The Wonder Years debuted in 1988, a combination of drama and comedy that chronicled Kevin Arnold's coming of age in the turbulent era of the late 60s. While the Vietnam War, the civil rights struggle and the women's lib movement were front-page news, adolescent Kevin had to take on puberty and win. With an excellent voiceover narration from an adult Kevin, every episode was a nostalgic TV gem.

In the first episode, we meet Kevin and his two friends, Paul and Winnie. Paul is a geeky nerd, relying on Kevin's advice to achieve any sort of coolness, though Kevin isn't such an expert himself. Winnie, formerly an ugly duckling, has transformed into a beautiful girl who dazzles Kevin. All three are poised to enter junior high where--as everyone knows--childhood friendships often come to an end when one (Winnie) is more socially acceptable that the other two.

Kevin nurses a crush on Winnie during the whole series. It seems that his love is requited, though both teenagers date other people and end up mad at each other for one reason or another. Their first kiss happens on the day Winnie's family finds out that her older brother has died in Vietnam. It's a bittersweet moment for both of them and Kevin is wracked with guilt (but he still plants a good one on Winnie). The show is full of moments like that: earth-shattering for young Kevin, but tempered with wisdom for the older narrator.

Kevin's family consists of dad Jack, mom Norma, older sister Karen and older brother Wayne. Jack is dour man, extremely reserved and sullen, who eventually leaves his soul-crushing, middle-management job to start his own business. Norma is blond, bubbly and always placating but she also feels the first stirrings of feminism contradicting her conservative husband. Karen is a hippie, free-thinking and liberal, and if she and Jack are in a room together, they will always have a fight. Wayne is a bully and rather dim, the bane of Kevin's existence.

Through junior high, high school and summer vacations, Kevin, Winnie and Paul experience all the hallmarks of adolescence with all the requisite heartache and lessons learned. The last episode has all the characters watching a Fourth of July parade, while the older Kevin explains what happens to each of them in the future.

The show bowled over both audiences and critics, earning an Emmy after only six episodes were aired. The voiceover narration (provided by Daniel Stern) became a trademark that has been often imitated in serious and not-so-serious fashion. Watching Kevin grow up took all the baby boomers back to their own childhoods and made all of us appreciate the wonder of those years.

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