Hodges scolds him and his friends for using a “yo mama” joke, insisting they be more like their white counterparts.

The series skillfully balances these moments with humor and nuance. (“We go to the same school, we should be able to play each other!”) At school, he doesn’t notice the two white kids refusing to drink from the same water fountain, and earnestly pleads with Coach Long (Allen Maldonado) to play a baseball game with his friend Brad (Julian Lerner), not realizing the potentially harmful ramifications of playing against an all-white team. In Wednesday’s premiere, he passes his old school, which was shut down due to desegregation, during his morning bus ride. However, Dean must also contend with the often prickly social dynamics that come with being a Black kid in a America at the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement. Like Kevin, Dean is just a regular kid navigating the awkwardness of adolescence. The Williams are a nuclear family unit: Bill (Dulé Hill) and Lilian (Saycon Sengbloh) are working parents raising Dean and his older sister Kim (Laura Kariuki) in a quiet neighborhood of doctors, lawyers and teachers. With Daniel Stern narrating as a thirtysomething Kevin reflecting on his younger years, the story focused on his childhood in a nondescript suburban neighborhood against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.Ĭapturing the charm of the OG series, the 2021 reboot centers on Dean Williams (Elisha “EJ” Williams), who is Black, and his middle-class family living in Montgomery, Alabama during the late ‘60s - when pivotal moments such as 1964’s March on Washington and 1965’s Bloody Sunday are still a fresh memory. The Wonder Years, which originally premiered on Januon ABC, followed a young Kevin Arnold (played by Fred Savage) growing up in a white middle-class family during the late ’60s and early ’70s. Fall TV: Your Handy Calendar of 150+ Season and Series Premiere Dates!įall TV Preview 2021: Exclusive Scoop and Photos on 20+ Returning Favorites!

Half life 2 episode one