The New Wonder Years

[Gideon58]

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From Executive Producer Fred Savage, who played Kevin Arnold on the original series, comes the African American re-imagining of The Wonder Year which premiered on ABC last night. The show basically follows the premise of the original show, following the cavity-prone years of a kid growing up in 1968, with the adult version of the character serving as the show's narrator. At this point, I should mention that I don't think I ever watched a complete episode of the original series, but because I'm black and because II was only a little younger than the lead in this version when this is set, my curiosity was naturally piqued. Obviously, the difference between this reboot and the original is that racism is probably going to be at the forefront of a lot of the episodes because racism was at its zenith in 1968. There's some clever appreciation of black slang in the writing...loved the running gag based on the phrase "Stay out of grown folks' business." But the story of the black little league team playing a white team for the first time just wasn't that interesting and the battle between Coach Long (Allan Maldonado) and Dean's dad (Dule Hill) was just silly and the segue to the pretentious conclusion revolving around Martin Luther King's assassination was a little convenient. Right now, this show is a nice idea, but nothing special. The writers need to put a little more work into Don Cheadle's narration, which isn't sure if it wants to duplicate Daniel Stern in the original or be more like Chris Rock's narration in Everybody Hates Chris. Dule Hill is excellent as the dad, but other than that, the cast is nothing special, but I'm willing to give it a couple more episodes.

[Allaby]

Yeah, I thought it was just alright. I'm on the fence about tuning in for the next episode.

[Gideon58]

I always try to give new shows at least three episodes to grab me.

[Allaby]

I always try to give new shows at least three episodes to grab me.

That's a good approach. For me, it depends on the show. Some shows I give up after the first episode. Others I will give them at least a handful episodes. I watched the first episode of Ordinary Joe and thought that was ok. I watched Our Kind of People and didn't really care for it. Have you seen Ordinary Joe or Our Kind of People, Gideon?

[Gideon58]

I haven't seen either one, yet, but I was actually planning on watching both of them.

[John Dumbear]

The original is my all time favorite series. Love Don Cheadle, but afraid it will pale in comparison.I've got it recorded and may watch it tonight.

[Captain Steel]

They've got a tough act to follow using the same title & premise. (I still may try to check it out, though.)

In hindsight, the original is now a masterpiece of classic TV that most likely will never be matched.

I only saw the original in re-runs (used to watch it in the afternoons before going to my 2nd shift job) and it was always an emotional rollercoaster for me. Kevin was a bit older than me (the character that is, not Fred Savage in real life who's quite a bit younger than me). He was about the same age as my older brothers. Still, it was a show that almost anyone close to the era could relate to.

I used to think the Wonder Years was directly inspired by the movie Stand By Me (1986) - had a modern narrator remembering his life as a boy... but the Internet says the Wonder Years was directly inspired by A Christmas Story (1983) - which had the same thing!

[Gideon58]

Just watched ep 2 and the initial appearance of milking MLK's death provided a pleasant surprise, if not necessarily realistic. First, the nod to the severe overlength and boredom Dean had with church hit a direct bullseye for me. This coming from someone who was dragged to church every Sunday and fell asleep every time the sermon began. The white guilt over MLK being used to Dean's advantage was very funny, if not terrible realistic. I was in the 4th grade when MLK was assassinated and I got no special treatment. Loved the resolution of the Dean/Corey conflict and there was a huge improvement in the writing of Cheadle's narration, which he, of course nailed. Dule Hill is continuing to kill it as the dad and yes, I will be watching ep 3.

[John Dumbear]

Thought episode 2 was better than the pilot. I'll keep giving it a shot.

[Gideon58]

Ep 3 was kind of odd...the idea of Dean finding his dad's magazine stash was fine, but the mother legitimizing it and confessing that the magazines were hers and that she and Dad liked to look at them together was just strange to me. And what Mom did would have been all right if she had had Dean's back in the principal's office with the girl's father, but she didn't, which made no sense to me. I just didn't buy a lot of what happened in this episode, but I think I'm going to keep watching.

[Gideon58]

Ep 4 started out kind of predictable but had a bit more edge than I expected. My mother was a working mom in the 60's but she was a teacher. I'm not really sure I bought a black woman accountant having such an important position, let alone quietly running the entire company by herself and comparing it to a football team was kind of silly. My father worked for IBM when I was a kid and he took me to his office a couple of times and I don't remember seeing another black face, let alone a black woman. Coach Long's behavior was disturbing too. Cheadle's narration was the strongest it's been to date. This show is definitely beginning to grow some legs though.

[Gideon58]

I'm surprised that we had to wait until ep 5 to have the extreme overlength and total boredom of black church to be addressed, which gave the ep a promising start but got bogged down in this whole "lock-in" thing, something I never experienced in my 40 years of going to church, though it was kind of amusing the way the girls seemed to take completely control of the situation. I was a little confused about the behavior of Dean's mother in this episode...this sexually uptight woman worried about the kids letting their hormones out of control was the same woman, who, a couple of episodes ago, told Dean it was all right for Dean to look at adult magazines and that she and Dean's dad used to look at them together? The mother seems to change from episode to episode in terms of the character's basic makeup. I'm also over Dean's older sister...a waste of screentime IMO. This episode did feature EJ Williams' strongest work as Dean -thus far and Cheadle's narration was excellent.

[Gideon58]

Ep 6 got off to a shaky start with Dad spouting off about white culture stealing from black culture, sounding an awful lot like Andre Johnson on Black-ish, but mixed emotions were stirred up at the camping trip. Dean may have been out of line the way he spoke to his father, but frankly, it was nice to see the Dad humbled for once. Dule Hill was excellent. Loved Cheadle's narration.

[Gideon58]

Even though 1968 was a little too early for malls, I did enjoy ep 7 and, needless to say, the ides of being embarrassed by a grandparent is something we all can relate to. For me, it was Auntie Ruth, but it was the same stuff Dean was feeling here. That moment where Grandad handed the keys to Dad made the rest of the show worth sitting through. Loved Richard Gant as Granddad.

[Gideon58]

Found ep 8 a little troubling. I knew at some point that we would have an episode centered on Dean being bullied and frankly, I didn't think I'd have to wait 8 episodes for it. I was bothered by the way Mom just pushed Dean aside and made it her mission to help Michael Simms. That scene where Dean came in the kitchen and found his mother working ith Michael on his science project and her literally pretending Dean wasn't in the room was just wrong, and then on top of everything have Dean lose the science fair and have Michael standing there in the background laughing at him was beyond wrong. This episode was clearly written by someone who has never been bullied. Cheadle's narration was perfection though, the best thing about the episode.

[Gideon58]

Ep 9 was a bit of a bummer for an Xmas episode, but nothing that happened was unrealistic. I know the plight of the black Vietnam vet was no joke and what happened to Bruce was not pretty, but Dean sitting in the middle of the recruitment station with a sign was dumb. Loved Spencer Moore II as Bruce.

[Gideon58]

Ep 10 was sort of a mixed bag because I really didn't understand what this Lord and Ladies Club was supposed to be. It seemed like this club was supposed to be a bunch of racist snobs so why make them black? Didn't understand the point of the stink bombs and for the first time since the show's premiere, Cheadle's narration went practically unnoticed. I'm beginning to think this show was better when it was called Everybody Hates Chris.

[Gideon58]

Ep 11 was terrific. I loved the parallel between Dean, Keisa, and Charlene, and Archie, Betty, and Veronica, it was really well done. Especially loved when Keisa started freezing Dean out in front of his friends. I also loved the exposure to the Jewish culture that Dean was getting through his friendship with Brad. I never met anyone Jewish until I was in high school and he never talked about it. Julian Lerner was excellent as Brad became a man. Cheadle's narration was excellent.

[Gideon58]

Just finished 12 and I found it strange that all of a sudden, all members of the Williams family were musicians. I mean, I can relate, my mother started me on the piano when I was four, but how can we have 12 episodes of the show and it never came up that Dean knew how to play the saxophone? Not only Dean, but all of his friends who we've met on the show so far are in the band too? One thing this episode did nail though was how much junior high school sucked...7th and 8th graders are the most evil creatures on the planet and this episode brought that back for me. Dean's best friend, Corey didn't hesitate to humiliate his BFF Dean and his female BFF couldn't wait to grind his heart into the ground with her sneaker.

[Gideon58]

Poor Dean definitely had issues with Valentine's Day i Ep 13. Loved the pre-teen discussion of "the friends zone"...didn't kenow kids that age in the 60's were aware of the friends zone but it was funny. Did like this show's attempt to give big sister Kim something to do but, for my money, the show's most useless character.

[Gideon58]

Ep 14 got off to an uninteresting start, but held my attention because Lillian's mother reminded me of a crusty old Aunt of mine (bless her soul), who complained about everything and everybody and blamed my mother for everything wrong in her life, the same way Lillian's mother blamed her for everything. Regina Taylor was excellent as Lillian's mom and Cheadle's narration was on the money.

[Gideon58]

Ep 15 was excellent, the best episode of the series so far. There was a whole lot going on here that I could relate to. As a black child raised in all white neighborhoods, I understood the initial joy Dean felt when he got his first black teacher. I didn't have a black teacher until I went to college. I did have my first male teacher in the sixth grade. I'm not sure if a black kid in the 60's would be as concerned as Dean was about Mr. Brady being fair to everyone. Another thing I really related to was Dean's horror when he learned that Mr. Brady had been invited to dinner by his parents. My mother was a teacher and my shop teacher and my 7th and 8th grade English teachers were her best friends. She would get daily reports from my shop teacher and my English teachers were invited to our house on a regular basis. I hated it. Brady didn't need to make that remark about looking forward to having dinner at Dean's house in front of his friends. Even though they won as a result, I think it was wrong of Brady to take Dean off the team, why couldn't he just talk to him? I knew the minute Brady walked into that class wearing that dashiki and beating that drum, he was toast...it was the 60's. Gauis Charles was terrific as Mr. Brady, Julian Lerner had some scene stealing moments as rad, and Cheadle's narration was the best of the season. Solid episode.

[Gideon58]

After the surprisingly good ep 15, it should be no surprise that ep 16 was a hot mess...it offended me from jump with that PA announcement saying student of the week was going to black kid. I found that unbelievably racist and Corey's win making Dean jealous was enough for a solid episode, but they overcomplicated it with the story of Corey's parents separating. Don't believe Coach Long put the responsibility on Dean regarding his secret, making Dean a nutcase. Dean has always been established to be a smart kid but this ep made him look like an idiot. Wasn't buying his ignorance about his parents' sex life either...OK, he's a kid, but the repeated joke about what his parents were doing alone was played out. Coach Long's behavior made it look like he was cheating on his wife not that he got kicked out of the house. This ep tried to cover too much territory and didn't cover anything efficiently. And whoever heard of a bunch pre-teen boys having a sleepover? Camping trip maybe, but sleepover? I don't think so. The best thing about this ep was Cheadle's narration.

[Gideon58]

Ep 17 didn't work for me either because it was too focused on Dean's older sister, Kim, the show's most useless character and this ep did not change my mind about that. I also don't buy that other waitress given so much power in a diner in the 1960's? Dule Hill was excellent in that scene where he put Kim's boyfriend in check. Those girls Dean was hanging out with at the diner were too young for their dialogue. Would like to see a little more of Corey, who is definitely growing on me, and a little less of his two new besties, who I'm not feeling at all. Those girls at the diner were supposed to be the same age of Kimberly? Seriously?

[Gideon58]

OK, after the surprising ending to ep 18, I was disappointed with ep 19 opening with the revelation that Bruce's injuries were only minor and that he was home five minutes into the episode. So many Vietnam vets came home in pieces and I thought we were going to get a realistic look at a more permanent injury that might have left Bruce handicapped. It could have been the beginning of a very moving story arc. Dean's irritation factor was off the charts in this episode...I can't believe he said Joey deserved a whipping for taking the bronze star, but why didn't he say anything the second Joey took the medal. I did enjoy watching Bruce's girlfriend suck up to his parents I was impressed with the fact that Bruce's girlfriend turned down his proposal, didn't see that coming. The reveal of why Bruce was downplaying his bronze star was well worth the wait. I would love to see more of Bruce on this show and less of Kim, still the show's most useless character. Solid episode for the most part.

[Gideon58]

Ep 19 sure showed Lillian Williams, Dean's mother, in a very unflattering light. The woman acted like a pushy know-it-all throughout the entire episode and I guess we were supposed to feel sorry for her when Bill announced he was going to work with Janice, whose mixed signals didn't make her too much fun either. And did Bruce think he could do anything he wanted in his parents' house because he threw his dad a couple of dollars? And wouldn't call moving into the basement a sign of independence. But the biggest idiot in this episode was Dean...this kid really needs to learn how to read a room. Him standing up in that nightclub and booing Janice was stupid. Did like Cheadle's narration, and am I the only one who thought all of the costuming in this episode was hideous?

[Gideon58]

No lie, I had a couple of issues with episode 20. First thing, black kids into Star Trek? Not buying it. Lillian needs to lose that hat. A "literary salon"/ Seriously? Passing one glass of beer around the room? Loved when Corey said beer wasn't good for his mustache. Very disappointing when Dean tried to lay off what happened on Kim and Bruce, though I understand dean's quest to be popular and how painful it was in junior high, possibly the worst years of my own life. Though the ep did feature one of Cheadle's strongest narrations.

[Gideon58]

Loved the way Lillian turned the tables on Bill when the opportunity of writing for Marvin Gaye fell in his lap. Keesa is playing Dean and Broderick like fiddles and neither one of them is aware of it, though I had to re-think that after what happened in the shed with Keesa and Dean. I guess Keesa really is the Winnie Cooper of this show because these two really belong together and circumstances keep pulling them apart. Did we really need a return of Bill's father? I would think that Dean would be a little more excited about spending the summer in New York with his dad, but his goodbye scene with Keesa was appropriately awkward and sweet.

[Gideon58]

I actually thought this show had been cancelled, but caught a brand new episode last night. Guest star Patti LaBelle appeared as the church choir director and Lillian's mother, who relinquishes her position as director to Lillian when the choir starts backing her on some suggestions she makes. There's also a cute subplot that I could definitely relate to, where young Dean (Elisha Williams), is so bored with the church service that he prays to God for some kind of disaster to befall the church so he can go home and, right at that moment, an elderly member of the choir, who appeared to be played by a legendary character actress named Ketty Lester, drops dead and Dean is wracked with guilt about it. The episode was pretty funny and featured one of Cheadle's funniest narrations. Glad to see ABC hasn't given up on this show.

[Gideon58]

Just watched the ep with Lillian's sister, Jackie moving in. From what we are provided regarding Jackie's history, don't know why Bill and Lillian would let her move in with the first place. Loved that Jackie had to point out to the congregation that Lillian was her older sister. "I like going to church with you, Aunt Jackie. I almost stayed awake the entire service." "I hope they have breath mints in hell cause we ain't stoppin," No way Lillian could have gotten Jackie hired that quick for government job. I had a job working for a city once and the time between my first interview and first day? Nine months. Kim is only 15? The actress looks like she's 25. That scene in the office with Jackie and Keith was beyond corny. Loved that Lillian's boss made her fire Jackie, but was disappointed that the scene played offscreen. "Anybody know what a stable boy does when he's not kissing?"

[Gideon58]

Just watched the "Football team" episode which started off with blatant dramatic license. There's no way a high school student in the 1960's would be allowed to arrange her class schedule so she could have mornings off. That actor playing the football coach looked really familiar, but I couldn't place him. Loved when Bill told Kim not to walk out of here before she actually did. Bill played Donald like a commitment-phobic fiddle. Kesia is so full of herself, I hope she was worth it to Dean. Loved that Lillian was onto Bill from jump. The cafeteria lady disrespecting Dean? Seriously? Dean did do the right thing. The final moment with Bill and Kim during the credits was lovely.

[Gideon58]

It was nice to see Donald Faison guest starring on the "Blockbusting" episode. Kim continues to be as annoying as ever. Loved the tension aroused at the idea of Dean and Brad having a sleepover. LOVED the mention that white people don't use wash cloths in the shower. "Giving me reparations in the form of unlimited koolaid?" Why did Brad's mom feel it was necessary to kiss Dean good night and why was it necessary for Dean to be so excited about it? Dean's behavior with Brad's mom was ridiculous. We were the only black family in an all white neighborhood when I was a kid, and I'm wondering if this is a subject to made light of. "Did George Wallace show up to block the front door?" Loved Cheadle's narration.

[Gideon58]

That was funny as hell in ep 6 that Dean's father got mad because Dean got an A he doesn't think he deserves. A bunch of black middle-schoolers who want to see Easy Rider? I don't think so. Nice to see Bradley Whitford as the music teacher. It was equally nice to see Dule Hill at the center of an episode for a change. Pleasantly surprised by the return of Dean's older brother, Bruce. Can't remember the last time I saw a television character wearing a mink stole. The tupperware lady looked a little cray-cray. The parents at a key party? "Hey you guys wanna come down to the basement. We just had the whole thing sound-proofed." The costumes on the ladies at the party were great. Wish I could say the same for Kim's outfit. Where did Dean's sudden interest in chemistry come from? Kim and Bruce don't seem like brother and sister at all. Pretty adult stuff here.

[Gideon58]

Jack McBrayer was a fun guest star on ep 7 as a guidance counselor. Everyone knows blacks don't vote republican, nice to see it addressed in this episode. Clearly the writer of this episode was never in drama club when they were a kid. Kim continues to be television's most useless character. Dule Hill played that scene in the barbershop with Bruce. A little too much use of the word "thespian" without any jokes behind it. Really enjoying Spence Moore II as Bruce too. "I was so scared I had glittered by pants." Isn't Karen a little young to be such a bitchy little diva? Love that gray shirt Dule had on in the scene with his dad. That was a nice gesture Dean made in the cafeteria...too bad it never would have played out like that in rea life. Two hours and twenty three minutes? The second to last line of Cheadle's narration was gold.

[Gideon58]

Loved Bill's line ep 8..."Like I'm going to let a couple of thirteen year olds play with a box of matches. Power saw's in the garage." I don't understand why Lillian doesn't just fire the guy. My job would be more important to me than the friendship. If memory serves, don't soap box derby cars have to be built exclusively by the drivers. Allen Maldonado was so funny in that church scene. "Mama was feeling bad. And not the way you're supposed to feel bad after church." Cliff has some stones suing the state. Of course, the boss is going to throw Lillian under the bus. Loved the soap box derby though.

[Gideon58]

Nice to see Malcom Jamal Warner as Bill's brother and the return of Patti Labelle as Grandma for ep 9. Bill's father was definitely out of line when the sensitivity chips were passed out. "You know sitting closer to something boring doesn't make it less boring." Bill's father hasn't become any more likable since his last appearance. That little song was beyond adorable even if I have a hard time watching them do that as children. Sometimes Dean really needs to learn how to read a room. And just for the record, black folks in the 1960's had no idea what jazz hands are.

[Gideon58]

The season finale commenced with Dean getting a spiritual punch in the gut from his parents. The University of Northern Austin? Seriously? Hopefully Kim going to college will lead to the character being written off the show. Well, if they're sending the family to Disneyland, that means there's probably going to be a third season. Once again, Dean really needs to learn how to read the room. Glad Bill's band didn't screw him. Well, I guess my Kim bubble has been burst, but Bruce going to college should ignite some interesting story for season 3.