Audiences grew up with a little help from their sitcom friends Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper, played by Fred Savage and Danica McKellar, during the six seasons of The Wonder Years. Time Life is bringing the series back with the release of the complete 26-disc DVD set of the timeless cult classic.
Based on the average American life in the 1960s, the wholesome family show aired from 1988 to 1993, and gained a fan base across baby boomers and younger generations. With Fred Savage playing your regular 12-year-old, audiences experienced the growing pains of the protagonist Kevin Arnold, his friend Paul Pfeiffer and love interest Winnie Cooper.
"The show ... was written in a way that was so specific about its characters," said Savage, "but it allowed the audience to see a piece of themselves in the show ... People were able to identify with the characters."
In their "first public appearance together in front of a live audience," Savage and McKellar promoted season one of the DVD series after their appearance on Good Morning America. While diehard fans of the show may think they know everything about one of America's favorite families, here are the top things we learned during The Wonder Years DVD promotional tour this week.
1. It took six takes to film Kevin and Winnie's first kiss
It was Savage and McKellar's first kiss in real life, and they embarrassingly had to do it not only in front of cameras and the world, but also in front of their parents. "I had butterflies, but it wasn't traumatic or anything," Savage said. "Growing up, there were a lot of firsts [on-set]," he added. "But that's true of that time in your life. Every day is some first!"
2. Savage's on-screen brother became family
Savage says his on-screen love-to-hate older brother Wayne, played by Jason Hervey was "exactly a big brother" to him. While the brothers commonly butted heads on screen, in real-life, the two were close. Hervey would drive him around when he got his license and let him hang around his "cool" friends.
"He was everything you'd want in a big brother," Savage said.
3. Savage and McKellar's on-screen mothers acted as real-life guardians
The stars credit their moms and the women who played their mothers on-screen for creating a "united front" and raising them well.
"They were strong moms who cared about their kids more than fame," McKellar said. "That's actually not that common in Hollywood."
4. Josh Saviano was not a nerd off-screen
The glasses Josh Saviano's character Paul Pfeiffer wore were fake, although he does wear contacts. In real-life, Saviano was an athlete.
"As the show progressed, it wasn't that they brought Paul out of his shell [as] they brought Paul closer to Josh," Savage said. Some might be shocked Saviano was a jock, considering there was a false rumor that he was Marilyn Manson.
5. The cast is happy that Kevin and Winnie didn't live happily ever after
The ending makes sense to Savage, since the show was deeply rooted in real-life experiences. While fans may still wish that one's first true love can conquer all time, the ending was appropriate for the show's theme.
"Your first love when you're a kid is so idealized," he says. "Your life doesn't turn out the way you thought it would when you were 12. That's one of the lessons of the show."
Now a husband and a father, Savage still watches reruns of the show, and this presents the series in a "whole new light" for him.
