The Wonder Years - Season Two

In the United States the late 1960s, the most astounding period of middle class prosperity the world had ever known was evolving. Suburban success took a good, hard look in the mirror and reflected on itself, questioning the integrity of its achievement. A similar introspection happened after the Regan era, in the late 1980s. This is the launching point of "The Wonder Years," a nostalgic TV series where a country looks back on the veracity of its idealism through the eyes of a 12 year-old boy.

The show revolves around your average kid, Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), from your average American family living in Anywhere, USA. He's just trying to get through junior high school while the world around him is dealing with considerably more tumultuous conflicts.

After the breakout initial season (which contained only six episodes), Season Two swings into full-force with 17 episodes on four DVDs. As Kevin continues to carry a torch for Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), she starts to date a popular 8th grader, Kirk McCray. Pretending to be unfazed by their relationship, Kevin "goes steady" with a girl for whom he has no particular feelings, Becky Slater. An unseen narrator (Daniel Stern, Kevin as an adult) relates life with his parents (Dan Lauria and Alley Mills), his bullying older brother Wayne (Jason Hervey) and his socially awkward but sincerely best pal Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano).

Not every episode is a winner. Many tend to be less polished and powerful as they were in the first season. The initial episode, "Heart of Darkness," is seriously cheesy, and exposes some of the more glaring missteps in production design. (Throughout Season Two the cars look quite authentic, but sometimes the hair styles let us know this series was shot in the '80s.)

Every now and then you'll run into an episode that is both touching and funny, like the Writers Guild of America Award winner "Coda," which is a delicate blend of nostalgia, remembrance and regret that is rare in episodic television.

As with all StarVista releases there is an impressive list of over two hours of bonus features, including a featurette "The Times they are a Changin': The Era"; interviews with the actors who play Kevin's Mom and Dad and the show's Narrator; and a roundtable discussion with Fred Savage, Danica McKellar and Josh Saviano.

"The Wonder Years: Season Two"
DVD
Not Rated / 520 minutes
timelife.com/tv