.)

(Clip of George Bush waving.)

JUDD (V/O): Some big mistakes...

(Clip of presidential-hopeful George Dukakis riding in a tank.)

(Clip of Jimmy Swaggart crying toward heaven.)

JUDD (V/O): Even a few big surprises.

(Clip of a "slim" Oprah Winfrey exuberantly flinging off her coat.)

(Clip of Dodger Kirk Gibson #23 hitting a dramatic pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the World Series - thanks Jeff!)

(Clip of the football game from the opening of Ep 1.)

JUDD (V/O): That was also the year a little boy became a big star. That's him, Fred Savage, and this is his story.

(Interview)

FRED: I don't really think of myself as a big...TV star, or anything, ya know...(Smiles.)

JUDD: You don't?

FRED: I don't! You know, I don't look in the mirror and say, "well, there's a big star", or anything. I just see myself as... just normal, I guess. (Smiles.)

(Clip of Fred and two women approaching the podium on a stage.)

JUDD (V/O): Fred Savage is normal...as normal as any 15-year old who spends his spare time going to the Emmy's. Or chatting with Arsenio.

(Clip of Fred shaking hands with Arsenio Hall.)

(Shot of Fred walking out on the "Saturday Night Live" stage.)

JUDD (V/O): Or hosting "Saturday Night Live".

(Clip of Fred signing autographs for two smiling young girls on the street.)

JUDD (V/O): Just your average 15-year old. Polite to strangers...

GIRL: Thank you.

FRED: You're welcome.

JUDD (V/O): Popular at school.

(Interview)

JUDD: Your own teachers come up to you and ask you for your autograph?

FRED: Well, you know, once-in-a-while.

JUDD: That must be kind of weird.

FRED: It is, but...it's good to be nice to 'em.

(Fade to clip from Ep 27, after Norma has just told Kevin he can't play football.)

JUDD (V/O): A bit of adolescent wisdom you could easily imagine coming from the mouth of Kevin Arnold, Fred's TV alter ego.

(Jack enters, and Kevin asks him if he can play football.)

JUDD (V/O): The Wonder Years is Kevin's story. A story of a boy growing up in the suburbs in the late sixties and early seventies.

(Kevin asks Jack again if he can play football. Scene continues.)

JUDD (V/O): Funny, thoughtful, and often genuinely moving, it was a hit from the start. The only show, in fact, ever to win an Emmy after just 6 episodes.

(Clip from Ep 5, after Brad asks Lisa to the dance.)

JUDD (V/O): The clever conceit of the show is that Kevin is now grown up, and looking back at his childhood. So everything that happens is seen through the eyes of the boy, and narrated by the voice of the man.

(Clip of Lisa "as a - friend", and narration.)

(Shot of Bob Brush, with a TV monitor behind him showing Kevin on it.)

BOB BRUSH: Kevin Arnold feels things very intensely, and we feel it with him, because we are in his head, and he hasn't yet learned to say, uh, "it doesn't matter, what I feel doesn't matter."

(Clip of Ep 3 when Jack yells at Kevin about his bike, in the background.)

BOB BRUSH (V/O): So we turn on every week to see...what he's feeling and remember what we were feeling at the time, and probably what we're feeling down deep now.

(Clip of Kevin looking bewildered in a school hallway.)

JUDD (V/O): Starting in a new school...

(Clip of Kevin dialing Lisa.)

JUDD (V/O): Calling a girl for a date.

(Clip from Ep 2 when Kevin smacks Winnie's shoulder - "there was a bug on you.")

JUDD (V/O): Those first fumbling attempts at romance. They're universal experiences, and there's an irresistible charm in reliving them. Of course, for some, this really is the first time. Danica McKellar plays Kevin's true-love, Winnie Cooper.

(Shot of Danica)

DANICA: My first kiss, ever, was on this show. Um, and, you know, I was 12...and it was the pilot. And so...no I...(frowns)...we kinda...we didn't even practice - it was just...on the first take. Was like..."Action", you know...(smiles.)

(Clip of Ep 1 kiss at Harper's Woods.)

(Interview)

JUDD: Did that embarrass you at all, to do that on camera?

FRED: At first it did, and then, if you look at it like...you'll totally psych yourself out - you're never gonna be able to do it. But if you look at it as like, another scene, then it'll, it'll be...a little easier.

(Shot of early Fred pix.)

JUDD (V/O): After all, what's a little public smooch to a guy that has been mugging for the camera when most of us were sucking our thumbs?

(Clip of Fred, age 7-ish, running up from a slip-n-slide to make sure his mom really is filming him. More home movie clips.)

JUDD (V/O): Lets's put it this way - Fred won't have any trouble remembering his wonder years. Like Kevin, he grew up in a suburb - Glencoe, north of Chicago.

(Clip at his birthday party. "I am eight...years...old!")

JUDD (V/O): Like Kevin, he was a happy kid, with 2 parents, a brother and sister and lots of friends to play with.

(Shot of Fred and sister (?) in a pool.)

JUDD (V/O): And, like Kevin, he was always so darn cute.

(Shot of Fred on the set of a commercial.)

JUDD (V/O): He broke into show biz at age five.

(Clip of Fred sitting on the floor, surrounded by milk cartons.)

-FRED: "I like the whole milk with cookies, and the chocolate milk all by itself."

(Shot from Ep 20 as Kevin approaches Karen's friend's locker.)

JUDD (V/O): Then, when he was eleven, The Wonder Years came calling. When the show first began, it was supposed to be 1968.

(Clip from Ep 6 as Kevin sets the table.)

JUDD (V/O): The era of Vietnam, and civil unrest and protests in the streets. That was also, remember, eight years before Fred Savage was even born.

(Interview)

JUDD: Just tell me when anything I mention here rings a bell.

FRED: Uh-huh...

JUDD: "Eugene McCarthy"..."Abby Hoffman"...

FRED: Unh-uh...

JUDD: Uh...here's an easy one - "The Fifth Dimension"...

FRED: I dunno...

JUDD: "The Mod Squad".

FRED: OK, there...a TV show. (Smiles.)

JUDD: Whew!

(Clip from Ep 70 as Jack and Norma argue about the pickles.)

JUDD (V/O): Last night, The Wonder Years returned for its new season.

(Clip of Jack and Norma speaking in a foreign language.)

(Shot of crew pulling equipment.)

JUDD (V/O): This episode was actually filmed one week in mid-August. The week Prime-Time came to watch.

PRODUCER: OK, let's go please - we don't have a lot of time.

(Shot of people sitting around a table.)

JUDD (V/O): It begins with a production meeting. They have to be ready to film in just 24 hours.

(Shot of a man looking at photos of a drive-in snackbar interior.)

JUDD (V/O): Much of the action will take place at a drive-in, and they've found one. But they'll have one day to age it 20 years.

MAN: Let's talk about our Red Chief Special.

JUDD (V/O): He means a package of 1971-vintage condoms, that figure prominently in one scene. Prop-master Roger Horn will design it.

(Three men talk about the package design.)

(Shot of a half-dozen guys standing in the drive-in.)

JUDD (V/O): Meeting adjourned. Director Michael Dinner goes to check out the drive-in...while Horn, the prop-master, starts designing the Red Chief Special.

(Shot of a Red Chief and wallet on the table as he works on the Red Chief Special.)

(Shot of a man showing a poster to Ritch Kremer.)

JUDD (V/O): Set decorator Ritch Kremer goes shopping for movie posters.

RICH: So this is an original?

MAN: It's an original.

JUDD (V/O): Indeed it is - "Escape from the Planet of the Apes". That'll go on the wall of the drive-in snackbar.

(Cut to drive-in snack-bar. A man is looking at objects on the walls.)

JUDD (V/O): One of a number of items Kremer buys to get that "1971 look".

(Cut to Judd walking up the "McKinley" hallway.)

JUDD: And as The Wonder Years begins its fall season, our hero Kevin is entering high school. So the set-decorators have built this full-scale mock up of McKinley High - or at least a part of it. It's authentic - right down to the lockers. In fact, it's authentic...(opens locker, showing photos, stickers, etc.)...right down into the lockers.

(Shot of a trailer.)

JUDD (V/O): There is a real schoolhouse here, but it's somewhat less impressive.

(Fred's on the computer. A teacher looks over his shoulder.)

TEACHER: Be careful, Fred, this is your topic sentence. It has to be very clear.

JUDD (V/O): Although he goes to a regular school during the summer, this on-set trailer is where Fred is tutored when he's filming.

(Shot of painters painting the drive-in, and putting up posters.)

JUDD (V/O): As day two of the show's work-week begins, there is also a history lesson going on, across town. In the drive-in snack bar, 1991 becomes 1971, right down to the menu, with correct 1971 prices (hamburger 70 cents, etc. - Kyle). Before work started, it looked like this. (Camera pans the snack bar.) It's taken just about three hours to turn back the clock, and now...(fade to new shot as the camera pans the snack bar.) It's yesterday once more. All that effort...

(Clip from ep 70 as Paul talks to "his associate for one quick second".)

JUDD (V/O): When it finally gets on TV, all that atmosphere is barely visible.

(Shot of extras filing into the changing room.)

JUDD (V/O): It's the same for all the extras. They get very little screen-time, but they still gotta look, well...groovy.

(Extras exit in character, and pause for the camera.)

(Cut to shot at the drive in as they work on the scene of Kevin and Paul approaching the truck and Cara.)

JUDD (V/O): Mid-afternoon at the drive-in, and Fred arrives to rehearse a key scene - his first encounter with the girl who will become his summer-romance.

-KEVIN: You, uh, got another cigarette?

JUDD (V/O): While they rehearsed, the crew installed 60's-style speakers, and cars of the era are driven into place.At dark, filming begins - and it goes on late into the night.

(Shot of Kevin and Paul exiting the snack bar.)

JUDD (V/O): And through it all, Fred never complains. At 15, he's no "brat packer", and he's no brat.

(Shot of Dan)

DAN LAURIA: One of the reasons why Fred doesn't get a big head is he realizes that no matter how much he gets paid, or how much fame he gets, he's lost. He's lost out. He'll never play an organized sport, he'll never have a normal high school life...

(Shot of Fred and Ben shooting hoops.)

JUDD (V/O): Maybe not, but that aside, Fred's life is surprisingly normal. A big time at the Savage house usually means shooting some hoops with little brother Ben.

(Shot of Fred playing tennis.)

JUDD (V/O): Or, maybe, lobbing a few on a neighbor's tennis court.

-FRED: And our strategy will be...?

-PARTNER: Um, what ever happens, happens.

-FRED: Good one!

JUDD (V/O): Granted, it's a pleasant life, but by Hollywood standards, the National Enquirer would be bored silly.

(Cut to interview)

FRED: I...clean up after the dog, and, you know, I make my bed, and clean my room, and take out the trash, so...you know, I think that helps, that helps a lot.

JUDD: And in fact, you get an allowance, right?

FRED: Uh-huh...I get ten dollars a week.

JUDD: Big TV-star, ten dollars a week? What do you spend it on?

FRED: I spend it on, you know, baseball cards, and...stuff like that. Go out to the movies, and...

JUDD: And some gas for the car, right?

FRED: Yeah, right!

(Cut to Fred and Judd getting in a Toyota convertible.)

JUDD: The car. This summer Fred got his learner's permit, so now, he can drive, as long as he's with a licensed driver over 25. I volunteered. We borrow his mom's car.

(On the road)

JUDD: Well, here ya are, top's down, high speed, feeling pretty cool, huh?

FRED: Very cool. I got this camera in my car...I'm definitely feelin' some coolness, here.

JUDD (V/O): Not for long...Fred was on a brief break from filming, and I was supposed to get him back in 15 minutes. Instead, I got him lost.

FRED: Oh my gosh! I have never been on this street.

JUDD: Oh, no - you didn't...oh, ay-yi-yi...

FRED: We going on the freeway? (Smiles.)

JUDD: No, that's OK. What we'll do is stop and make a U-turn.

FRED: I can't make good U-turns. (Laughs.)

(Back at the drive-in.)

JUDD (V/O): We found our way back, none too soon. By law, child-actors can only be in front of the cameras for 5 hours a day. And since Fred's in almost every scene...

(Hair stylist (Kimi Messina?) fluffs Fred's hair.)

JUDD (V/O): His time is their money.

(Cut to shot of Fred, Josh and a man standing near the steps of the country store.)

JUDD (V/O): This is one of the first scenes in the show. The one in which the condom plays a key role. Prop-master Horn delivers the finished product.

(Fred and Josh watch Horn open a wallet and pull out the condom.)

FRED: Is this a real...like, a real "Red Chief"...?

JOSH: It's red...!

(Fred holds the condom toward the camera.)

JOSH: Ohhhhhhh....!

FRED: Yes, welcome to The Wonder Years.

(Cut to shot of Fred and Josh on the steps of the store, reheasing the scene.)

JUDD (V/O): In this scene, Kevin and his friend Paul are sitting around, talking about what teenage boys always talk about - girls.

(They run the dialog.)

JUDD (V/O): They'll do this for five hours - saying the same lines 40 times, so it can be filmed from five different angles.

(They run the dialog a few more times, shown from different angles.)

(In the editing room.)

JUDD (V/O): When this, and other scenes, are done, they're often cutting the show just hours before you see it. And you don't always see it exactly as filmed.

(Clip from actual episode.)

JUDD (V/O): Notice that Paul's joke about where to put the condom is gone from the final cut. (K: "You don't have to rub it in my nose". P: "No, it's not for your nose, it's for your-" K: "Enough, Paul!")

(Clip of Kevin and Cara in the truck cab.)

JUDD (V/O): One scene untouched was the final one - the bittersweet end of Kevin's summer romance.

(They run the scene.)

JUDD (V/O): Though it may not rank up there with Doogie Howser losing his virginity...

(Cara puts Kevin's hand on her heart. [Me: 1-1/2 seconds of "breast-touching" were cut, at ABC's insistence (from B. Brush article.])

JUDD (V/O): But, in its way, The Wonder Years is acknowledging that its hero is no longer a little boy.

FRED (V/O): He's gonna be...not as sweet anymore, not as, you know, always the good-guy, who always does the right thing.

(Cut to interview)

FRED: He's gonna get, um, a little, um, more rebellious with his parents - not as, you know, "yes, mom, yes, dad".

(Clip from Ep 37 of Kevin and Winnie walking the hallway.)

JUDD (V/O): The Wonder Years is growing from the evocative...

(Clip from Ep 70 as Kevin kisses Cara.)

JUDD (V/O): To the provocative, but as Fred himself grows, one wonders if he can grasp the underlying themes.

(Clips of social events.)

JUDD (V/O): Truly come to grips with the great events and issues that shaped us all.

(More clips of astronauts, Vietnam bombs.)

JUDD (V/O): This, ultimately, was the question that had to be asked.

(Cut to interview)

JUDD: Fred, you are a child of the post baby-boom generation coming of age in the nineties, and yet at the same time you portray a baby-boom child facing all the conflicts and turbulent adolescent choices of the sixties and seventies. In that sense, wouldn't you say that you represent a certain loss of innocence in society at-large, in your role of, if you will, a neo-Eisenhoweresque icon, in a post-Reagan way?

FRED: Yeah...

(Kevin looks at the camera.)

FRED (V/O): Look, I'm 15 years old - you expect me to know what that means?!

(Fred and Judd walk down the McKinley hallway.)

JUDD (V/O): The thing is, until Fred, I thought you had to have all the answers. But now, I know that the corridors of life are filled with mystery and wonder. And maybe, all we can do is laugh, and keep on walking.

JUDD: You know, I thought that was a pretty good question I asked you.

FRED: No it wasn't.

JUDD: Was too...

FRED: Was not!

JUDD: Was too...

FRED: Was not!

JUDD: Was too, was too!

FRED: Was not, was not!

Daniel Stern on "Regis and Kathie Lee" - Probably June 1991.

(Opening greetings)

REGIS: But why you, for the narrator of The Wonder Years? Was it something about your voice?

DANIEL: There was something in my face, I think, that they wanted to hide. I don't know...I had read the script, and made a tape, and they thought I was the perfect, uh, the perfect person - and they were right, I guess.

REGIS: They certainly were - the voice fits the whole ambiance of the show...

DANIEL: I guess so. I can't listen to it, because it's like...listening to yourself on a tape-recorder, but, uh, from what I understand, it works.

REGIS: Yeah, absolutely.

KATHIE LEE: You know, now listening to you here, you sound very different to me than...

REGIS: Are you sure you're the narrator from The Wonder Years?!

DANIEL: I only work with Fred. Ya have to have Fred...you have to look at Fred and listen to me. Although, if I say...it also has to do with the writing, if I say, like, you know..."In 1968, I was a kid growing up..." you know, you have to say - you know, I can't write that kind of...sentimental...stuff.

REGIS: Something happens to you...

DANIEL: Something happens to me.

REGIS: Do you see the tape, as you're narrating it, or do you just lay it down on a track, and then they...?

DANIEL: I do the show by myself, without the tape, and then when the show doesn't make any sense, I go back and...make it make sense later.

(Interview continues about "City Slickers".)

Dan Lauria on "Regis and Kathie Lee" probably July, 1991.

REGIS:...an actor, and quite a producer, used to be on our show years ago, and he played "the killer pimp" on "One Life To Live".

KATHIE LEE: Every soap needs one!

REGIS: You can see him through the end of the week in "Other People's Money". Here's Dan Lauria. Hey Danny!

(Some non-topic chat about NYC.)

REGIS: Well, now, how are things on The Wonder Years?

(Dan chuckles.)

REGIS: That boy, he's getting bigger and older, and, uh...

DAN: (Smiles) And, uh, nicer...

REGIS: How long can we hold out?! (Laughs.)

DAN: No, the show, as he gets older, the show will grow with him, I mean, Fred's great...he's...

KATHIE LEE: He's still got that face - he still looks like a kid.

DAN: Yeah, but he's...he has an adult responsibility, and he handles it very well - he's a pleasure to work with.

REGIS: But Dan, you know, the one that looks a little bit like you, is...

(Picture of the "Arnold's", plus "Paul".)

DAN: Jason...(Smiles.)

REGIS: Here's Jason...and there's the father. (everyone, including the audience, laughs)

DAN: I don't know if Jason will take that as a compliment...

KATHIE LEE: And I love "Paul" back there. Now, he's not a member of the family, but sort of is.

REGIS: He just kinda hangs around...

DAN: Yeah, Josh...A lot of people think Fred hasn't grown - Fred's grown three inches. But Josh grew nine, in one year, went - (whistles, and gestures vertically.)

REGIS: What's your relationship like, with him?

DAN: Fred's...Fred's great. I mean, we're real close. I mean - you're talking about those "rag" magazines. One of them...I left the show two shows early this year, in order to do the play, and one of those rag magazines wrote that I left cuz I couldn't stand Fred...(laughs)...which is...I personally think Fred - if the public will accept him as an actor when this is over - will become the next Jack Lemmon.

REGIS & KATHIE LEE: Hmmm...

DAN: And if they don't, he's gonna be the next Ron Howard.

KATHIE LEE: You think he's gonna go into directing?

DAN: I think he's gonna be a great director.

REGIS: And if they really reject him, he could be the next Regis Philbin. I mean, if they really hate his guts!

DAN: No, he's...we have a little thing that we do, uh...when I first went on the show, we would make bets, and if he lost, he'd have to watch an old movie - I have 500 old films - and all I would have to do is say "black-and-white" and he would go screaming out of the studio. But now, he makes bets with me, and deliberately loses...He's about the only 15-year-old kid I know who's seen every Preston Sturges film.

REGIS: And you have them all in your own personal collection?

DAN: Oh, yes...

REGIS: Good for you. You really are a film-buff, then...

DAN: Oh, yeah...

REGIS: You love this business, huh?

DAN: Oh, every aspect of it.

(Some non-topic chat about the play.)

REGIS: Well, let's take a look at a clip from The Wonder Years, alright? "You're interfering with your son's attempt to flirt with a cute waitress".

DAN: Oh...yeah - that is funny...

(They show a clip from the cafe scene in "Road Trip". Jack looks at all the food Kevin ordered.)
-JACK: What the hell is all this?
-KEVIN: Dad!
-(Kevin nods toward the waitress. Jack looks toward her as she reaches up for the coffee-pot. Jack frowns, then raises his eye-brows.)
-JACK: Oh...
-(Jack smiles and shrugs slightly toward Kevin, and starts to sit down.)
-JACK: Huh, well...
-And suddenly, we were...connecting. It went beyond mere words. The thing guys understand.
-(The waitress smiles at Jack.)
-WAITRESS: Hi, handsome.
-(Jack smiles broadly as he puts his elbow on the counter and leans slightly in front of Kevin.)
-JACK: Hi.
-The thing Greek tragedies are made of.
-WAITRESS: Can I warm that up for you? (Smiles.)
-JACK: Oh - sure...
-(The waitress smiles as she pours. Jack looks at his coffee, and nods toward Kevin.)
-JACK: And, uh, get the kid a ginger-ale.
-"Kid"? "Ginger-ale"?
-(Kevin glances toward the waitress, then turns toward Jack.)
-KEVIN: Dad - I'm drinking coffee, OK?
-(Jack pauses in surprise, then glances toward Kevin, then the waitress, then turns toward Kevin.)
-JACK: Oh - right.
-(Jack turns to the waitress and smiles.)
-JACK: He's drinking coffee...
-(Jack smiles and winks. The waitress smiles and giggles.)
-I couldn't believe it!
-(Kevin turns toward Jack. Jack chuckles at the waitress, then sips his coffee.)
-The big lummox had sold me out! OK, then. If he wanted to play rough...
-KEVIN: So, Dad?
-JACK: Hmmm?
-KEVIN: Think Mom's expecting us?
-(Jack pauses and looks at Kevin.)
-JACK: Huh?
-(Kevin raises his voice.)
-KEVIN: You know. My mom...your wife?!
-(Kevin glances toward the waitress. Jack frowns.)
-JACK: What are you talkin' about?
-KEVIN: Of course, you can't get us home...
-(Kevin glances at the waitress. She turns over her shoulder.)
-KEVIN: Because you got us lost!
-(Jack looks at Kevin and frowns.)
-KEVIN: Right?!
-(Jack turns toward the waitress and smiles and chuckles, embarrassed. The waitress smiles, then turns away. Kevin smiles toward the waitress.)
-Heh-heh.
-(Kevin turns toward Jack.)
-Take that!
-(Jack smiles toward the waitress, then turns toward Kevin and frowns heavily. A few notes of "Jaws" music plays. Kevin looks worried.)

REGIS: Funny stuff!

DAN: Fred's great, Fred's great...

REGIS: That's a great show, great show...

DAN: Great show...good writers! (Gestures.)

KATHIE LEE: Very difficult...for him to do all those things while waiting for the narrator. I guess that's...that's a lot of work.

DAN: Yeah, that's, uh...we actually have someone on the set reading the narration, and the narration that the audience hears is Danny Stern's.

REGIS: We had him on a couple weeks ago.

DAN: A fine actor. He also directs some of our shows.

KATHIE LEE: I didn't know that.

(They wrap up.)

Alley Mills on "Regis and Kathie Lee" probably early 1993.

REGIS: We were watching a funny rerun last night.

KATHIE LEE: We love the show.

ALLEY: Which one?

REGIS: It was, he couldn't get his math...

KATHIE LEE: Kevin had gotten his first "D", and he was afraid to tell you and...your husband.

ALLEY: And then that teacher dies, in the next one. (She meant the next "math" episode.)

REGIS: Oh, is that right?

ALLEY: Yeah. They got the Emmy for that show.

REGIS: Oh, no kidding?

(Chat about Fred, of short parents, finally growing taller than Alley, and being an actual 16-year old, with actual 16-yo problems - mostly girls, I gather.)

REGIS: Have you been renewed for next year?

ALLEY: Well, we were supposed to end in December. And then they wrote a whole series of scripts that was gonna end the show - everything was going to be "done", and, ya know...and then they called, in the end of September, and they said, "Uhhhhh...hold it". And then they changed their minds, and now we're having a full season, and it looks like we may even have another one.

REGIS: You've been on, like, six years, which is terrific. (Regis appears to be mathematically-challenged.)

KATHIE LEE: Well, you're up against some pretty tough competition, aren't you, opposite "90210"?

ALLEY: Yeah, well, I think that's why they thought this would be our final season, cuz...you'd think every teenager in America would watch those...they've all been on your show, one after another.

REGIS: Yeah, we've had everybody on...

ALLEY: And we never thought we would be there in the ratings, so I think ABC was really surprised.

REGIS: You held you're own - you did very well.

(Continues about her being in New York to watch a play Orson Bean is in. I include the following because it's funny.:-)

REGIS: Orson Bean is your guy...

ALLEY: He's my guy. (Smiles.) And we're actually -

REGIS: You're actually blushing!

(Alley turns away and laughs.)

REGIS: You're actually engaged.

ALLEY: I promised myself this wouldn't happen.

(Regis looks at the big ring on her finger.)

ALLEY: That's my engagement ring. (Audience applauds.) Thank you.

REGIS: This is your very first engagement?

ALLEY: This is my, my very first engagement, my very first marriage, uh...

KATHIE LEE: You've been kind of a matrimonial hold out, then.

ALLEY: I have. I think I'm typical of my generation. Most of my friends, still aren't married. It's sort of a strange...I went to college in '69, and everybody was...sort of that hippie era...(gestures)...where everybody lived together...and had relationships and all this kind of stuff, and I just...I sort of wanted to wait for the perfect situation - the perfect person...and I...

REGIS: You've been very patient.

(Alley turns away and laughs.)

ALLEY: My mother doesn't consider it patient - she goes (gestures) "How'd you let that one...?" - "What about that one?"

(Regis and Kathie Lee laugh.)

ALLEY: Ya know, "That one was great!", "That one's a doctor!"

(All laugh.)

KATHIE LEE: But you waited for the perfect person, and you have found him.

ALLEY: Right.

REGIS: How did you meet him?

ALLEY: I - my mother was visiting, of all strange things. She was visiting me in L.A. - I just moved into a big new house, she came out from Connecticut, she came out and we went to a reading of a play - the guy that plays my husband, Dan Lauria, produces these play readings - and Orson was in the reading. And my mother says "why don't we all...invite the whole company out for drinks?" So she's walking, quietly, with Orson, on the sidewalk...he then sits himself down next to me...and I'm walking home with mom, and she said "I think he likes you!". I said "Mother, I'm sure he's married - he was talking about his kids...I mean he was wonderful, funny, I had a great night". And she goes - "By the way, he's not married. I asked him - he's divorced!"

(Alley laughs.)

REGIS: Oh! Wow!

ALLEY: And then, he called the next morning - he'd given me his card, he was very gentlemanly - he had given me his card and said "do you like to go to the theater?", and I still thought, well maybe, he's married...(shrugs)...he's just being like a theater friend - because he was so not flirtatious.

REGIS: You just wouldn't believe it, would you?

ALLEY: No...and my mother hears the phone ringing at nine in the morning - she heard it was Orson, and she goes (makes fist) "hotdog!" I guess she really -

REGIS: Mother was getting very anxious! Mother very happy about this!

ALLEY: Well, that's one way to look at this - she also actually really liked him, so...

REGIS: That's nice. So, is there a date set here?

ALLEY: There's a date. April - (chokes, then laughs) eight-eight-eight-eighteenth. (Laughs.)

REGIS: I think you're a little frightened, here. Are you?

ALLEY: I am. It's just so many years of...you know...

KATHIE LEE: Waiting...

ALLEY: Waiting...It's just...

KATHIE LEE: And Orson, I understand, hasn't dated in...a long time...

ALLEY: Ten...years!

REGIS: Holy cow!

ALLEY: So he says. You know...

REGIS: You guys were meant for each other. You got a picture?

ALLEY: I do, I do.

REGIS: Quickly - let me see it!

(Alley pulls out a 3x5 picture.)

REGIS: Ah, there they are!

(Regis holds it up. Audience applauds.)

ALLEY: I brought it cuz he couldn't come.

(End of tape :-)

Olivia d'Abo on "Regis and Kathie Lee".

(Opening chat about living in England, then New Mexico, then Los Angeles, and her love of music.)

REGIS: Now, you still have a British accent. How does that play, as Fred Savage's older sister?

OLIVIA: Well, it doesn't - I, you know, play "Karen", of course, I play "Karen"...and she's sort of a definite character. It's sort of like slipping into a suit, you know...

KATHIE LEE: And you use a different voice.

OLIVIA: It's funny - when I do an American accent, my voice changes, and it gets so much lower. Cuz you know how the British tonation is very up-and-down (gestures and modulates her voice)...very, you know, like that, and when I say, like, "well, Dad...", it's -

KATHIE LEE: Just think "valley-girl".

OLIVIA: Well, she's sort of valley-girl...her attitude, the rebellious-type thing, you know...

(Clip of Jack and Karen arguing about her going to college.)

(More chat about her then-boyfriend, Julian Lennon.)

Fred Savage on "Regis and Kathie Lee".

(Some non-topic chat.)

REGIS: The Wonder Years keeps plowing ahead. Now - how much longer can you do it, Fred? I mean you're fifteen!

FRED: Uh-hhhh...

REGIS: I mean, how much longer can you stay in the fifth-grade, ya know? (Gestures.) (Regis' math deficiency...again :-)

FRED: No, the great thing about The Wonder Years is it can go...as old as you get, cuz...

KATHIE LEE: Cuz it's in the past.

FRED: Right, but - it follows the course of, ya know, Kevin's life, so it could technically go on, you know, through high school, college...

KATHIE LEE: Would you like that?

FRED: I don't know if I'd like it to go on for that long...We've been doing it - this is our, um, like fourth or fifth season - we did our first season of six episodes, so I don't know if you count that - but...it was, we're gonna do another season next year, but then after that, I don't know...if we're gonna do it.

(Other chat about school.)

REGIS: Anyway, I guess you got this framed...

(He holds up a letter.)

FRED: Yeah.

REGIS: And this of course meant a great deal to you, because this is how it all began. And they said - "Dear Fred. Enclosed please find a copy of The Wonder Years. We would like you to take a look at the role of Kevin, and let us know what you think." From the producers of the show, and -

KATHIE LEE: And you could have been the mayor of Munchkin Land instead, if you'd stayed in school.

FRED: Exactly! No, um, yeah, I told you I wanted to do theater, and in sixth-grade, I remember, everyone tried out for - our school was doing The Wizard of Oz -and I tried out and I got the part of the mayor of the Munchkin city. And I was so excited and I was practicing and, ya know, I had this little song, and then I got the call to do The Wonder Years, so...it was between this letter...(holds it up)...and the mayor of Munchkin city, so...

REGIS: You did the right thing!

(They wrap up.)

Entertainment Tonight segment, Jan 12, 2002

(Female host says something like "the Wonder Years was a huge hit", then transition to male host standing on the stage. Behind him is a large screen showing an image of "Kevin" and "Winnie" at about age 12.)

HOST: ...But, after the series went off the air, and the years went on, they found it difficult to overcome being type-cast as those cute TV characters...

(Image on the stage screen changes to picture of Fred and Danica, current age.)

HOST: That had made them famous.

(Close shot of Fred, about age 12. The camera pulls back to show him standing outside in casual clothes.)

FRED (V/O): I feel that I'm a really different person...

(Cut to Fred, current age, sitting in a chair, talking to the interviewer off-screen.)

FRED: Than I was...gosh...(gestures)...when the Wonder Years was starting.

(Close shot of a publicity shot of "Kevin". The camera pulls back slowly, revealing the whole "Arnold" family in front of the house.)

HOST (V/O): Fred Savage was a cute 11-year old when he started as the schoolboy Kevin Arnold on the ground-breaking series.

(Cut to white, then clip of Fred, current age, wearing a black sweater, being photographed against a white background.)

HOST (V/O): But as he matured and pursued different roles...

(Slow motion clip of Fred outside at night, amid other people on a sidewalk. He is smiling as camera-flashes go off.)

HOST (V/O): He wanted audiences to see that he was capable of playing all kinds of parts.

(Close shot of Fred in a 1997 studio interview.)

FRED: I don't...want to, uh...people to never associate me with Wonder Years ever again - that'd be horrible - you know, I like being associated with that. I'd like them to...while they keep that in their head...(points at his temple)...you know, see me as, as what I am, or what I'm presenting to them, you know, most recently.

(Cut to shot of a publicity still of the Arnold's and Paul in the living room.)

HOST (V/O): Even Fred's TV-mom Alley Mills said that she still gets pidgeon-holed.

(Cut to close shot of Alley, in what appears to be her living room.)

ALLEY: Once you get cast in something that you've been on the air for seven years...that's all people see you as.

(Cut to clip of young Fred and a woman walking toward the camera on the street.)

HOST (V/O): ET was with Fred...

(Cut to shot of Kevin and the woman in a fast-food restaurant.)

HOST (V/O): When the Wonder Years began in 1988.

(Cut to closer shot of Fred and the woman at a fast-food restaurant as they get their food.)

HOST (V/O): We travelled to his hometown of Chicago, to get to know him, before...

(Shot of the restaurant booth as Fred sits down.)

HOST (V/O): The series, about a kid growing up in the sixties, even hit the air.

(Closer shot of Fred nodding, then sipping his drink through a straw.)

(Cut to a 1988 interview. Fred is smiling at the off-screen interviewer.)

FRED: I know, like, the Beatles, hippies, and Vietnam. The Kennedy's...Martin Luther King. You know, you study a lot about the stuff in school.

(Shot of a photo from the scene of Norma inspecting Kevin's throat when he feigns illness.)

HOST (V/O): The show debuted right after the Superbowl, and Fred was keeping his fingers crossed...

(Cut to slow-motion exterior shot of Fred, age 12-ish, walking along a walkway to toward the camera.)

HOST: That he'd play the role for a long time.

(Cut to the 1988 interview.)

FRED: It'd be great if it became a hit. (Smiles.) I'd like it. (Nods.)

(Cut to photo taken during the pilot. The Arnold's are all standing in the street in front of the house, Norma is holding the football. Jack is holding his arm toward Wayne.)

HOST (V/O): It was a huge hit right from the start.

(Cut to close shot of the photo of Fred and Danica smiling at the camera, age 12-ish. He is wearing a blue shirt. She is wearing the top from her go-go boot outfit. The camera moves in slowly on Danica.)

HOST (V/O): Danica McKellar played Fred's pal Winnie on the show, and recalls that she was not an immediate lock for the part.

(Slow-motion exterior day shot of Danica and Crystal, about age 12-13, standing close together, talking to an off-screen interviewer. Danica is wearing a dark dress and plum-colored hat, of all things. They both are wearing makeup and lip-gloss, so this must be some celebrity thing...)

DANICA (V/O): My sister and I both auditioned for the role...and, uh...

(Close interior shot of Danica, current age. She wears a brown leather jacket. A poster for the movie "Speechless" is on the wall behind her. She looks off.)

DANICA: Actually, at the time...

(She looks at the off-screen interviewer.)

DANICA: Winnie Cooper was not a regular character - she was just a one-time thing for the...for the pilot episode. So, it wasn't as big a problem or conflict, like...(smiles)..."Oh, my, God!" this is for, you know, six years...(gestures)...it was just a one-episode deal. It came down to the two of us...(she runs her hand through her hair and frowns)...and uh...(shrugs)...just, I was a little bit taller, I think...(frowns.)

(Close shot of a photo of Winnie in her field hockey uniform from ep 10 or 11.)

HOST (V/O): She says that if any of the kids worked too long or had any difficulties, their parents, who supervised them on the set...

(Shot of a photo of Kevin in his Jets jacket and Winnie in her field hockey uniform, heads together, smiling at the camera.)

HOST (V/O): Were ready to step in.

DANICA (V/O): All of our parents were willing...

(Cut to Danica as before.)

DANICA: To pull us off the set in a heart-beat if something wasn't right. All of them. (Frowns.) None of them were into the whole..."Oh, my kid's gotta be a star" thing.

(Shot of the exterior photo of Fred with his arms around the neck of Josh and Danica, age 12- ish. I think it is from the book or video.)

HOST (V/O): Danica, Fred, and co-star Josh Saviano attended both regular school when they weren't shooting...

(Cut to slow-motion exterior shot of Josh and Danica, age 13-ish, being interviewed. They are dressed up, as are the others in the shot. He is wearing a black jacket with white shirt and bow-tie. She is wearing a strapless black dress, and has frizzy hair.)

HOST (V/O): And were also tutored on the set.

DANICA (V/O): I was like the nerd...

(Cut to Danica interview as before.)

DANICA: In the schoolroom. I was the one who was sitting there doing my work, while Fred and Josh were...(shrugs and frowns slightly)...you know...seeing who could fart the loudest. (Giggles). And I'd be like...(frowns and sighs dramatically.)

(Cut to exterior shot of Alley talking to someone off screen and laughing.)

HOST: Mills remembers one time she tried to make Fred crack up while...

(Cut to exterior day shot of Fred, age 13-ish in a tuxedo, with others behind him, including brother, Ben.)

HOST: Shooting a dinner scene.

(Cut to Alley interview as before.)

ALLEY: I...(demonstrates)...put peas in my nose, and...(gestures)...mashed potatoes in my mouth, and went (exhales quickly through her nose)...into my Coke with the peas...and went "puah!"...(gestures)...with the mashed potatoes...(smiles)...when the close-up was on Fred...tryin' to make him laugh.

(Cut to slow-motion exterior day shot of Fred in his tuxedo, being interviewed by ET.)

(Cut to interior shot of Danica, age 14-15. She is wearing a black tee-shirt with "Protect the Planet" on it.)

HOST (V/O): The series dealt with their emergence into puberty.

(Cut to clip of Fred coming down a waterslide, wearing fuschia-colored trunks.)

HOST (V/O): ET was with Fred on his Hawaiian vacation, just before he hit a major milestone.

(Close shot of Fred, now dry and in a maroon shirt, standing in front of a large pool, talking to an off-screen interviewer.)

FRED: I turn sixteen this summer...(smiles)...so that's, um...I'm lookin' forward to.

INTERVIEWER (V/O): What kind of car do you think, uh, you'll be driving?

FRED: Oh, I'm gonna get my mom's old car. (Nods).

(Cut to interior clip of Fred, age 13-ish, wearing a tuxedo and smiling.)

HOST (V/O): In 1993, the show was cancelled, and some of the cast...

(Clip of Alley wearing a black dress as she is being interviewed.)

HOST (V/O): Were upset that it didn't last longer.

(Cut to the Alley interview in her living room.)

ALLEY: We shot the last episode, not knowing if we were going to be coming back, and they didn't have...(looks off)...what I consider...kind of the class, or the courtesy to say, "You know what...it's been an amazing six-and-a-half years...let's...(gestures)...end it this way"...

(Cut to publicity shot of the family in front of the house.)

ALLEY (V/O): Or, I thought we should come back and do a final episode.

(Cut to Danica interview as before. She looks off and frowns slightly.)

DANICA: I think we all, in some ways...

(She looks at the interviewer off-screen.)

DANICA: Wish it had gone one more year - because then the characters could have graduated from high school. (Wrinkles her nose.) That just seemed like...that should be the end.

(Cut to still photo from "Working". "Matt" and "Jolie", wearing black leather, are talking to her father in the bar. The camera moves in on the couple slowly.)

HOST (V/O): Fred and Danica went on to finish their real-life high-schools...

(Slow-motion exterior night shot of Fred smiling at a women.)

HOST (V/O): And he attended Stanford University, and majored in English. While she...

(Slow-motion exterior day shot of Danica in a black dress. She smiles and turns as a camera-flash goes off.)

HOST (V/O): Went to UCLA and majored in mathematics.

(Cut to slow-motion interior shot of Danica in the same dress, smiling at the camera.)

HOST (V/O): She even had a paper published, along with a professor, but then realized that...

(Cut to exterior day shot. Danica wears jeans, a light blue top and brown leather jacket, and is walking toward the camera.)

HOST (V/O): She wanted to return to acting. She starred in a variety of small...

(Cut to slow-motion interior clip of Danica wearing a red shirt, smiling at someone off-screen.)

HOST (V/O): Independent films...and then decided...she wanted a new challenge.

(Fade to Danica interview as before.)

DANICA: I always thought, to myself, some day, I'll direct. Some day, when I'm like - I don't know...(waves with both hands)...in my forties or fifties or something, you know, when I'm tired of acting - I'll direct. Well, suddenly, it...the...the bug had bit me - I was itching to just try - just to see if I could do it.

(Cut to interior clip from the movie. Danica and the male co-star are looking at each other.)

HOST (V/O): The result, is "Speechless", a short film she produced...

(They embrace and hug slowly.)

HOST (V/O): Wrote, and co-directed, about a grad-student who falls for a speech-impaired pupil.

(Shot of her character's mother frowning and talking to her off-screen.)

(Shot of Danica's character.)

DANICA's CHARACTER: "He's not a child any more - he's a grown man!"

(Cut to Danica interview as before. She wrinkles her forehead and smiles slightly.)

DANICA: You know, having grown up on a TV show that was all about bittersweetness...(frowns)... and tragedy and heart-break...(giggles)...I ended up doing my short film about those very things.

(Cut to sit-com kitchen set. A young female character is talking to Alley's character.)

FEMALE CHARACTER: Mom, did you and Dad decide who was gonna sleep on the couch?
ALLEY'S CHARACTER: Oh, I forgot to ask 'em.

HOST (V/O): Alley Mills has a role on the CBS series, "Yes, Dear"...

(Cut to exterior night clip of Alley and others in casual dress, apparently on the set.)

HOST (V/O): And is in the film, "Never Get Out of The Boat"...

(Clip of John Cusack at some event.)

HOST (V/O): Executive produced by John Cusack...

(John waves and nods at the camera.)

HOST (V/O): About drug addiction.

(Fade to exterior day clip of Alley and Orson Bean walking along the sidewalk toward the camera. She carries a coffee cup.)

HOST (V/O): In 1993, at age 41, she got married, for the first time, to actor Orson Bean...

(Cut to exterior night clip of them smiling at a camera off-screen at some event.)

HOST (V/O): Who is twenty-three years her senior.

(Cut to exterior day clip of both of them walking with a young girl and boy.)

HOST (V/O): And became an instant grandmother.

(Cut to shot of Orson and Alley in the living room.)

ALLEY: When you're in love with someone, you're not...gonna marry them because they're older, and, and, you know, maybe time-wise, they would have less years...? (Shrugs and frowns.) It's ridiculous. So I realised how ridiculous that was.

(Clip of Alley and Orson walking across the yard.)

ORSON (V/O): I knew her from the Wonder Years. I always thought...

(Cut to shot of Orson and Alley in the living room.)

ORSON: She was a fox...cookin' the broccoli..."will you have some more?"...(Alley giggles)...and I moved right in...I had been divorced for 15 years...and I never thought I'd get married again...

(Cut to clip of Fred, wearing a suit, and carrying a large stack of paperwork toward the camera.)

HOST (V/O): In 1997, Fred took a leave-of-absence from college...

(Clip from the set of "Working" during a rehearsal.)

HOST (V/O): And went on to star in the NBC series, "Working".

"MATT PEYSER": You lied on your resume?
"DELANY" (?): It's been known to happen...

(Clip of Fred at a desk during rehearsal. The camera moves in.)

HOST (V/O): He graduated after the show ended, and...

(Cut to slow-motion exterior night clip of Fred.)

HOST (V/O): Today, still works, doing a variety of roles and voice-overs.

(Cut to interior shot of Kevin wearing the same clothes as the previous clip, looking at the interviewer off-screen.)

FRED: You know, I really want to stay in the entertainment business. This is...(looks off)...what I've done for...a very long time...

(He looks at the interviewer again.)

FRED: And what I enjoy doing, and, and, um...you know, if it'll have me, I would love to have a career in this, you know, for...for many years to come.

(Cut to slow motion clip of Fred, about age 12, wearing a tuxedo and smiling.)

Thanks to "Oki" (Steve Snow) for sending me his tape of the Regis shows:-), and Jeff Kindig for proofing the transcripts.

A&E "Biography" July 1, 2002

The yellow, red and blue "The Wonder Years" logo is shown, and the theme song plays.

BIOGRAPHY NARRATION: The Wonder Years...

Shot of Kevin and Winnie kissing on the rock from Ep 1.

Sometimes dramatic...

Fade to shot of Kevin and Margaret approaching the camera hand-in-hand from Ep 21.

Sometimes hilarious. Always...

Cut to Ep 1 as Jack learns Brian was killed in Vietnam.

Able to strike...

Shot of Kevin looking up toward Jack, who squeezes his shoulder.

Just the right emotional chord.

Cut to "Bio" studio. There is a large TV screen showing a scene from "Cheers", a 5-foot high pedestal with the "TVography" logo on it. The background is a huge stylized TV test-pattern.

TVography. Our look at classic television shows...

The camera rolls in toward the host, Harry Smith.

And the stars that made them great. Tonite, "The Wonder Years", which took its audience on a magical tour of suburban life in the late 1960's. The writing and first-person narrative enabled us to see the world through the eyes of "Kevin Arnold", who was coming of age...in an age of turbulence. He was an ordinary kid. But there was nothing ordinary about..."The Wonder Years".

Cut to
Ep 27 as the car screeches to a stop. Norma holds Kevin against his seat.
NORMA: Honey? Are you OK?
It's a tough time in life when you're struggling for manhood and your mother still outweighs you by fifty pounds.

Cut to
Ep 47 as Kevin hits the ball and Norma, Harry and others look on.

Cut to
Ep 2 as Kevin and Winnie run toward the swings.

It evoked an era.

Cut to a kaleidoscopic design.

And a period...

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin and Paul pause at the top of the school steps.

In everyones life...

Cut to Ep 1
Mr. Diperna hurries after Kevin and grabs his shoulder.
MR. DIPERNA: Young man!

FRED SAVAGE(V/O): It was about his little...

Cut to Fred Savage in a studio setting. He is wearing a blue denim shirt.

FRED: Piece of turf...(gestures)...you know, his claim in the world.

Cut to Ep 1
Debbie Ackerman smiles toward Kevin. Kevin smiles at Debbie, then bangs his head with the locker door.

It brought back...

Cut to Ep 27
Norma and Jack look at floor tile samples.

Happy memories...

Cut to Ep 14
Wayne dances in the kitchen.

And a longing for...

Cut to Ep 40
Winnie and Kevin are about to take their seats in class.

A simpler time.

Cut to Ep 21
Couples promenade.

Cut to Ep 64
Kevin and Wayne are on their beds.
WAYNE: Butthead!
KEVIN: Dork!

Cut to Olivia d'Abo in a studio setting. She is wearing a white shirt and black vest.

OLIVIA: It was a period-piece, but yet...(frowns)...it didn't seem like it had been that far away.

Cut to Ep 70
Norma holds up a pack of hotdogs.
NORMA: Hotdogs or hamburgers?!
Jack holds a fishing pole as a clump of lake-weed swings by on the line.

DAN LAURIA (V/O): For me...

Cut to studio setting of Dan Lauria. He is wearing a dark-gray patterned shirt.

DAN: It was capturing my youth. (Gestures.)

Cut to Ep 43
Paul skeptically looks at his dribbling Jell-0, and Hobson sits next to him.

Throughout its award-winning run...

Cut to Ep 27
Norma pauses at the dining room doorway.

Wonder Years built a big following...

Cut to Ep 44
Jack puts his arm around Kevin.

Out of life's...

Cut to Ep 45
Norma looks toward Karen.

Small moments.

Cut to Ep 1
At the kitchen table, Kevin looks off.

ALLEY MILLS (V/O): All the comedy had to be really subtle.

Cut to a studio shot of Alley Mills. She is wearing a dark blue jacket, white shirt, red bandana, and pearl necklace.

ALLEY: And really...(gestures)...about the characters.

Cut to Ep 3
Jack comes through the kitchen door.
NORMA: Hi hon, how's work?
JACK: Work's work.

DANICA McKELLAR (V/O): So many times...

Cut to studio shot of Danica McKellar. She is wearing a medium-brown leather jacket and gray shirt. Her hair is in a ponytail or bun.

DANICA: People on the street would say..."gosh, you know, it feels like my childhood"...

Cut to Ep 17
Winnie jumps on the bed.

DANICA (V/O): I think that's when...

Kevin rolls his eyes and looks ill as Winnie bounces.

DANICA (V/O): It started to hit me..."wow..."

Cut to Ep 15
Paul waves for the basketball.

DANICA (V/O): "This is really..."

Cut to Ep 2
Wayne and Kevin wrestle as Paul watches.

DANICA (V/O): "Telling these people's stories."

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin smiles at the greaser.
KEVIN: Oh, right.

Cut to white film, then a "home movie" clip of the Arnold's gathering near the lamp-post. The camera pulls back, revealing the computer-generated TV screen and graphics around the frame. Across the top of the screen is "The Wonder Years", and on the left side is "Comedy Coming of Age". The image changes to a home video of a backyard barbeque as Jack cooks as Norma holds a plate, then the image changes to Kevin waving at the camera as he holds the baseball bat and wears his green shirt.

Fade to Ep ?
Kevin is in the kitchen, holding a grass rake.
KEVIN: Hmmm. Excuse me. (Smiles.)
Jack, Norma and Karen are at the dining table, looking toward Kevin. Kevin looks puzzled, then steps forward.

The show that would take them down memory lane...

Cut to a still picture of Fred holding a baseball bat.

Began life in 1987, as the brain-child of...

Fade to B/W picture of Black & Marlens.

Husband-and-wife producing team, Neal Marlens, and Carol Black.

Publicity shot of cast of "Growing Pains".

The pair were veterans of ABC's hit, "Growing Pains".

Fade to picture of Bill Cosby.

And with that series and other sitcoms like the "Cosby Show"....

Still of Michael J. Fox, Justine Bateman and Missy Gold (?)

And "Family Ties" dominating the ratings...

Close shot of a newspaper article:
Headline - "Black, Marlens ink with New World"
Body: New World Television has entered into an agreement with The Black/Marlens Co., headed by writer/producers Carol Black and Neal Marlens, it was announced by Jon Feltheimer, executive vp, New World Television."

Marlens and Black decided to write a family-friendly comedy of their own.

Close shot of a script:

- SUBURBAN STREET - LATER*********

...moves up a tree lined block, feel...*********

NARRATOR

I went for a walk. Travelled...

streets I'd once known....

when life was...simple...

...ER ANGLE as Kevin finds himself at...

chain fence. He hears the sound

looks through to

Quick cut through the leader frames of a film. Stock footage of a crowd at a political rally.

But unlike its predecessors...

Fade to clip of RF Kennedy at a podium giving the V-for-victory, then running his hand through his hair.

The Wonder Years was set in...

Clip of two officers carrying someone away. Clip of a long-haired man.

The late nineteen-sixties.

Clip of a policeman on a motorcycle.

A turbulent era...

Clip of a Saturn V rocket lifting off.

In politics and culture...

Clip of a motorcade and bodyguards trotting along side.

Shot of a script:
ACT ONE..........................................FADE IN:
STOCK FOOTAGE - A MONTAGE OF CLIPS FROM 1968
SHOTS of RFK, Martin Luther King, Vietnam
moments of that year.

>>>> NARRATOR
>>>>1968. I was 12 years old. A lot

That would serve as a backdrop to the everyday life of Kevin Arnold, an average 11-year old boy.

Slightly wider shot as the camera pans down the script.

The script was also different in its innovative use...

Closer shot of the page as the camera pans up past this paragraph:

NARRATOR (CONT'D)

There's no pretty way of putting

this...I grew up in the suburbs. I

guess most people think of the

suburbs as a place with all the

disadvantages of the city and none

of the advantages of the country

and vice a versa. But, in a way

those really were the wonder years

for us there in the suburbs. It

was kind of a golden age for kids.

Of a running voice-over commentary...from the perspective of the adult Kevin.

The camera pauses on this paragraph:

1968. I was 12 years old. A lot

happened that year. Denny Mclain

won 31 games. The Mod Squad hit the

air and I graduated from Hillcrest

elementary and entered Junior High

School. But we'll get to that...

DANIEL STERN (V/O): Kevin Arnold...

Fade to studio setting of Daniel Stern. He is wearing a navy swearter, white T-shirt, and beard.

DANIEL: Was a great universal "that's me"...that's the guy who...goes one step forward, and one step back. I mean, life just...doesn't always work out.

Fade to shot of the script.

BOB BRUSH (V/O): What they created was this role which on one-hand was so silly and insignificant...

The camera moves in on this section:

NARRATOR

There that's me Kevin Arnold, 1968.

the summer before junior high

school.

KEVIN ARNOLD (12) runs down the street for a pass.

NARRATOR (CONT'D)

And I don't mind saying I was a

pretty fair athlete.

The ball is thrown right to him. Kevin DROPS the ball.

Cut to studio shot of Bob Brush. He is wearing a black shirt.

BOB: A seventh grader's junior high school experience? I mean, this sounds so trivial...

Shot of the script.

BOB (V/O): And yet, by adding the overlay of...

The camera pans down the script which mentions "Whinnie's brother" (mispelled name!)

BOB (V/O): The older Kevin Arnold looking back at this...

Very close shot of page as the camera pans across:
NARRATOR

This is the way most of my

conversations with my brother Wayne

ended. Apparently he just deeply

regretted the fact that I had been born

and he wanted me to feel the same

way.

BOB (V/O): Everything that continues to be so funny also has a sharp tang to it.

Although the other networks passed on the script...

Fade to an ABC logo with the words "America's Watching!" under it.

Executives at ABC were intrigued...and saw how the show might appeal to the huge baby-boomer audience, many of whom had come of age in the sixties.

Close shot of a TV guide listing from "The Hollywood Reporter, Wednesday, February 3, 1988". The headline is "the TV Rate Race."

The network was lagging behind in the ratings race, and was willing to take risks to get back on top.

BOB: I think that there was still, for a lot of the executives in 1980, there was still a sense, you know, that if they personally felt the show was strong, that that counted for something.

B/W shot of the script. The three-word TWY logo is at the top.

ABC gave the go-ahead for a pilot episode.

The camera pans down past:

"Pilot"
(B90522)
Written by:
Carol Black & Neal Marlens

Production company New World entertainment funded the enterprise...

Fade to a closer shot of the page. The camera pans down to corner of the page that shows:

"The Black/Marlens Company" (logo)
in association with
New world Television" (logo).

And Marlens and Black began auditioning talent.

Shot of a page of script.

Finding the right child-actor to play the lead character of Kevin Arnold...

The camera moves in on the page.

Was the key to the shows success or failure.

Fade to publicity head shot of Fred, smiling at the camera.

But the search was soon over. Nearly every casting director in town recommended an 11-year old from Chicago named Fred Savage.

Fade to shot of a movie poster for "The Princess Bride".

Who had appeared in the movies "The Princess Bride", and...

Fade to shot of movie poster for "Vice Versa".

"Vice Versa". The producers quickly offered Fred the job. He accepted...

Shot of a Savage-family group photo.

After clearing it with his parents, Joanne and Lew, who wanted to make sure their son's career didn't ruin his life.

Fade to another shot of Fred.

FRED (V/O): I think, my parents more than I - cause I was so...I mean, I was just eleven or twelve, ya know...I was so young...but I think they had a sense of what that could mean...

Cut to

FRED: If it was picked up and it was successful...that means we're in L.A., you know, for potential years, you know...so I think that...I think that...the script was so fantastic that..I think this is worth it.

Cut to Ep 1
KEVIN: (Sigh) Well, the jock strap, sir...is a particular...type of strap...
Kevin glances at Mr. Cutlip off-screen, then looks off.
KEVIN: That's constructed of a strap-type material...
(Kevin glances at Mr. Cutlip, then looks off.
KEVIN: Which is utilized exclusively...for the purposes...of...jocks.
Kevin bites his lip slightly. Mr. Cutlip frowns at Kevin in thought as the sound of a diving airplane is heard. He glances off, then back to Kevin. The boys look at Mr. Cutlip, and flinch at the sound of the airplane crashing.

Fade to shot of a script. Fade to still shot from the movie "Diner".

Equally important, was of casting the other Kevin, the voice of the narrator.

The camera moves in on Daniel Stern.

Actor, Daniel Stern who had come to fame in the movie "Diner", was happy to audition for the part.

DANIEL (V/O): I went in and did a sort of anonymous reading...of the script.

Cut to

DANIEL: I was..."contestant number six"...(gestures)...or something like that, because I didn't wanna...I think they didn't wanna have the...baggage of who the person was, they just wanted it to be straight voice, uh, uh, uh...(shrugs)...and I got the job.

Cut to a B/W picture of Alley Mills.

To play Norma Arnold, Kevin's traditional home-maker mom, the show's creators hired Alley Mills.

ALLEY (V/O): Not only was I not married...but I'd never played a mother.

Cut to

ALLEY: When I read the script, I thought..."why is she thinking of me - this is ridiculous"...(frowns)...I played sort of tough...you know, cuspy, edgy, sarcastic people.

Cut to Ep 1
Norma approaches the kitchen table.
NORMA: When your father gets back, try not make him crazy.

For the character of Kevin's father, grouchy Jack Arnold, the network...

(Norma hands Jack a drink as he approaches.)

Fade to B/W headshot of Dan Lauria.

Was hoping to land a famous name. But Marlens and Black lobbied hard for Dan Lauria, a little-known theater actor they had worked with on "Growing Pains".

DAN (V/O): When I went in to...

Cut to

DAN: Audition for the networks, I almost blew it again. I had a very good audition...and out of the dark, one of the executives says "you realize this is a great role". (Smiles). And I yell back, "No, Richard the Third's a great role - this is a pretty good role, so it'll be a lot of fun". (Smiles.) Neal said he could have killed me when I said that. (Chuckles).

Cut to shot of a list of characters.

The camera pans across it.

For the rest of the main characters...

Cut to shot of Olivia d'Abo.

Kevin's friends and siblings...

Shot of Jason Hervey on a skateboard.

Black and Marlens picked kids more on real-life traits...

Shot of a woman holding a level against a wall, measuring Danica, who is smiling at her.

Than professional experience.

Cut to shot of Olivia d'Abo.

Olivia d'Abo, a British teen with a bohemian upbringing...wes cast as Kevin's hippie big-sister, Karen.

OLIVIA (V/O): I was a teenager myself, so I was drawing off of...

Cut to

OLIVIA: I guess, that kind of, like, inate rebellion that was kind of existing within me.

Cut to Ep 1
KAREN: I'm gonna get some birth-control pills. I thought you should know.
Kevin's eyes get large as he turns to Jack. Jack frowns at Karen. Sound of a tea-pot whistle starting, and Jack bangs the table with his fist.
JACK: I didn't hear what I just heard!

Close shot Danica, age 9-ish.

The producers selected newcomer, Danica McKellar, to play Winnie Cooper, the love of Kevin's life.

DANICA (V/O): I'll never forget it...because Fred was sitting there...and I didn't know who he was...

Cut to

DANICA: But, I just thought he was adorable. (Giggles.) Like..."oh, who's that? - I wonder if it's the guy", you know. (Giggles.) I mean, I was twelve and he was twelve, and I thought he was cute.

Cut to Ep 1
Winnie picks up the football.
WAYNE (V/O): Come on Kevin, stop gabbing with your girlfriend. (Smiles.)
Kevin takes the ball, and walks toward the camera.
KEVIN: She's not my girlfriend!
Winnie frowns slightly and watches Kevin walk away.

Cut to shot of Jason holding Fred in his arms.

For the part of Kevin's brash and bullying older brother, Wayne...

Cut to headshot of Jason.

Black and Marlens chose young veteran Hollywood actor, Jason Hervey.

ALLEY (V/O): He's just really sweet, and he's also...

Fade to

ALLEY: Completely his character. (Giggles, then holds up her hand.) He won't mind me saying this...I mean, I love him, because he's...always a butthead.

Cut to Ep 1
Wayne looks at Kevin.
WAYNE: Uh-oh, think girlfriend's mad at you.
Wayne frowns exaggeratedly.
WAYNE: Maybe you'd better go give her a big French kiss.
Wayne looks at Steve and smiles, then at Kevin and sticks his tongue out, and smiles.)
KEVIN: Shut up, Wayne! (Frowns.)

Cut to publicity shot of Josh smiling at the camera.

In order to land the role of Paul, Kevin's nerdy best friend, Josh Saviano demonstrated a very special ability.

JOSH (V/O): They asked me, in particular, if I could wheeze, because...

Cut to studio setting with Josh Saviano. He is wearing a black turtleneck sweater, and his hair is moussed.

JOSH: The character called for an asthmatic, allergic...wheezer.

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin and Paul enter from outside. Paul is limping and coughing as Kevin supports him. Cut to Paul shaking his head.

JOSH (V/O): And I couldn't wheeze at all.

Cut to

JOSH: And I said...(frowns)... "well, what if I sneeze?"

Cut to another shot of Josh looking at the camera.

JOSH (V/O): And they said, "yeah, that'll work."

Fade to

JOSH: And I remember Neal looked at me, and goes - "that's it!"

Cut to home movie clip from intro as the Arnolds gather on the sidewalk.

With the cast in place, the Wonder Years pilot went into production.

Cut to Ep 1
Wide shot past some busses of the front of the school. Caption - "Pilot" (1/31/88)'. Kevin and Paul walk along the sidewalk and look toward the building.
Like about half the schools in the country that year, my school was being renamed...
The camera pans with the boys as they pass it. A man is working on the school sign in the background.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior High. As we approached...
Shot from the top of the building steps as Kevin, Paul, and Wayne approch in the center of a crowd of students.
Those doors for the first time...
Kevin pauses as he looks up. Paul pauses and frowns.
We felt we were approaching the portals of manhood.

To give the show a sense of intimacy...

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin and Paul approach with trays in the cafeteria.

Black and Marlens opted against the common practice of filming in front of a live studio audience. Instead, they shot with a single camera on location in suburban Los Angeles.

PAUL: Where do you want to sit?
Kevin looks off.
KEVIN: Anywhere. (Shrugs.) Let's just sit here.
They walk to a nearby table.
A suburban junior high school cafeteria is like a microcosm of the world.

They cut some of the scene to...
And, in fact, in junior high school...
Kevin glances down at his tray.
Who you are is defined less by who you are...
Kevin looks off.
Than by who's the person sitting next to you.
Kevin looks at Paul, who is sucking spaghetti.
A sobering thought.

Cut to
Mr. Diperna is hurrying through the cafeteria after Kevin.

The initial episode followed Kevin Arnold's...

Mr Diperna grabs Kevin's shoulder.

Traumatic first day...

Cut to
The greaser lifts Kevin against the lockers.

Of junior high.

Cut to Ep 1
Shot from behind a girl as she approaches Kevin, Paul and others at the bus stop.

And his growing infatuation with the girl next door.

Winnie stops in front of Kevin and Paul.
WINNIE: Hi Kevin. Hi Paul.
PAUL: Winnie Cooper?
WINNIE: Gwendolyn.
She shakes her head slightly.
WINNIE: I don't want to be called Winnie anymore. My real name is Gwendolyn.
Well, there was no question now. We were entering uncharted territory.

Fade to a shot of Winnie sitting on the rock.

The show immediately tackled a familiar moment to almost everyone.

Shot of Kevin looking at Winnie off-screen.

The first kiss.

Cut to Kevin and Winnie on the rock as he takes off his jacket and puts it around Winnie's shoulders. They sit a few seconds looking off, then at each other. They move in slowly and kiss.

Cut to

DANICA: There were six takes for that - the kissing scene.

Shot of a film leader playing on screen.

Cut to a female hand holding an electronic timer/clapper board which reads 09:47:07:28.

MALE (V/O): Marker - time marker.

The woman claps it, and the camera pans over slightly to Winnie on the rock.

DANICA (V/O): And, and...

Cut to

DANICA: They couldn't use the first one...(giggles)...because...(laughs)...right before we kissed...(gestures toward her mouth)...

Cut to "on the rock". Fred just starts to put his arm around Danica, and she makes a little smile.

DANICA (V/O): I, like, smiled.

Cut to

DANICA (Laughing): I was just too excited...(laughs)...I was like - it was too much anticipation.

Cut to a closer shot of Kevin and Winnie on the rock.

FRED (V/O): You know, it was very nervewracking - I, I, I never kissed a girl before that.

Fade to

FRED: I don't know, how to kiss a girl. (Smiles.) And our moms were there. I remember, at the end...they stand up and...(taps his palms together)...applauded us, you know...(Smiles.)

Cut to on the rock. Fred and Danica release from their hug. Sound of scattered applause. Danica smiles broadly as she takes the jacket off her shoulders. Fred smiles slightly.

Cut to Ep 1
Wayne throws a pass.

Although warm and nostalgic...

Kevin runs his pattern, and drops the pass.

The episode also captured...

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin is sitting at the dinner table as the TV news shows a reporter in Vietnam.

The darker side of life in the sixties, with the death of Winnie's big brother in Vietnam.

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin slides out of the car. Jack shuts the door and holds Kevin's arm as they walk past Norma, who is getting out. She looks after them. Jack and Kevin approach and turn onto the walkway.
And then it happened...
Kevin and Jack slow up and look past the camera.
I think we were about halfway to the front porch.
Karen and Wayne step out onto porch. They appear on verge of tears, as Karen looks off, then toward Jack and Norma.
KAREN: Brian Cooper was killed.
Kevin frowns, and Norma looks at Karen.
NORMA: Oh, my God...

ALLEY (V/O): That's what Neal and Carol said in the pilot...

Cut to

ALLEY: It was the wonder years, because it was the end of them. It was the end of innocence, I think to see that war, and people dying...you know, from our backyards...right on television, which is why I think it is so important...(gestures)...that Winnie's brother died in the pilot.

Cut to Ep 1
Norma goes inside. Jack frowns at Wayne, then sighs and looks at Kevin. Kevin looks toward Wayne, then looks at Jack as Jack squeezes his shoulder.

OLIVIA (V/O): What was so good about the show was it kinda had this...

Cut to

OLIVIA: Bittersweet...melancholic...(nods)...texture to it.

Cut to Ep 1
Kevin walks past the camera on the sidewalk.

Any doubts about the innovative format were quickly forgotten when ABC executives saw the finished pilot.

Cut shot of Brandon Stoddard looking at the camera.

ALLEY (V/O): When they showed it to the head of ABC, Brandon Stoddard, and he went out on a limb for a lot of really great television shows...

Cut to

ALLEY: And he fought for that show, and he put it after the Superbowl. (Nods.)

Cut to a still shot of the Arnold family on the sidewalk.

Producers Black and Marlens were stunned...

Fade to similar B/W shot.

When they learned their show would premier, with plenty of fanfare and a big ad campaign, immediately following the 1988 Superbowl.

The camera pans across, revealing that the picture is the left-hand page of TVGuide. The right-hand page is a full page ad for TWY:

Following the Superbowl,
a special television premiere.
A show that will make you laugh,
and make you remember.

It's 1968.
The suburbs.
And in each little house with a
Chevy in the driveway
and a TV in the den,
there are people with stories.
Families bound together
in laughter, hope, love
and wonder.

(Large three-word TWY logo.)

Click for a Scan of the TVGuide page.

Cut to a collage of 4 snapshot-like photos from the pilot.

The Wonder Years was getting a powerful, high-profile introduction. And if it didn't perform spectacularly...it would be over, almost before it had begun.

Fade to Ep 1
Kevin is looking at Mrs. Ritvo.
KEVIN:...yes. But, my own theory is...
Mrs. Ritvo is looking at him.
MRS. RITVO: You've got a tough row to hoe, young man...
She leans slightly closer and frowns.
MRS. RITVO: A tough row to hoe.
Kevin looks up at her.
KEVIN (Quietly): Yes.

Commercial

Opening credits and song starts.

On January 31, 1988, the Wonder Years made its debut on ABC, and the cast and crew held their breath.

DANICA (V/O): My mom had a Superbowl party...

Cut to

DANICA: And we had a bunch of friends and family over...and, uh, we watched the Wonder Years afterwards, and everyone sat around, and...(smiles)...I sat there...(puts her closed hands near her mouth)...like this...(Giggles.)

Fade to still photos of Winnie holding a football, and Kevin holding Paul in a strangle-hold in wrestling.

To the delight of everyone involved, millions of viewers stayed tuned...

Cut to new set of photos. The first is Kevin and Paul smiling at the camera in mid-dance (?). The second is an Arnold-family-plus-Paul group photo in the kitchen.

To check out the new show.

The camera pans down the the caption below the photos:
"It's so good you want to cry". - Howard Rosenberg, L.A. Times

And TV critics showered it with praise.

Fade to studio setting of Howard.

HOWARD: I found myself, one moment, uh...one moment...laughing hysterically at Wonder Years, the next moment, tearing up because it had this wonderful mixture of humor and nostalgia, that I felt was so honest.

Close shot of the Three-Word logo.

ABC immediately commissioned five more episodes...

The camera pans up to a photo of Kevin, Winnie and Paul sitting next to each other, smiling at the camera.

To finish out the season.

The camera pans over to two photos. One is Kevin and Paul looking at the camera and smiling. Kevin is holding a magazine or comic book. The other picture is Norma and Jack in the backyard for a barbeque.

The Wonder Years had made it into the prime-time lineup.

The camera moves in on the picture of Paul and Kevin.

JOSH (V/O): My mom and dad were...shocked.

Cut to headshot of Josh smiling at the camera.

JOSH (V/O): I had never done a pilot before. So...I just didn't know any better.

Cut to

JOSH: You know, pilots are supposed...(shrugs)...to go to series...that's, that's...(smiles)...that's what they're supposed to do. Little did I know that very few of them actually make it to series.

Cut to B/W still of Fred getting his hair brushed by a woman as Lindsey Fisher ("Margaret Farquhar") looks on.

The show's success meant a huge change for its star, Fred Savage.

Cut to B/W still of a Savage family picture.

He and his siblings, Ben and Kayla, moved out to L.A., with their mother, Joanne, while their father, Lew, flew in from Chicago every weekend.

Cut to B/W still of Fred (wearing pretty large glasses) and a woman sitting next to each other.

FRED (V/O): We'd never done anything like this, before...

The camera moves in slightly.

FRED (V/O): And ya know, I think it was all very exciting...

Cut to

FRED: For, for the whole family, for all of us, ya know, I mean, it was a great, a great thing to be a part of. (Nods.)

Cut to shot of Carol Black. The camera pulls back.

The shows producers, Carol Black and Neal Marlens...

Fred is between Carol and Neal, smiling at the camera.

Also faced big challenges. They now had to recreate...

Fade to still shot of Jack, Norma, Paul and Kevin at a backyard barbeque.

Nineteen-sixties suburban life...on a weekly basis.

BOB (V/O): Some of the costumes, and wigs...and those kinds of things...

Cut to

BOB: Look absolutely preposterous, now that you look back, and people say..."that's gotta be...they look like they're going to a Halloween party".

Cut to Ep 1
Jack and Karen are sitting at the kitchen table as Norma sets a plate of toast on it. They pause and look past the camera as Kevin crosses to the sink. He is wearing shirt of green paisley and brown stripes, blue pants and black boots.

They snip some dialog, then...
Wayne enters, looks at Kevin, holds his stomach, and bursts into laughter. Kevin looks down at his clothes.

Cut to Ep 45 (?)
Close shot of wind-up dolls. The camera pulls back to reveal Kevin looking at them.

Black and Marlens knew...

Cut to Ep 27
Norma and Jack look at floor tile samples.

That just the right costumes...

Cut to shot of Wayne and Kevin lounging on their beds.

And props were essential...

Cut to shot of the coffee cup dispenser in Ep 3.

If the show was to strike a chord...

Jack's hand reaches for the cup.

With the baby-boomers in the audience.

Wider shot of Kevin and Jack. Cut to...

ALLEY: Their attention to detail...(gestures)...was something I'd never experienced in...(shakes her head slowly)...any work I'd ever done in television. It was very costly...(raises eyebrows)...to take that much time...I mean...

Cut to Ep (?)
Norma handles some laundry.

ALLEY (V/O): Literally, the buttons on your sweater.

Cut to Ep 1
The Arnold's drive home from Kevin's school.

ALLEY (V/O): The ear-rings you'd wear...

Cut to Ep 38
Norma as holds up a table cloth sample.
NORMA: What do you think?
Jack looks up past his newspaper and frowns slightly.

DAN (V/O): Matter of fact, Alley and I...

Cut to

DAN: Would get upset 'cause every time there was a question about something, they'd look at us, because we were the two old-timers. (Smiles.)

Cut to Ep 1
The car pulls into the driveway.

The Wonder Years was designed to make nostalgic viewers think of the show...

Cut to Ep 2
Kevin and Winnie swing and the camera pulls back.

As a window on their personal pasts. So it was set in an unspecified...

Fade to Ep 27
Kevin walks his bike home.

Location.

FRED (V/O): It didn't take place in, you know...

Cut to

FRED: Boston...(gestures)...or Chicago, or L.A...or San Francisco - it just took place...

Fade to Ep 2
Kevin steps off the curb to meet Winnie in the street.

FRED (V/O): In like, "Anytown, USA".

Fade to shot of an approaching school bus.

FRED (V/O): So...people could project their own experiences on to it.

Close shot of a script.

But the show's scripts were even more important than its setting.

The camera pans down to:
CUTLIP
(addressing the kids)
Men...these are ropes.

NARRATOR

In gym, we were introduced to the

obvious.

CUTLIP

Respect them...and they won't

hurt you.

A giant rope sways in front of Cutlip and gets

caught on his face. He bats it away. PAUL AND KEVIN

look at each other.

The camera pauses.

And Black and Marlens paid special attention to the voice-over narration.

Cut to Ep 2
Mr. Cutlip looks at the kids as he tosses the chalk up and catches it.
Sex-ed class. Seventh grade.
Caption - '"Swingers" (3/22/88) with Robert Picardo'". (Kyle's note - the narrator line above had to come from Ep 69 clip show. Ep 2 narration is different.)
MR. CUTLIP: Now. The female reproductive organs...look like this.
Mr. Cutlip turns toward the blackboard. Paul smiles excitedly and gestures.
PAUL (Whispers.): Alright! (Smiles.)

A few seconds of the scene is cut, then...

Mr. Cutlip turns away from the blackboard, revealing his drawing. Kevin looks at the drawing and frowns.
Unfortunately, it looked more like...a cow's head to me.
Kevin shrugs slightly.

DANIEL (V/O): The interesting thing was, that it really...

Cut to

DANIEL: Uh...wasn't...the voice-over. I mean, it was one of the...it was a great character.

Cut to Ep 2
Kevin and Winnie walk side-by-side up a curving path toward the camera, looking forward.
When Winnie got back from her uncles we went for a walk in the park. Neither of us said a word about it of course...but we both knew the park was where you went to make out.

BOB (V/O): What he could do with those words, and, uh...

Fade to

BOB: The twists, and the comedy he could put on them - or the, or the really deep feeling he put in them...(nods)...made the show...

Fade to Ep 2
Kevin and Winnie continue onto the baseball diamond.

BOB (V/O): In many ways, what it was.

They walk side-by-side. Kevin looks at Winnie.
I didn't know what to do...
Kevin looks down.
Our first kiss had happened so naturally I couldn't even remember how I did it!
Winnie glances at Kevin, then looks forward.
Did I, did I breathe through my mouth or my nose?
Winnie glances at Kevin, then looks forward.
Well, I had to make some kind of move.
Kevin looks at Winnie, then starts to put his arm around her. Kevin holds his arm out behind Winnie, then drops it, holds it behind her again, drops it, then holds it near her shoulder, then finally slaps Winnie's shoulder. Winnie looks at him, slightly surprised.
KEVIN: There was a bug on you. (Gestures.)
WINNIE: Oh. (Frowns.)
She glances at Kevin, then looks forward.
WINNIE: Thanks.
She glances at Kevin, slightly puzzled, as Kevin looks down.
Some move.

Close shot of a beaded bracelet on an arm.

All the care...

The camera pulls back to show a shot of Olivia smiling at the camera, and resting on Alley's shoulder.

That went into the initial casting showed in the chemistry between the actors.

Fade to shot of Dan and Jason smiling at the camera.

FRED (V/O): Well, Hervey was definitely like a big brother.

The camera moves in on Jason.

FRED (V/O): Telling me about girls...and I was...

Cut to

FRED: Captivated...(gestures)...by his tales of the night-life and all...(giggles)...and all these other things he'd tell me.

Cut to Ep 15
In Kevin's driveway, Paul is dribbling the basketball.
PAUL: There's nothing stopping this kid! He's like a machine out there!

FRED (V/O): Josh and I, ya know, really hit it off, and...

Cut to

FRED: You know, were good friends...

Cut to

JOSH: We were both eleven, I think...(Frowns.)

Cut to close still shot of Josh. The camera pulls back to reveal Fred as they stand back-to-back smiling at the camera.

JOSH (V/O): And, we didn't know anybody, in California, so we naturally became very close, very quickly.

Fade to

JOSH: We bonded over...boy things...over Nintendo, over video games, over baseball cards...

Cut to Ep 2
Kevin and Winnie approach each other in the street.
KEVIN: Hi. (Smiles.)
WINNIE: Whatcha doing?
Kevin shrugs slightly.
KEVIN: Nothing.

FRED (V/O): Danica was an angel. She was very...very well disciplined...

Cut to

FRED: Danica...and so...we tried everything we could...(shakes his head)...to shake her, but...to no avail. (Smiles.)

Cut still shot of Danica and Fred.

DANICA (V/O): I'd do my scene, and then sit down, and then...I'd go back to the schoolroom. I was a big nerd.

Cut to

DANICA: I really was. (Nods and smiles.)

Cut to Ep 1
Karen enters from outside.
NORMA: Karen, honey...you said you were gonna come home early and help me with dinner.
KAREN: Peace mom, OK? (Gestures.)

FRED (V/O): My relationship with Olivia...

Kevin looks off.

FRED (V/O): Was a lot like, I think, Kevin and Karen.

Cut to

FRED: I was always just so, in awe...(gestures)...and kind of intimidated by it.

Fade to shot of Fred and Olivia with her arms around him.

OLIVIA (V/O): I felt very protective over him.

Cut to

OLIVIA: I just think he's the most adorable thing on the face of the earth and I always will.

Cut to shot of Jason, Dan and Alley smiling at the camera.

Veteran actors Dan Lauria and Alley Mills also...

Cut to shot of Jason, Olivia, Dan and Fred. Dan has his arms around their shoulders.

Took the youngsters under their wings.

The camera moves in on Fred.

FRED (V/O): Dan and Alley...they weren't like...authoritarian figures...

Cut to

FRED: Or, or, or, or...you know, disciplinarians...(gestures)...at all.

Cut to shot of Olivia, Fred and Alley. The camera moves in on Alley.

ALLEY (V/O): I wasn't married...I didn't have kids...and I developed this weirdly maternal relationship with him.

Cut to

ALLEY: Even though he was also like, one of my close friends...as a little kid. (Smiles.)

Fade to close shot of Fred smiling at the camera. The camera pulls back slowly to reveal Dan smiling at the camera.

DAN (V/O): I loved workin' with Fred. On the first day...of workin' on the Wonder Years...they said, you know, if he could help this kid out...

The camera pulls back revealing Dan.

DAN: It'd be great. (Nods.) I said "yeah, sure - anything I can do"...(shrugs) ya know. I did one scene with Fred...I turned around to everybody and and said, "don't anybody help this kid out."

Cut to still from Ep 38 as Jack shows Fred how to handle a power saw.

FRED (V/O): Dan taught me a lot. He would sit down and show me old movies...

Cut to shot from Ep 44
Kevin and Jack sit on the couch.

FRED (V/O): Our whole relationship was built around watching old movies together. Talking about old directors, and old film stars, and...going over to his house...

Cut to

FRED: On the weekends...watching a...double-feature he'd put together for me - Cagney double-feature - are his favorite. Cagney.

Shot of Kevin sitting in front of the bumper of the car.

But despite the harmony on the set...

The camera pulls back revealing the Arnold's are washing the car.

The producers made sure the the Wonder Years reflected the ups and downs faced by...

Cut to Ep 12
Jack, Norma, Kevin and Wayne are stopped in the car, apparently lost.

Most families, everyday.

Jack and Norma turn to face the kids, and speak simultaneously.
JACK: Kevin! Wayne! I told you to knock it off!
NORMA: Boys! That's enough!
High shot of the car backing up.

HOWARD (V/O): The family, itself...

Cut to

HOWARD: Was so interesting to me because it not a perfect family...

Cut to Ep 12
At dinner, everyone is uncomfortable.

HOWARD (V/O): It was a loving family, but at the same time...

Kevin looks toward Jack.

HOWARD (V/O): The father is sort of incommunicative and gruff...

Jack glances toward Kevin uneasily.

HOWARD (V/O): The mother...

Norma stands up, holding an empty bowl.

HOWARD (V/O): Sort of off, and...a little spacey, at times...

Wayne grabs Kevin's collar.

HOWARD (V/O): The big brother used to, you know...pummel the little brother.

Cut to still from Ep 3 as Kevin sits at Jack's desk.

Kevin's growing pains were usually mined for comedy. But they also led to some of the show's most affecting episodes.

Fade to

HOWARD: There was just one wonderful episode, where work - where his father takes him to work...

Cut to Ep 3
Jack and Kevin walk across the parking lot toward NORCOM.

HOWARD (V/O): With him. And he looks up to him, because his father has some sort of...

Jack and Kevin return from their coffee break.

HOWARD (V/O): Low-level executive job.

Caption - '"My Father's Office" (3/29/88) with Ken Swofford'.

I'll never forget how I felt at that moment. I felt that my father was a great man.
Jack flips Kevin's tie and Kevin smiles. Jack opens the door and enters, followed by Kevin. Jack's boss approaches, looking upset. Wisanski stands behind his desk in the background.
MR. KELLER: What the hell is this, Arnold?! (He points at papers): This is incompetence, just plain incompetence!
JACK: Look, Al...Wisanski -
Mr. Keller gestures and nods in Wisanski's direction.
MR. KELLER: Nevermind Wisanski! He works for you!
Kevin frowns and looks at the men.
MR. KELLER: Now this is the third major screw up in your department in the last two months.

HOWARD (V/O): And his father is royally...chewed out by his boss...in front of Kevin.

Cut to

HOWARD: But in no way...does Kevin look down on his father because of this, and...

Cut to Ep 3
Jack enters the kitchen.

HOWARD (V/O): I'll never forget that the scene were they both come home...the father walks in, he's angry as heck...and the door opens again and Kevin walks in and he's angry as heck - and he's become like a reflection of his father.

Cut to

HOWARD: And the respect ...(voice wavers)...the respect is still there - here I go tearing up again - it was just an incredible episode - great television.

Cut to still of the Arnold family standing in the driveway.

The Wonder Years' brief first season was a resounding success.

The camera pans down the page to an article entitled "Something to Grow On".

And ABC took the unusual step of renewing it for three more years.

Cut to Emmy awards as Alley smiles and hurries up the aisle. Caption - '"The Wonder Years" outstanding Comedy Series'.

And in September of 1988, the show surprised everyone in the television world...

Cut to a shot of Fred, Jason and Olivia hurrying up the steps to the stage.

When it won the Emmy award for best comedy series - beating out established hits such as "Cheers" and "The Golden Girls".

Wider shot of the stage as Alley and Olivia hug.

OLIVIA (V/O): It was really, really exciting, because we...

Cut to

OLIVIA: All went up as a family. There was no question that it was just gonna be one person - we were all gonna go up...and get the award.

Fade to still shot of Kevin and Norma.

But the cast and crew's joy was short-lived.

The camera pulls back to reveal the other Arnold's, plus Paul, seated around the sofa.

They were soon shocked by an unexpected decision.

Fade to shot from Ep 19(?)
Kevin leans on the doorjamb.

And wondered if the show could survive a major creative change that was just around the corner.

Commercial

Shot of the December 17-22, 1988 TVGuide cover with a head shot of Fred smiling at the camera.

The Wonder Years began its second season as a critical darling with a devoted following. But halfway through that year...

Fade to shot of Black and Marlens.

The series faced its first major crisis...when creators Neal Marlens and Carol Black abruptly announced...

Closer shot of Marlens.

They were leaving, for personal reasons...

The camera pans over to Carol Black.

That the intensely private couple kept to themselves.

Fade to

ALLEY: When I heard they were leaving, I was devastated. And freaked. Because I was sure that was, you know, that was gonna be it.

Cut to B/W shot of a man, Alley, and Bob on a set.

Marlens and Black turned their creation over to writer and producer, Bob Brush.

The camera moves in on Bob.

The pair had been the show's main writers, so now, Brush had no scripts and no time to catch up.

BOB (V/O): It was a big responsibility.

Fade to

BOB: This is really a quite wonderful show, and we had a big change-over of staff...and, uh, that's when I brought over Ken Topolsky to line-produce the show, who was a tremendous support...

Cut to

KEN: I met Bob for breakfast, he said "look, I need a producer, and I've got no scripts." (Smiles.) "Ya interested?" I said "how bad it it?". He goes (makes face) "it's horrible." "Great - sign me up." (Smiles.)

Cut to Ep 11
Kevin walks up the hallway.

As he took charge of the show scripts, Brush continued the storyline that dealt with Kevin's...

Kevin pauses and looks past the camera. Shot of Winnie and Kirk kissing.

On-again-off-again romance with Winnie Cooper.

Cut to Ep 11
Kevin tosses his tray onto the table and looks at Paul. Caption - '"Just Between You & Me & Clara" (1/18/89)' (They spelled "Carla" wrong :-)
KEVIN: There's no way that I can't talk to Winnie! We're still friends! (Gestures.) All I have to do is go up to her and say...
Kevin looks off.
KEVIN: "Winnie!"
Cut to the athletic field as Winnie throws her hair back, making her a little dizzy, accompanied by harp music. Kevin stands a short distance away, looking at her.
KEVIN: Uh...
Kevin glances away, uncertainly.
KEVIN: Eh...

DANICA (V/O): The way that...Winnie Cooper was portrayed was always from a distance.

Winnie rubs her leg.

DANICA (V/O): You know, even when Kevin and Winnie were close...

Fade to

DANICA: Winnie was still this unknown entity. There was always an air of mystery, and, and, like "who is that person? what's going on?"

Cut to Ep 23
Kevin and Winnie face each other in the driveway.
KEVIN: Well? Did you show it to anybody?
Winnie has a blank look.
WINNIE: Show what?
KEVIN: Well, the yearbook...(shrugs)..you know - what I wrote?
WINNIE: Oh. (Frowns.)
KEVIN: Yeah, well you can just forget about it, OK?! 'Cause I didn't mean a word of it! I mean, you can just rip out the page and throw it in the garbage because -
Winnie takes Kevin by the shoulders and kisses him on the mouth. She pulls away and Kevin stares at her, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. Winnie looks blankly at Kevin for a moment, then runs off. Kevin looks after her.)

Graphic effect and cut to Ep 21
Mr. Cutlip and Miss Bruntley stand near a record player and Mr. Cutlip reads from book.
MR. CUTLIP: Promenade - now don't be shy, grab your lady...
Heidi and Paul approach, smiling.
MR. CUTLIP: And pass on by.
They separate and pass the camera. Kevin and Margaret join hands and approach. Margaret is smiling, but Kevin is stiff and uneasy. He glances at Margaret, then looks off.)

First-love could be a grueling, nerve-wracking ordeal.

Cut to shot of the cast rehearsing the square-dance in the gym.

MAN: *Action! Girls go.*

Not unlike planning a TV production around child-actors.

Cut to shot of Robert Picardo in a chair. The camera pans across other crew and monitors as the cast practices.

Minors could only be on the set for nine-and-a-half hours each day.

Cut to another shot of Lindsey, Fred and others rehearsing the dance. Fred kneels and reaches for his shoelace.

And much of that time was taken up by mandatory schooling sessions, recreation breaks, and meals.

KEN: The biggest thing that affected the schedule, was certainly we were working with minors, particularly one that was in every scene.

Cut to school stairs set at the end of of Ep 16. A man and Fred are near the railing, waiting for the cue. He walks forward.

Cut to Ep 16
Kevin approaches the camera and emerges into the sunlight.

Cut to candid clip of the cast, crew and camera in the scene.

MAN (V/O): And two, and three.

FRED (V/O): Every minute counted.

Cut to

FRED: We'd go to the bathroom - like there'd be someone like...(pretends to write on a notepad)..."OK, went to the bathroom for...", (looks at interviewer off-screen) like, you know, forty-five seconds...(smiles and gestures.)

Cut to Ep 21 rehearsals. Fred stretches goofily.

FRED (V/O): Or three minutes if I had a lot to eat. As a teenager, you wanted to goof off. We would always try to...

Cut to

FRED: Escape and dodge...(gestures)...we had little hiding places around the stage, you could kinda...get away from people, you know...(Gestures.)

Cut to clip of Fred on the cafeteria set of Ep 16. He is wearing his glasses, has his hands pulled into the cuffs of his Jets jacket, and is slowly walking around.

Even with the sceduling constraints...

Cut to shot of Fred and Josh. They smile at the camera, and Josh waggles his fingers.

The producers made a point of giving the kids something resembling a normal childhood.

The camera pans across some tripods and equipment, then back to Fred and an older man on the set. Fred points past the camera.

Fred: That's my brother. And that's my brother's best friend ****.

Shot of Ben, and two other boys.

MAN (V/O): Hi, Mike! Nice to meet you.

Cut to

JOSH: We had a basketball court, uh, "the pit", which was an old storage pit, and all the crew guys, we took 'em out to play with us.

Still shot from Ep 4 of Norma lookng at Louis off-screen.

ALLEY (V/0): Bob Brush and Ken Topolsky, they would get really mad a me.

The camera pulls back to reveal Kevin, and Norma cutting the chicken.

ALLEY (V/0): But I said..."we gotta play! This is a boy!" So I did things like...

Cut to Alley gesturing toward her nose.

ALLEY: Once I put peas in my nose, and when it was...(points)...on his close-up, I went...(demonstrates)..."hhhhnn" with the peas into my Coke.

Cut to shot from Ep 17 as Norma inspect Kevin's throat.

ALLEY (V/O): And we ended up doing stuff like that a lot, off-camera, so if it was somebody else's close-up, we'd try to crack 'em up.

Fade to still of Kevin and Wayne at the kitchen table in Ep 12.

Although life behind the scenes revolved around the young actors...

The camera pulls back to reveal Karen sitting at the table, too. They are looking toward the kitchen.

The show itself often tackled...

Cut to Ep 12
Kevin frowns and looks at Jack.

Serious adult themes...

Jack reaches for the cup Norma made, then pauses and frowns at it.

Including problems in...

Kevin looks off and frowns slightly.

The Arnold marriage.

Jack looks coolly at Norma.
JACK: Where're you goin'?
Norma looks at Jack as she adjusts her coat and reaches for her purse.
NORMA: I better get your Pepsi while it's still fresh on my mind.

DANIEL: Dan and Alley were...had this huge...scene, where they had to fight in the kitchen...(Gestures.)

Jack looks at Norma.
JACK: Don't bother - I'll get it.
Norma looks at Jack.
Caption - '"Pottery Will Get You Nowhere" (2/1/89)'
NORMA: No, that's OK, Jack - I'll get it.
Jack looks at Norma.
JACK: No, I said I'll get it...
Jack reaches next to the vase. Norma hurriedly picks up the vase.
NORMA: Don't break it!
JACK: I'm not gonna break it, Norma! (Gestures.)
NORMA: Just because you hate my pottery is no reason...

DANIEL (V/O): Dan and Alley...

Cut to

DANIEL: Were terrific - just great performances.

He turns and looks to the side, framing an area with his hands.

DANIEL: Then we shot Fred out there, listening...

Cut to Ep 12
Kevin sits at the coffee table as Jack and Norma argue.

DANIEL (V/O): And he was...doing his...beautiful face...I mean, it's such a hard thing to just sit here and listen.

JACK (V/O): This family needs Pepsi!

Cut to

DANIEL: He was so brilliant at that. (Gestures.) Ended up playing the whole thing...(sweeps finger)...on Fred, actually.

Cut to Ep 12
Kevin sits at the coffee table as Jack and Norma argue.
NORMA (V/O): Jack! You should just listen to yourself - "I want my Pepsi! I want my cup!"
Kevin looks down and frowns, then looks toward the kitchen.
NORMA (V/O): You sound like an infant!
JACK (V/O): Don't you ever - ever!...
Kevin and Karen flinch.
JACK (V/O): Speak to me in that tone of voice!
NORMA (V/O): I'll speak the way I want to...
Shot from the dining room of Jack and Norma in the kitchen.
JACK: Fine...don't expect me to listen to it.
Jack turns and walks out the door. Norma puts her hand on her hip and looks down.

HOWARD (V/O): This is a comedy...

Cut to

HOWARD: That didn't always have to be funny to be good. You could be watching, and not necessarily laughing, but responding on an emotional level.

Fade to shot of Fred, Picardo and Josh on the set of Ep 15.

Throughout the second and third seasons, the character of Kevin Arnold continued to face...

Cut to Ep 27
In a clothes store, Norma squats down next to Kevin who is trying on some pants.

The perils of adolescence.

Norma adjusts his pant legs.
NORMA: They seem seem awefully roomy in the crotch.
Caption - '"Mom Wars" (10/21/89)'
Kevin frowns and looks around.
Gee, Mom - could you say it a little louder?! I'm not sure everyone in the store heard.
P.A.: "Attention shoppers!"
Kevin looks toward the ceiling as Norma continues to adjust the pants.
P.A.: "Attention shoppers. Plenty of room in Kevin Arnold's crotch!"

Close shot of the script from Ep 32
COLLINS

Thank you for bringing it to my

attention.

Collins looks back to his work. Kevin is stunned.

NARRATOR
Now, wait a darn minute here!

KEVIN
Mr. Collins?

Collins looks up again.

The camera pans down the script.

COLLINS
What?

KEVIN
Well...

Fade to Ep 32
Kevin stands next to Mr. Collins' desk.

He also had to confront the hard facts of life.

KEVIN: Mr. Collins?
COLLINS: Mr. Arnold?

Cut to Ep 43
Kevin trots after Mr. Collins.

FRED (V/O): We did three episodes about Kevin and his math teacher. Everyone, hopefully...

Cut to

FRED: Is fortunate, to have found one teacher that really spoke to you...

Cut to Ep 43
Mr. Collins looks after Kevin and smiles slightly. Kevin looks at Mr. Collins and smiles slightly.

FRED (V/O): That really meant something to you.

Fade to Ep 43
Mr. Collins writes on the board.
MR. COLLINS:...the lowest common denominator...