TMC
01-29-2014, 07:20 PM
http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Peter_Dawson/When_Good_Shows_Go_Bad_Growing_Pains.shtml
Been a while since I've covered an ABC show. Not really any specific reason, just it seems like NBC and CBS has a lot more memorably low-hanging fruit worth talking about. Considering that recent stats show ABC in the position NBC was in not too long ago that may not change for a while if ABC keeps doing bone-headed moves like putting one of your most hyped TV series that you could put literally almost anywhere on your schedule and get viewers up against freaking NCIS (I'm not the biggest fan of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD but seriously, what the hell). So lets go back in time and look at a classic family sitcom that went completely tits up...
The History:
By the mid-1980s family sitcoms were all the rage, and the world didn't know that Neal Marlons and Carol Black were about to launch the first of three sitcoms for ABC (the others were two little shows called The Wonder Years and Ellen): Growing Pains. Mike Sullivan and Steve Marshall (both of WKRP in Cincinnati and Gloria) would executive produce Marlons and Black went to focus on their next show. Growing Pains ran for 7 seasons on ABC and was followed up with two reunion movies, one in 2000 and another in 2004. At its peak Growing Pains was the eighth most-watched program on American television, managing to pull in roughly twenty million viewers on average during its peak during the second and third seasons. While Family Ties and Growing Pains seem pretty much cut from the same mold there is no real evidence that the latter was meant to capitalize on the former.
The Show:
Dr. Jason Seaver (fairly-uknown at the time outside of Canada Alan Thicke, father of idiot Robin Thicke) is a stay at home psychiatrist, and thus the one who spends the most time with his kids. Jason's wife Maggie (Joanna Kerns) works as a reporter. The three children are Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracey Gold) and Ben (Jeremy Miller). Chrissy Seaver (eventually Ashley Johnson after being played by various child actors) was born later on. The family dynamic was an early focus with eyes on the parents but like many other sitcoms focus eventually fell on the children, in particular Mike. In the final season Mike effectively adopted Luke (Leonardo DiCaprio), a street kid, and tried to help turn his life around. The show was known for both defying the progression of time and playing with it, such as when Chrissy seemed to age about six years with the passage of time not entirely recognized (not the first time a sitcom has done this either).
Been a while since I've covered an ABC show. Not really any specific reason, just it seems like NBC and CBS has a lot more memorably low-hanging fruit worth talking about. Considering that recent stats show ABC in the position NBC was in not too long ago that may not change for a while if ABC keeps doing bone-headed moves like putting one of your most hyped TV series that you could put literally almost anywhere on your schedule and get viewers up against freaking NCIS (I'm not the biggest fan of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD but seriously, what the hell). So lets go back in time and look at a classic family sitcom that went completely tits up...
The History:
By the mid-1980s family sitcoms were all the rage, and the world didn't know that Neal Marlons and Carol Black were about to launch the first of three sitcoms for ABC (the others were two little shows called The Wonder Years and Ellen): Growing Pains. Mike Sullivan and Steve Marshall (both of WKRP in Cincinnati and Gloria) would executive produce Marlons and Black went to focus on their next show. Growing Pains ran for 7 seasons on ABC and was followed up with two reunion movies, one in 2000 and another in 2004. At its peak Growing Pains was the eighth most-watched program on American television, managing to pull in roughly twenty million viewers on average during its peak during the second and third seasons. While Family Ties and Growing Pains seem pretty much cut from the same mold there is no real evidence that the latter was meant to capitalize on the former.
The Show:
Dr. Jason Seaver (fairly-uknown at the time outside of Canada Alan Thicke, father of idiot Robin Thicke) is a stay at home psychiatrist, and thus the one who spends the most time with his kids. Jason's wife Maggie (Joanna Kerns) works as a reporter. The three children are Mike (Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracey Gold) and Ben (Jeremy Miller). Chrissy Seaver (eventually Ashley Johnson after being played by various child actors) was born later on. The family dynamic was an early focus with eyes on the parents but like many other sitcoms focus eventually fell on the children, in particular Mike. In the final season Mike effectively adopted Luke (Leonardo DiCaprio), a street kid, and tried to help turn his life around. The show was known for both defying the progression of time and playing with it, such as when Chrissy seemed to age about six years with the passage of time not entirely recognized (not the first time a sitcom has done this either).