LOS ANGELES, March 5 — As he prepares to make an acting comeback opposite Rob Lowe in TV comedy “The Grinder,” we cast a look at some of the directorial adventures of ‘90s child actor Fred Savage, star of “The Wonder Years.”

“Boy Meets World” (1999-2000)

Only six years after leaving “The Wonder Years,” Fred was making his directorial debut in 1999 with one of the final (and unaired) episodes of office comedy “Working.” But it was behind the camera of another coming-of-age comedy, “Boy Meets World,” that Savage got his network debut at the turn of the century, directing his younger brother Ben in two final season episodes.

“Unfabulous” (2004-2005)

Before long, Fred was earning director’s credits on 10 of the 28 episodes in this teen sitcom’s first two seasons, which had Julia Roberts’ niece Emma as its lead.

“Phil of the Future” (2005-2006)

Fred’s move into a producer’s role came with Disney’s time-traveling family sitcom, and he even scooped a prestigious Director’s Guild of America award nomination for one of the nine episodes he directed, “Not-So-Great Great Great Grandpa.” He’d be up before the DGA again before too long...

“Daddy Day Camp” (2007)

Savage’s feature film debut may be his worst effort so far, though in financial terms it was no bomb, making back triple its modest budget in box office returns (US$18 million/RM65.73 million). With the cast and crew from Eddie Murphy vehicle “Daddy Day Care” replaced, this follow-up was nominated in five categories at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards; Savage escaped a Worst Director win but the film took Worst Prequel or Sequel. One year earlier, he starred in TV comedy “Crumbs,” which managed five of 13 episodes before being pulled from ABC.

“Wizards of Waverley Place” (2007-2008)

This magical high school serial was responsible for not only reinforcing Savage’s reputation in the TV business, but also establishing Selena Gomez as a giant Disney TV star. Charged with directing the very first episode, Savage was once more nominated for a DGA, and then again for his “Zeke and Luther” pilot two years later.

“Modern Family” (2011-2015)

Further directorial success on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Party Down” brought Fred to “Modern Family.” He steered the multi-threaded on-going comedy to its fourth DGA nomination on only his second time in charge, Season 2’s “After the Fire.” — AFP-Relaxnews