Stern has played characters in a number of comedic roles, such as Phil Berquist in "City Slickers" and ', and Marv the burglar in the first two "Home Alone" films, "Home Alone" and ', with Joe Pesci. However, he declined to play the character once again in the fourth installment of the franchise, believing the script to be an insult to the original motion picture. He also starred as Max in "Bushwhacked". He provided the voice of the narrator on the TV series "The Wonder Years", which starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold. As narrator, Stern played the adult Kevin Arnold, remembering his youth. Stern and Savage were also featured together in "Little Monsters", in which Stern played the father of Savage's character. In the late 1990s, Stern took on a more serious role in the black comedy "Very Bad Things" with Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz and Jon Favreau. Stern provided the voice for the main character of the "Dilbert" animated TV series, based on the comic strip by Scott Adams.