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In 1988, the world was introduced to 12-year-old Kevin Arnold — a young boy who lived in the late 1960s with his middle-class family — in the hit show, The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years ran for 6 seasons and starred Fred Savage as Kevin, Dan Lauria as his father Jack Arnold, Alley Mills as his mother Norma, Jason Hervey played Kevin’s brother Wayne, and Olivia d’Abo as his sister Karen. The series made Fred Savage a part of television history and was so successful that ABC decided to reboot it in 2021.
Credit: ABC
The new Wonder Years series focuses on the Williams — a black family — as they navigate through life in the 1960s in Montgomery, Alabama. While the cast was entirely new, some of the crew was incredibly familiar with the show. The Walt Disney Company brought in Fred Savage himself to serve as an executive producer, as well as director. The Wonder Years reboot has yet to receive a second season pickup but, even if it does, we are now learning that Fred Savage will not be a part of it.
Credit: ABC
ABC has fired Savage after an investigation into his on-set conduct was launched and discovered he had behaved inappropriately more than once. According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Savage faced three separate allegations and cooperated with the investigation, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
“Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,” Wonder Years producer 20th Television said in a statement. “Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.”
Credit: ABC
Unfortunately, these were not the first misconduct allegations levied against Savage in recent history. In 2018, Savage worked on a series called The Grinder and a costumer claims that Savage struck her arm. The costumer claimed that Savage yelled at her not to touch him as she was trying to dust off his costume. She also claimed that he created a hostile work environment with his on-set behavior. An investigation was done and Fox said that they found no evidence of wrongdoing. Savage also denied the allegations.
Credit: 20th Century Fox
That same year, Alley Mills came out publicly and said that The Wonder Years had been canceled after six seasons because of allegations made against both Savage and Jason Hervey. Mills called the allegations “completely ridiculous.”
Aside from its original statement, neither 20th Century (which is owned by Disney) nor Disney Television Studios have given more information on the inappropriate conduct accusations against Savage or the investigation that ensued. Savage and his team have also not commented.
