New ‘Wonder Years’ features familiar places

Sitcom reboot shot in Georgia premiered Wednesday on ABC.

A new version of a pop- ular 1980s sitcom returned to families’ living rooms Wednesday night, and metro Atlanta residents might see some familiar places on screen.

ABC’S reboot of “The Wonder Years” was partially filmed in Dekalb County and will feature many historic neighborhoods and landmark buildings. The show will take place in a reimagined version of the 1960s South and will follow a Black family’s com- ing-of-age story — contrast- ing with the original show, which featured a white family living in suburbia.

While filming in Georgia is nothing new given the state’s growing film sector, “The Wonder Years” will highlight Dekalb in unique fashion, according to the show’s location coordina- tor, Girly Daniels.

“I travel where the productions take me, and I can honestly say there is some- thing very unique and special about Dekalb,” Daniels said in a news release by the Decide Dekalb Development Authority. “It’s the people, the neighborhoods, even the businesses we worked with — we found almost everything we needed here.”

According to a recent report by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the film and television industries are quickly growing in Dekalb. Television productions in the county will create roughly $1.4 billion in economic output over the next five years, according to the report.

In addition, new studios are on their way to Dekalb. Gray Television is in the process of building several studios at the former General Motors Assembly site in Doraville, transforming the area into a “studio city.” A Los Angeles-based firm recently purchased Blackhall Studios and affirmed its commitment to expand its studio space into south Dekalb as well.

“The Wonder Years” reboot, which stars Don Cheadle, Dulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh, will showcase the life of a middle-class family through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy, played by Elisha Williams. The show will cover issues including bullying, relationships and civil rights. Korey Wash- ington, who worked as the show’s pilot produc- tion designer, said Dekalb became an obvious choice as a backdrop for those topics.

“After reading (writer and executive producer) Sal- adin Patterson’s script, I knew Dekalb County, with its engaging four-sided brick homes and charming parks and neighborhoods, would be an ode to our southern community,” Washington said in the release.

Among the locations that locals might spot throughout the first season are Litho- nia’s Main Street, Peachtree Baptist Church in North Druid Hills, Decatur’s Medlock Park, Decatur’s Legacy Park, St. Bartholomew’s E pi s copal Church, a nd Columbia Theological Sem- inary.