The family-friendly classic “The Wonder Years” is now available in the most complete compilation for the first time ever. “The Wonder Years Complete Series” is now available for pre-order at TimeLife.com/WonderYears. The complete series will be available exclusively online.
The 26-disc collector’s set will come with all 115 episodes in a replica metal locker, evoking memories of Kevin Arnold–played by Fred Savage–and Winnie–played by Danica McKellar–as their school-age love grew in between class periods. The set also includes 15 hours of specially-produced bonus programming, including featurettes, never-before-seen outtakes (including all the takes from Kevin and Winnie’s first kiss from the pilot) and an awesome cast reunion we’ve all waited 16 years to see. The set also comes with Winnie and Kevin’s notebooks, a “Wonder Years” yearbook and “Wonder Years” magnets to decorate your locker with.
McKellar was joined by Olivia d’Abo–who played Kevin’s sister Karen–and Alley Mills–who played Kevin’s patient mother, Norma–on a conference call about the upcoming release of the set. During the call, they discussed why they thought the show’s setting of the ’60s was so important to the show’s theme.
“The reason the ’60s was so important in this show, I think the whole point of ‘The Wonder Years’ was that this was the beginning of the end of wonder,” said Mills. “The whole series began with the introduction of the Vietnam War into our little TV in the kitchen and it was at that very time that the whole country, I think began to feel the pain of war and the ramifications of that whole joyous movement…The period was everything about the show and for me, that’s what gave it all the beauty.”
“From my perspective, my character was almost acting independent of the time period, except for the wardrobe. What I thought was amazing about the show was that it paralleled these huge things going on in the world and then what seemed like these huge things going on to a couple of kids. Their whole lives revolved around whether their about to have their first kiss,” said McKellar. “Of course, Winnie Cooper’s brother died in the Vietnam War at the very beginning of the show, but he could have died from anything. It’s loss and these universal themes which could happen in any time period, which is why I think people could relate to the show even if they didn’t experience the ’60s…My character dealt with things that were absolutely universal.”
“I think…the period, for my character, she was a teenager [and] she…sort of burst into this incredible time where there was free love and tuning in and tuning out and politically proactive in terms of being not pro-Vietnam but anti-Vietnam,” said d’Abo. “I was really amazed to learn as much as I could about the period in a short amount of time.”
“The Wonder Years Complete Series” is priced at $249.95. What do you think about “The Wonder Years” finally on DVD? Give your opinions in the comments section below!
