The Wonder Years met Malcolm in the Middle in this Fox network sitcom set in the early '60s. Grant Rosenmeyer starred as 11-year-old Oliver Beene, a budding intellectual and inveterate cut-up mired in a world of eccentric relatives, spiteful teachers, and mercurial females. Oliver's dad, Jerry (Grant Shaud), was a dentist who liked to spend his off-hours either drilling teeth for fun or talking about it; his mom, Charlotte (Wendy Makkena), was a neat-freak who wished she was Jackie Kennedy; and his brother, Ted (Andrew Lawrence), was a self-involved sports nut, his ear perennially glued to his transistor radio. Things weren't much better at school, where Oliver was bedeviled by venom-spouting teacher Mrs. Heller (Annie Korzen), ardently pursued by moonstruck classmate Joyce (Daveigh Chase), and studiously ignored by red-haired beauty Bonnie (Amy Castle). On the other hand, Oliver enjoyed the company of his best friends, chubby Neal (Ben Bookbinder) and closeted-homosexual Michael (Taylor Emerson). Like The Wonder Years, this series was narrated from the vantage point of the future by the leading character. Oliver Beene debuted March 9, 2003.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
- Preteens
- Memory Lane
- Eccentric Families
