Complete series sets of classic TV shows make for some great collectors items, but one particular TV show has thus far proved elusive for the home video market.  Due to the series’ extensive use of popular music, securing the rights to some very expensive songs has prevented The Wonder Years from coming to DVD.  However, the wait is now finally over, as StarVista Entertainment has announced that it will release The Wonder Years: The Complete Series on DVD sometime this year with its original soundtrack almost entirely intact.  The show ran on ABC from 1988-1993 and chronicled the life of young Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) as told in flashback form from 1968 to 1973.

The show’s incredible soundtrack has made securing DVD rights an impossible expensive venture for many years, but StarVista has scored “virtually every song” from the series’ original soundtrack, including Joe Cocker’s opening rendition of “With a Little Help from My Friends.”  An official release date has yet to be determined, but it will hit shelves sometime in 2014.  Read the press release after the jump.

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Here’s the official press release concerning The Wonder Years: The Complete Series:

FAIRFAX, VA - In 2014, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life -- the premiere marketer of classic TV on DVD -- will release THE WONDER YEARS: THE COMPLETE SERIES to the home entertainment marketplace.  The most requested TV series never to be released on DVD, which ran on ABC from 1988-1993, garnered multiple Emmy® Awards, a Golden Globe® and a Peabody®, and was named by TV Guide as one of the "Top 20 Shows of the '80s" will make its very long-awaited debut in the second half of 2014.  To best serve the numerous fans of the program, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life has launched WonderYearsDVDs.com, the official site for all updates, exclusive content and pre-orders.

Routinely praised for high-quality TV DVD collections, an archivist's attention to detail, and specially produced bonus programming on releases such as Get Smart, The Carol Burnett Show and China Beach, StarVista Entertainment/ Time Life is planning a deluxe release of the The Wonder Years, which starred Fred Savage, Danica McKellar, Dan Lauria, Alley Mills, Jason Hervey, Olivia d'Abo, Josh Saviano and Daniel Stern, and featured as a theme song Joe Cocker's unforgettable rendition of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends."

"The Wonder Years has long been the most requested TV show yet to be released on DVD, and we're thrilled to have the incredible opportunity to bring this iconic show to its many fans," says Jeffrey Peisch, the Senior Vice President, Entertainment Programming & Marketing for StarVista Entertainment/Time Life.  "As we've done with many other classic TV shows, the series will be treated with the care and attention it fully deserves after all these years, with deluxe packaging, robust extras and a lot more.  We're really big fans of the series, too.

As it did for China Beach, StarVista Entertainment/Time Life ispainstakingly securing the rights for virtually every song in The Wonder Years. From Cocker's theme song, to hundreds of other memorable and classic soul, rock and pop songs, including classics from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and many others, StarVista /Time Life recognizes the necessity to release the series as it was initially broadcast, un-edited and untouched from original broadcast masters.

The Wonder Years was created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black in association with New World Television, which was acquired in 1997 by 21stCentury Fox (then News Corporation), the parent company of Twentieth Century Fox Television.