"1968... I was twelve years old. A lot happened that year: Dennis McLain won 31 games, "The Mod Squad" hit the air, and I graduated from Hillcrest Elementary, and entered junior high school... but we'll get to that. There's no pretty way to put this; I grew up in the suburbs. I guess most people think of the suburb as a place with all the disadvantages of the city, and none of the advantages of the country, and vice versa. But in way, those really were the wonder years for us there in the suburbs. It was kind of a golden age for kids." - The first lines spoken by Kevin as an adult before introducing himself to the audience.
Pilot is the first episode in the first season of The Wonder Years, being the show's official premiere. It first aired on ABC on January 31, 1988, right after the channel's coverage of the Super Bowl XXII.
Set in the summer of 1968, the episode introduces the show's protagonist, Kevin Arnold, and the situations he faces with his family, his friends Paul and Winnie, and new teachers as he prepares to enter the seventh grade at Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School. At the end of the episode, the Arnold family is devastated to learn that Brian Cooper, Winnie's older brother, was killed in action shortly after being drafted into the Vietnam War.
In 2009, TV Guide ranked this episode number 39 on its updated list of the 100 greatest episodes. This episode remains the only instance in the series where Kevin's narration wasn't provided by Daniel Stern, instead being voiced by Arye Gross during the initial airing after the Super Bowl. After The Wonder Years became a full series, the voiceover was re-recorded by Stern to keep consistency with the remainder of the series.
Episode Summary[]
A series of brief clips play in the background featuring significant events and people from 1968, including speeches by civil rights leaders like Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the "victory" sign being given by President-elect Richard Nixon, police and law enforcement personnel retaining anti-war demonstrators and activists, and other notable incidents from the year. An unknown narrator talks about his time spent living in the suburbs and talks about how the late 1960s were, as he considered, "the golden age" for kids growing up back then.
Winnie gives Kevin back the football.
The scene then cuts to a suburban neighborhood where some boys are playing a game of football. After identifying himself as Kevin Arnold, the narrator points to a younger version of himself as a 12-year-old in the summer of 1968. Kevin drops a forward pass, which his older brother Wayne attempted to throw. Winnie Cooper, a girl across the street from where Kevin lives, hands him back the football. As Kevin and Winnie are having a small conversation, Wayne yells at Kevin to stop "gabbing" with his alleged girlfriend. Kevin retaliates by firmly stating that Winnie isn't his girlfriend. When Wayne continues to tease Kevin by suggesting that he'd give a French kiss to Winnie, Kevin insults Wayne by calling him a buttface. Angered by this, Wayne pushes Kevin over and proceeds to pound on his shoulder. Paul Pfeiffer, Kevin's best friend, who is claimed to be "allergic to everything," attempts to persuade Wayne to let go of Kevin, but to no avail. Ultimately, a voice from off-screen yells at Wayne, telling him to knock it off before he does the same to him. Suddenly, Wayne releases Kevin out of intimidation. The voice comes directly from Winnie's older brother, Brian Cooper, who, at 19 years old, was considered by Kevin and many of the other kids to be the coolest guy on the block. Kevin then remarks on how, in June of that year, Brian got drafted and sent to go to Vietnam. Regardless, the remains of his car—a 1959 Chevrolet El Camino—served as a reminder of who ran things on the streets back home.
Brian Cooper looking at Kevin while smoking a cigarette.
Kevin and Paul walk into the kitchen at Kevin's house. Kevin asks his mother, Norma, if Paul could join them for dinner. She allows him to stay as long as his mother is aware. Paul asks Kevin what they're having for dinner, but when he finds out it's meatloaf and salad, he's not amused because he's allergic to both. During dinner, Kevin asks his mother when his father, Jack, will arrive home from work. Norma says that he should be coming any time now before asking the family not to drive Jack insane due to the perceived frustration between traffic and his job. Jack arrives home, and Norma asks him how traffic was. He simply grunts, "Traffic's traffic," in response. Meanwhile, Karen, Kevin's older hippie sister, returns home from a peace march, despite having promised her mother that she would help her make dinner. Karen excuses herself by claiming that Norma has so much bad karma in her life (being a house mother) that she'd be cautious if she were in her circumstances.
The Arnold family gets in an argument when Karen lets her father know that she wants to take birth-control pills.
Jack returns to the kitchen and sits across from the boys, greeting Paul. Paul responds awkwardly by waving his slice of bread. A sudden silence occurs in the kitchen as the Arnold family and Paul are eating dinner. Kevin points out that his father figured that, by working and providing for the rest of the family during the day, he certainly didn't want to have to deal with a conversation after all his hard work. As a result, Kevin concludes that the best course of action during dinner was to remain silent and hope that no one else would do or say something that would upset him too much. Suddenly, however, when Karen informs her parents that she plans to get birth-control pills, an enraged Jack bangs the table with his fist, causing the family to argue while Kevin and Paul are laughing. Afterward, a series of home movies from the Arnold family during the summer of 1968 are playing in the background while being set to Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now".
After the sequence ends, the scene cuts to Kevin's bedroom the night before his first day of junior high school, where he and Paul are looking at a book owned by Karen, titled "Our Bodies, Our Selves" as a way to prepare for junior high girls. Norma then enters the bedroom and tells Paul that his mother wants him to come home. Before Paul leaves, he asks Kevin if he knows what he'll wear to school. He admits that he has no idea, but as it turns out, he had been planning his wardrobe for six weeks beforehand. The next day, at breakfast, Kevin comes out dressed in a shirt of green paisley and brown stripes, blue pants, and black boots, causing Wayne to laugh at him. Norma, not wanting her son to go to school with that outfit, forces Kevin to wear plain clothes before waiting at the bus stop.
The boys see Winnie without contacts for the first time.
While at the bus stop, Kevin reassures Paul that he's dressed fine (He is wearing a substandard outfit of brown striped pants, a white shirt with brown suspender-like decorations, and is carrying a violin case). Paul asks to look at the class schedule, but Kevin refuses, insisting that they have to learn to "act mature." They try to join in with Wayne and his group of friends, who are sticking their tongues out and sticking them with rulers. As Kevin looks after a pair of older girls walking by, he spots a young, beautiful girl with long brown hair, wearing a pink top and yellow skirt, and go-go boots, arriving toward them. It turns out to be none other than Winnie Cooper, or Gwendolyn, as she now preferred to be addressed.
The kids soon arrive at their junior high school, which was just recently renamed Robert F. Kennedy Junior High. During homeroom, Kevin ends up sitting in between new-lovers Eric Antonio and Gail Aslanian. After the two confess their love for each other, they proceed to kiss before Kevin interrupts, not wanting to be involved in the middle of a "sexual experience." The homeroom teacher, Mrs. Ritvo, calls out Kevin, knowing that he is Wayne's brother. Kevin tries to deny it, but before he even finishes explaining, Mrs. Ritvo warns Kevin that he's got a "tough row to hoe" before she leaves him alone.
Kevin hands his locker combination to a bully twice his size.
After homeroom, Kevin tries to open his brand new locker. He feels lucky because his locker is only two rows down from one of the prettiest girls in 7th grade, Debbie Ackerman. The two exchange looks until a tall student with a leather jacket, whom Kevin nicknames "Charles Manson," gets in between them. "Charles" asks Kevin for his locker combination, who politely refuses to answer until he forcefully picks Kevin into the lockers, pressuring him to hand out his locker combo. "Charles" opens the locker and stores inside a sealed knife and a bag of marijuana. He warns Kevin that if anyone finds out he has these items, he will immediately know who told them. Kevin attempts to play a mind trick on "Charles" by asking to whom he's referring. "Charles" quickly figures it out and points out that he's referring to Kevin, which he slyly acknowledges.
Next up for Kevin is gym class. Kevin comments on how, because he has gym class as the very first class of the day, it means he has to consistently wake up in the morning, shower, get dressed, go to school, get undressed, run around, shower, and get dressed all in around 45 minutes. The gym teacher, Mr. Cutlip, begins the class by firmly stating that, contrary to what most of the boys assumed, this wasn't a normal gym class but rather a physical education class. He then asserts his statement by declaring himself as a body educator. After a half hour of discussing about educating bodies, Mr. Cutlip suddenly asks Kevin to answer what a jock strap is and what it can do. Tempted to imagine himself as a fighter pilot under enemy fire, Kevin responds with a redundant explanation. He suddenly hears the sound of an airplane colliding afterward, having failed the mission miserably.
Wayne teases Kevin and Winnie by making a big smooch in front of them.
At the school cafeteria, Kevin and Paul are searching for a place to sit down to eat when Kevin finds an empty table nearby. Kevin describes how the school cafeteria has several different groups of people who fit into one category or another in order to protect themselves and to fit in with a particular group they identify with. Kevin asks Paul to pretend to look as if he's having fun, feeling concerned of other people watching him. Meanwhile, Winnie—or Gwendolyn—arrives at the cafeteria, looking for a place to eat. She asks the boys if she can sit with them, which Kevin immediately accepts. Just when Kevin is satisfied, feeling that their group is beginning to form well on the first day, Wayne instantly calls his friends, mentioning that his younger brother has found his girlfriend. Kevin reaffirms that Winnie isn't his girlfriend and that he doesn't even think she's cute. After Kevin has enough of Wayne bothering him about his relationship with Winnie, he storms off the table, picks up his apple, and yells that he doesn't even like her.
Kevin furiously throws the apple into the other side of the cafeteria.
However, as Kevin is about to leave, the principal of RFK Junior High, Mr. Diperna, stops him, pointing Kevin to a sign that states that no food can be left outside of the cafeteria. Mr. Diperna warns Kevin that he'll get detention if he takes the apple outside. Kevin retaliates and tries to get away, but Mr. Diperna catches up to him. After a bitter exchange between the two, Kevin feels pressured to do something to get out of the situation quickly. After thinking to himself what Brian Cooper would do in a situation like this, Kevin forcefully throws the apple to the other end of the cafeteria, causing a girl to scream and spilling some silverware. Feeling guilty, Kevin politely asks Mr. Diperna if he can get the apple back, but he instead grabs Kevin by the neck and sends him to his office, calling his parents in the process.
At Diperna's office, Norma questions Kevin by asking what caused him to think about throwing the apple. Kevin initially hesitates to answer, thinking to himself why Mr. Diperna had "a brain the size of a baby pea." After privately claiming that he threw the apple to achieve world peace, Kevin finally confesses that he achieved nothing by doing so. Mr. Diperna allows Kevin to leave with no further punishment, but he assures him that he'll be keeping an eye on him throughout the school year. Kevin then gets intimidated once Jack suddenly tells Mr. Diperna from the other side of the office that he wants to take him home immediately, all the while cracking his knuckles in anger at his son.
Kevin and his parents soon return home. As Jack takes Kevin by the arm, before he has an opportunity to punish him, Wayne and Karen come out from the front door, looking mournful. Karen then reveals to the family that Brian Cooper had just been killed in Vietnam. Norma asks her when did the soldiers found out he died, to which Karen simply shrugs. Feeling shocked after hearing the news, she immediately goes back inside the house to try to call Brian's parents, Evelyn and Jim Cooper.
Later in the evening, Kevin decides to go out for a walk to Harper's Woods, a nearby forest where he believes Winnie might be residing. When he arrives, he sees Winnie sitting alone, holding on to herself, and not wearing a sweater despite the chilly weather. Kevin initially hesitates to approach her, but eventually sits right next to her. Having no idea what to say, he apologizes to Winnie for what happened to Brian and for what he said about her at the cafeteria that day. He confesses that what he said in the cafeteria wasn't true, and Winnie simply responds, "I know." After a few moments of silence, Kevin takes off his New York Jets jacket and places it over Winnie's shoulders. The two exchange a few glances before having their first kiss as Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman" plays in the background.
As the camera pans out, Kevin and Winnie stop kissing and briefly look at each other again before hugging in comfort as the film fades to black and white. A grown-up Kevin reflects on the experience, stating that, despite the fact that it was their first kiss, he and Winnie never discussed it much afterward. However, even after many years had passed, the events of that night lingered in his memory, and Kevin assures that Winnie may also feel the same way. Kevin concludes by stating that people like him who grew up in the suburbs as part of the "TV generation" always seem to acknowledge that inside each of those identical houses with their own Dodge cars, white bread, and glowing TV sets: "There were people with stories; there were families bound together in the pain and the struggle of love. There were moments that made us cry with laughter, and there were moments, like that one, of sorrow and wonder."
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold (first appearance)
- Ayre Gross as the voice of Adult Kevin (later re-recorded by his successor, Daniel Stern, after the original Super Bowl XXII broadcast)
- Josh Saviano as Paul Pfeiffer (first appearance)
- Dan Lauria as Jack Arnold (first appearance)
- Alley Mills as Norma Arnold (first appearance)
- Jason Hervey as Wayne Arnold (first appearance)
- Olivia d'Abo as Karen Arnold (first appearance)
- Danica McKellar as Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper (first appearance)
Supporting Cast[]
- Bentley Mitchum as Brian Cooper (first appearance)
- Robert Picardo as Mr. Cutlip (first appearance)
- Raye Birk as Mr. Diperna (first appearance)
- Linda Hoy as Mrs. Ritvo (first appearance)
- Sean Faro as Greaser ("Charles Manson", the locker bully)
- Donnie Jeffcoat as Eric Antonio (first appearance)
- Jaqueline Square as Gail Aslanian
- Dah-ve Chodan as Locker Girl (Debbie Ackerman)
- Gregory "Mars" Martin as Steve (uncredited, first appearance)
Music[]
Licensed music[]
- Turn, Turn, Turn! by The Byrds (Plays at the beginning of the episode while clips of historical moments from 1968 play in the background and a grown-up Kevin gives his opening monologue.)
- Both Sides, Now by Joni Mitchell (Plays during the sequence of the Arnolds' home movie clips. These clips would later be used for the show's opening theme, with the music being replaced by Joe Cocker's cover of With a Little Help from My Friends)
- Crystal Blue Persuasion by Tommy James and the Shondells (Heard via the radio in Kevin's room while he and Paul are reading Our Bodies, Our Selves)
- When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge (Plays at the end of the episode when Kevin and Winnie share their first kiss at Harper's Woods.)
Original score composed by Stewart Levin and W.G. Snuffy Walden[]
- Winnie's Theme
Trivia[]
- Because this was the very first episode of The Wonder Years, several elements were still not fully realized by the time the episode premiered after Super Bowl XXII, leading to several inconsistencies between this episode and the rest of the series.
- The most notable difference comes from the original broadcast of the episode, where Kevin's voiceover narration was originally provided by Arye Gross. When the episode reran on March 15, 1988, Gross' original dialogue would be rerecorded by Daniel Stern, who would remain to do the narration of adult Kevin for the rest of the series.
- The setting of the Arnold family's kitchen has several items, such as the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and even the entryway, in opposite positions, which would later be reversed for the second episode onward.
- Kevin's bedroom has an entirely different layout compared to the rest of the series, with the most notable aspect being that he has a room for himself instead of sharing a room with his older brother Wayne like in the first 4 seasons.
- During physical education class, the boys and Mr. Cutlip are seen wearing slightly different uniforms, with the school's mascot initially representing the Indians (Native Americans). The second episode features the class wearing updated uniforms, with the school's mascot now representing wildcats.
- Considering the fact that the episode takes place when the school was recently renamed to Robert F. Kennedy Junior high, it can be assumed that the change of the school's mascot from the Indians to the wildcats must've been a last-minute decision to renovate the school.
- In the scene where Kevin is at Mr. Diperna's office, when Kevin is thinking to himself, some of the dialogue is spoken by his actor, Fred Savage, instead of Ayre Gross providing his adult Kevin narration. This part was kept intact even after the episode reran with Daniel Stern rerecording Gross' lines. For the rest of the series, Kevin would very rarely have his thoughts spoken by his younger self, instead opting to have his adult voiceover do the job.