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The Wonder Years
"Return to wonder."
Overview
A coming of age story set in the late 1960s that takes a nostalgic look at a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama through the point-of-view of imaginative 12 year-old Dean. With the wisdom of his adult years, Dean’s hopeful and humorous recollections show how his family found their “wonder years” in a turbulent time. Inspired by the classic series of the same name.
Status
Canceled
Created By
Saladin K. Patterson
Network
ABC
Seasons & Episodes
Season 1
Episodes
Pilot
Struggling to figure out where he fits in, Dean decides to pursue his calling as "The Great Uniter" and attempts to organize the first integrated baseball game between his team and his friend Brad's team.
Green Eyed Monster
While Dean reckons with his first taste of heartbreak and betrayal, the adults in his life are overly empathetic and assume his grief is from mourning current events.
The Club
Dean stumbles upon some “racy literature” and shares it with friends at school. When he is caught by the school principal, Bill and Lillian navigate uncharted territory as parents and Dean learns that manhood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The Workplace
It’s “Take Your Son to Work Day” and Dean heads to band practice with Bill. But the “grown folks’ business” at the music studio prompts Lillian to have to pick up Dean. While at her office, Dean finally learns what his mom does while he’s at school all day, gaining a newfound respect for her career and ambition.
The Lock In
Dean is reluctant to attend the annual church lock-in until Kim tells him it’s where she got her first kiss. He enlists his friends to help him pair up with Keisa, but his plans are thwarted when he instead gets paired up with the pastor’s daughter, Charlene.
Be Prepared
When Coach Long and Bill take the boys on a camping trip as part of their newly formed scout troop, their starkly different approaches to the outdoors show Dean that his father isn’t good at everything. As a thunderstorm threatens an eerie quest through the woods, Bill leans into his expertise to save the day.
Independence Day
As Kim’s campaign for a car coincides with the need to take Grandaddy Clisby’s keys away, Bill proposes a solution that is only pleasing to him: Kim can drive, so long as she takes her grandfather and Dean around town. Later on at the mall, Dean is worried about seeming uncool when Clisby ends up chaperoning him and his friends, but Clisby has a few crowd-pleasing tricks up his sleeve.
Science Fair
After seeing Dean bullied by Michael after school Lillian goes to confront his parents and learns he needs more compassion than discipline. Much to Dean’s dismay, she takes Michael under her wing and helps him with his project for the science fair – an event where Dean typically excels
Home For Christmas
Dean can’t wait to spend Christmas with his older brother, Bruce, when he returns home from Vietnam. But adjusting to life back in Montgomery comes with unexpected challenges for Bruce, and the rest of the Williams family rely on their favorite holiday traditions to bring cheer
Lads and Ladies and Us
Bill and Lillian decide to join high society club Lads & Ladies as a way to introduce Kim and Dean to positive influences in the community. Bill, Kim and Dean fit right in, but things take a turn when Lillian is treated differently for being a working mom.
Brad Mitzvah
Brad works through his nerves preparing for his bar mitzvah speech while Dean ends his friendship with Keisa when Charlene tells him he can’t be friends with other girls. Things come to a head when the whole group comes together to celebrate Brad’s bar mitzvah.
I'm With The Band
When Dean loses his position as first chair saxophone in the school band, Bill lays the pressure on him to earn it back.
The Valentine’s Day Dance
Dean’s plans to ask Keisa to the Valentine’s Day Dance are foiled when another boy asks her out first after a new makeover makes her the talk of the school. Meanwhile, Bill and Lillian make Kim sign up for a Big Sister program to have extracurricular activities for her college applications.
Country Dean
The family spends spring break with Lillian's parents in the countryside, and Dean lies to his cousins about city life in Montgomery to impress them. Meanwhile, Lillian helps to settle a land dispute between her parents and their neighbors to impress her difficult-to-please mother.
Black Teacher
When their teacher goes on maternity leave, Dean, Cory and Keisa are excited to be taught by Mr. Brady, the school’s first Black teacher. Mr. Brady encourages the students to try out for the Knowledge Bowl team where Dean faces some unexpected challenges
The Sleepover
When Dean learns that Corey’s dad, Coach Long, is in the doghouse, he struggles to keep this secret from his friend.
Jobs and Hangouts
Kim is excited to start her new job as a waitress at the local diner, which Dean adopts as his local hangout. When Kim experiences drama with her friends, she finds unlikely allies in a tough coworker and her younger brother.
Goose Grease
When Dean comes down with the chicken pox on his way to a hunting trip with Bill and Grandaddy Clisby, Lillian forces the three of them to quarantine together. Clisby pushes homemade remedies on them out of his mistrust of doctors, but he’s forced to reckon with this when Dean’s condition worsens.
Love & War
Bruce returns home from Vietnam, and the family is shocked to find out he is dating an older woman with an 8-year-old son with whom he is eager to start his life. When they learn more about Bruce’s latest deployment, they begin to understand his survivors’ guilt and come together to support him.
Bill's New Gig
Bill is excited to have made tenure at the university, only to find that his focus on career and family has cost him his spot in his band; Bruce adjusts to living at home.
Where No Dean Has Been Before
Dean tries to impress Keisa's cool new boyfriend by inviting him and his friends to a party Kim is throwing while Bill and Lillian are away for the night; things get out of hand just as Bill and Lillian arrive home.
Love, Dean
It's the end of the school year, and summer excitement is all around; Bill and Lillian each receive major career opportunities; Dean and Keisa take shelter together as a tornado tears through.
Top Cast
Elisha Williams
Dean Williams
Dulé Hill
Bill Williams
Saycon Sengbloh
Lillian Williams
Laura Kariuki
Kim Williams
Amari O'Neil
Cory Long
Julian Lerner
Brad Hitman
Milan Ray
Keisa Clemmons
Don Cheadle
Narrator
