Why didn't Kirk Cameron simply resign from the show

[TMC]

If he had so many moral objections to the show's scripts? Was it simply because he was under contract? And it probably wouldn't have been that simple to just get rid of him or for him to leave on his own accord. I often wonder why the powers that be simply didn't just fire Kirk when he started to create problems behind the scenes. I mean, as Valerie Harper and later Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr proved, shows aren't "above" getting rid of their stars if things reached over a proverbial boiling point.

[RetroGuy2000]

He was the star of the show, and I think the producers genuinely liked him. While he was making them big money, I think they were willing to overlook his comments. Had he continued deriding them, things might have changed.

[Novera]

Originally Posted by TMC

If he had so many moral objections to the show's scripts? Was it simply because he was under contract? And it probably wouldn't have been that simple to just get rid of him or for him to leave on his own accord. I often wonder why the powers that be simply didn't just fire Kirk when he started to create problems behind the scenes. I mean, as Valerie Harper and later Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr proved, shows aren't "above" getting rid of their stars if things reached over a proverbial boiling point.

I agree with you so much on this especially since by that era Kirk wasn't a teen idol anymore and due to his insistence that Mike never lies (or does anything wrong), he also wasn't a bad boy character anymore. I can't imagine how the writers felt when Leonardo D. blew up to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood after doing so little with him. It reminds me of how Prince (not that I'm comparing the two) was rejected from record labels at first, I can't imagine what those record execs felt in the 80s!

I think the show was losing it's steam a lot by that point and they figured they may as well ride it out with him. But when I re-watched the series recently (for the first time in years), I definitely noticed the shift in Kirks acting (and the writing for Mike) in the last two seasons. He also started doing this thing where he sounds like he's whining when he says his lines, like he's mad at the script/writers. Obviously it's speculation, but it annoyed me to the point that I almost couldn't finish the last season.

[Charley Knox]

If he had resigned, then there would have been no more show.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Charley Knox

If he had resigned, then there would have been no more show.

Was Mike in retrospect, really *that* essential to the show? I get that Kirk Cameron during the show's prime/heyday was a big teen heartthrob and a lot of his initial appeal was that he was playing this charismatic "bad boy" (a la a Silver Spoons/It's Your Move era Jason Bateman), but he wasn't exactly like Michael J. Fox on Family Ties. Now had MJF decided to leave Family Ties say, soon after Back to the Future was a hit, then I would be of the opinion that Family Ties would've been over a lot sooner.

I sometimes think that had Tracey Gold not had her own issues to deal with, they could've in theory, rebuilt the show more around her (if they wanted to focus more on the kids instead of the adults), instead of trying to appease to a rigid and uncooperative co-star. I mean, Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns were technically, the actual stars of Growing Pains, not Kirk Cameron. It's just that Mike just so happened to become the show's so-called breakout star.

[Novera]

Originally Posted by TMC

I sometimes think that had Tracey Gold not had her own issues to deal with, they could've in theory, rebuilt the show more around her ...

I agree with this as well because I remember even when watching the show as a kid, I really enjoyed the episodes where she gets a job in data processing and tries to navigate the adult world. Also if they had kept the same kind of writing they had for Ben around season 4, it would've absolutely kept my interest. I thought they made Ben such a great character around that time, then they gave him a dorky mullet (which was not cool in the early 90s!) and glasses with cringe lines/plot elements.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Novera

I agree with you so much on this especially since by that era Kirk wasn't a teen idol anymore and due to his insistence that Mike never lies (or does anything wrong), he also wasn't a bad boy character anymore. I can't imagine how the writers felt when Leonardo D. blew up to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood after doing so little with him. It reminds me of how Prince (not that I'm comparing the two) was rejected from record labels at first, I can't imagine what those record execs felt in the 80s!

I think the show was losing it's steam a lot by that point and they figured they may as well ride it out with him. But when I re-watched the series recently (for the first time in years), I definitely noticed the shift in Kirks acting (and the writing for Mike) in the last two seasons. He also started doing this thing where he sounds like he's whining when he says his lines, like he's mad at the script/writers. Obviously it's speculation, but it annoyed me to the point that I almost couldn't finish the last season.

I'll just say this, I believe that Kirk Cameron created problems because he didn't view things pragmatically. Kirk wasn't and isn't a writer nor is he a producer. I'm not saying that an actor shouldn't have any sort of input over the scripts or the direction that their character should go. But Kirk needed to understand that he wasn't the absolute final authority. It's one thing if you don't like or aren't comfortable with how strictly your own character is being written, it's quite another to demand final say over the entire script.

Why was Kirk so concerned with wanting the stories as pure and clean as possible? While Growing Pains was already essentially, a family friendly show, he none the less, wasn't exactly making a Nick Jr. show. An actor in my estimation, should want scripts to be compelling and worry about whether or not it has a great story that could be told. Also, since it's a sitcom first and foremost, you should be more concerned over whether or not it's funny.

And you can't just radically change the character that you're playing over-night just because it might not align with your new-found moral compass. In this case, Mike suddenly wanting to teach falls into that category.

[Novera]

Originally Posted by TMC

And you can't just radically change the character that you're playing over-night just because it might not align with your new-found moral compass. In this case, Mike suddenly wanting to teach falls into that category.

You're absolutely right on the "he's not a writer/producer" note because he clearly didn't understand that you can't have a show with everyone being honest and perfect. Similarly if they wrote everyone to be a bad boy like early Mike, it also wouldn't have worked. This is exacerbated by the fact he found tremendous fame at an early age, so he likely assumed this was all really easy and he knew better.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Novera

You're absolutely right on the "he's not a writer/producer" note because he clearly didn't understand that you can't have a show with everyone being honest and perfect. Similarly if they wrote everyone to be a bad boy like early Mike, it also wouldn't have worked. This is exacerbated by the fact he found tremendous fame at an early age, so he likely assumed this was all really easy and he knew better.

I'll take a bit of what wrestling legend Jake "The Snake" Roberts said in this interview (a mild language warning). Kirk Cameron worked in a business, so he needed to treat his profession like a business. Kirk seemed to have little grasp or perspective of how television shows were created. If everybody was honest and perfect, then it wouldn't make for compelling storytelling since there's little to no conflict or stakes.

You can't let in Jake's words, the inmates run the asylum. I don't for the life of me, understand why or how the producers and writers bent so over backwards for him despite him acting like a petulant child. It's in itself, mind-boggling that Kirk didn't get fired over some of the stuff that he apparently did.

[Novera]

Originally Posted by TMC

You can't let in Jake's words, the inmates run the alyssum...

I loved the "you didn't win that belt" comment haha, he's absolutely right.

The thing is I don't think Kirk was prepared for the post-sitcom star world he entered after the show ended. A lot of ex sitcom actors have said in interviews it was a harsh adjustment from being on a popular show to having crappy (or none at all) roles being offered. Very quickly the teen beat magazines move to the new generation and Entertainment Tonight doesn't really need an interview from an out of work ex-sitcom star unless they had a DUI or something.

I wonder when it hit him that the couldn't just waltz into a producers office in LA and say "Ok I want a show with good values, no conflict or lying, everyone is honest and it's all about good Christian values"

Although I imagine at that point he wasn't getting any call backs so the above scenario is moot!

[80s Dude]

He didn't leave because he was making lots of money on the show.

[paul.austin]

Cameron was a nutty, cruel and obnoxious farty ******* by the end. The moment he first went all 700 Club is the moment ABC should have told its janitorial staff: “Get a bin liner and clear Kirk’s desk”.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by paul.austin

Cameron was a nutty, cruel and obnoxious farty ******* by the end. The moment he first went all 700 Club is the moment ABC should have told its janitorial staff: “Get a bin liner and clear Kirk’s desk”.

I wouldn't exactly go so far as to say that about Kirk Cameron. But in my estimation, he needed to be more diplomatic if he had issues with the show's content and where his character was going. It isn't the best option for instance, to ring up the head of your network and baselessly tell him that the producers of your show are in Kirk's words "pornographers".

[paul.austin]

Given his slightly deranged behavior that continues to this day (insisting his wife be his kiss double etc.), i'm surprised he hasn't announced that he won't wee in the toilet anymore as it to him it feels like giving Satan a BJ. At this point, i would put nothing past Kirk Cameron...

[Alan Brady's Hair]

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