Remember The Wonder Years? If not, it was a feel-good show that aired on ABC from 1988-1993. The series focused on an adult Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), as he recalled growing up during the late 60s and early 70s. And the turbulent social times during that era made the transition from child to adult unusually interesting. “As he goes from adolescence to adulthood, he experiences, along with his best friend Paul (Josh Saviano) and sometimes-girlfriend Winnie (Danica McKellar), the full range of trials and traumas that come in just about everyone’s life,” the show’s IMDb page states. It was an amazing show, but it ended after six seasons (115 episodes), when Fred and co-star Jason Hervey were hit with a “ridiculous” sexual harassment lawsuit, claims Fred’s TV mom Alley Mills.
“When we shot the series finale … nobody knew whether or not The Wonder Years was going to be renewed,” Alley Mills recently told our sister publication, Rolling Stone. “And that’s because of a completely ridiculous sexual harassment suit that was going on against Fred Savage – who is, like, the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth.” The suit, filed by Alley’s costumer Monique Long, claims Fred, then 16, and onscreen sibling Jason, then 20, physically and verbally harassed her in various ways. She also claims it led to her firing. The lawsuit was later dropped after an out-of-court settlement, but it did enough damage to end the series, according to Alley.
Since the show wrapped on May 21, 1993, the show’s stars have gone on to do some amazing work in Hollywood. Fred recently appeared on ABC’s Modern Family and Netflix’s Friends From College, while Danica has appeared on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. She also competed in Season 18 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, during the spring of 2014. To see what else the cast has been up to, click through our gallery above!
HollywoodLifers, is The Wonder Years a show you’d like to see rebooted? Tell us below!