The Wonder Years
ABC
Premieres: Sept. 22
Airs: Wednesdays at 8:30pm ET/PT
Who’s In It? Elisha “EJ” Williams, Dulé Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki, voice of Don Cheadle
What’s It All About? The beloved coming-of-age comedy that followed suburban teenager Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) growing up in the late ’60s and early ’70s gets new life in this half-hour sitcom. The new rendition looks back at the same era through the eyes of 12-year-old Dean Williams and his Black, middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama. Dean experiences the humorous and heartfelt highs and lows of adolescence — and the social and political turbulence of the time — just as Kevin did. But as a Black kid in the Deep South, Dean faces challenges and situations that never presented themselves to Kevin. The events of Montgomery’s racial struggles (including Rosa Parks’ arrest, the bus boycott, the Freedom Riders and the march from Selma) still loom large for the Williams family and will no doubt resonate with 2021 America. Saladin K. Patterson (Dave, The Last O.G.) — who was raised in Montgomery — is a writer and executive producer, along with EPs Lee Daniels (Empire) and Marc Velez. Savage is also an EP and directed the pilot episode.