---
name: "Carol Black"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/carol-black"
roles: ["Creator","Director","Writer"]
born: "1 January 1958"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T21:21:05.624100+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Carol Black

Creator and director. Born 1 January 1958 in Takoma Park.

## Details

- **Work:** Creator, Director, Writer
- **Born:** 1 January 1958, Takoma Park

## Fi1m on Carol Black

> Carol Black helped make *The Wonder Years* funny and touching by taking adolescence seriously. We recommend it warmly, with one reservation: her sympathy for the young is more persuasive than the adult narration that sometimes explains their feelings for them.

Kevin Arnold is uncertain, and *The Wonder Years* (1988) does not hold that against him. Creators Carol Black and Neal Marlens let adolescence be awkward without treating the awkwardness as evidence of stupidity. We were moved by the programme's patience with Kevin, because it gives his small mistakes the importance they have for him. Fred Savage makes him funny and touching, and Black and Marlens understand that being young is difficult enough without the comedy taking sides against him.

Black began writing for television on *Growing Pains* in the mid-1980s, before co-creating *The Wonder Years* with Marlens. Her work on the latter included writing and executive production, alongside directing one episode. She left after the first season and later co-created *Ellen* (1994), again with Marlens. These suburban and family settings gave her early television work a recognisable focus, but it is the attention to adolescent embarrassment that makes *The Wonder Years* worth returning to.

The persistent problem is Daniel Stern's narration. The older voice can make room for kindness towards youthful mistakes, without suggesting that they did not matter at the time. But it sometimes explains a feeling Savage has already made clear, and the writing pushes a lesson where a little silence would have done. Black and Marlens are more persuasive when they trust us to recognise our own foolishness in Kevin's. Those explanations are the reason for our reservation about an otherwise generous and perceptive programme.

Black later left mainstream entertainment for independent documentary work. She directed *Schooling the World* (2010), which examines the effects of Western-style schooling on indigenous cultures. That is a substantial change of subject from the nostalgic American family life of her television work, and it should not be judged on the strength of our affection for Kevin Arnold. Start with *The Wonder Years*, and forgive the narrator for occasionally assuming we have missed the point.

## Biography

Carol Black is an American writer, producer and filmmaker. With her husband and writing partner Neal Marlens she co-created the television series *The Wonder Years* (1988) and *Ellen* (1994). She also wrote the screenplay for the 1986 film *Soul Man*.

Black and Marlens received the 1988 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for *The Wonder Years*. She studied education and literature at Swarthmore College. After her television career she directed the 2010 documentary *Schooling the World* and co-directed the 2005 mockumentary *The Lost People of Mountain Village*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Wonder Years* (1988), Fi1m 82, Creator, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-wonder-years.md)

## Also known for

- *Soul Man* (1986), Screenplay
- *Ellen* (1994), Creator

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/carol-black