Quoi de neuf, docteur ?

Like many series from the 80s, "Growing Pain" was one of those long-running shows that was immensely popular at the time but has kind of fizzled out 25 years later. It is rarely seen in syndication and has only released two seasons on DVD.

The show originally centered around upper class parents Maggie and Jason Seaver and their pains raising three kids: Mike, Carol, and Ben. The show had the unenviable task of being aired at around the same time as two highly-rated and similar-themed family sitcoms: "Family Ties" and "The Cosby Show". While it was never as critically acclaimed as "Family Ties" nor as groundbreaking as "The Cosby Show", "Growing Pains" built up a loyal fan following that allowed it to run for 7 seasons.

In some ways, the show was both exactly similar and exactly opposite to "Family Ties". Maggie and Jason were similar to Steven and Elyse in their methods of parenting. Like the Keatons, they grew up in the 60s and had mellowed with the advent of a family. Their eldest, Mike, was basically the anti-Alex Keaton. While Alex was a habitual overachiever, Mike was the chronic underachiever who was always trying to talk his way out of trouble. Carol was the anti-Mallory Keaton. While Mallory was shallow, ditzy and popular, Carol was brainy, deep and struggled to fit in. Ben was similar to Jennifer Keaton. He was cute as a youngster but as he got older, he never really did anything to stand out. He wasn't as outgoing and charming as Mike and wasn't as smart as Carol. The similarities don't end there. Both shows added babies late in their runs and both babies mysteriously aged like 3 years during the summer hiatuses. Both Mike and Alex had strange best friends with weird names (Boner and Skippy). Both Carol and Mallory had weird, spacey boyfriends (Dwight and Nick). Both shows started with the parents being the focus and then shifted to the children with Michael J. Fox and Kirk Cameron becoming the faces of their respective shows.

As the shows ratings began to fall, the producers began to bring new characters to try and breathe new life into the show. Maggie gave birth to Chrissy in the third season. Between seasons 5 and 6, she showed "remarkable maturity". They also brought in Luke (Leonardo DiCaprio) as a homeless kid that the Seavers adopt for a season and Dwight as Carol's weirdo boyfriend.

In the later years, the show lost some of the dynamics that made it a top-rated sitcom but was still very entertaining nonetheless. The ongoing conflict between Mike and his parents had run its course. Mike had gone from being an irresponsible teen to a very responsible adult who was in charge of Luke. Carol was seen less during the final season as Tracy Gold had temporarily left the show. The producers had almost tried too hard to make Ben into a younger version of Mike. I think they eventually realized that it was not working and brought in Luke.

While the show dealt with many serious subjects, it never really took itself too seriously and found different ways to be creative. There was a show where Ben dreams that he was actually Jeremy Miller (the actor who played him) and everyone began to act as if they were not their respective characters but the actors playing them who were part of a show called "Meet The Seavers". There were also several variations on the opening song. On one episode, Mike was in an acting class where they reenacted the opening song. On another episode, Maggie went into labor at the end of the opening credits.

While this show has lost steam since it went off the air in 1992, it was one of the last truly traditional family sitcoms to grace the airwaves. With most sitcoms today being adult-themed, it is refreshing to go back in time and watch a well-meaning family show like "Growing Pains".

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.

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.

Growing Pains was a truly funny family show that walked the line between being "too mature" for young audiences and being corny (like Full House). The cast actually likes each other and still gets together to reminisce regularly. This chemistry comes through on screen.

Everything from the opening song to the closing credits is great. My only issues with the series were the fat jokes made at Tracey Gold's expense. The producers told her to lose weight, leading her down the dark path to anorexia. Even when she'd dropped from 133 to 112 lbs, they STILL included the occasional fat joke!

As any man will tell you, calling a woman 'fat' is the worst thing you can do. Calling a teenage girl fat on national TV every week is beyond cruel. Nevermind the fact that she never WAS fat!

Beyond that, I have no complaints about the show. I do prefer the first 3 seasons before "Luke" and "Chrissy" came in (and before Kirk converted to radical Christianity). Alan Thicke's character seemed harsher and meaner around Season 5, which I didn't like. Oh, and the "Carol's Carnival" episode is just sad and creepy.

This is sounding like a negative review, but I assure you it's not. Compared to some of the other crap that was on TV during these years, Growing Pains is a brilliant show that stands the test of time.

Long Live the Seavers!

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.