Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns were recently divorced when cast for the series. The two bonded over their mutual experience and felt the bond helped develop their working/on-screen relationship.
Rival network NBC poked fun at Growing Pains on their show Golden Girls in the episode "Family Affair," with Dorothy claiming, "I can't believe Alan Thicke has a hit series."
About a decade after the original show wrapped, ABC hosted a Growing Pains Reunion. All the original (primary) cast was present. During the show, Kirk Cameron admitted that during the run of the original show, he became a born-again Christian and, for a while, became very aggressive with the other cast members and was proselytizing in a very aggressive way. He apologized for this on air. Joanna Kearns accepted his apology and said," I'm glad you said that. Because at the time, I was like, 'Stop telling me how to feel!'"
When Tracey Gold took her leave of absence during the final season, Carol was temporarily written out by going to London to pursue college studies abroad.
Kirk Cameron, Tracey Gold, Jeremy Miller, Joanna Kerns, and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited at Alan Thicke's memorial service in 2016. It was the first time DiCaprio had united with most of the cast since the show's cancellation in 1992.
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