Fox Sunday, 7:30 Fox grid | Sunday grid | Main debut Sunday, Nov 3: 7:30 producers Howard Gewirtz Steven Levitan stars Grant Rosenmeyer Grant Shaud (Murphy Brown) Wendy Makkena (The Job) Andy Lawrence (Brotherly Love) Daveigh Chase Ben Bookbinder Taylor Emerson Annie Korzen Amy Castle studio DreamWorks Television 20th Century Fox Television What I Say Seems to be an early '60s version of "The Wonder Years", except it is being touted as a comedy. The cast is mostly unknown with the exception of Grant Shaud, who played Miles for years on "Murphy Brown". I've seen this before. My Analysis & Prediction Gone midseason. There's nothing compelling for me. Good thing that it's right between "Futurama" and "The Simpsons", essentially Fox' only hammock slot. It's up against the second half-hours of "60 Minutes" and "Dateline" as well as "Wonderful World of Disney" & the WB's encore presentation of the "Gilmore Girls" first season. It might build an audience if Fox lets it, but I doubt it. What They Say Narrated by the adult Beene, this comedy recalls growing up during the Cold War era of the 1960s when drills involving fallout shelters was commonplace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Things are complicated by an eccentric family, a teacher who can't stand him and the little red-haired girl he can't have. An adult Oliver Beene looks back to 1962, when he was 11 and wished that his quirky family would behave more normally. link It's 1962, and 11-year-old Oliver Beene's (Grant Rosenmeyer) world is filled with chaos. His eccentric family includes his dentist father, Jerry (Grant Shaud), whose idea of a fun Sunday is drilling his kids' teeth; mother Charlotte (Wendy Makkena), who is doing her best to be a happy homemaker; and brother Ted (Andy Lawrence), a sports fanatic never without his transistor radio. Making life more bearable are Oliver's eccentric friends, including heavyweight Neal (Ben Bookbinder) and lightweight Michael (Taylor Emerson), who is already obviously gay in a time when gay still means "happy." Narrated by the wickedly wry, adult Oliver, OLIVER BEENE depicts the trials of growing up during the Cold War. Like every kid, Oliver longs for family normalcy and peer acceptance, especially while practicing drills for the end of civilization in a fallout shelter with his family during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Along the way, Oliver must contend with Mrs. Heller (Annie Korzen), a teacher who hates him; Joyce (Daveigh Chase), a classmate who feels she's married to him; and Bonnie (Amy Castle), the unattainable red-haired girl. Writer Howard Gewirtz, ("Wings"), who survived the Cuban Missile Crisis in his own family's fallout shelter, and producer Steven Levitan ("Just Shoot Me") use flashbacks and flash-forwards to vividly re-create the Kennedy-era sixties in this fast-paced comedy. Layout, "What I Say" & "My Analysis" materials Copyright © 2002 letterten media TV Guide & Zap2It logos and data Copyright TV Guide Magazine Group & Tribune Media respectively. Network data Copyright listed network.