The Wonder Years is getting a Black family reboot at ABC, with help of Lee Daniels and Fred Savage

Deadline

ABC has given a pilot production commitment to a new iteration of its 1988-93 classic comedy The Wonder Years, focusing on a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama during the turbulent late 1960s, the same era as the original series. Daniels will serve as executive producer and original Wonder Years star Savage is on board to direct the potential pilot episode. Neal Marlens, who co-created the original series with Carol Black, will serve as a consultant. Dave executive producer Saladin K. Patterson is creating the reboot based on his experiences growing up in Montgomery, Alabama. Patterson, who graduated from MIT with an electrical engineering degree, is a veteran executive producer who's worked extensively on The Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Two and a Half Men, Psych, The Last O.G. and The Bernie Mac Show. "The approach is reminiscent of the successful current reimagining of the classic family sitcom One Day at a Time with a Latinx family," according to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "The Wonder Years has a pilot production commitment. If the pilot script is approved for pilot production by ABC, the sign-off will also trigger the opening of a mini writer’s room in preparation for a possible series pickup." As Andreeva notes, ABC recently passed on a Thirtysomething revival pilot. "Thirtysomething and The Wonder Years aired on ABC at the same time in the late 1980s-early 1990s," says Andreeva." In fact, the two won the Emmy award for drama and comedy series, respectively, in the same year, 1988, for their first seasons. "At ABC, the new Wonder Years is looking to join The Goldbergs, long considered a spiritual successor to The Wonder Years."