User reviews

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.

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.

Remember growing up in the 80's and boy was this "ABC" series "Growing Pains" such a big hit! It dealt with the Seaver family who had the typical ups and downs of family life. And they were well off with Dad being a Dr. and Mom being a news reporter. The acting and cast chemistry was super fantastic with Alan Thicke(the great now late), Joanna Kerns, Tracey Gold, and teen idol and heartthrob Kirk Cameron. Plus many episodes despite dealing with real issues were funny as they provided many laughs and joy. And the show's opening theme song was catchy as it got you the viewer in the mood to show a smile and watch!

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".

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!

"Growing Pains" to me was all about Mike Seaver (Kirk Cameron). He was hilarious to me. As far as I was concerned, his parents, Dr. Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke) and Maggie Malone Seaver (Joanna Kerns), were just place holders. They were there necessarily because Mike wasn't yet an adult. The show got a boost IMO when Mike's friend Boner (Andrew Koenig) was on it.

I always look back at that show and remember when Leonardo DiCaprio joined the show as the homeless kid, Luke Brower. I remember it only because I remember not liking him. I always felt he brought the mood down. The next time I saw him he was in a billion dollar movie called "Titanic."

Go figure.

I watched this show all the time as a kid, and had fond memories of it, so when I was scrolling through the listings and saw reruns of it, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane. Boy was I surprised!

It was just... BAD. The writing was horrible - completely predictable w tired and not even remotely creative or funny "jokes". The acting was shockingly bad. I suppose one can make allowances for the younger actors, but even the adults were disappointing - not even on par w most regional theatre. Although, considering the quality of the script, there's really only so much they could do. But considering Kirk Cameron was such a big star at the time and grew up on camera, one would think his acting chops would be a little more solid. I honestly don't know how it stayed on the air for as long as it did. I don't know if standards were just different back then, and all family sitcoms were this cheesy and tripe-filled, or if it was uniquely cringe worthy. It's pretty much as bad as Full House was, which was definitely aimed at kids. I still don't understand why they decided to introduce the 4th kid, Chrissy (vastly changing her age overnight) fairly early on in the run. I know they introduced Leonardo DiCaprio as a last ditch effort to revive it, but that was at the end of the series. It's just another indication of how "paint-by-numbers" the entire show was.

Let this be a lesson; never go back and watch shows or movies that you liked as a kid. I mean, sure The Brady Bunch was pure kitsch, but it was written in the 70's, and while similarly so saccharine, puerile and aseptic they couldn't even show a toilet, the cheesiness and absurdity is/was part of its charm - granted I wasn't even alive for the original run, or I may have viewed it in a different light.

I feel bad giving it such a low score, and it's probably based on how much better I remember it being, but had I been an adult (or even teen) when the show was in its original run, I probably never would have watched it. Now I'm wondering just how bad Who's The Boss and other shows of the era are/were.

As with other "family friendly" shows, the underlying theme is how propaganda is good for society. Good people are crafted by presenting a manufactured saccharine reality, rather than actual reality. I can't recall the show doing a good job of demonstrating the pitfalls of hypocrisy and other truly educational matters, unlike Family Ties.

It's been a long time since I saw this, but it was similar to Full House, another show that I found unwatchable because of the bland characters and smarminess. At least Michael J. Fox brought energy as well as some reality to his show. Cameron, by contrast, is more interested in knocking cast members away and apparently lobbying against producers to prevent reality from peeking through.

The show isn't awful, but when I made a short list of the weakest examples of corporate television, this show was part of it, along with Full House.

Growing Pains is one of the greatest shows of the 1980's. However, because of "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" and other great shows during the late 80's, the show is constantly overlooked and very underrated. The show had very good acting. It is a shame that this show is constantly overlooked when we talk about the greatest shows in the 80's

This is without a doubt the greatest family sitcom it's funny the acting is good with a high energy level it addresses serious topics and teaches important life lessons and it has a few fourth wall episodes that are geniually creative there was an episode where Ben wishes he was on a TV show and he ends up on a show called Meet the Seavers it's a fourth wall episode that's very creative. Seriously it's the best family show ever!

Lets be honest here. After the success of Family Ties there was an attempt to match what Micheal J. Fox did on that show. Michael brought charm to the part he played and was funny as the young Republican. Kirk Cameron brought nothing to the role as Mike Seaver except as some jerky bonehead. The show pretty much followed the same lines as Family ties with kids growing up and dealing with family issues by trying to be funny at the same time. Family Ties was able to do this where as Growing Pains was not. None of the characters in this show never really gelled in my view and it just flat lined to boredom. Tracy Gold also brought nothing to the part with Alan Thicke at least somewhat interesting.So where are they all now? What has Tracy Gold been doing these days? Last I heard Kirk Cameron is some bible thumping TV infomercial preacher. Yeah good career move Kirk!!

This show became immensely popular in China in the early 90s. Millions of kids watched this show and it was how my friends and I first got to know, despite from a sitcom, how American family related to one other. I idolized Seaver family. The parental style portrayed in the show stood in stark contrast to how my parents raised me and I wish they could be as fun as Jason and Maggie. Now watching the show again as an adult, I still love it as much as when I was a kid. It's sad to see how many shows today resort to violence, anger, anti-heroism to attract viewership. Growing Pains is one of the shows that reinforces traditional value in that family is the most important thing in the world, and watching it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. We need more shows like this for kids today.

I wish I could rate it higher. While it was a springboard for some awesome talent (Leo, Brad, Ashley, and Jamie), it is tainted by overacting, tropes, and the narcissistic Kirk Cameron. It's literally unbearable to rewatch.

I know most of the people who comment on this probably were teenagers in th 1980's, I however was not. I first saw "Growing Pains" in 1999 as reruns . I fell in love with the show and later learned it was canceled already, then Disney threw it out the window. Fox Family picked it up three years later but they threw it out again. I really think this show is greatly missed by thousands of fans of the show. They say oh well the kids grew up times changed but their could have been so many more episodes and there should have been. I really think that the reruns should be picked up again and this time kept for a while or something like that. Look at the Brady Bunch most people I know hate that show and its a 70's show here its reruns play all the time constantly but yet a sit-com like growing pains from the 80's with more reality and morals is left behind. What's with that?

Pretty funny show. Kirk Cameron what a heart throb.

Thank you Nick At Nite for re-running popular sitcoms. Particularly, family sit-coms.

"Growing Pains" truly displays the life of a family; in this case, an all American family.

To be honest, the teenagers' situations are very realistic and have the occasional and important dramatic situations.

Kirk Cameron stole the show with his on-screen charm and good looks. The boy was talented really.

Alan Thicke was also good in his role as the care loving father. Joanna Kerns and Jeremy Miller were not that important characters in my opinion but were very good. Tracey Gold also delivered a good performance but always gave me the impression that she was a sad girl.

Anyways, this is a t.v. series that is part of my childhood and will stay with many generations.

Cheesy and kitschy by today's standards but worths a watch if you have the humor to watch family sit-coms and some dramatic situations.

Everyone in the show is excellent-with a glaring exception to Kirk Cameron. This show should be at a comfortable 7 star rating but Kirkland is such an unbearably annoying kid in the show; his mere presence is impossibly distracting when you know very well most of the cast members want him ti stop stealing the best lines. What a terrible actor. An inanimate garden rock can out act this dude, even on his best day.

Otherwise, excellent show and writing. It's hard to not admire a family who's have such a dimwitted son but all act like he is perfectly normal and he is definitely going to turn into a crazed attention starved bridge troll.

Growing Pains lasted 7 seasons (166 episodes) against the toughest competition in TV history: Cheers, Cosby, Golden Girls, Roseanne…

I am very glad that this fun show will join the other shows that have been honored with a DVD. This family was wacky, goofy, smart, smart-mouthed, yet full of heart. The show never gets old.

It's important to buy the DVD($23!) soon after it comes out to send a message to the studio that made the DVD that we like the show a lot; enough to buy a 2nd Season. Because the only thing better than the 1st season is the 2nd(The Goofy Glue Incident, etc).

The characters are meticulously written, and brought to life well by the actors – like Seinfeld, Friends and Cheers. They're characters you get to know, like, care about, and never forget. Same goes for a lot of the episodes:

11. "STANDARDIZED TEST" Idaho I.Q. high school test- Quote: "After this, the whole school will know how stupid we are"

4. "CAROL'S ARTICLE" episode that made up a word: "stinkiosity"(I'm laughing right now-20 years later).

16. "THE SEAVERS VS. THE CLEAVERS" – with Annette Funicello in a "June Cleaver" parody.

Season 2:

29. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? – a take on "The Sting". - Ben: "Here's your cut, mom."

41. THE AWFUL TRUTH – The Kids are alone in the house, and make a discovery. - One of my favorite eps of all TV.

44. CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS - The Kids are alone at home again - things happen…involving Goofy Glue.

I'll be watching this show for the rest of my life (thanks to the DVD and Warner Brothers). I still remember watching the 1st run of some of these memorable episodes 20 years ago!!....."Who knew?" ;)

What used to be an ok show is unwatchable today (2018), due to Cameron's religious extremism.

It's like The Cosby Show; It used to be ok but then we got to know the true personality of Mr. Cosby.

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.