Disney Boots Fred Savage From ‘The Wonder Years’ Over Alleged Misconduct

The wonder kid, as in Fred Savage who played Kevin Arnold in the hit '80s sitcom, "The Wonder Years" is in trouble again, over alleged misconduct. This is not the first time Arnold has been in trouble over similar allegations, and this time Disney has taken a firm stand and booted him.

While the misconduct hasn't been named as of now, it seems Savage has been accused of "verbal outbursts and inappropriate behavior".

The news is that Disney is severing ties with Fred Savage after multiple complaints of misconduct in his role as executive producer and director on the freshman ABC comedy series "The Wonder Years", produced by 20th Television, part of Disney Television Studios. According to a formal statement by Disney, the allegations were investigated, leading to Savage being fired.

"The Wonder Years" is a reboot of the 1988 eponymous series which starred Savage. One season has aired till now, and for now, it has not been renewed for a second season, remaining in contention.

A spokesman for 20th Television said in a statement, "recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of 'The Wonder Years'."

There has been no comment or statement from Fred Savage yet who has also gone Instagram AWOL.

This is not the first time that Fred Savage has been accused of misconduct and appropriate behavior. In 2018, The Wonder Years actress Alley Mills told Yahoo that the cancellation of the original series followed a “completely ridiculous sexual harassment suit” filed by a woman in the costume department costumer against Savage (then 16) and Jason Hervey (then 20). Mills, who played Savage and Hervey’s mother on the show, called Savage, "the least offensive, most wonderful, sweet human being that ever walked the face of the Earth". The said case, filed by a 31-year-old costume designer for the show, Monique Long, in 1993, was settled out of court but by that time, the damage was done.

In 2018, another crew member on Savage’s Fox series "The Grinder" filed a lawsuit against him, accusing the actor of attacking and harassing her on the set of the series in 2015. The show was canceled in 2016.

Savage dubbed the allegations “completely without merit and absolutely untrue,” and the producers, 20th Fox Television cleared Savage of all wrongdoing after an investigation into the claims. This lawsuit was also eventually settled out of court.

After a not-very-successful comeback as an actor, Savage headed off towards direction and has been working behind the camera. In 2007, he made his feature film directing debut with the film "Daddy Day Camp" for which he was nominated worst director for the Golden Raspberry Awards, so not a very auspicious start. 

On the new "The Wonder Years", he has directed eight episodes in Season 1, including the pilot, in addition to executive producing the show. The show now follows the Black middle-class Williams family in Montgomery, AL, during the late 1960s, and features narration by Don Cheadle, much like it featured narrator by Savage in the original show. 

The accusation might shock a lot of fans who grew up seeing Savage as a friendly child actor. He was very believable as Kevin Arnold in "The Wonder Years". He started playing Arnold at 12, and at 13 years, received the first of two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series — becoming the youngest actor ever nominated in the category.

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