I've started watching The Wonder Years.
Maybe it's because I was spoiled by Mad Men, but, my God, how awful. Okay, you set a TV show in 1968, the first episode at least...And you give the kids '80s feathered haircuts and mullets?!? You have the dad whose in his 40s look like he could've been at the 1984 Democratic Convention? You have within the first 15 minutes the sister throwing out the most CLICHED late 60s lingo:

"You said you were going to help me out with dinner."
Sister: "Peace Mom." (throws peace sign). You have a lot of bad karma in your life."

REALLY? Were they even TRYING? I get doing period pieces is hard, but Mad Men came even later after the event and at least wasn't a string of cliches. They at least got the goddamn hairstyles right!

Please tell me this show gets better from here.

;D I have to watch this. It sounds like a trainwreck.

;D I have to watch this. It sounds like a trainwreck.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12321598_942601645824107_9099284516112932853_n.jpg?oh=2442151aa73e9c0ca20b0b0927256aeb&oe=574CB793
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/12806191_942603572490581_2037920156911770274_n.jpg?oh=2d6d370528a884306a0f02de6e7e7b75&oe=57644433

Do these look like teens from the late 60s to you? They must've been time travelers from 20 years in the future with Marty F--KING MCFLY!

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12321598_942601645824107_9099284516112932853_n.jpg?oh=2442151aa73e9c0ca20b0b0927256aeb&oe=574CB793

Do these look like teens from the late 60s to you? They must've been time travelers from 20 years in the future with Marty F--KING MCFLY!


The only thing that would make this even more late 60's would be if he was holding a Walkman.

Oh man, I loved The Wonder Years and all it's awful historical inaccuracy as a kid. I gotta rewatch it!

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12321598_942601645824107_9099284516112932853_n.jpg?oh=2442151aa73e9c0ca20b0b0927256aeb&oe=574CB793
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/12806191_942603572490581_2037920156911770274_n.jpg?oh=2d6d370528a884306a0f02de6e7e7b75&oe=57644433

Do these look like teens from the late 60s to you? They must've been time travelers from 20 years in the future with Marty F--KING MCFLY!


That mullet, that big hair.  ;D It has swinging sixties written all over it.

LOOK AT HOW 60's THEY LOOK!

http://static.parade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/WonderYears40.jpg

When I think of the 60's, I think mullets and stone wash jeans.

;D I have to watch this. It sounds like a trainwreck.


I thought it was a mediocre show at the time. There were a lot of historical inaccuracies to it like '90s Guy pointed out.

Have you watched The Goldbergs sitcom on tv now? That's set in the 80s but has many inaccuracies with it's timeline. The sister looks kinda 2015s too. I think we can allow a half hour show some artistic license.

http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/091913_Z1DISH19F.jpg

I've started watching The Wonder Years.
Maybe it's because I was spoiled by Mad Men, but, my God, how awful. Okay, you set a TV show in 1968, the first episode at least...And you give the kids '80s feathered haircuts and mullets?!? You have the dad whose in his 40s look like he could've been at the 1984 Democratic Convention? You have within the first 15 minutes the sister throwing out the most CLICHED late 60s lingo:

"You said you were going to help me out with dinner."
Sister: "Peace Mom." (throws peace sign). You have a lot of bad karma in your life."

REALLY? Were they even TRYING? I get doing period pieces is hard, but Mad Men came even later after the event and at least wasn't a string of cliches. They at least got the goddamn hairstyles right!

Please tell me this show gets better from here.



are you trying to incite a riot?  the Wonder Years was AMAZING!!!! 

you know sometimes it's about the acting and the story.. There wasn't big budgets for full 60s set design and they did well with what they had access to...

The Wonder Years had heart and it is a classic. 

Have you watched The Goldbergs sitcom on tv now? That's set in the 80s but has many inaccuracies with it's timeline. The sister looks kinda 2015s too. I think we can allow a half hour show some artistic license.





actually Adam Goldberg has addressed the historical inaccuracies in the Goldbergs in many interviews.. I say his answer holds some truth and could also apply to the Wonder Years....


Both shows are about nostalgia. Both shows are narrated by an adult version of the teenage protaganist... both shows are basically about the narrator remembering a specific time in his life and certain events that shaped who he is now....

the thing about memory is that it's inaccurate.... tell me you've never told a story about a certain time in your life and you thought it happened this day but really it happened later (or earlier) or maybe you get two stories confused... 

This is why Goldbergs is always set in 1980-something so he doesn't have to pinpoint it to a specific date... so he can just remember and since... he's not writing a historical document he can take creative license with the timing of his pop culture references...


at least the Goldbergs is way better than....  8-P


http://www.epguides.com/That80sShow/cast.jpg

The show can be a bit too saccharine for some people. I like it though.

http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/091913_Z1DISH19F.jpg


This sucks. Look at this chick's stupid 2015 hair! Keep your modern 21st century hipster touches out of the great 80's! >:(


The show can be a bit too saccharine for some people. I like it though.


I like it too. The historical inaccuracies make it even better.

This sucks. Look at this chick's stupid 2015 hair! Keep your modern 21st century hipster touches out of the great 80's! >:(

I like it too. The historical inaccuracies make it even better.


I'm not sure about that, but the show had decent stories and interesting characters.

The show can be a bit too saccharine for some people. I like it though.


It was about the innocence of youth on the cusp of major changes in the worlds delivered at a time when youth were less innocent than it used to be. It was supposed to be saccharine

It was about the innocence of youth on the cusp of major changes in the worlds delivered at a time when youth were less innocent than it used to be. It was supposed to be saccharine


Weren't they 11/12 in the first episode?

I really liked the 'The Wonder Years' as a kid, when I was about the same age as Kevin Arnold.  I grew up watching reruns on Nick at Nite and have seen every episode.  Today, it's hard for me to watch it.  It's too difficult for me to look past the bad acting and historical inaccuracies.  Plus, it reminds me of junior high and those are years I would rather not think about too much.

The same can be said about Happy Days where the '70s styles can creep in. In fact, on the old Jump The Shark site, "70s style in the 50s" was the fourth most popular reason that the show went downhill (with the three above it being JTS itself, being taped before a studio audience (I don't get that since shows in the '50s were also taped live before an audience), and Richie's departure. Check for the Bally Nip-It pinball machine and those striped sweaters/and bell bottoms next time you watch the Fonz! However, I'll have to say that the inaccuracies on that show (especially the post-Shark seasons) are far more glaring than they are on The Wonder Years. Sure, you'll see those boxy '80s cars just like you'll see some rounded cars watching the Goldbergs, but winning an Emmy should count for something. Also, Laverne and Shirley's final "California" season shows lots of early '80s styles creeping in over the early '60s styles.



This sucks. Look at this chick's stupid 2015 hair! Keep your modern 21st century hipster touches out of the great 80's! >:(


Then watch a show from the actual 80's such as Who's The Boss, Growing Pains, or Family Ties!

Weren't they 11/12 in the first episode?


Teen/preteen it's the innocence of the age not the actual age.

LOOK AT HOW 60's THEY LOOK!

http://static.parade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/WonderYears40.jpg

When I think of the 60's, I think mullets and stone wash jeans.


most of them look like the 1960's, especially The Mother.

most of them look like the 1960's, especially The Mother.


Yeah but Kevin looks super 80's with those stone wash jeans and look at Wayne's mullet!! That doesn't look 60's. :D Jack looks like a generic 80's Reagan Republican and Paul looks like Spazz from Meatballs or one of the dudes from Revenge of the Nerds so I'll always think of him as a generic 70's/80's nerd. Norma does look straight outta Leave it to Beaver so... Close enough?

Yeah but Kevin looks super 80's with those stone wash jeans and look at Wayne's mullet!! That doesn't look 60's. :D Jack looks like a generic 80's Reagan Republican and Paul looks like Spazz from Meatballs or one of the dudes from Revenge of the Nerds so I'll always think of him as a generic 70's/80's nerd. Norma does look straight outta Leave it to Beaver so... Close enough?


Naw not Beaver.... Norma had more of a Shirley partridge or Carol Brady vibe happening.


The thing you are forgetting is that viewers weren't as astute then as they are now. We weren't analyzing the series accuracies or their commitment to look the part.  Production quality in tv increased in 90s. Pretty much up until then you just told the viewer what you wanted them to see when they looked at it. (I.e. Say hey we're the 60s and we would say okay)


Look at early snl. They didn't do a whole lot of make up and costuming back in the day. Chevy would just come out and say he was Gerald ford and he'd trip over stuff. In the 90s they made more effort to look like Clinton/bush/Obama etc. 

Naw not Beaver.... Norma had more of a Shirley partridge or Carol Brady vibe happening.


The thing you are forgetting is that viewers weren't as astute then as they are now. We weren't analyzing the series accuracies or their commitment to look the part.  Production quality in tv increased in 90s. Pretty much up until then you just told the viewer what you wanted them to see when they looked at it. (I.e. Say hey we're the 60s and we would say okay)


Look at early snl. They didn't do a whole lot of make up and costuming back in the day. Chevy would just come out and say he was Gerald ford and he'd trip over stuff. In the 90s they made more effort to look like Clinton/bush/Obama etc.


Carol Brady! She does look a lot like someone from the Brady Bunch!

Yeah, that's a good point and it doesn't make the show bad, in my opinion. If anything it makes it a lot funnier.

Teen/preteen it's the innocence of the age not the actual age.


This is one thing I don't like about online things/the internet, they can be misinterpreted. I actually meant 11 and 12 is still young. Somewhat innocent. Not angels by any means, but probably the last year or two before life becomes hormonal and more complicated.

They should honestly make a sarcasm button on the computer soon!  :D

Snozberries is right about the show being based on nostalgia.  Unlike Mad Men, TWY had a narrator so the show was more about looking back at major events that occurred during a certain age span so inaccuracy with time pieces and even the lack of consistency of how the storylines would unfold is more forgiving. When most people look back to an earlier time, I'm sure that they have current trends thrown in.  TWY, is one of my favorite shows, btw.

Snozberries is right about the show being based on nostalgia.  Unlike Mad Men, TWY had a narrator so the show was more about looking back at major events that occurred during a certain age span so inaccuracy with time pieces and even the lack of consistency of how the storylines would unfold is more forgiving. When most people look back to an earlier time, I'm sure that they have current trends thrown in.  TWY, is one of my favorite shows, btw.


Ty!  :)