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Disney has canceled four more television series–one of them after just two seasons on the air.
Per Deadline, Disney-owned ABC has announced it’s calling it quits with one of its family-friendly television series that has served as the reboot of a classic coming-of-age drama-comedy that originally debuted on ABC in the late 1980s.
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Fans were first introduced to Kevin Arnold and his family, as well as his love interest–the girl next door named Winnie–when The Wonder Years debuted on ABC on January 31, 1988. The series ran for six seasons, giving fans 115 can’t-miss episodes, before it abruptly ended on May 12, 1993.
Credit: Disney/ABC
Touted as both heart-wrenching and hilarious, The Wonder Years tells the story of Kevin Arnold, played by actor Fred Savage, as he grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“The Wonder Years” original series/Credit: Disney/ABC
The original show was quite successful. During its first four seasons, The Wonder Years was awarded a spot in the Nielsen Top 30, and TV Guide named the show among the 20 best of the 1980s. The Wonder Years also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1988.
The Wonder Years was so popular that ABC decided to reboot it in 2021, but with a few changes. The new series centered around a black family in Montgomery, Alabama, in the late 1960s, and as was the case in the original series, an older protagonist–this time voiced by actor Don Cheadle–narrates the stories about his younger self.
“The Wonder Years” reboot/Credit: Disney/ABC
The reboot starred EJ Williams as Dean, who was described as “an inquisitive and hopeful 12-year-old who is trying to figure out his place within his Black family and the world at large.” Dean was “a little insecure, a tad awkward, and a bit self-conscious” but “determined to make his mark on the world around him.”
The reboot also starred Dulé Hill as Bill Williams, Saycon Sengbloh as Lillian Williams, Laura Kariuki as Kim Williams, Julian Lerner as Brad Hitman, Amari O’Neil as Cory Long, and Milan Ray as Keisa Clemmons.
Fred Savage, who played Kevin Arnold in the original series, originally served as executive producer of the new series before being fired.
Credit: Disney/ABC
ABC has chosen to close up shop just one month after the second season of the reboot concluded on ABC. The announcement is a disappointing one for many fans, though not a completely surprising one. The second season of the show had originally been scheduled to return mid-season but was ultimately bumped into the summer programming line-up, a move often made by networks when a series has been canceled or is likely to be canceled.
The same thing happened to Dwayne Johnson’s sitcom, Young Rock, earlier this year at NBC.
Scene from Dwayne Johnson’s “Young Rock” sitcom/Credit: NBC
The Wonder Years ranked as the least-watched and lowest-rated series at ABC over the summer. It also ranked last among all of the ABC series that aired during the 2022-2023 season.
The Wonder Years is one of four ABC series to be canceled. Other shows include Alaska Daily, Big Sky, and The Company You Keep.
Yeah, not much of a surprise there with The Wonder Years being given the flick. We still don’t know when the strike will end despite some promising progress but I guess they will focus on quality than quantity. So might not be possible for The Good Lawyer if the strike goes on in a few weeks from now.