Teenagers & Adolescence

Television Critic David Bianculli reviews "The Wonder Years," a new ABC series. The show is an extended flashback to 1968 and the junior high school days of Daniel Stern ("Diner" and "Breaking Away"), the show's narrator, and Fred Savage ("The Princess Bride"), who plays Stern as he was in 1968.

The first part of a two-part interview with filmmaker and writer John Waters. His new film - "Hairspray" - follows a long line of wildly eccentric films like "Polyester," "Pink Flamingos," and "Female Trouble." Like those films, the setting for "Hairspray" is Baltimore. The cast includes Divine, Debbie Harry, Pia Zadora and Sonny Bono.

Ed McBain (also known as Evan Hunter), prolific writer of detective fiction, best known for his "87th Precinct" series of police procedurals and mystery novels. His most recent novel is titled Tricks. McBain writes in other genres under different pseudonyms.

Director Tim Hunter's new movie is about a teenage murderer and the impact his actions have on his friends. The movie stars Dennis Hopper, Keanu Reeves, and Crispin Glover.

As an assistant principal, Joe Nathan has identified several ways to improve public schools by reducing teacher workloads, establishing consistent policies, and praising the accomplishments of faculty and students alike.

Novelist Edmund White's newest work, "A Boy's Own Story," follows a young gay man growing up in the midwest in the 1950s. The novel has some autobiographical elements. White joins the show to discuss his life, growing up as a homosexual person, and his novel.

In the new sitcom Abbott Elementary, Quinta Brunson stars as a rookie second grade teacher in an under-resourced, majority Black public elementary school in Philadelphia.