Family dramedy The Wonder Years went off the air 32 years ago — May 12, 1993. To mark the occasion, star Danica McKellar posted a series of her personal photos from the set on the last day of filming.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Danica McKellar (@danicamckellar)
“Thirty-two years ago today, the finale of The Wonder Years aired on ABC. 🤯 These are personal shots from the last day of filming… the end of an era!” wrote McKellar on Instagram. “I graduated from high school a couple months later and went to @ucla… oh the many adventures ahead for that teenager, and what an incredible show that would continue to bless her! Thank you, from myself and Winnie Cooper, to everyone who watched through the years. 🙏🙏.”
The first photo is of McKellar with co-stars Fred Savage and Josh Saviano with their arms around each other. The second photo is of the stars with the crew cutting the celebratory cake to mark their final day.
The Wonder Years ran on ABC from 1988 to 1993. In that time, it garnered critical acclaim and earned 28 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning four of them — Outstanding Comedy Series in 1988, Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series in 1989 and 1990, and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 1990.
Star Savage became the youngest actor ever nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series at the age of 13 in 1989; he was nominated again in 1990.
When the show filmed its ending, it was still up in the air whether it would return for a seventh season, so executive producer Bob Brush had to leave the episode somewhat open-ended. He told The Los Angeles Times at the time that he understood fans’ disappointment that Kevin and Winnie did not end up together, but that’s how life goes a lot of the time.
“Some viewers will be surprised that nothing works out the way your fondest wish would be,” Brush said. “The message I wanted in there is that that’s part of the beauty of life. It’s fine to say, ‘I’d like everything to be just the way it was when I was 15 and I was happy,’ but it seemed more nurturing to me to say that we leave these things behind and we go on to forge new lives for ourselves.”
McKellar definitely stays in touch with her co-stars. Jason Hervey, who played Kevin’s older brother Wayne, was just at McKellar’s 50th birthday party earlier this year.
