'The Wonder Years': Here's why hit comedy-drama was canceled in 1993
ABC's reboot of 'The Wonder Years' is all set to premiere on September 22. The coming-of-age drama is developed by Saladin K Patterson and will follow the life of Dean Williams (Elisha "EJ" Williams) as he navigates the world from his point of view. The series is inspired by the OG series that aired from 1988-93.
Created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black, the earlier series starring Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, a teen growing up in a suburban middle-class family in the late 1960s. The comedy was a smash hit winning a Primetime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Comedy Series in 1988' and also saw Savage nominated as 'Outstanding Lead Actor for a Comedy Series.' However, it wasn't all hunky-dory as the series' cancellation in '93 made headlines after an alleged sexual harassment lawsuit against Savage. Only time will tell if the brand-new cast can do justice to the original.
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Why was 'The Wonder Years' canceled?
The series had a successful run between 1988-93 before ABC shelved the show. According to Alley Mills' interview with Yahoo, the comedy-drama was reportedly canned due to a sexual harassment lawsuit. Mills played Savage’s TV mother Norma Arnold and claimed that it was a "ridiculous" suit against Savage, who she described as "the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth.”
The lawsuit was reportedly filed by Monique Long, the costume designer of the show as she accused a then 16-year-old Savage and fellow cast member, Jason Hervey (Wayne Arnold), who was 20 at that time of harassing her physically and verbally. She added that their abuses prevented her from doing her job, which led to her firing. At the time, representatives for the show and the actors denied these charges, and the suit was dropped following an out-of-court settlement.
“So I just thought [the lawsuit] was a big joke and it was going to blow over,” Mills had said. “It’s a little bit like what’s happening now — some innocent people can get caught up in this stuff; it’s very tricky. It was so not true. It was my dresser, and I don’t care if she’s listening — I probably shouldn’t be telling this, but I don’t care because it was so long ago and it’s gotta be over now.” The actress also explained she “wasn’t allowed to talk” about the lawsuit in 1993. “Which made me so upset. We had a gag order on us, and I wanted to scream on television, ‘This is ridiculous!’”
The official synopsis of the reboot reads: "The Wonder Years is set in the late 1960s and takes a nostalgic look at the Williams family, Black middle-class residents of Montgomery, Alabama, through the point of view of imaginative 12-year-old Dean." Saladin K Patterson. Lee Daniels, Marc Velez, and Savage, the star of the classic, serve as executive producers.
'The Wonder Years' premieres on September 22 on ABC.