User Reviews

Let me preface this by admitting I've only seen the pilot episode. That being said... As a child of the '80s, who grew up watching The Wonder Years, I had mixed feelings when I heard about this planned reboot. Part of me felt like TV executives were recycling the nostalgia of my childhood for a quick payday, and I worried the new show would be more "Preachy" than "Wonder." On the other hand, some of my favorite '80s movies were reboots of earlier movies, like John Carpenter's The Thing; so I can't say reboots are simply bad on principle. I also thought that this reboot (if done well) might be a chance for a new generation to experience the same 'in-the-moment-nostalgia' that I had felt when I was a kid.

So it was with trepidation that I watched the pilot episode and I really enjoyed it! The writing, acting and pacing are all really good. I actually laughed out loud at a couple points, and I felt the emotional impact they were trying to convey at the end of the episode. I think this reboot will be really good if they keep doing what they did in the pilot! But that's the problem with this show...

Why did they piggyback off of The Wonder Years? If they had made an original family-oriented, coming-of-age show set in the late '60s it would naturally have been compared to The Wonder Years; but it would still be judged on its own merits as a great show. But because they chose to borrow on the wealth of the original show's fandom, people have no choice but to judge it based on the original show's merits, and this reboot sadly falls short.

Look, The Wonder Years was lightning in a bottle. The extraordinary combination of Joe Cocker's voice over that grainy home movie opening, Daniel Stern's soft yet evocative narration, and the timeless themes of family, adolescent struggles, and growing up in a turbulent time of great change all combined to give viewers a wonderful sentimental feeling toward the characters and the show as a whole. In short, the original perfectly captured the wonder of growing up.

I like Don Cheadle but he's no Daniel Stern. His voice lacks the same comic quality and poignant feeling that Stern put into The Wonder Years. When you heard Stern's voice over you immediately knew you were hearing the adult Kevin Arnold looking back on his childhood. Cheadle just sounds like he's narrating a story. That might have something to do with the writing and the timing, as well. When they filmed the original show, Fred Savage could hear the narration during his scenes so he could time his reactions accordingly.

Another thing I felt was lacking in this reboot is the interaction between siblings. Dean has an older brother, but as of the start of the series he's away in Vietnam. Whereas in the original you get to see and feel the brotherly love and antagonism between Kevin and Wayne. I grew up with two older brothers so that aspect of the show always affected me very deeply. As a viewer, I got to know and love Wayne Arnold the way I knew and loved my own brothers. In this reboot, even if they bring Dean's brother back from Vietnam, it won't be the same. Wayne was the older brother, yes, but he was still pretty naive and innocent. He was just a kid, albeit an older kid. But the relationship with older kids is a big part of being Dean's or Kevin's age. I'm sorry they left that out of the reboot.

But like I said, I think this reboot is a quality show and I hope they keep making it.