Catching up with Fred Savage and Danica McKellar of ‘The Wonder Years’

Saviano (left), Savage and McKellar remained grounded kids over the course of six years on "The Wonder Years."Photo: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

It's been 21 years since "The Wonder Years" went off the air, but some angry fans still badger Danica McKellar about one thing: "I get people going, 'Why didn't you and Kevin end up together?'" McKellar tells The Post of her character Winnie Cooper.

Somehow, we don't think Scott Baio gets questioned on the streets about the way "Charles in Charge" wrapped up.

But that's the thing about "The Wonder Years," the ABC single-camera dramedy that ran for six seasons starting in 1988. The show touched people more deeply than much of what was on the air at the time.

It centered on young Kevin Arnold's (Fred Savage) coming of age in the late '60s. The writing was sharp, with the perfect touch of sentimentality. The characters felt relatable and real — maybe a bit too real.

Jason Hervey, who played Kevin's obnoxious, bullying brother Wayne, was once punched by a random guy at a bar. To the man, Jason was Wayne. There was no difference.

You can relive "The Wonder Years" via the new DVD sets that hits shelves this week.

The series has been slow to come to DVD because of the trouble and expense of clearing the rights to the songs used in it, including tunes by the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan.

(Watch it on Netflix, for instance, and the theme song — originally "With a Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker — has been painfully replaced by a bad cover version.)

"The music was not chosen randomly," Savage says. "A lot of times it was in the script. It would shape a scene. To take that out removed so much of what 'The Wonder Years' was about."

Josh Saviano (left), Fred Savage (center) and Danica McKellar in a December 1988 scene from "The Wonder Years."Photo: ABC Photo Archives

The stars remain identified with the series, even two decades later. As Savage, McKellar and Josh Saviano, who played Kevin's friend Paul, walk down a New York street, passersby stop and whisper, "The Wonder Years."

"I love the show," Savage tells The Post. "You hope to do something that endures. The fact that we were able to do something like that at such a young age, I'm proud of that."

Savage got the role after appearing in movies "The Princess Bride" and "Vice Versa." McKellar actually beat out her sister, Crystal, for her part. (Crystal later showed up as Kevin's spurned girlfriend, Becky Slater.)

The role of Winnie was originally intended as a brief guest appearance, which is the only reason McKellar's mom allowed her daughters to try out.

"We weren't allowed to audition for feature films or series regulars," McKellar says. "My mom knew that Hollywood had the potential for splitting up families, and that a lot of child actors had gone astray."

Now approaching middle age, McKellar (39) and Savage (38) are shockingly well-adjusted for former child stars. No bashing cars with umbrellas, no "Showgirls" on their résumés.

The stars credit the close-knit group of parents on the set for keeping them grounded.

"To all of our moms, the kids' well-being and education was the most important thing, and the show came down the list," McKellar says. "We definitely all benefited from those protections."

After the series ended, Savage says he had no time to get in trouble, because he simply went back to school.

"When the show was done, it wasn't like we lost our whole context in the world," he says. "It was almost like we had this fantastic extracurricular activity. All of us had these really full lives waiting for us with friends and a life outside the entertainment world."

Savage attended Stanford and has gone on to direct movies and TV, including episodes of "Modern Family" and "2 Broke Girls."

Saviano went to Yale and is now a lawyer at a New York firm. McKellar studied at UCLA and has written several best-selling books on math aimed at young girls.

McKellar has a 4-year-old son from a previous marriage, and she is set to wed her lawyer boyfriend later this year.

Saviano has a wife and daughter, while Savage is also married and has three kids, ages 8, 6 and 2.

"My wife just showed them last night the pilot episode of 'The Wonder Years,'" he says. "I think they liked it. They're not getting the show, but I think they liked seeing Dad."

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