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What would you do, if I sang out of tune?
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Show:
The two shows are eerily similar. Both shows Wonder Years (WY) and Dawson's Creek (DC) lasted five years (WY [1988-1993]
and DC [1998-2003]. Both series' featured an idiot boy with a crush on the girl next door. DC upped the ante by replacing
the Paul Pfeiffer character with Pacey. Both also used music very effectively. Both (brunette) girls-next-door had blonde
competition. Both shows killed off the idiot boy's father. Both shows ended with the idiot boy not ending up
with the girl next door. Finally, I lost interest in both shows after the third season but kept watching them until they
ended. So really the shows were almost identical. That being said, Wonder Years was infinitely better than DC.
If you asked me this same question after season 2 of DC then I may have answered differently. But looking at the life of
each show, WY is clearly the winner. The last WY episode was sentimental whereas DC was just retarded. WY does have a big
strike against it since all the kids hit puberty during the lifetime of the show; it's a good thing DC didn't have to deal
with that problem. Also, WY was the first show to use music and voice-overs effectively.
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| I don't want to wait...for this show to be cancelled |
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The 60s Joey Potter
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Looks:
This one was tough. Both have girl-next-door looks and appeal. There is a decade difference between the shows and
since WY is set a few years (age wise) and 35 years (timeline wise) earlier than DC, I think the edge goes to Joey.
She's just older (read: hotter) than Winnie when the shows aired. In real-life, both of them are hot so I would say it's
a push. I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I stand by the decision. Although, this Katie Holme's "lip
biting" picture is real nice. On the show, Joey, definitely, in real life, probably a push.
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The 90s/00s Winnie Cooper (mmmm...sexy lip biting picture)
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| Don't let the headshot fool you, Winnie wasn't that tough. |
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Personality:
Winnie was always nice and somewhat plain. Joey was nice and tried to make herself plain but I always got this
"She'd be great in bed" and "she could probably turn into an uber-bitch if you crossed her" vibe from her. Plus, Winnie
was a prude, unlike Joey. Again, this may have something to do with the fact that WY takes place in the 60s vs. the DC
taking place in 00s but still. Joey clearly gets the edge.
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Great in bed: check
Uber-bitch: check
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Winnie really was part of the Arnold family
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Family:
I really don't remember much about Winnie's family. I think her parents were okay but I do remember that her brother died
in Vietnam. Joey on the other hand a dad who was drug dealing (just to get by) and spent most of his time in jail, a mom
who died early, and a sister that was gossiped about by the entire town. Family wise, the edge clearly goes to Winnie
(for lack of information) but you have to give Joey credit for being normal despite her family. I am going to call this a
push since an argument can be made for both sides.
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Joey's extended family (since hers was so messed up)
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Kevin Arnold: Man of Mystery
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Boyfriends:
So Winnie was with Kevin and Joey was with Dawson. Make no mistake, both Kevin and Dawson are huge tools.
Both had awful hair, dressed funny, were awkward around girls, awkward around everyone...really, just tools.
Neither Winnie or Joey ended up with Kevin and Dawson, respectively (good for them). Even though both were lame, Kevin
was a "I feel bad for this" Tool and Dawson was a "What a jackass" Tool. Besides, Kevin had a crush on Winnie right from
the start and it took Dawson three years to get off his ass and finally notice Joey. I don't know a single person (guy
or girl) that would ever like Jen over Joey. Which brings me to my next point...
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| Joey's likes: large foreheads, bad hair, and idiots |
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It's a mad, mad, mad, Madeline world
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Competition:
Winnie's competition was Madeline, the new girl in Kevin's French class. The reason I still remember her name
(first name anyways) is because she was smoking. Anyone could easily see why Kevin would like Madeline. As for DC, even
if you could buy into the concept of Joey liking the teenage John Tesh and buy into the fact that no other guy in Capeside
hit on Joey there is no way anyone could buy anyone liking Jen over Joey. Okay...if you only cared about sex, then I can
see why someone would pick Jen, she was whore. Even if the decision was based on personality, you'd come to the same
conclusion. Jen was sooo annoying, Madeline was seductive. Joey loses points for losing out plain Jane and Winnie gains
points for beating out Madeline.
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| No one would pick her over Katie Holmes. |
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| Starring the Who's Who of Hollywood...circa 1990 |
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Post Show Career Part I:
No doubt, both shows put each actress on the map. When I first thought about this, clearly Joey is the winner.
Katie Holmes went on to make First Daughter, Abandon, Batman Begins and during the show filmed Go, Teaching Mrs.
Tingle, Wonder Boys, and The Gift. While only Wonder Boys (and probably Batman Begins) are commercial successes
at least major studios released the other movies. Danica was in Sidekicks (that movie with Chuck Norris) and Camp
Cucamonga (also starring Paul Pfeiffer sans glasses by the way) during Wonder Years and pretty much did voice stuff
afterwards. I don't recognize any of the movies she's been in since WY.
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At least it was in theaters (granted for two weeks)
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Danica went on to math superstardom
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Post Show Career Part II:
Movie wise, Katie Holmes is clearly the winner but Danica actually wins if you look at things outside of just
starring in movies. Granted she may not have been in any major motion pictures but she's been a producer, writer,
and director for two movies and she co-authored a math proof. CO-AUTHORED A MATH PROOF! What the fuck! The proof,
called "Percolation and Gibbs states multiplicity for ferromagnetic Ashkin–Teller models on Z2" starts
with ... who am I kidding. Even though I dominated math, I tried to read it and am unsure what most of it means. If
you have the time and the understanding take a look at the
proof.
The proof includes a nice graph that looks eerily familiar to my 1st
grade plans to take over a rival snow fort, which at the time I dubbed
"The Taking Of Westlands Park."
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| Katie went on to Chris Klein, proving her love of big foreheads. |
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| Maybe's she not so sweet and innocent |
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Fight Club:
So for the last category, I thought I'd compare who would win in a straigh-up fight, Cooper vs. Potter Deathmatch.
I think the answer is obvious:
Joey "Mad Dog" Potter. 60s prim-and-proper Winnie would be no match for rough-and-tumble Joey. First and most
obvious, I don't think 60s girls were all that tough as girls today so Joey already has the edge there. Second, Joey
has attitude and Winnie was more of a wallflower, she only seemed tougher than she actually was because Kevin was a
such a baby. Joey grew up on a creek wrestling alligators. This was never discussed during the show but I'm sure
it happened. Finally, Joey's dad was a jail-bird. Growing up she probably learned so many ways to kill people
(subconsciously and consciously). The Potter family probably cut the Thanksgiving Turkey with a shiv and instead of
stuffing, it was filled with dime-bags, cigarettes, and syringes.
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Potter clearly has attitude
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