Well, the answer is "yes" and "heck yes". Included with the 26 discs are a whopping 23 hours of bonus content, which include the expected number of featurettes, commentaries (including one on Kevin and Winnie's first kiss), and B-roll footage. But you also get the incredible cast reunion (interestingly, it's Jason Hervey who may have had the best post-career). Authentic class binders, notebooks, and other items will thrust you deeper into Kevin Arnold's school experience during the turbulent '60s and '70s. You can tell that a lot of love and care went into the entire package. While the remastering isn't perfect, that nostalgic "home movie" quality remains and looks terrific. Nearly all 300 classic rock tracks have been secured to keep the experience as authentic as possible. It must have been a costly effort securing all of those licenses but it was well worth it. Most other DVD packages swap in new music or bland renditions and hope you don't notice, but fans of The Wonder Years would never stand for that here. The music is too essential.
But what about the show itself? I was only eleven years old when the show debuted and I remember it fondly. It was one of the few times I stayed up late because it was after the 1988 Super Bowl, and right away it was obvious The Wonder Years was unlike any other show. Sentimental and nostalgic without being glossy or sugary, the show was brutally tough and instantly relatable. While every kid of a certain age could see something of themselves in Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), they also secretly wished they could have a best friend like Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) and a girl in their life like Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar). Everybody loved Winnie, although I will admit to always having a thing for Becky Slater (played by Danica's sister, Crystal), who memorably punched Kevin in the gut and became his part-time nemesis for awhile. "Friends? I'll give you friends"! The show was able to tackle serious issues (season four episode "The Accident" is still powerful) and show that the problems we face are universal. There's a reason The Wonder Years won its first Emmy after only a handful of episodes. What's a little bit surprising is how well they have held up over the years, especially the bittersweet final episode, presented here in its original broadcast form. Talk about a finale that perfectly encapsulated how daring the past six seasons had been, it was a truly daring move to not give fans the "happily ever after" ending we were all expecting. The Wonder Years was a show that touched a lot of hearts, and through this set will continue to touch a lot more.
Rating: 4 out of 5
