The Wonder Years

As a black female who watched the original Wonder Years at the age of 10, I feel like whoever greenlighted this series misunderstood why it worked when it did. In the 80s there was a a great deal of 60s nostalgia, especially with music. The Beach Boys we're back on the charts and Frankie & Annette were once again movie stars. Young people nowadays feel the same kind of nostalgia about the 90s, if not later. And quite frankly, 35 years later, I find the characters somewhat unrelatable. In the reboot, I find them downright unlikable. There isn't even a soundtrack so good that I can ignore the unremarkable casting.

Usually I am adamantly against remakes. So much so that I refuse to watch them. What's the point honestly? Have you seen what they've done to shows like He-Man. Knight Rider or the movie Nightmare on Elm Street? If they remake Three's Company, The Golden Girls or The Wiz (yes, it's a remake but it doesn't count) I'm jumping off the edge of the planet.

Initially I rolled my eyes over Wonder Years 2.0 but when I saw Don Cheadle in the credits I took a chance. I'm glad that I did. The Wonder Years 2.0 makes sense because it's not re-telling the same story about the same family. We are now on the other side of the city with a Black family and this changes everything. I love what they've done so far and I can't wait for them to really dig into this decade from our perspective.

I was a little skeptical about this reboot, but I actually found it to be pretty good. It's a charming show about a 12 year old boy discovering his path in life. It's a charming premise, and it's handled well. The show can also be deep and emotional, with the death of Martin Luther King affecting everyone. Some issues is that a little to much happens in this episode, and there could be a little less of Don Cheadle's narrating. Not that he does a bad job, he does a great job, be he sometimes talked over scenes that shouldn't have needed narration.

But besides that, it a charming take on the Wonder Years, that's also deep and emotional.

I love the premise of the show. As a black American with solid roots in the South, I was disappointed that they opt'd to not have the actors speak with southern accents.

While I love Dule Hill as Burton Guster, his character was a miscast, in my opinion. It would have been better if he used his own speaking voice versus the one he chose.

I do appreciate the topics they discussed, as I found them very relevant and relatable to my life; however, I believe they should have made it about a family in the 80s vs the 60s. Would have been great to see a Cosby Show 2.0 but not trying to actually BE the Cosby Show. I believe it would have definitely been more relatable to a wider audience.

Nice group of characters to spend time with. No furious or clueless parents. No bratty kids. No screaming. The show is warm. Everyone in the family likes each other. Their friends are lovely people.

This is the kind of series I need.