Warning: This article will contain spoilers for The Wonder Years. (I know it’s been over 30 years since the show started, but I also know I would want to know!)
I started watching The Wonder Years over the summer. Typically, I’d be done with a six-season, 20-25 minute episode show by now, but I am still only about a third of the way through season 3, despite the first season having just six episodes. There is a very simple reason for this, which you will probably understand if you have seen even just one episode of the series: it is a lot to take in.
The Wonder Years is not a typical family sit-com. Yes, it can be really funny. However, the show’s unfailing ability to induce a very specific sad nostalgia in me leads me to need to take breathers from it. In fact, I have taken several months-long breaks between viewings, because the show is so incredibly good but often makes me so unbelievably sad that I physically cannot bring myself to watch more than three episodes at a time. Sometimes, I have to stop at one.
From young Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) giving up playing the piano to none of the Arnold kids understanding why their father, Jack (Dan Lauria), doesn’t want to get a new car (obviously because of the memories the family car holds, KEVIN!) to Kevin missing being close to his older sister, Karen (Olivia d’Abo), and so much more, I have had more than my fair share of emotional breakdowns over the content of The Wonder Years. Season 3, Episode 5 is no different. So, here is the Bitchin’ Bio on “On the Spot.”
Release Date: Nov. 7, 1989, on ABC
Synopsis: Kevin volunteers for a tech position in his school’s production of Our Town in order to get out of class. Meanwhile, Winnie (Danica McKellar), who is starring in the show, is having trouble memorizing her lines due to her nerves over impressing her father, who has not been living at home for the past couple of months. Paul (Josh Saviano) is overly dramatic about operating the auditorium spotlight.
How I Watched It: Hulu
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Alley Mills (Norma Arnold) and Kevin Bacon are both credited as themselves on IMDb in the documentary, The Orson Bean Show. I cannot find much information on the documentary, besides what is on IMDb. Even there, there isn’t much to go off of — there aren’t even any links to ways to watch it. Therefore, I want to say a tentative one degree of Kevin Bacon, as the two actors are in something together, but I have no way of knowing whether or not they have met.
Come For: Bickering between Kevin and Paul, and seeing Mr. Arnold’s reaction as Kevin botches lighting cues. These moments are the comedy in the show that almost makes you forget you could be blindsided by emotion at any time.
Stay For: Winnie’s performance. When her parents, who have been separated for a while following the death of her older brother in the Vietnam War, are brought back together because of the pride they feel for their daughter. It’s tear-jerking.
Plus, it is always nice to see Kevin drop his adolescent selfishness and care about another person. When he has Winnie’s back when she needs him, we get to see his good heart shine through. Narrating Kevin’s line, “I felt like I was holding her up with that light … and I wouldn’t let her fall” is especially sweet.
Had I Seen It? Yes. I watched the episode for a second time in order to write this article.
Do I Like It? Before I saw this episode, I already had an appreciation for the “goodbye” monologue performed by the character of Emily toward the end of Our Town. I first saw it in the film, Wonder (2017), in which the main character’s older sister, Via (Izabela Vidovic), takes over the role at the last minute and gives a beautiful performance with her family in the audience. I also saw the play performed at my old high school last year.
The monologue emphasizes appreciating little things as they happen, as Emily looks back at everything she has missed in her life after her death. Since The Wonder Years’ adult narrator (Daniel Stern) always talks about the things he missed as a kid and wishes he could change, Our Town is the perfect choice of play for the series.
The speech has never failed to make me cry. However, I think that Danica McKellar’s performance in this episode is in a class all its own. She would have been about 14 at the time of the episode’s release, and her depth of emotion as she gives the monologue (playing two different characters at once!) is impressive.
Some little things stuck out to me on this watch-through as well: The way that Kevin looks at Winnie from the balcony when she is auditioning for the play is such a short moment, but Fred Savage’s face expresses his character’s admiration for her so distinctly, even as Kevin tries not to be interested in the production. After watching that, it is obvious to me why the then 13-year-old was nominated for an Emmy that year. All the Kevin and Winnie moments in this episode are spot-on.
In short, I very much like it!
The Wonder Years is able to bring about nostalgia, in my case, even for times a person never lived through. But the show demonstrates the universality of so many childhood experiences, despite the shifting of the years. It is a beautiful, poignant series, and I highly recommend it whenever you want a good cry.
Stick around! Next week, I’ll be back with John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).
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