Matthew Robb

I am a huge fan of this T.V. show and feel that it captures the true essence of adolescence in a way no other show has done. I have been keeping my eye out for this DVD Box set for nearly 10 years and it seems as though there is no release in sight.

As you can see from a 2005 article on www.tvshowsondvd.com the show is on schedule for release pending some music rights issues. This was in in 2005 so “on schedule” doesn’t mean a whole lot but here is the quote:

This issue of Entertainment Weekly quotes Fox Home Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Mr. Steve Feldstein, as saying “We’ve got it on the schedule, but there are hurdles to clear prior to a firm release date.”

The worst part of this situation is that many people, if given the chance, would pay decent money for this box set including myself. Instead those who wish to enjoy this timeless classic are left to obtain it through several illegal means.

So this time while checking on the progress of this show coming to DVD I ran into the Wikipedia entry for The Wonder Years and decided to stay and read through some of it. While the IMDB profile exists as well it has much less information available to the public.

I found myself being immediately pulled back to the emotions this show can pull out of us all so easily. It rings so true on so many levels bringing me back to my youth that it was difficult to read knowing this classic might be lost in time due to something as stupid as music rights. Considering I have my first child on the way it is a very sad thought that they may not be in a position to enjoy this show.

The Wiki page has a lengthy entry about the final episode of the show and reading through it almost literally pulled me through time back to each time I enjoyed the series as well as to key moments in my life.

In the show we watch Kevin and Winnie from a young age experience many firsts for a boy and a girl together. We really feel the power of that high school sweet heart relationship and we naively believe right along with the characters that it will be a happy ending resulting in marriage and children and a wonderful long life together. In the last episode Kevin decides he cannot let Winnie “get away” and so he goes to where shes working for the summer and gets a job.

Kevin decides to play poker with the resort’s in-house band members. Kevin wins big (by bluffing while only holding a pair of 2s) and goes searching for Winnie, anxious to share the tale of his good fortune. When Kevin finds her, Winnie is engaged in a passionate kiss with a male lifeguard.

The next day, Kevin confronts Winnie about her actions, and they fight. The fallout with Winnie leads Kevin to play another round of poker with the band. This time Kevin ends up losing everything, including his car. Desperate, Kevin confronts Winnie and her new beau at the restaurant and ends up punching him in the face. Kevin then leaves the resort on foot.

This is just another typical twist in things, shes growing up and looking to try out the world and Kevin is not ready to let her do so. As a man it feels like this sort of thing happens a couple times a week when going through school. You really feel for Kevin in these scenes and even though he reacts irrationally most of the time you just don’t get why Winnie is throwing every thing we they have together out the window.

Things take a turn while Kevin is hitch hiking his way home due to losing all his belongings(including his vehicle) in another game of poker with his co-workers. An old couple stops to pick him up and who does he find in the backseat? Winnie. Apparently she was fired from her job too due to the ruckus caused by Kevin and her new boyfriend.

The car ride immediately turns awry as the two escalate to heated arguing. The couple giving them a ride gets fed up with this and they end up back on the street… in the rain.

 They find a barn and discuss how much things are changing and the prospects for the future. At first Winnie tells Kevin that she doesn’t see them ending up together but quickly recants, telling Kevin “I don’t want it to end.” Kevin moves over to Winnie’s side as she extends her blanket to Kevin and they share a passionate kiss. The adult Kevin narrates that night they made a promise to always be together and “it was a promise full of passion.”

They make their way back home and while they keep in touch for many years they do not end up together. It’s in this ending narrative as adult Kevin tells “the rest of the story” for the main cast that we find out that Kevin’s father dies one year after the finale. When I first watched this it was so stunningly sad to me. I started thinking about how that would feel if it were my dad and it was crushing.

The final words of the series really strike me and reading them hit me right where it counts:

Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers, the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back…with wonder.

When I had first experienced these words it seemed like a distant concept but today it’s a revelation. I will never forget the times of my youth, they will always be a very special thing in my mind and heart and yet it’s so very similar to every one else’s memories. That is the beauty. Our small lives as children and young adults seems so big. As adults who understand just how small we are we still hold on to that feeling of hope and wonder that was our whole universe for those early years.

It’s these reasons and many more that make this show so amazing and timeless and which make it coming to DVD so wanted by many. In fact even Amazon.com is just waiting for it’s arrival, it has a page set up and ready to go upon release.

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