10 Facts About The Wonder Years You Never Knew

The Wonder Years ended 23 years ago today. Here's a look at some cool behind the scenes facts.

By AmityIsland

Published 8 years ago in Ftw

The Wonder Years ended 23 years ago today. Here's a look at some cool behind the scenes facts.

1
Fred Savage stated that Dan Lauria, who played Kevin Arnold's father, was a big role model of his growing up. "He would talk to us about theater all the time and really challenged me to do more readings of plays and watching classic movies," Savage said. "He made sure to educate us on the history of entertaining and performing, and that education has really served me well in my career."

2
Daniel Stern who many remember as one of the burglars in Home Alone, was the narrator (or grown up Kevin), throughout the series.

3
The series won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy with only six episodes. The creators knew they couldn't produce as many episodes as the studio wanted, with a single camera show that has voiceover, which was unheard of at the time. But the uniqueness pays off in the end.
4
Producer Ken Topolowsky enlisted the help of Soprano's creator David Chases's help. The Wonder Years were over when Kevin Arnold grew up and they needed a new angle. Chase's script, which included hard drugs and mature themes, would have been one of the best in the series the show's creators stated.

5
It took three different dye jobs to get Alley Mills, who played Kevin's mother Norma, to get her hair the right shade of blonde. Mills' recalls, 'They took such care of every single thing that we wore on those first episodes."
6
The Wonder Years premiered after the Super Bowl. On January 31, 1988, after the Denver Broncos were destroyed by the Washington Redskins (42 - 10), The Wonder Years was beamed into millions of homes. The writer Neal Marlens stated that the premiere was, “a bit of Americana after the quintessential example of Americana.”
7
Danica McKellar who played Winnie Cooper on the show went on to write books helping middle schoolers with math. She's still a knockout.

8
Jason Hervey who played Kevin's older brother, Wayne Arnold, was listed as "TV's 10 Biggest Brats list." Hervey said that a strange once punched him in the face because his character reminded him of his own brother.
9
The Wonder Years is set in "Anytown", USA. The creators wanted to set it in their hometowns, however, the studio wanted it to be relatable to anyone. The exterior of Kevin Arnold's house was shot in Burbank, CA and the rest of the series was filmed around Culver City, CA.
10
Winnie and Kevin's kiss in the first episode were their first kiss in real life. They said the scene took six takes and the last one where Kevin strokes Wendy's hair, was the one the director went with.