Season Three:

Episode 24:

NARRATOR: By the end of that summer of 1969 a lot of things had changed.   The Mets were headed for first-place, Woodstock was a household word and, Winnie Cooper's dad had moved to Chicago.

NARRATOR: I knew at that moment, that life was not fair.  Sure… I'd write to [Teri], and maybe she'd write me - then what?  Could we really wait for each other for the next ten or twelve years?  It was hopeless.  I'd never felt pain like this before in my entire life.  It felt…wonderful.

NARRATOR: A lot happened on the beach in Ocean City that summer night in 1969.   And of course, none of it was permanent.

NARRATOR: When you're thirteen, it's a long way to Albuquerque.  Teri told me about getting her learner's permit, and taking her first drive with a stick-shift.   She wrote of our night at the beach.  She told me she missed me so much that she cried herself to sleep at night.  And she promised to write to me, until we saw each other again.  I keep that letter in an old shoebox.  It was the only letter she ever wrote me.

NARRATOR: The transition from summer to fall is a tricky one.  Like astronauts returning from space.  We had to re-enter the atmosphere of school carefully, so the sudden change in pressure wouldn't kill us.

NARRATOR: Still, the beginning of eight-grade looked like it was gonna be a smooth landing.  We weren't the lowest men on the totem pole anymore.  We were men… among seventh-grade boys.  More importantly, we were men among seventh-grade girls.

NARRATOR: There's a certain look that only a trusted friend can give you.   A look that says, you're about to make a total fool of yourself.  I was getting that look.

Episode 27:

NARRATOR:  When you're a little boy, you don't have to go very far to find the center of your universe.  Mom. She's always there.  It's a pretty good arrangement - when you're five.  But around age thirteen, there starts to be... a problem.  The problem is...she's always there.  And I mean always.  Now a mom has to be a mom, but a guy's gotta be a guy.  And when an irresistible force meets an immovable object... Sooner or later - something's gotta give.

NARRATOR:  Every war has its casualties, and every victory its price.   But life goes on.

NARRATOR: …There's a broken heart for every light on Broadway.

NARRATOR: It was humiliating.  I wanted to just walk away.  But then, then I realized I couldn't walk away.  She looked beautiful.  And terrified.   And I knew she needed me.  Those next few minutes seemed to last a thousand years.  Every moment was potential disaster.  We were both struggling.  And then, a weird thing happened.  I was holding the light on Winnie, when everything got very quiet.  And I felt something.  I don't know what it was.  I felt like I was holding her up with that light.  That we were connected by the light.  And I wouldn't let her fall.  No matter what - I wouldn't let her fall.  That night I learned something.  About courage… And maybe about love.

NARRATOR: I couldn't exactly say we made theater history that autumn evening… maybe we weren't even very good.  The thing is, it didn't matter.   We made it though.  And the critics were kind.  And a week later… Mr. Cooper moved back in with his family.

NARRATOR: Every kid needs a hero - everybody knows that.  They teach us about courage, about ideals… about life.  Sometimes heroes are easy to spot.   But sometimes… they turn up in unlikely places.

NARRATOR: Well, I'd learned one thing in advanced math class.  I'd learned I was going to fail.  Maybe not today.  Maybe not tomorrow - but soon, and for the rest of my life.

MR. COLLINS: Every problem has its own solution, Mr. Arnold.

Episode 34:

NARRATOR:  All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us.

Episode 35:

NARRATOR:  From the pawn...through the established ranks...to the lord and master of all things great and small.  But one week out of the year, a force would blow into town that even my father could not control... Grampa Arnold.

NARRATOR:  I wanted them to tell me why they were fighting.  Why they kept hurting each other like this.  Why it was that the two men who meant the whole world to me...had to act like - children.  But most of all, I just wanted them to stop.

JACK:  I think we need a dog.  You, me, gramps...I think we need to do this.

NARRATOR:  And for some reason, maybe the way he said it, I began to understand.  He wasn't giving me an order. My dad, was asking me for help.  That morning, as I stood with the man who was my father... The son of my grandfather, the man who would one day be the grandfather of my son's...I realized something.  That not all gifts are simple.  That some battles are fought out of love.

Episode 36:

NARRATOR:  Around the end of 1969 a funny thing happened: 1970. Not that anyone was paying much attention. Still, with a new decade on the books, maybe it was time to heal old wounds, get over old hurts. It was possible. After all.  I'd gotten over Winnie Cooper.  Yep, Winnie and I were friends now.  That incredible smile, the way she tossed her hair, the heart-stopping lilt of her perfume... I was over that.

NARRATOR:   I'd never felt so lost in my life. I tried to make sense of what had happened. I wanted to believe Paul had lied to me. Winnie, too. But somehow, I knew better.   I'd been lying to myself.  The funny thing is, now that I was sure about my feelings for Winnie... There they were: my best friend and my best girl.  I'd brought them together.  And now I had no right to interfere.

NARRATOR:  I hadn't noticed what a beautiful night it was - lit by starlight.  The world smelled clear and clean. For a minute, I didn't feel like a kid anymore.  But for the first time in a long time... I felt young.

NARRATOR: Oh, yeah… Love.  Once upon a time, it was…simple.   If you liked somebody, you let 'em know.  And if you didn't, you let 'em know.   One way or another, you knew where you stood.  But as you get older, communication gets more…complicated.

NARRATOR: It's funny how the Hundred Years War can take exactly one hundred years when your heart's deepest thoughts are sitting in an unauthorized locker.

NARRATOR: I stood there, my heart in my hand.  It was time to give it to it's rightful owner.

NARRATOR: I never knew until that moment how much it could hurt to lose something you never really had.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted - Jimmy Ruffin

As I walk this land of broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that's now departed
I know I've got to find some peace of mind, baby
The roots of love grow all around
But for me they come a tumbling down
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the broken-hearted

NARRATOR: There was only one thing more to say. The simple thing, the brave thing, the thing that was in both our hearts.
KEVIN: Wanna…study for our history test?
WINNIE: Sure.
NARRATOR: Face it. We were a long way from kindergarten. And maybe we were learning that speaking from the heart isn't always easy. That afternoon, Winnie and I chose to leave those words hanging warm and unspoken in the winter air between us. But I think we both knew they were there… And we would get to them someday. The thing is, we just didn't have to hurry anymore.

You're All I Need to Get By - Marvin Gaye / Tammi Terrell

Like the sweet morning dew, I took one look at you
And it was plain to see, you were my destiny
With my arms open wide, I threw away my pride
I'll sacrifice for you, dedicate my life for you
I will go where you lead, always there in time of need
And when I lose my will, you'll be there to push me up the hill
There's no, no looking back for us
We got love sure enough, that's enough
You're all…
You're all I need to get by
Oh, oh…yeah, yeah…

Episode 38:

NARRATOR:  My father and I never had "the talk", and we never finished the tree-house.  I guess some things between fathers and sons are left unspoken, and unfinished.

Episode 40:

WINNIE:  I did want to kiss you (Kevin).  Just not then.
KEVIN:  Well then when?!
NARRATOR:  I guess maybe that's when I first realized... (as she starts to put her hand on Kevin's chest and smiles). That love was gonna be much more complicated (as Kevin looks at Winnie). And much... more simple... (as they kiss) than I'd ever dreamed.

Seasons - Elton John

For our world, the circle turns again
Throughout the year we've seen the seasons change
[KEVIN put his hand behind her head.]
It's meant a lot to me to start anew
[Fade to close slow motion shot of KEVIN as WINNIE pulls away.]
Oh the winter's cold but I'm so warm with you
[Fade to shot of WINNIE looking at KEVIN softly.]
Out there there's not a sound to be heard
And the seasons seem to sleep upon their words
And the seasons seem to sleep upon their words
[Shot of the smooth pond water rippling as a pebble hits it. The camera pans up the water to show KEVIN and WINNIE's reflection.]
As the waters freeze up with the summer's end
[Shot of them from the waist down, as they walk along the edge of the pond, WINNIE leading, with hands in pockets.]
Oh it's funny how young lovers start as friends
[Wider shot of the path and the park. KEVIN and WINNIE are walking away side by side.  They pause and gesture at each other.]
Yes it's funny how young lovers start as friends

Episode 42:

NARRATOR:  "I'm not sure how I did it. My memory begins with the crack of the bat, and the sight of the ball rising. Maybe that's not exactly the way it happened. But that's the way it should have happened, and that's the way I like to remember it. And if dreams and memories sometimes get confused well... that's as it should be. Because every kid deserves to be a hero... every kid already is."

Episode 43:

NARRATOR:  Teachers never die. They live in your memory forever. They were there when you arrived, they were there when you left. Like fixtures. Once in a while they taught you something. But not that often. And, you never really knew them, any more than they knew you. Still, for awhile, you believed in them. And, if you were lucky, maybe there was one who believed in you.

Episode 46:

NARRATOR:  There was a time when the world was enormous, spanning the vast, almost infinite boundaries of... your neighborhood - the place where you grew up; where you didn't think twice about playing on someone else's lawn... and the street was your territory that occasionally got invaded by a passing car. It was where you didn't get called home until after it was dark. And all the people, and all the houses that surrounded you were as familiar as the things in your own room. And you knew they would never change.

NARRATOR:  In 13-year-old terms [your girlfriend moving four miles away was], approximately the distance from New York to Paris.

NARRATOR:  Thirteen is a crazy age. You're too young to vote and too old not to be in love. You live in a house someone else owns...but your dreams are already somewhere else. You face the future armed with nothing but the money you've earned from mowing lawns and a nine-dollar ring with a purple stone. And you hope against hope that'll be enough.

NARRATOR:  As for me? Well, I had my own distances to cover: four miles - New York to Paris.  [KEVIN starts riding his bike down the street (presumably toward WINNIE's new house)].  The thing is, until Winnie left, everything in the world was outside my front door.  But now, maybe the world would have to get a little bigger.

Season Four :

Episode 47:

NARRATOR:  Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves...for growing up.

Episode 48:

NARRATOR:  Ninth grade man. Noble, upright, virtuous. I went into my last year of Junior High thinking I knew all the answers. And suddenly all I had was questions. [KEVIN flexes his hand.] Plus a dislocated thumb.

NARRATOR:  It's funny.  I remember the time when I knew who I was.    But that was eight hours ago.  Suddenly I felt on the outside, looking in, looking for... Winnie.

Episode 50:

NARRATOR: Uh-oh! I'd just broken the cardinal rule of child-parent negotiations.  Never compare them to their peers.

NARRATOR: That day... I realized something from this man that I was trying so hard not to be like.  He understood the value of money.  And the cost of it.
KEVIN: Hey - it's too bad about that putt.
JACK: A putt's a putt.
KEVIN: Coulda made it, Dad! (Smiles.)
JACK: Maybe.
NARRATOR: I guess Dad knew he could lose a game, and still not lose his manhood.  His pride didn't hinge on a stupid shot.  Or some shiny new clubs.  And I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to use my money for.
KEVIN: Dad!  Can I buy you lunch?
JACK: Whatever you say, Kev (Smiles).
NARRATOR: It was the first time I ever really said thank you to the man for all he'd given me.

Episode 51:

NARRATOR:  You start out life with a clean slate. Then you begin to make your mark. You face decisions, make choices. You keep moving forward. But sooner or later there comes a time where you look back over where you have been... and wonder who you really are.

NARRATOR:  Winnie was right. Love was love, but school was school. Kinda like the separation of church and state. It was time to put social interest aside and concentrate on academics. It was time to study French...in our underwear.

NARRATOR:  Life is a series of twists and turns. Things don't always turn out the way you expected. Still, that night I knew I'd turned a corner. As for the future,well, I wasn't worried. I had my girl, had my good name back and would keep it locked on…forever.

Episode 55:

NARRATOR:  When you're a kid, it's simple.    Christmas is magic.  It's a time of miracles, when reindeer can fly, and Frosty never melts.  Then you get older.  Somehow, things change. The magic begins to fade.  Until something happens that reminds you, at Christmas time... miracles still can be found.  Sometimes in the most unexpected places.

NARRATOR:  I stood there, helpless, outnumbered.  And that's when it happened.  Doug Porter looked first, directly into the eyes of the man who had taught him gym for three long years.  Then Tommy Kisling looked, too, and Randy Mitchell.  Those three skeptics gazed straight at that white beard, dead into the eyes of Coach Cutlip not thirty feet away.   But all that they saw... was Santa Claus.  It was a miracle.  He stood there like some patron saint of all the lonely people holidays sometimes forget.  And for that brief moment of Christmas magic, Ed Cutlip got his chance to be what he always wanted.  And I never gave him away.

Episode 57:

NARRATOR:  Back there on our seat... the ride home in the dark seat... there it was- the ring I gave to Winnie; the one she was giving back to me. I looked for her on the other bus but I couldn't find her, she was already lost in the crowd. I knew then that the girl next door was gone. And my life would never be the same again.

NARRATOR:  Young love is really pretty simple. It's about sharing little inside jokes when the teacher isn't looking. It's about passing notes in the hallway between classes. It's about all the really stupid things you share. It's about going through it, together. Winnie Cooper and I had been through it all. The good times, bad times, the ups and downs. And we were still together. We'd known each other since we were kids. And to me she was still the girl next door - even though she didn't live next door anymore.

[Song]
God only know what I'd be without her?
And if you should ever leave me
Well, life will still go on believe me
The world will show nothing to me
So what good will living do me?

Episode 58:

NARRATOR:  Love makes you do funny things. It makes you proud. It makes you sorry. That night we talked. About life. About our times together. Maybe we weren't the same two kids we had once been. But some things never change. Some things last. And even though I didn't know what was going to happen to us, or where we were going. I just knew I couldn't let her out of my life.

NARRATOR: I grew up in a neighborhood that was a lot like other neighborhoods.   Where the boxes we lived in were distinguished only by the names on the mailboxes, and the cars in the driveways.  It was a place where hard-working Americans circled their wagons to protect themselves from the outside world.  Our lives were made up of little moments, all delicately intertwined.

NARRATOR: Maybe we weren't aware of it then, amid the school paper-drives, and the scalloped potatoes, and the sounds of the neighbor's children playing... But life was rich there… In our small sanctuary.  And precious.  And the only thing that could ever change that was death.

NARRATOR: Course, when you're fourteen, eighty-two isn't much different from forty-two, or even a hundred-and-two. Still, if Gramps needed a friendly ear, he could always count on us.

ALBERT: I guess, uh... I guess my cousin, Rose, liked family gatherings more than anyone I've ever known.  Even after she had trouble gettin' around, she always loved to have a chance to see the folks.  As she liked to call us.  Course, lately it seems like the only time we get together is, uh... when there's a wedding, or... or when somebody leaves us.
NARRATOR: As I stood there, listening to Grandpa's words, a lot of things began to become real for me.  Aunt Rose.  The loss Gramps was feeling.  And why coming here was so important, for all of us.
ALBERT: But, I can tell you one thing, Rose is not gone from us.  She never will be.   She will always be a part of us, as long as we remain a family.  Part of... the folks.  Part of who we are.  Even for those who really didn't know her very well.

NARRATOR: I guess that's when I understood what my grandfather had been trying to explain to me.  That my life was bigger than the little neighborhood I lived in.   And that these strangers who surrounded me, weren't just relatives, they were my family.  And the death of one affected each of us in some way.

NARRATOR: The thread of my Aunt Rose's life had been permanently woven into mine.  Leaving me with questions.  And driving home that night, my fragile little family hurtling through the darkness, I knew I'd have to face those questions one day.
KEVIN: Dad?
JACK: Hmmm?
KEVIN: Don't ever die, OK?  Nahhh... I'm not gonna die. (Smiles.)
NARRATOR: But, for now, that was good enough for me.

Episode 60:

NARRATOR:  Over the course of the average lifetime you meet a lot of people. Some of them stick with you through thick and thin. Some weave their way through your life and disappear forever. But once in a while someone comes along who earns a permanent place in your heart.

NARRATOR:  [At] fourteen true heroism has not less to do with actual logic and more to do with pure stupidity.

Episode 61:

NARRATOR:  Every American family has its own unique blend of personalities, my family was no exception.  Within our four suburban walls we ranged the full spectrum of types.  From the flamboyant, to the demure.  From the repellant, to the ideal.  Somehow, we managed to fit together in a kind of fragile alliance.  One for all, and all for one.  With one exception: Buster - the family dog.

NARRATOR:  And over the years, through good times and bad... through seasons of hope and change, he stood by us all.  A silent partner.  The first one to greet me at the door when I came home from my senior prom.    The one who stared out our front window, on the day I left for college.   And my mom said he stayed there for hours.

NARRATOR: The biggest thing in a young boy's world is his dad.  You do what he says.  You do what he does.  He's your guide through the mysteries of manhood - your confidant.  Your pal.  Until the day comes when, for some reason, things change.  Your confidant becomes... that guy on the other end of the couch.

NARRATOR: And so... the battle-lines were drawn.  Words had failed us.   Negotiations had broken down.  Hostilities had broken out.

NARRATOR: We didn't talk any more on the way home than we did on the way out.   But, maybe we listened a little bit more… To what was being said inside us.

NARRATOR: There were no two ways about it.  When I was fourteen… I was a pretty cool kid.  Not in the ninety-ninth-percentile of coolness, maybe, but definitely top third of my class.  I knew the walk.  I knew the talk.  I had my own kinda... style.  But, like a lot of cool kids my age, I did have one tragic flaw.  One terrible secret that threatened the very fabric of my fragile image.  I, Kevin Arnold, had a mom.

NARRATOR: She poured my milk, she sewed my buttons... Face it.  The woman loved me.  She knew me better than anyone in the world.  Which, of course, was the problem.  She knew...too much.

NARRATOR: One little problem here.  How do you explain "cool" to a forty-year-old housewife who folds your sweatsocks?

Episode 66:

NARRATOR: There are things about your childhood you hold onto... Because they were so much a part of you. The places you went, the people you knew. Somewhere, in every memory I had, was Winnie Cooper. I knew everything about her. What I didn't know was that she was falling apart.

NARRATOR: Okay, so I didn't know what I was feeling. Love does that to you. Especially when you're 14.

NARRATOR: I don't know why I pursued [Winnie]. Maybe it was because I wanted to help her. And maybe it was because I wanted to know she needed my help

WINNIE: Kevin, lemme go.
KEVIN: No! Why are you acting like this?
WINNIE: Because when I act like myself, everything goes bad!
KEVIN: What?
WINNIE: I just want to forget the past three years!
KEVIN: What about me?
WINNIE: You just don't understand.
KEVIN: Well, what do you want me to say?
WINNIE: Nothing!
NARRATOR: The funny thing is, those three years had been the best years of my whole life.

NARRATOR:  And I guess that's when I finally understood. I'd been part of Winnie's past, a past she wanted to forget. And now... there was nothing to do... but go. Only I didn't. I couldn't. There are things in a life that matter, things in a past which can't be denied. Winnie Cooper was part of me, and I was part of her. And no matter what, for as long as we lived, I knew I could never let her go.

We've Got Tonight - Bob Seger

I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
Why should we worry, no one will care girl
Look at the stars so far away
 
We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow
We've got tonight babe
Why don't you stay
 
Deep in my soul I've been so lonely
All of my hopes fading away
I've longed for love like everyone else does
I know I'll keep searching even after today
 
So there it is girl
I've said it all now
And here we are babe, what do you say
 
We've got tonight who needs tomorrow
We've got tonight babe
Why don't you stay
 
I know it's late, I know you're weary
I know your plans don't include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Both of us lonely
 
We've got tonight who needs tomorrow
Let's make it last
Let's find a way
Turn out the light, come take my hand now
We've got tonight babe
Why don't you stay

NARRATOR: Men came home from a just, and noble war.  It was a place where peace-of-mind came by the square foot.  Where the space between every linoleum floor, and shingled roof... was to be filled with children.  And dreams.  And where, into every inch of concrete, hard working men poured their values.  My father was one of those men.  His values were simple.  As solid as the walls of the house he took care of.  And he trusted the preservation of those four walls to nothing less than his own two hands.  With maybe a little help from my two hands.

The Times They Are a Changing - Bob Dylan

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changing
 
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens
And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no telling who that it's naming
Oh the loser will be later to win
For the times they are a-changing

Come senators, congressmen, please head the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he that has stalled
The battle outside raging
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changing
 
Come mothers and fathers all over this land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughter are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a-changing
 
The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changing
 

Seasons One & Two:

Seasons Five & Six:

Home

NARRATOR: We didn't have to hate ourselves for getting older, we just had to forgive ourselves for growing up.

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