ABC | Release Date: January 31, 1988
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Stream On
100
Miami HeraldSteve SonskyFeb 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: The Wonder Years is full of wonderment -- and grace, and charm, and wit, and insight, and poignancy and humor. The Wonder Years, in a word, is wonderful. [15 March 1988, p.1]
100
NewsdayMarvin KitmanJul 12, 2013
Season 2 Review: The most wonderful show this year. ... The writing is only one of the miracles taking place in "The Wonder Years." What is so great about the show, and so different, is the conception of the kid and the acting by Fred Savage. [25 Dec 1988]
90
Washington PostTom ShalesFeb 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: No one could maintain that the show deals in grueling realism. But the characters and their time do seem affectionately and thoughtfully portrayed, and genuineness along these lines is rare in TV. The Wonder Years is first-class time travel. [15 Mar 1998, p.1]
90
Los Angeles TimesLynn HeffleyApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: The cast is fine and Steve Miner directs with sensitivity. There's real poignancy in the last scene between Savage and McKellar. It's a refreshingly gutsy half-hour, a look back at how things were -- and weren't. [31 Jan 1988, p.C-13]
80
Christian Science MonitorArthur UngerApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: Viewers are in for a pleasant surprise. Narrator Kevin Arnold looks back at his seventh-grade adventures with a nice combination of rosy-hued tenderness and contemporary perspective. His adventures with the class bullies, the lunchroom proctor, and his first love are familiar bits of literary nostalgia, done with a certain amount of halting charm and psychological authenticity. The jarring, but valid, note is the intrusion of the Vietnam war into the lives of the youngsters. [29 Jan 1988, p.22]
70
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John Haslett CuffFeb 14, 2014
Season 1 Review: It's a likeable enough show, handsomely produced and acted and shot through with intelligence, humor and sentimentality. If it is as true to the times as it promises to be, the show could be a big hit with audiences in their mid-30s. [17 March 1998]
60
NewsdayBill KaufmanApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: A pleasant but routine sitcom that uses that decade of significant social change as a hook...The Wonder Years handles its period details - clothing, hairstyles - well. The look of the '60s is rendered with an authentic, evocative feel. Like virtually every sitcom, it has its banal moments, and here and there the gags fizzle. [30 Jan 1988, p.11]
60
San Diego Union-TribuneRobert P. LaurenceApr 30, 2013
Season 1 Review: It is beguiling and original, yet awkwardly executed. [28 Jan 1988, p.D-6]