Jump to content
TSM Forums
Sign in to follow this  
MrRant

The Wonder Years

Recommended Posts

Is that the same channel with that show where Billy Ray Cyrus is a doctor and where they have the kids judging the talent show with Joey from Full House hosting? I have the complete run of 'The Wonder Years' on VHS cuz I'm old school. Best show ever. I could do a favorite episodes list, but I'd have to do two, one for Winnie episodes and one for non-Winnie episodes. My personal favorite season was Season 4. The Kevin/Winnie storyline that season was just wonderful, starting with "Heartbreak" (where they break up at the museum with great background narration in the form of an exhibit on extinct animals) to "Denial" (where Kevin and his Dad have a really wonderful scene in the garage to end the show) to "The Accident" (where Kevin and Winnie proclaim their love over a kinda inapporpriate, but still moving Bob Seger song). I also really loved all of the episodes involving Mr. Collins, Kevin's Math teacher and the two episodes involving Kevin and Paul going to the Lake where Kevin hooked up with that chick that smoked. And I really liked the episode where Wayne's friend Wart came back from Vietnam and was all messed up and was standing in his underwear crying on the football field. Such a great, great show that makes me type in long, rambling sentences.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Richard McBeef

A garbage bag blowing in the wind makes you type in long, rambling sentences.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is great, but I hear that the episodes are actually sped up pretty noticeably, so that they can fit more commercials in. I know this happens a lot, but from what I hear it's worse here than usually.

 

Here's a clip of one of my favorite moments from the show that I uploaded to YouTube a while ago:

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z7aq6EFq_38

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
A garbage bag blowing in the wind makes you type in long, rambling sentences.

 

 

"It's like God is looking at you, just for a second. And if you're careful, you can look back."

"And what do you see?"

"Beauty."

 

-stolen liberally from "American Beauty"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest heat

 

Great scene indeed and thread starter is apologized for not using the search engine because that's one of my fav shows ever here. In the original thread there may be some info where to get the episodes (in case anyone is interested) though. ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I found this great example of how horrible replacement music will be if they decide to bring it to DVD.

 

This first clip is "the first kiss" as we all know and love it, with "When a Man Loves a Woman":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV8dW_TU1d4

 

And this second one is the first part of a Wonder Years documentary (watch the entire thing sometime if you've never seen it). At the 8 minute mark in this video they show the same "first kiss" scene, but with replacement music:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGqaE7laI7M

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Suburban America

 

Any Town, USA

 

etc...

 

I'm pretty sure that they didn't set The Wonder Years universe in a specific town, so that it would more easily relate to more people.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure it's in California. Kevin always wore a Jets jacket, and at some point somebody (probably Paul) took a cheap shot at him, about how he's never even been to the east coast, or something to that effect. I swear I thought they mentioned California at some point, but I know they definitely acknowledged that it was nowhere near the northeast.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It was filmed in California, but that isn't where Kevin, Winnie, Paul, and all of them were actually at on the show. I just went on YouTube to watch part of that Wonder Years documentary since I thought I heard them talk about it on there, and I was right. They say that they never named a specific city or a state, in order to make the show that much more easier for people to relate to.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, now that I think about it you're right. I always assumed it was California because it was obviously filmed there and all the outdoor settings looked like California. I found this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094582/faq which mentions some evidence that it's California (license plates, zip codes, etc.), but I agree that it's not really meant to be any specific place.

 

The quote about the Jets jacket always stuck with me as a kid and reinforced my notion that it was in California, even if it wasn't spelled out. Maybe the line I remember was something less descriptive like: "You've never even been to a Jets game."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
We're arguing at work- debating whether it's Northern California or Long Island.

 

Second half of finale is tonight

yea the ending kinda sucks with the copout ending of old Kevin nonchalantly saying his dad died 2 years later and how he and winnie never stayed together. too bad the whole narrator thing never was revealed as anything. Youd think maybe he was writing a book or talking to a therapist (which was the answer given in an old mad magazine parody I have somewhere)

 

and after that they showed the pilot, weird to see, forgot about Winnies older brother.

 

still an entertaining show

 

"Wayne even said Paul was alergic to his own snot"

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Has anyone ever seen that movie, Last Run? Its basically fred Savage running around nakidly having lots of explicit sex scenes with chicks running around nakidly trying to shake his "Wonder years kid" image.

 

...

 

It didn't work. But there sure was alot of nakidness.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
This is great, but I hear that the episodes are actually sped up pretty noticeably, so that they can fit more commercials in. I know this happens a lot, but from what I hear it's worse here than usually.

 

If you're talking about the episodes on Ion, I believe you're right. Also, a lot of the original music has been replaced (as discussed in the DVD thread). The episodes don't "feel" exactly like they did when I originally watched them. Also, the local Ion station comes in really fuzzy on our cable system for some reason...it happens on all our TVs, and the quality of the signal is much worse than any other channel we get. Weird.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The ending's not a copout by any means. What happened was that what turned out to be the series finale was supposed to just be the season finale. The show was kind of 'on the bubble' about whether it would be brought back for another season or not. If it was brought back, it would've been the last season with Kevin's senior year. However, knowing that the show might be cancelled, they filmed the long steady shot of the cast at the parade so that, just in case the show didn't come back, they could overdub some type of conclusion onto it. I remember when I first saw the finale, I thought the ending was incredibly poignant, especially the part about how Jack dies, because of the contrast of showing a scene with all of the family together celebrating and 'future Kevin' talking about how everything ended up. I also really liked the last scene of the show, after the parade, with Kevin and his Dad talking in the kitchen. Perhaps even moreso than the Kevin and Winnie relationship, I liked the relationship between Kevin and his Dad. The scene with the two of them in the garage after Winnie dumps Kevin at the museum and Kevin tells Winnie he doesn't want to be her friend at Paul's party is absolutely wonderful.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think they really knew that it was over when the filmed the episode. That scene in the barn where he and Winnie realize that there is no way they are going to be together forever brings the relationship to a logical conclusion. Still one of my favorite, and most powerful, TV moments. God I'm a tool.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The final episode kind of went back and forth with Winnie and Kevin's relationship. I think that they left it open enough with Winnie and Kevin that they could've had them together for the 'final year' that never happened if they wanted to. They could've done the whole storyline where Kevin and Winnie are together but Winnie was going to go Harvard or something while Kevin was going to stay in town, something like what 'Boy Meets World' did that one season (at least I think that they did that storyline). However, I think that because they didn't have one more season to do a 'Kevin and Winnie get back together only for them to split up in the end again' storyline for the 900th time, it made the whole relationship and certainly the barn scene more impactful. Looking back at the last episode, I'm glad that it ended there the way that it did because, I think, if they did do one more season after that, it would've probably not been as good as it was when it ended.

 

I have all of the episodes from ION saved on my DVR box (I also have all the originals taped on VHS). I agree that the quality of picture and sound isn't near as good as the first-run episodes and the ION versions take commercials at really awkward times, making for some choppy cuts, but, still it's all good. I'm watching the 'Poker' episode right now. Good episode.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think they really knew that it was over when the filmed the episode. That scene in the barn where he and Winnie realize that there is no way they are going to be together forever brings the relationship to a logical conclusion. Still one of my favorite, and most powerful, TV moments. God I'm a tool.

 

They absolutely did not know it was over. A few years ago, I saw an interview with the woman who played Mrs. Arnold, and she was pissed it ended like it did, because they had no idea that was happening. They were smiling and waving at the parade, and then she saw the episode and how it had the ending narration dubbed on, and she was like "WTF?"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest MRK

Rewatching the series on ION, brings back memories from seeing the show the first time around. Why did Kevin wear the same blue jeans in every episode of the last season?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×