Setting
Co-creator Neal Marlens wanted the setting to be Huntington, Long Island, where he grew up. ABC insisted that the location remain nonspecific (the colloquial "Anywhere, USA"). The production team endeavored to ensure that the suburb's name and location within the United States were never specified, but there are occasional, conflicting clues.
Some details point towards the setting being California, most owing to the show being produced there. In the opening scene of the Pilot, Kevin and his family pose in front of their house at 516 University Ave, Burbank, CA. The house number "516" also happens to be the area code of the town on Long Island where the creator grew up. In the season 3 episode "Wayne on Wheels", the address on Wayne's DMV envelope reads "Culver City, 90230, CA". The writer of the episode, Mark B. Perry, has stated on Usenet that the crew member who created the envelope mistakenly used the address of the filming location. Similarly, other incidental visual details suggest that the setting is California. In another third season episode, entitled "The Family Car", a California license plate can be seen on the Arnolds' car as Kevin's father is shown repairing it. In one episode, Kevin displays his driver's license issued by the "State of California". When Kevin's high school basketball team advances to the state championship, the game is played in a large arena with a Los Angeles Lakers logo on the floor. The company picnic in Season 4 episode 1 "Growing Up" has a banner reading "Norcom Annual Picnic" with the word "Industry" underneath, possibly referring to Industry, California.
A few elements hint at the show being set in the New York City area, as evidenced by Kevin's New York Jets jacket, though Paul reveals in the episode Nemesis that Kevin has never been to a Jets game in his life. The show also features frequent references to the San Francisco Giants and Willie McCovey. Also the New York Mets (including the final season's opening credits showing among other historical clips of the time the 1969 Miracle Mets). In episode 3 of season 1, "My Father's Office" Jack says "I can't believe they lost to the Senators" referring to a news report that the New York Yankees lost an extra inning game to the Washington Senators. In episode 16 of season 4 entitled "Road Trip", Kevin and his father get lost and end up in Hillsdale, New York when they thought they were in Loudonville, New York which is conceivable considering that those two towns are within 50 miles of each other and both located near Albany, NY. In the episode "Back To The Lake", Paul's directions for returning home include taking Interstate 91, which runs through Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont; the trip takes only a few hours.
In Season 6, Episode 11 titled "New Years", Kevin has a chance to go to a New Year's Eve party at a Colorado ski lodge, which he says is just two hours away.
Read more about this topic: The Wonder Years
Famous quotes containing the word setting:
“The trees stand in the setting sun,
I in their freckled shade
Regard the cavalcade of sin,
Remorse for foolish action done,
That pass like ghosts regardless, in
A human image made....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“We don’t arrive at it by standing on one leg or on the first day of our setting out—but though we may jostle one another on the way that is no reason why we should strike or trample—elbowing’s enough.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“When I consider the clouds stretched in stupendous masses across the sky, frowning with darkness or glowing with downy light, or gilded with the rays of the setting sun, like the battlements of a city in the heavens, their grandeur appears thrown away on the meanness of my employment; the drapery is altogether too rich for such poor acting. I am hardly worthy to be a suburban dweller outside those walls.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)