25 Fascinating Things You Didn't Know About The Wonder Years

Youngsters who are into acting these days can certainly look up to Savage, Saviano, and McKellar as shining examples of kid performers who continued to accomplish remarkable things in their lives. Savage even attended Stanford and is now busy making movies and TV shows, and among his directorial works is the popular TV series, 'It's Always Sunny'. Saviano, a notable Yale alumni, is now a practicing lawyer. McKellar, another well-known figure, having graduated with accolades from UCLA, is an author of four books, all centered around the subject matter of mathematics. One of her significant achievements is earning a place in the New York Times Best Seller List. All this while also boasting successful careers in popular TV shows like Philadelphia and Modern Family. On January 31, 1988, an impressive number of more than 80 million viewers were glued to their screens to watch the Washington Redskins soar to a victory against the Denver Broncos. The final score of the fascinating game was a remarkable 42 to 10. After they were done reveling in the triumph, the viewers were presented with the show's first episode, a majestic display that Marlens aptly referred to as "a bit of Americana after the quintessential example of Americana."

In our first-ever episode, Kevin and Winnie went through a tense first kiss, a milestone event these young characters were unfamiliar within their own lives. McKellar humorously remembers, “The one good thing about getting your first kiss on camera is that you know for sure it’s going to happen.” Savage saw it from a different light, referring to it as terrifying. This is because he and McKellar were both very scared and uncertain. They didn't know what was going to happen or ... if they were going to do it correctly.

"In 1989, series co-creator Carol Black opened up to New York magazine about playing with the idea of a screenplay that incorporated narration," she recalled. “We just began to realize that there was loads of entertaining potential with it. You can create a nice contrast between the perspective of the narrator and the actions of the characters, giving insight into what's brewing inside their minds when their words say something else," she further elaborated. Furthermore, Black felt that an adult narrator looking back on their childhood greatly amplified this aspect. Carol Black had conceived of this series alongside her partner, Neal Marlens. Before this project, they had their creative hands in the production of Growing Pains.

The Wonder Years, a show known for its coming-of-age narrative, found its inspiration in the festive spirit of A Christmas Story. The main character from A Christmas Story, Ralphie, played by Peter Billingsley, even made an appearance as one of Kevin's roommates in the last two episodes of The Wonder Years. In another connection between these two popular works, Dan Lauria, known for his role as Kevin's dad in the series, took part in a stage musical version of A Christmas Story. All of this demonstrates the link and influence that A Christmas Story had on the creation and evolution of The Wonder Years.

The TV show, The Wonder Years, broke convention in contrast to other shows of its era. It uniquely used a combination of a single camera view, a narrator, and, notably, omitted any laughter track. Josh Saviano pointed out that "The Wonder Years that it’s OK to create a show like that—to take out the laugh track, to try different camera styles—to take a risk," which underlined the innovative character of the show. Thus, it stood as an example of risk-taking and boundary-pushing in the television industry.