The Wonder Years Christmas Re-watch

In 1988, a programme made its debut on US Television just after the Super Bowl. It wasn’t widely trailed and it didn’t contain any household names in the cast, but with a huge audience still sitting in front of their televisions it made a huge impact. It featured the Arnold family specifically Kevin, whose adult reflections on the process of growing up was by turns funny and sad. Although The Wonder Years was a programme whose backdrop was the many US social and political upheavals of 1968 to 1974, it’s themes were universal, friendship, family and first love. If you want a comprehensive look at the programme, here is an article I wrote for h2g2.

The Wonder Years was an incredibly important programme for me, developing a significance that went beyond my love for the programme itself. For the vast majority of its run, my Dad and I would ring each other on the Sunday night after it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK, and discuss the episode. It was one of three programmes we really bonded over, the other two being M*A*S*H and Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister. I credit the show with giving me insight into my Dad’s character, thoughts and motivations that I would never otherwise have got.

The Programme

The Wonder Years was, in essence, the story of one abiding relationship, that of Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage and Winnie Cooper played by Danica McKellar, and it is this relationship that takes centre stage in the episode I am going to reflect upon. Kevin and Winnie were childhood friends who grew up together, and when we first see Winnie, she has glasses and pigtails, seems shy, and is very much the girl next door. When the first day of Junior High School arrives, Winnie has contact lenses, long hair and is very much the object of any 12 year old’s dreams. That first episode takes the Vietnam War as its background and brings it front and centre in an incredibly shocking way. We learn that Winnie’s brother, Brian, has been killed in action. At the Cooper’s house after the funeral, Winnie feels overwhelmed by grief and the amount of people there and she and Kevin slip away to Harper’s Woods where they used to play as young children. It’s there that Kevin and Winnie share their first kiss as Kevin tries to comfort her. It’s a moment of innocence and tenderness which is one of the most beautiful in any series. The way that the programme confidently trod that line between humour and drama hooked huge numbers of viewers who were watching straight after the Super Bowl. It certainly hooked me a few months later when I first tuned in, and I watched every single episode from then on.

The Arnold Family were familiar to most of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s, even those of us who weren’t from the US, with the lower middle class nature of the family’s situation making it universal in a time that still saw many trying to bridge that divide between the working class background they came from and the middle class lifestyle they craved. Jack Arnold, played by Dan Lauria, worked for Norcom where he became a middle manager through hard work and making the most of his abilities, traits he tried to pass on to his children. His wife Norma, played by Alley Mills, was a housewife when we first meet the family, but she was, like many women at the time, trapped by social expectations and wanted much more out of life. Karen, the oldest of their children, played by Olivia D’Abo, represents the counter culture of the time. Her generation are pushing against social expectations, in a way Norma cannot, and she is destined to clash with Jack who has doted on her since she was born. Wayne, played by Jason Hervey, is, initially at least, spiteful and bullying to Kevin who has to share a room with him until Wayne is about 16. I can imagine that many brothers would react badly to that kind of enforced closeness, and lashing out at Kevin is probably the only way he can express himself. Winnie comes from a much more well off family, who are able to give Winnie the type of lifestyle that the Arnolds are unable to give their children. However, the death of Brian makes her family situation more pressurised as she is carrying all the hopes and dreams of her parents, and they clearly expect an awful lot from her in terms of school and life achievements. Kevin’s best friend, Paul Pfeiffer, played by Josh Saviano, is initially Kevin’s geeky sidekick, but over the course of the series he develops in ways that surprise both Kevin and the audience. The final piece in the puzzle is the voiceover of Kevin’s adult self, played by Daniel Stern, who comments on the events in front of us with the benefit of experience and more understanding of those involved. In a sense, nearly all of us have that tendency towards reflection when looking back, with our own internal monologue filling in the gaps and giving us new insight. It is, almost certainly, that voiceover which turned a nice but potentially unremarkable story of growing up in small town America into a phenomenon. It spoke to that person inside many of us who constantly tries to understand their upbringing and how it led to their place in the world.

Christmas

This episode starts off in an electrical shop where colour televisions are starting to be advertised as must have items for any family. Kevin, Wayne, Karen and Norma are entranced by the sight and the salesman moves towards them scenting a sale. Norma, who wants one as much as her children, informs the salesman that she will have to ask her husband, at which point the possibility of getting one for Christmas recedes very quickly! Jack shows off his apparently Scrooge like tendencies, in the next scene, by complaining about the cost of a Christmas Tree which is $8 for an 8 foot tree or, as Jack disbelievingly puts it, ‘a buck a foot’! Kevin wants to butter his Dad up by helping him carry the tree to the car, favouring a subtle approach. Wayne characteristically spoils this approach by asking his Dad directly if he is going to buy a colour TV or not! Throughout the episode, his tendency to complain or demand at inopportune moments derails the family’s charm offensive, a fact remarked upon by Kevin’s older self. We see Jack and Norma at the kitchen table after the kids have gone to bed, and Norma is clearly trying everything she can to persuade Jack to buy the television, but it looks ever more unlikely.

Kevin’s last day of school provides a very agreeable surprise when Winnie comes up to him in the corridor and gives him a Christmas present. He immediately says that he has got a present for her, even though he hasn’t, and must now decide what the perfect gift will be to show Winnie how much he loves her. The trouble is that 50 cents a week in allowance doesn’t stretch very far and he only has $6 left to spend on perfection! He is given a hint by the perfume that Winnie is wearing. Kevin and Paul go to the store to buy that perfume, but there’s a problem, namely that Kevin doesn’t have a clue what it’s called! Paul, ever practical, suggests a skater in a snow globe, but Kevin is determined to find that perfume if he has to stand at the perfume counter all day.

By the time Christmas Eve night arrives, the family are at loggerheads due to Wayne’s constant moaning and Karen’s determination to go out with her boyfriend rather than go carol singing with them. Kevin wraps up his present for Winnie and goes to her house to give it to her, dreaming of her reaction when she sees him. The evening doesn’t quite go to plan, on either front, but it isn’t disastrous either. Why? You’ll have to find out by watching it. The full episode doesn’t appear to be on YouTube, but there are a number of clips including the ending if you want to search for it.

Final Reflection

This episode encapsulates, for me, the appeal of the show, from its reflections on the social and economic realities of a family like the Arnolds, to its beautiful portrayal of Kevin and Winnie’s developing relationship, still in that area between friendship and romance, and the difficult task in getting those early presents just right. The reveal of Winnie’s present is beautifully done, and the gift itself is absolutely perfect.

One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the music, which played such a central role in fixing time and place. It is this music that meant The Wonder Years would remain unreleased on DVD for about three decades, as copyright permission had to be sought for each piece of music for the release. However, it had to be like that, because without that music The Wonder Years would not have worked. The music in this episode was, interestingly, much less of a focus than usual but the use of River by Joni Mitchell is beautifully done. She is not an artist I really know very much about, but the lyrics and tune fit perfectly with Kevin’s situation, as indeed it pretty much always did. Yesterday was the first time I had seen this episode since the original UK broadcast, and it is simply magical, which makes me wonder two things. One, why have no reruns of The Wonder Years been shown since it finished? Two, why, when I have the DVD of the entire series have I waited until now to watch any of it?! I have decided to watch the entire six seasons next year, so watch this space as I am certain to be blogging about it!