
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993                   TAG: 9305080386
SECTION: SPECTATOR                    PAGE: 18   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

`WONDER YEARS' LEAVES VOID TV NEEDS TO REFILL FOR YOUNG VIEWERS

Junior high is the proverbial awkward time. Looks are suddenly all-important, as bodies are changing and the importance of social status increases.

No show on television has captured that time with such poignancy and humor as "The Wonder Years," which will have its series finale Wednesday (at 8 p.m. on WSET-Channel 13).

When the series began, it was set in the historically significant year of 1968. Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), his best friend Paul (Josh Saviano) and his sweetheart, Winnie (Danica McKellar), were entering the seventh grade, and the United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War. The show depicted both young Kevin's naive view of life and a more reflective view in his melancholic reminiscences (courtesy of voice-over by Daniel Stern).

"The Wonder Years" has been significant because it works on several different levels, appealing to both kids and their parents, in the view of Dr. Corrine Rupert, a consultant for ABC children's programming.

Especially notable, she says, is the relationship between Kevin and his father, Jack (Dan Lauria).

Expressing her disappointment at the show's cancellation, Action for Children Television president Peggy Charren says, "The problem is not to keep `Wonder Years' on forever, because chances are in syndication, it will, but it's important for writers to keep writing shows like it. There are so few series that care about the human condition as the essence of the story line, as `Wonder Years' did, so when one disappears it feels like a death in the family."

by CNB