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The Wonder Years

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What’s On at Flavorwire: The Links That Made the Rounds at Our Office

By Lillian Ruiz on

Flavorwire’s end-of-day link roundup returns. Recognizing that there’s an overabundance of stuff on the Internet (and it’s not everyone’s job to keep up with it all), Flavorwire is curating the best of what we come across — and share with our coworkers — in our daily meanderings around the web. Below, check out both the big and the obscure stories you might have missed during your long day at the office. … Read More

Television

’90s TV Teachers: Where Are They Now?

By Judy Berman on

Fixated as we are on our own childhoods, we tend to look back on our favorite ’90s TV kids and teenagers fairly frequently. But recently — and perhaps this is just us showing our age — our thoughts have turned to their teachers. While Mr. Feeny, Ms. Jacobs, and Coach Cutlip didn’t get nearly as much screen time as the kids on Boy Meets World, Dawson’s Creek, and The Wonder Years, they made more of an impression than their students might like to admit. Find out what’s become of ’90s TV teachers, from series regulars who shared their wisdom (or just their anger) with the younger generation to the most memorable of guest stars, below. … Read More

Television

The 20 Best Opening Scenes in Television

By Michelle Rafferty on

Although we’re about settled into TV’s second wave of summer programming — namely, Breaking Bad, Louie, and Political Animals — it’s impossible to get too comfortable. Thanks to Comic-Con and the TCA tour, buzz for fall 2012 is nearly in full swing and has us bracing for the series of snap judgements we’ll have to make about the new season of television. As many showrunners have pointed out, it’s unfortunate that a TV show only has a limited window to prove itself. At the same time, we can’t complain when a series starts out with a bang. And, as shows like Breaking Bad have proved, a stellar start and well-plotted story development don’t have to be mutually exclusive. To follow up our recent look at the best opening scenes in cinema, we decided to recall some of the best TV pilot opens, taking into account style, innovation, and sheer ability to capture the attention of easily distracted brains. Have a favorite we missed? Please let us know in the comments! … Read More

Television

TV’s Most Hopeless, Angst-Ridden Romantics

By Caroline Stanley on

If you always secretly wished that The West Wing was a lot more soapy, then mark your calendars for Sunday night, when a new show called Political Animals premieres on USA. At the heart of this fun new series is the Hammond family, a political dynasty in the vein of the Kennedys, who are every bit as flawed and riddled by scandal. There’s also a clear homage to the Clintons happening here. Sigourney Weaver’s Elaine Barrish is basically Hillary Clinton with a much better stylist; meanwhile, Ciarán Hinds as two-term president and general good ol’ boy Bud Barrish is cut from the same cloth as Bill. As in real life, the on-screen relationship between this fictionalized version of the couple is hard to comprehend. Like Carla Gugino, who plays the family’s nemesis, journalist Susan Berg, we can’t help but wonder why a woman as strong as Elaine would put up with a cheating husband — but then, she’s far from the first TV character to let her heart rule over her head. Click through for a roundup of some of the most hopeless, angst-ridden romantics in recent television history. … Read More

Television

’90s TV’s Most Memorable Nerds: Where Are They Now?

By Judy Berman on

Hollywood can be notoriously hard on child actors; one day they’re America’s pint-size sweetheart, and the next they’re heroin-addicted has-beens knocking on Dr. Drew’s office door. But the kids who play TV’s most recognizable geeks may have even more trouble finding their place in the industry as adults, because outside of a few sitcoms like Community and The Big Bang Theory, their archetype is far rarer in shows about adults — and unlike the jocks and cheerleaders who are their teenage cast mates, they don’t generally have the superhuman good looks that will translate to leading roles. So, as a recent article about Freaks and Geeks‘ head geek Stephen Lea Sheppard got us wondering, what has become of all those memorable ’90s TV brains that we grew up with? We check in on everyone who isn’t Alyson Hannigan (because we’re sure you know what she’s up to) after the jump. … Read More

Television

12 TV Shows We Can’t Believe Aren’t on DVD

By Jason Bailey on

Taking a glance at today’s new DVD releases (as we do on many a groggy Tuesday morn), we noticed the continuation of a disturbing pattern. Happily Divorced: Season One. The New Adventures of Old Christine: The Complete Fifth Season. Transformers Prime: Season One. “Fan Favorite” collections featuring the “best” of Hogan’s Heroes and Macgyver — since every season of those shows has already been released. And the question we ask (aside from “who the hell is buying this stuff”) is this: How is it that we get every single episode of Fran Drescher’s new TV Land sitcom a mere seven months after they aired, but we’re still waiting for our Wonder Years DVDs?

After the jump, we’ll take a look at a dozen great (or at least interesting) TV shows that are inexplicably unavailable on DVD, and try to figure out why. … Read More

Television

10 Cartoons Inspired by Live-Action Characters (or Real People)

By Jennifer Lewis on

[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we'll spend the next two weekends revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published October 7, 2011.] Cartoon creators don’t always borrow personalities from live action film and TV, but when they do, it sometimes isn’t as obvious as we’d think. Have you ever noticed that Milhouse is a flawless animated rendition of The Wonder Years’ Paul Pfeiffer? And Doug Funnie’s retired neighbor? Y’know, that Dink guy who hangs around giving Doug strange advice? He’s most certainly an homage to Home Improvement‘s Mr. Wilson, the wisest man on the other side of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor’s fence. Check out some quirky cartoons and their live equivalents after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know the others you’ve found. They’re everywhere. … Read More

Television

The Most Realistic TV Shows About High School, Like, Ever

By Romy Oltuski on

Only in its first season now, and just recently renewed for a second, MTV’s Awkward. is one of the most unexpectedly honest series about high school we’ve seen in years. Sure, we all like to gape at the impossibly glamorous teen dramas dreamt up by Josh Schwartz, of The O.C. and Gossip Girl fame. But in real life, high school is raw and uncomfortable and histrionically mundane, and it takes an exceptionally perceptive program to get at the mood of those terrible and wonderful years. In celebration of Awkward., we’ve rounded up the TV shows we think best capture the high school experience. … Read More