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The Wonder Years reboot has been renewed for a second season at ABC, despite executive producer and director Fred Savage’s firing.
The TV network confirmed on Instagram that the comedy series will continue in the fall. Savage was let go earlier this month due to ‘inappropriate conduct’ on set.
Savage, 45, who has worked extensively as a director in addition to his acting efforts, is ‘quick to anger’ and ‘can have a temper and occasional outbursts’ while in charge of productions, sources told People.
Moving forward: ABC’s The Wonder Years will continue with a second season, despite executive producer and director Fred Savage’s firing
An insider told the outlet that Savage is partial to overshooting scenes, which puts crews under more pressure, leads to longer days and gives him ‘more opportunities to snap at people.’
Said the insider: ‘He works his crews pretty hard by always doing more takes than necessary. Some directors just overshoot. Sometimes they feel like they didn’t get the performance or want to try another angle or things like that.’
Savage had directed eight episodes of The Wonder Years reboot prior to his ouster on May 6.
Good news: The TV network confirmed on Instagram that the comedy series will continue in the fall
More to come: The TV network confirmed that the comedy series will continue without Savage, who was let go earlier this month due to ‘inappropriate conduct’ on set
The new iteration of The Wonder Years piggybacks off the late 80s original, which was a hugely successful comedy series.
Elisha ‘EJ’ Williams takes on the role of Dean, a child from a middle-class Black family, who’s growing up in a 1960s Montgomery, Alabama.
Don Cheadle voices the narration as a grown-up version of Dean.
The series was developed by Saladin K. Patterson and executive produced by Lee Daniels.
Dulé Hill, Laura Kariuki, Milan Ray, Saycon Sengbloh, Amari O’Neil, and Julian Lerner all star in the hit show.
Plot: Elisha ‘EJ’ Williams takes on the role of Dean, a child from a middle-class Black family, who’s growing up in a 1960s Montgomery, Alabama
Savage shot to fame as a child star in films such as The Princess Bride and The Wizard, and the first incarnation of The Wonder Years TV show, in which he portrayed main character Kevin Arnold from 1988 to 1993.
Savage branched out in his Hollywood endeavors more than 20 years ago, as he has maintained a career in front of and behind the camera.
In recent years he has acted on shows such as Friends from College, The Grinder and The Conners, in addition to voice roles on animated series such as Family Guy, American Dad! and Generator Rex.
As a director, he has worked extensively on shows such as The Conners, Modern Family, 2 Broke Girls, Black-ish and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Coming up: The final episode of the first season will air on May 18, with the second season returning in the fall
Savage’s firing from the series was confirmed by a 20th Television spokesperson in a statement earlier this month, detailing the end result of a probe against the actor-director.
‘Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of The Wonder Years.’
Anahita Seda, a lawyer who represented an alleged victim of Savage’s behavior, told Page Six that she thought that ‘the network must have found some corroboration and had no choice but to part ways with him,’ as ‘they can be held civilly liable in court’ if found negligent of dealing with misconduct complaints.
