Fred Savage was on the phone...from his car...squeezing in an interview between completing one of teenage life's intimidating and pivitol experiences-the college SATs-and arriving at the set to film another episode of ABC's The Wonder Years. "I think the SATs went OK," he says cheerfully.
For six seasons now we've shared Fred's adolescense and development.
We've watched his character, Kevin Arnold, grow up on prime time, navigating
the poignant, bittersweet years of teenage life in the late '60s and
early '70s. We've seen the pimples and the crushes of agony of the first
kiss, and a 7-inch change in height.
Along the way, Savage, a lovable 10-year-old moppet when the show began, has become a confident young man. As he reflects on how he looked in the first show, the voice in the car is a teenager's early bass. "When I look at the very first episode, it doesn't even look like the same person," says Savage. "My brother and sister always razz me about how small I was. And I sound totally different. I sound like I do now if I suck in helium from a baloon."
Both Fred and alter ego Kevin are now 16 and juniors in highschool, and executive producer Bob Brush says the show is changing in more ways than just it's star's looks. "We started out with a very cute muffin looking out at the world and not having any way of understanding it," says Brush. "Now we have a young adult, so the wonder comes from a different place. Before, it came from the outside, and now it's a lot about wondering what's inside."
Brush hopes the critically acclaimed show-with its nostalgic adult voice-over
Stern-will have the ratings strength to carry it through one more season-and
Kevin's senior year. But the way his star is growing, may present a problem.
"What happens," ponders Brush, "when Fred Savage's voice gets lower than
the narrator's?"