Fred Savage Thought Alicia Silverstone Gave a Fake Number — Here’s Why
Jordan Collins here. I’ll explain, so try to keep up.
Alicia Silverstone recently shared a delightfully awkward flashback from her first TV gig that left Fred Savage convinced she’d handed him a bogus phone number. The “Clueless” star told Entertainment Weekly that when she guest-starred on The Wonder Years in 1992, young Fred Savage — then playing Kevin Arnold — tried calling the number she gave him and only heard a fax machine, which made him suspicious that he’d been politely ghosted.
Let’s set the scene so you don’t get lost: the episode was Season 5’s “Road Test,” which marked Silverstone’s first on-screen acting credit. Her character, Jessica Thomas, tells Kevin to pick her up at seven, prompting his character to learn to drive to impress her. Off-camera, Savage apparently asked Silverstone for her phone number, and she, being 14 at the time, gave him the number for her family home. That number doubled as a fax line for her father’s work, so when he called, the line went straight to fax and the poor kid thought he’d been given a fake contact.
Silverstone recounted the exchange with amused clarity. She laughed at the misunderstanding and stressed that the situation has been “corrected” in the decades since. That’s probably a relief to anyone who worries Kevin Arnold was scarred for life because of a misrouted tone.
The actress also noted she became close with Josh Saviano, who played Paul Pfeiffer, and their friendship endured beyond the single-episode shoot. She couldn’t quite recall precisely how they swapped numbers back then, which is charming in a vintage-Hollywood way and also distinctly teenage.
While reminiscing, Silverstone pivoted to present-day news that matters to a different crowd of obsessed fans: the upcoming Peacock Clueless reboot. As an executive producer and original Cher Horowitz, she admitted she never envisioned revisiting the role but feels protective of the original 1995 movie. She told Entertainment Weekly that the reboot is in early development and aims to “honor” the tone and legacy of the film while bringing something new to the table.
Silverstone’s approach to a modern Cher includes updates that reflect the era’s changing priorities. She joked that Cher’s shopping habits will now favor sustainable and vegan choices, and that the character’s designer threads will be “gently used” because, yes, Cher has evolved. In April, she celebrated the reboot announcement on Instagram, calling the news “Totally buggin’… in the best way” and saying she “can’t wait” to slip back into Cher’s shoes — literally and figuratively.
So what’s actually news here? The headline-worthy pieces are threefold: Alicia Silverstone’s nostalgic anecdote about a fax-induced mix-up with Fred Savage, her continued camaraderie with The Wonder Years cast members, and her hands-on involvement in the Clueless reboot that promises to respect the original while updating Cher for 2025 sensibilities.
If you needed proof that celebrity memories age like fine wine and technology ages like milk, this is it. A fax machine once sabotaged a potential teen connection, and now the same actress is shepherding a beloved franchise into a climate-conscious era. Who says progress can’t be entertaining?
Well, you learned something. Probably useful for trivia night or to humble anyone who still thinks phones were always smart.
Stay tuned — the reboot timeline and casting details will be the next tea I’ll spill when they surface.
Glad I could clear that up for you.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and Entertainment Weekly, New York Post
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
