The Wonder Years is coming to DVD with all music intact!

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Finally, after years of waiting, hoping, and beginning to think it was never going to happen,  The Wonder Years is coming to DVD.  We wrote about it for one of our articles, explaining the difficulty in releasing  The Wonder Years, and were hoping that they’d also consider releasing it on Blu-ray.  It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, even though the discs are more durable, can hold a higher capacity of episodes, and take up less room on our shelves.  But who knows?  Perhaps between now and the release date, they’ll also announce a Blu-ray release.  Now that it’s officially going to be released, we can hope for that, too, right?

Here’s the press release:

In 2014, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life – the premiere marketer of classic TV on DVD – will release THE  WONDER YEARS: THE COMPLETE SERIES to the home entertainment marketplace. The most requested TV series never to be released on DVD, which ran on ABC from 1988-1993, garnered multiple Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and a Peabody, and was named byTV Guideas one of the “Top 20 Shows of the ’80s” will make its very long-awaited debut in the second half of 2014. To best serve the numerous fans of the program, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life has launched  WonderYearsDVDs.com, the official site for all updates, exclusive content and pre-orders.

wonder_years_logoRoutinely praised for high-quality TV DVD collections, an archivist’s attention to detail, and specially produced bonus programming on releases such as  Get Smart, The Carol Burnett Show and  China Beach, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life is planning a deluxe release of the  The Wonder Years, which starred Fred Savage, Danica McKellar, Dan Lauria, Alley Mills, Jason Hervey, Olivia d’Abo, Josh Saviano and Daniel Stern, and featured as a theme song Joe Cocker’s unforgettable rendition of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

The Wonder Years has long been the most requested TV show yet to be released on DVD, and we’re thrilled to have the incredible opportunity to bring this iconic show to its many fans,” says Jeffrey Peisch, the Senior Vice President, Entertainment Programming & Marketing for StarVista Entertainment/Time Life. “As we’ve done with many other classic TV shows, the series will be treated with the care and attention it fully deserves after all these years, with deluxe packaging, robust extras and a lot more. We’re really big fans of the series, too.”

As it did for  China Beach, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life is painstakingly securing the rights for virtually every song in  The Wonder Years. From Cocker’s theme song, to hundreds of other memorable and classic soul, rock and pop songs, including classics from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and many others, StarVista /Time Life recognizes the necessity to release the series as it was initially broadcast, un-edited and untouched from original broadcast masters.

The Wonder Years was created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black in association with New World Television, which was acquired in 1997 by 21st Century Fox (then News Corporation), the parent company of Twentieth Century Fox Television.

7 Comments

  1. It’s about time! I had all but given up hope. I had come to terms with the fan-made set I acquired, which was actually well made, but I will certainly buy a well-made official release. Let’s hope they do a proper release and don’t skimp after all this time.

    • Agreed! This release renews my hope for other shows that I’d love to have, as well, including Ed. Regarding this release, they haven’t given too many details yet, regarding any features that will be included. They did say there would be “robust” extras, and more, though. I’m excited that the set is being made by a group of fans, as well.

      And you said it right: It’s about time!

  2. As much as everyone wants this, I hope they don’t try and take advantage of everyone with an outrageous price.

    • My guess is that it’ll be a typical TV series price. This is a big deal and they don’t want to hurt the release by going too high with it. I’m guessing they will launch with the complete series, and later on they’ll release the individual seasons for people that want to buy a season at a time.

      • Another thing to consider are the royalties that they will have to pay on 100’s of songs. That might affect the price, too.

        • That’s true. I’ll send them a message and see if they have finalized the price point just yet. My guess is, however, that they won’t announce that until we’re a little closer to the release date.

          And remember, the price they announce is the MSRP.

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