Having been a fan of the original Wonder Years, I knew that I had to give this ‘reimagining” a shot. It would be nice to have the show back in my living room as similar and different it is.
The Wonder Years pilot just aired on ABC last night, with a new episode every Wednesday at 8:30 pm the show is slated to become a huge hit!
Don Cheadle narrates, just like the original, and he is perfection, absolute perfect casting. The show is set in once again in the ’60s but this time centers on the Williams family, a middle-class black family, who live in Montgomery, Alabama. The dynamic we see as the show starts is magic, all of the characters fit perfectly and offer us a glimpse into the way life was in that time period, but as a white viewer, it’s more than a glimpse, it’s a hard look.
In the pilot Dean, the youngest is struggling to figure out where he fits in. Between his brother’s athleticism, sister’s popularity, mother’s intelligence, and dad’s overall coolness, everyone else seems to have their lane figured out. He decides to pursue his calling as “The Great Uniter” and attempts to organize the first integrated baseball game between his team and his friend Brad’s team.
Just like Kevin Arnold in the original, we see life through 12-year-old Dean’s eyes. We get to see his interaction with his parents, with his siblings, his friends, and everything in between.
This dramedy, directed by Fred Savage from the original Wonder Years, has some laughs, lots of nostalgia but there are also some tough scenes, and The Wonder Years doesn’t shy away from those hard-hitting scenes when they cover the death of Martin Luther King. It is powerful!
This new reimagining is everything it needs to be right now, in a racially charged world, this show can shed light on circumstances that maybe not all people get to relate to, but can now maybe understand more. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the season.
The Wonder Years airs on ABC, Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm.