Saycon Sengbloh (In the Dark, Respect, Scandal) has signed on to star as a lead in ABC’s The Wonder Years reboot, according to Deadline. The single-camera comedy pilot comes from Saladin Patterson (Dave), Lee Daniels (Empire), and the original series’ star Fred Savage. Sengbloh will play Lillian Williams in the pilot, who is described as being sharp as a tack, confident, kind, perceptive, and has a good sense of humor. She knows exactly the right thing to say to convince you of anything, and as a mother, wife, and full-time accountant, Lillian is also organized, efficient, and hard-working, but she always puts family first.
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Written by Patterson and directed by Savage, the reboot 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.
Patterson and Savage will executive produce along with Daniels and Marc Velez through their Lee Daniels Entertainment banner. Neal Marlens, the original series’ co-creator, will serve as consultant. 20th Television is the studio for the project.
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The original Wonder Years ran from 1988-1993. Co-created by Marlens and Carol Black, the Golden Globe and Emmy winning comedy-drama starred Fred Savage, Dan Lauria, Alley Mills, Olivia d’Abo, Jason Hervey, Danica McKellar, and Josh Saviano, and was narrated by Daniel Stern.
(Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
