truthaboutdrugs 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!

bkoganbing During the Eighties this show spawned the most popular teen idol of the decade. Given some of Kirk Cameron's recent activities and statements it's almost impossible to review this show with any degree of objectivity, especially for a gay individual. But no reason to take it out on the rest of the cast who've made it abundantly clear they do not support Kirk at all in his endeavors.Alan Thicke plays a psychiatrist and Joanna Kerns plays a newscaster who are raising three kids, Kirk Cameron, Tracey Gold, and Jeremy Miller. The only thing unusual here is that Thicke had his office in a wing of the house so he was a stay at home dad while mom went to work. And her work was on television every night. It was an interesting twist on the usual situation family comedy. Neither of the parents were idiots, the kids had problems dating from The Life Of Riley to Good Luck Charlie.It was said that when Kirk got religion in the second year he proved more difficult than your average teen idol with substance abuse problems. His character started as a cut up and prankster, but story lines proved difficult because of his religion. But the folks at ABC had to knuckle under to him.You might have respected Kirk Cameron for sticking to principle even though they were unpopular. Principle turned into narrow minded bigotry when he got Julie McCullough fired who was playing a girl friend for a bit because McCullough did a Playboy spread. That was a hint of what was to come. Seven years of Growing Pains and like most teen idols Cameron tried, but couldn't sustain his career. He's doing the Christian circuit with a vengeance now.It always bothered me that with so many gay people behind the camera in so many occupations how anyone in show business can be homophobic. Still Kirk has managed and I doubt there will be another Growing Pains reunion film.

karinachilito o my goodness its funny how a certain show from along time ago can bring back memory's of a certain time in your life and this show brings back my pre teen years i loved this show exspecialy Kurt Cameron he was definitely my first crush!! when i was younger i grew up in a dysfunctional family and watching this show was definitely an exscape for me i truly enjoyed every episode and used to tape the show and will definitely order the DVD growing pains i send my love to the cast of growing pains and which there where more pictures on the web site and information and up dates on the pepole!!!karina714-812-8063 call me so someone can send me a picture of one of my favorite shows cast!

steve-575 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".