Chaos hoch zehn

I'm one of the many previous posters that was never a fan of "Growing Pains". This show's back-bone was the "hot" range of female actresses, playing on their "coming of age" (they conveniently managed to fit in every stereotype to meet the "preference" of nearly every heterosexual, white middle-class kid in High School). Yet, for some reason, "Just the 10 of Us" also seemed to capture the spirit of the age (late 80's humor, kitsch, and even social problems if you dig deep enough). The show was canceled without warning, although we kind of felt it coming as the character expositions were getting very deep; too deep to keep a shallow ADD audience. An example was when the Heather Langenkamp character was going into a convent-- her supposed lifelong ambition, which then progresses to a realization by both her and her mother that this was not really the case. Not saying this show should ever be "re-made", but I think it is definitely an overlooked slice of Americana that should be given more credit and respect.

I saw this show when it aired on TV Land on Christmas in 2001. I thought it was amazing. The one thing I liked most about the show is Heather Langenkamp who played the character Marie. I remember her best playing the tough, fearless, and strong Nancy Thompson from Wes Craven's 1984 horror hit A Nightmare On Elm Street. She really turned heads when she co-starred in that film. I was surprised to see that she co-starred in this sitcom. However, she was totally different when playing in this show. I've written to the TBS, KSMO WB 62, Hallmark Channel, USA, and KCWE 29 Network and requested that they bring this hit sitcom back on the air. Other viewers want this show to air on the Nick at Nite, and the TV Land Network and so do I.

Just the Ten of Us was a wonderful show. It had that thing that makes shows and movies so special. It was way better than Growing Pains, the show that spun Just the Ten of Us off. Bill Kirchenbauer was the funniest of all the cast. I recall he was going into one of his classes and was coming from track practice. He had the starting pistol and when the class wouldn't be quiet, he fired it into the air and everyone rushed to their desks. So funny.

God, I'm getting old because I can recall this show being shown on Friday nights on ABC when it was really family viewing. Of course, it spun off of Growing Pains which was superior but it still worked with Coach Lubbock and his over-sized family including the devoutly Catholic wife played wonderfully by Deborah Harmon. The kids were also wonderfully played by Heather Langenkamp who played the equally religious Marie. Jamie Luner played one of the twins and I forget Brooke's last name who played the other twin. They were the only girls in an all-boy Catholic school in Eureka, California. The show only lasted two seasons but I bet it could have thrived in syndication. It's a pity that we don't have family oriented shows anymore like this.

I loved this spin off from Growing Pains, where the character of Coach Graham T. Lubbock from Dewey High School got his own show after the stupid principal Detwit fired him. Most of the episodes were pretty good and I did like the fact that some of the characters evolved a little bit, like Wendy near the end (the nature scout episode). Coach was also an all around teacher, teaching not only phys. ed, but regular classes and even directed plays for the school. Yes, he could be protective, but what father isn't? In fact, I think most parents today aren't like him. I'm glad to see some of the episodes on youtube, although I'd love to see the final season, that had some really great moments, like when the girls go to the Virgin Islands and the smoking episode. I'd love to see the show back in reruns on USA or somewhere. Maybe on DVD. Again, it is too bad they canceled this show since it was popular, but I guess sometimes decisions are made by network execs that we don't like.