Track Listing
for February 23

Would pretty much leave you with “The Years.” Or, a show without one of the key elements that defined it.

In what I believe was very possibly a big, fat, “baby, you-know-Ike-didn’t-mean-it” apology to its members for even allowing the idea of Qwikster to make it past a delirious and likely drunken late night brainstorming session, Netflix has now begun streaming all 115 episodes of The Wonder Years on Instant Viewing. Which is awesome. OK, Netflix. Apology accepted.

Oh wait, hold on, though. Because a couple of nights ago when I decided to cash in on this apology and watch a few episodes, I noticed something was very wrong. Starting with the opening theme. As you may remember, The Wonder Years “theme song” was the raspy, Joe Cocker version of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” But that’s not what plays over those classic opening credits where Paul waves or Winnie gives Kevin his ball back or Wayne and Kevin fight on the lawn. Well, the song itself plays, but it’s certainly not Joe Cocker singing. Rather, it’s someone (who? We don’t know and we don’t want to) trying (and failing) to do his best Joe Cocker impersonation–croaking and grunting his way through the theme and fooling exactly NO ONE.

Especially not me.

And upon closer inspection, I found this happens a lot in this reissue of the show–some songs are still included in all their original glory, but others are replaced with songs that sound very similar but aren’t the originals by a long shot–likely because they couldn’t pay for or acquire the rights to all the original music. For example, in the early seasons there is an episode where Kevin’s family tries to show him different examples of dancing. Wayne is clearly supposed to be dancing to “Louie Louie.” But he isn’t. Instead, he’s dancing to something–something–that sounds kind of similar and familiar, but it isn’t the actual “Louie Louie.”

And that’s pretty much unacceptable.

Because when reissuing a show that relied so heavily on the great music that accompanied a tumultuous and exciting time in both our history and a young boy’s formative years, the “designer imposter” versions of classic songs absolutely will not do, and only end up in the same lame camp as TBS when they replace “hot beef injection” with “hot bike inspection” whenever they air The Breakfast Club.

That’s something (among many things) Paul Feig did right. He waited until he could get the rights to each and every song originally used in Freaks and Geeks before releasing the show on DVD. That’s a man who understands the power of the music he chose and loved. And thank God, because seriously…could you imagine a watered down, sing-a-long karaoke tape version of “Bad Reputation” playing over those credits?

Nope, me neither.

One Response to Taking the Wonder out of The Wonder Years

1. Heather says:

   October 11, 2011 at 3:16 pm

   Another reason to watch the reruns on “The Hub.”