Pilot

> *"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.
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## Pilot

Kevin and Winnie look at each other before kissing at Harper's Woods

### Director

Steve Miner

**Pilot**is the premiere episode in the first season of *The Wonder Years*. It 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 difficulties he faces with his family, his friends Paul and Winnie, and new teachers as he gets ready to enter the 7th 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.

## Episode Summary

A series of brief clips playing in the background feature significant events and people from 1968, including speeches by civil rights leaders like Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the "victory" sign 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.

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. When Kevin and Winnie have 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 is then identified as coming 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 really ran things on the streets back home.

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 be back home from work. Norma says that he should be coming any time now before asking the family not to drive Jack insane due to his perceived frustration between traffic and his job. When Jack arrives home, Norma asks him how traffic was. He simply runts, "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.

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 laugh at the situation. Afterward, a series of home movies from the Arnold family during the summer of 1968 play in the background while being set to Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now".

After the sequence ends, the scene cuts to Kevin's bedroom later that night, where he and Paul are looking at Karen's book titled "Our Bodies, Our Selves" as a way to prepare for junior high school girls the next day. 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.

While at the bus stop, Kevin reassures Paul that he's dressed fine (Paul is wearing a bad 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 Cooper, as she now prefers to be addressed by her real name.

The kids soon arrive at their junior high school, which was just recently renamed Robert F. Kennedy Junior High (Robert Kennedy had been assassinated back in June of that year). During homeroom, Kevin ends up sitting in between new-lovers Eric Antonio and Gail Aslanian. After the two of them 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 by his full name, 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.

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 named Charles Manson gets in between them. Charles asks Kevin for his locker combination, who politely refuses to answer until Charles 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 stating that, contrary to what most of the boys thought, this wasn't a normal gym class but rather a literal physical education class. He then asserts his statement by declaring himself as a *body* educator. After a half hour of discussing educating bodies, Mr. Cutlip suddenly asks Kevin what a jock strap is and what it can do for you. After a brief pause, Kevin responds with a weak answer, implying that he has no idea what a jock strap is. Kevin suddenly hears the sound of an airplane colliding after imagining himself as a fighter pilot under enemy fire, ultimately failing the mission miserably.

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. Meanwhile, Winnie—or Gwendolyn—arrives at the cafeteria. 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, stating 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 annoying him about his relationship with Winnie, he storms off the table, picks up his apple, and yells that he doesn't even like her. However, as Kevin is about to leave, the principal of RFK Junior High, Mr. Diperna, stops him from exiting, 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 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 asking himself what Brian would do in a situation like this, he violently throws the apple all the way to the other end of the cafeteria, causing a girl to scream and some silverware to spill. 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 Kevin's parents in the process.

## 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)
* Donnie Jeffcoat as Eric Antonio
* Jaqueline Square as Gail Aslanian
* Dah-ve Chodan as Locker Girl (Debbie Ackerman)

## 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)

## Plot Summary

Kevin Arnold and his friends Paul Pfeiffer and Winnie Cooper are introduced during the summer of 1968 as they are about to enter the newly renamed Robert F. Kennedy Junior High School. The first day for Kevin was tough. At least one teacher remarked about what a problem Kevin's older brother Wayne had been and assumed the same of Kevin. Later at lunch, after being teased by Wayne and his friends over his anticipated relationship with Winnie, Kevin attempted to leave the cafeteria with an apple in front of Principal Diperna. (Leaving the cafeteria with food was prohibited.)

As Diperna confronted him, Kevin, already angry from Wayne's teasing over Winnie, hurled the apple back into the cafeteria. Kevin's parents were called in for Diperna's disciplinary session with Kevin, and just as Kevin was about to be punished when he and his parents returned home, horrible news was received--Winnie's brother, Brian, had been killed in action in the Vietnam War. Part one of two.