Growing Pains

After the family ties success on NBC, ABC developed Growing Pains to rival it about the Seavers with their 3 children in Long Island, New York. Nobody in this show has the New York accent but it still beats other shows. Kirk Cameron became a huge teen star in the eighties. Tracey Gold shined as the middle sister, Carol Seaver. Alan Thicke finally had a successful show in his lifetime and Joanna Kerns came out of her big sister Donna Devarona's shadows as the Growing Pains mom. The writing could have been better and the show could have equaled Family Ties but nowadays, a show like this would have got Emmys. Sure, it was sweet and full of saccharine but I miss it now.

When I first saw "Growing Pains" I referred to it disparagingly as "The White Cosby Show". In 1984, sitcoms were the junk food of the television diet. They lacked quality, and were relegated to the basement of the Nielsen ratings. Then, in 1984, NBC showed that a sitcom could be #1 in the ratings with "The Cosby Show". I greeted "Growing Pains", ABC's apparent attempt to cash in with a new family sitcom in 1985, with cynicism, and watched every week for them to drop the ball. I watched, in the beginning to see this show crash and burn, and was very surprised to find, in a few weeks that I liked it!

In a time before shows about dysfunctional families like "Married...With Children" and "Roseanne" (good shows in their own way) "Growing Pains" showed a reasonably functional family in a basically caring environment, Mike's constant put-downs of Carol being his way of handling the affection he felt for his sister but felt uncomfortable showing.

The members of this family liked each other, and their feelings were infectious. I liked being able to hang out with the Seaver family for half an hour every week, and daily when the syndicated reruns began. I haven't been able to see GP reruns in at least 4 years. When the twice-a-day reruns of "Seinfeld", "Friends", and "The Simpsons" begin to lose their steam, I hope "Growing Pains" is given another opportunity.

I still love the fantastic wit Growing Pains has! Even in reruns, this show still makes me laugh--a lot. With a talented cast like this, I'm surprised none of them made it big in Hollywood (except for you-know-who from Titanic). The Seavers were one of my favorite TV families and I was sad when the show left the air. I also loved the recent reunion movie!

In china,it played every summer vocation,I have seen it twice in this and last summer.In fact,the first time I saw it is about in early 90s`,when I was over ten years old,that made me happy. Today I am 20 years old and I still love it,even more!I think it`s the great example of America family,great love in family,love each other. I wish when I have my own children,I can sit down with them and my wife,in front of the TV,watch it!

I find it funny that most reviewed this poorly based on actor Kirk Cameron's life outside of the show.

It occurs to me that the reviews should be based solely on the content and not on the politics of real life. It would make sense if this was a political show but it's not.

Having grown up watching The Seavers, what was it that separated this from all the others ones in the pack and gave it 8 seasons?

Answer: relatability

You have two parents who have professional lives raising kids with decisively different paths. That's it.

It's not meant to be "reality" it's meant to have broad stroke appeal of life. And, frankly, the "lessons" being taught aren't preachy. Again, they are broad stroke enough that it encompasses a possible scenario your family may be going through.

But, as with most sitcoms that exceed 5 seasons, there is a downhill slide. You can sense when the storylines start to exhaust themselves.

Mike only has so many antics he can do before it gets tiresome. And the kiss of death of introducing new characters permeates through the end of the series.

Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns are a convincing married couple. And the children are convincing siblings. But, much like the often compared "Family Ties" The son (in this case Kirk Cameron) overshadows the rest of the cast.

There aren't laugh out loud moments here in 2022, but I will say there are nice smiles. This is a time capsule of its time. If you grew up in an era where there is no cell phones or social media, this will give you a warm feeling. For the younger crowd it may be too corny.

I would stop watching at season 5.