Showrunner Bob Brush looks back at the music that made The Wonder Years such a teen TV classic.
The Wonder Yearscomes out swinging with its very first music cue.
The Byrds' era-encapsulating “Turn!
The cast of ‘The Wonder Years’.ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
(The Wonder Yearsoriginally ran on ABC from 1988 to 1993.)
“We didn’t have a lot of problems getting people to okay the song usage.
And then we shot the show, and it was awful.
Josh Saviano, Fred Savage, and Danica McKellar on ‘The Wonder Years’.Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
Nothing worked in it, and we kind of crammed the songs in.
“[The music] was part of the dramatic texture of the show.
You might as well have changed the entire scene.”
Indeed, the songs onThe Wonder Yearswere more than just period-specific ambience.
Accordingly, great effort was taken to opt for right song for any given moment.
“Ideas for the songs came from everybody.
That focus on songs' dramatic potential also meant less fealty to strict period accuracy.
I think that’s why it worked.”
14 on EW’s list ofthe best teen TV shows ever).
And as Brush sees it, the show’s use of music is no small part of that.
“And that’s what music does; music turns you into a 12-year-old.
I think that’s the reason that the music feels so personal [onThe Wonder Years].
Read more fromI Want My Teen TV, EW’s summerlong celebration of teen shows past and present.
