Allen Maldonado is the latest to join the cast of the Wonder Years reboot. He is cast in a recurring role.
Written by Saladin Patterson and directed by Fred Savage, the revival of the classic 1980s family comedy-drama is set in the same era as the original. It looks at how the Williamses, a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, AL, in the turbulent late 1960s made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.
It centers on Elisha “EJ” Williams, who plays the central character Dean Williams (the Kevin Arnold of the original series). Dulé Hill as Bill, the patriarch who is a music professor by day and a funk musician by night, Saycon Sengbloh as his perceptive and good-humored wife, Lillian, with Laura Kariuki as Kim, Dean’s confident and popular teenage sister.
Don Cheadle is narrating the series as the adult version of the show’s lead character, Dean.
Maldonado will portray Coach Long, an affable guy who takes his job coaching a pre-teen baseball team very seriously. His son Tony is part of the team, Dean Williams (Elisha E.J. Williams) the center character of the story. Both Tony and Dean ask their Coach if they can scrimmage against an all-white team across town, Long is not interested— that is until Dean’s mom Lillian (Saycon Sengbloh) convinces him that it’s a good idea.
Amari O’Neil, Milan Ray, and Julian Lerner also star.
The reboot comes from Patterson, Lee Daniels, the original series’ breakout star Fred Savage, and 20th Century Fox TV. Lee Daniels and Marc Velez via Lee Daniels Entertainment will also executive produce. Neal Marlens, who co-created the original series with Carol Black, will serve as consultant. 20th Century Fox Television will produce, with both Patterson and Daniels currently under overall deals at the studio.
ABC will premiere the Wonder Years reboot on Sep 22nd at 8:30 PM EST.