SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Ed. 1,2; Pg. TV WEEK-8
LENGTH: 811 words
Wonder of stardom hasn't, like, changed Fred Savage that much
Robert P. Laurence; Television Writer
Success, it is fair to guess, has not spoiled d Fred Savage.
The young star of ABC's "The Wonder Years" met a batch
of TV critics the other day, and one asked if he was ever tempted to talk
back to his mother, and remind her that he is a celebrity and not to be
disciplined as if he were a mere 12-year-old kid.
The dark, liquid eyes that have mesmerized millions of
preteen girls grew to the size of tennis balls, and Fred regarded the man
as if he must be deranged.
His voice rose to a panicky squeal, as the voices of preteen
boys will do when under extreme stress. "To my mom??!! No way! NO
WAY!!" to be, in many ways other than age, quite like Kevin Arnold, the
lad whose weekly crises of early adolescence are the subject of "The Wonder
Years."
The quirky comedy series (9 p.m. Wednesdays, KGTV, Channel
10) has formed part of the core of new shows that have returned ABC to
ratings strength and critical respectability after years in the cellar
of both categories. After debuting a year ago, the show aired just
six episodes in the spring season, and won the Emmy Award for best comedy
series, while the same network's "thirtysomething" was being named best
drama.
Along with "Hooperman," another ABC success of the 1987-88
season, "The Wonder Years" is one of two survivors of the surge of "dramadies"
-- shows
mixing comedy with drama -- produced by the networks over the past
couple of years. It does not have a laugh track, and does have the
look of a small,
well-crafted movie.
Created, produced and mostly written by the husband-wife
team of Neal Marlens and Carol Black, "The Wonder Years" is all about growing
up in the late 1960s in a place that carries only the generic title of
"Suburb." With issues like Vietnam, civil rights and hippies lurking not
far in the background, Kevin and his friends are trying mainly to cope
with the eternal mysteries of seventh grade, which are mainly girls.
As Kevin lives out his life, his story is also told in
voice-over by the adult Kevin, remembering what life was like for him then.
That role is taken by Daniel Stern, who you might remember as the tall,
gawky Cyril in "Breaking Away," and who has directed an episode or two.
Kevin remains steadfastly enamored of a dark-haired, willowy
(taller than he is, as often happens in the seventh grade), ethereal young
lady named Winnie
(Danica McKellar). But a couple of weeks ago, he spent a short time
going steady with a blonde named Becky ( Crystal McKellar, Danica's
younger sister),
mainly to make Winnie jealous.
Meanwhile, Kevin was asked by the handsome, athletic Kirk
(Michael Landes) to find out if Winnie liked him. That is, if she
really liked him. Kirk, that is.
So off Kevin went to talk to the girl of his dreams, on behalf of his
rival.
It was plain that Marlens and Black remembered how things
were in seventh grade. "Do you mean, do I like him like him, or do
I just like him?"
"The first one, I guess."
"Well, I like Kirk. But I'm not sure I like him like him."
Oh.
Adding to the delicate mix are an occasional fantasy scene
-- Kevin and his friends are the "Star Trek" crew, trapped on a planet
ruled by all the girls in their lives -- and a few carefully chosen records
from the 1950s and '60s. For instance, when Kevin found himself longing
to break up with Becky, B.B. King was
on the sound track, singing "The Thrill is Gone."
Kevin's parents and his older brother and sister are part
of the scene, as well as his best pal, Paul (Josh Saviano), but at the
center is Kevin himself, played by Fred, a skilled, charming actor, with
red-apple cheeks, a button nose, those doelike eyes and the cutest, most
endearing smile since Shirley Temple.
Unlike so many kid actors, who already speak of themselves
as "we," Fred Savage seems to be keeping things in perspective.
For him, life is pretty much "the same thing" as it is
for Kevin. "He's worried about girls, and you know, school, and whether
his hair is right and stuff like that."
In an upcoming episode, Kevin has to cope with piano lessons,
and Fred also knows what that experience is like.
Is there a real Winnie in his life?
Fred didn't know what to say.
"Well, not in, like, the same situation. Not like,
well, you know."
The question got tougher.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Fred? Yes or no."
"Well, kind of."
His offstage friends, he said, are no more impressed with
his stardom than is his mother.
"They don't, like, tease me or treat me better or worse
or anything," he said. "They just, like, treat me the same, I guess. They
treat me the same and they invite me over, like regular friends, and I
hang out with them and stuff."
Then Fred Savage said the one thing that explained that
life has not changed very much for him: "And I still get picked last when
they pick softball teams and stuff."
GRAPHIC: 2 PHOTOS 1. The Wonder Years' - Fred Savage, rights, and Josh Saviano star in comedy series airing Wednesday. (TV-WEEK-1) 2. Fred Savage stars in Wonder Years,' comedy series airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Channel 10.