I enjoyed the pilot. The adult cast is excellent with familiar faces (and voices!). The acting, writing, etc. Wasn't stellar in the pilot (which is normal), but I think it'll all improve as the series progresses. They nailed the look (as far as I can tell) and there were a few things that really hit close to home for me, positively and negatively, but always poignantly.
I laughed out loud a couple times, as I'm sure did others who remember being told to "stay out of grown folks business" and that being the last word on the subject. I have had at least three teachers/ coaches (just the ones I can remember off the top of my head) who, as the show puts it, "[weren't] prejudiced" and clearly were. I might've also laughed a bit too hard at the baseball scene as I flashed back to similar situations. I think, like any period piece, The Wonder Years (2021) will be enjoyed by everyone in the target demographic and maybe sway a few others if they're open-minded enough to learn another chapter of the Wonder Years story. Give it a watch. You'll enjoy it.
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And it's on that note that this review diverges to address the larger discussion: Nostalgia vs Revisionist History. First and foremost, as someone who once wrote a paper on The Wonder Years (true story, 7th grade English), anyone saying this show is "too political, unlike the original" has not seen the original and should have their review deleted. Imagery in the first 10 secs of the original pilot disproves this. 1x04 includes a dinner table political debate wherein a draftee alludes to the possibility of fleeing to Canada. These aren't the only time "politics" were addressed in the original series, as anyone would tell you who actually watched the show and understood it.
It's disappointing (though painfully predictable) that people who clearly know nothing about the show, the time, or the culture would make such a concerted, vitriolic effort to downvote a show simply for daring to tell the second chapter of a story from a non-White perspective. This anger on their part actually proves the larger point: that shows like this are necessary. People need to see and learn different perspectives and experiences and they need to see them in the mainstream, not tucked away on a niche streaming service or channel that can be dismissed and ignored by those hoping to maintain the status quo while silencing diverse voices.
I laughed out loud a couple times, as I'm sure did others who remember being told to "stay out of grown folks business" and that being the last word on the subject. I have had at least three teachers/ coaches (just the ones I can remember off the top of my head) who, as the show puts it, "[weren't] prejudiced" and clearly were. I might've also laughed a bit too hard at the baseball scene as I flashed back to similar situations. I think, like any period piece, The Wonder Years (2021) will be enjoyed by everyone in the target demographic and maybe sway a few others if they're open-minded enough to learn another chapter of the Wonder Years story. Give it a watch. You'll enjoy it.
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And it's on that note that this review diverges to address the larger discussion: Nostalgia vs Revisionist History. First and foremost, as someone who once wrote a paper on The Wonder Years (true story, 7th grade English), anyone saying this show is "too political, unlike the original" has not seen the original and should have their review deleted. Imagery in the first 10 secs of the original pilot disproves this. 1x04 includes a dinner table political debate wherein a draftee alludes to the possibility of fleeing to Canada. These aren't the only time "politics" were addressed in the original series, as anyone would tell you who actually watched the show and understood it.
It's disappointing (though painfully predictable) that people who clearly know nothing about the show, the time, or the culture would make such a concerted, vitriolic effort to downvote a show simply for daring to tell the second chapter of a story from a non-White perspective. This anger on their part actually proves the larger point: that shows like this are necessary. People need to see and learn different perspectives and experiences and they need to see them in the mainstream, not tucked away on a niche streaming service or channel that can be dismissed and ignored by those hoping to maintain the status quo while silencing diverse voices.