How Challenging Will The Wonder Years Reboot Be?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, The Wonder Years is getting a reboot. Running from 1988 to 1993, the Wonder Years was a coming-of-age series following the Arnold family and their youngest son Kevin (Fred Savage) and what it was like growing up in the ’60s.

A more modern version to younger audiences came along in the early 90’s Boy Meets World, with the younger Savage brother, Ben, that ran for seven years. Fast forward a few years into the late ’90s and along comes That 70’s Show following the Foreman family in the ’70s. More recently and still airing on ABC is The Goldergs which takes place in the ’80s.

ABC seems to be recycling their coming-of-age tales to pop up every few years. While each show has been received well and has gone on to be some of the better quality comedy series on television. The lone stand out from all these shows to The Wonder Years reboot will be the first time they follow an African American family.

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With original show co-creator Neal Marlens and Fred Savage on board for the recreation hopefully, it will emulate what people loved about the original show as it was a family staple in most households. Right now their biggest challenge will be both paying homage to their original while setting itself apart to stand on its own.

Then of course there’s the racial divide the country is currently going through. It will be hard to tackle issues of the 1960s for an African American family and present issues that are still very much at play in today’s society. Finding a way to do so without alienating an audience that is emotionally invested in these issues and not feel insulting will be their challenge.

That’s not to say it can’t be done, but so much of the show will be finding the right cast who can convey the emotion that the writer’s exact emotion. There won’t be much room for error if they want the show to last past a couple of seasons. In a challenging social landscape, they have to make audiences of every background invest in these characters with appreciation and understanding and it not feel forced.

The Wonder Years in its short run changed television and family storytelling for future generations. Capturing its original appeal shouldn’t be too hard, but early on they have to get it exactly right. A few seasons in they might be able to stretch their legs, but there’s going to be a few hurdles along the way. Can they capture the original essence of the original show or is this project doomed to fail?