Acting is already a competitive business, so things could've gotten super awkward in the Savage household during the '90s with the stars of The Wonder Years and Boy Meets World living under the same roof. But The Wonder Years star Fred Savage, whose new Fox sitcom, The Grinder, debuts tonight, says there was absolutely no sibling rivalry between him and little brother Ben Savage, who starred on BMW.
"It's so funny, growing up as a young person on a TV show is a very rare and strange way to grow up," he tells E! News at the Paleyfest preview for his new series. "But I happened to have someone going through the exact same thing as me in the next bedroom in our house growing up as a kid."
In The Grinder, Savage plays Stewart Sanderson, a small-town lawyer whose extreme jealousy spikes when his famous TV star brother, Dean Sanderson (Rob Lowe), heads back to their hometown and overshadows him in their family law practice—despite the fact that Dean only played a lawyer on TV. But in real life, Savage says he viewed his little bro as a sounding board for their unique life experiences.
"We kind of helped each other along. There was never any rivalry," he dishes. "It was much more like, 'I'm so glad you're here and know what I'm going through.'"
The Grinder's Stewart and Dean, on the other hand, will clash as bar-certified lawyer Stewart and the inexperienced Dean (armed with eight seasons on a legal series and nothing else) try to run their family law firm together.
Watch Savage spill on his brotherly bond above, then tune in to The Grinder at 8:30 p.m. on Fox, immediately after the premiere of John Stamos' new sitcom, Grandfathered.