‘The Wonder Years’ Stars Dulé Hill, EJ Williams Bullish on Second Season Despite Delayed Return

ABC’s comedy series The Wonder Years debuts its second season July 14 after a hiatus of more than a year, but series stars Dulé Hill and Elisha ‘EJ’ Williams are confident the layoff has built momentum for its return.

The series, a reimagining of ABC’s 1980s coming-of-age dramedy of the same name, follows the story of a middle-class Black family as told through the eyes of 12-year-old Dean.

Williams, who plays Dean, says the series’ second season will continue to build on the show’s successful first season, which ended in May 2022. The upcoming season will feature guest star appearances from Patti LaBelle, Tituss Burgess, Donald Faison and Wayne Brady.

“You’ll see a whole lot of characters trying to come into themselves more [in the second season],” Williams said. “It’s not like these aren’t normal situations – everybody can relate to what the characters are going through at some level.”

Hill believes that the more than one-year hiatus between the last episode of the season one to the launch of the second season will not hurt audience tune-in for the show.

“My hope is that absence makes the heart grow fonder,” he said. “People have really appreciated and missed the show, so my hope is that during this summertime [period] The Wonder Years can come in and fill a void that is there and give people some entertaining television over the course of the next two weeks.”