People say that Growing Pains is a Family Ties rip off

[Chain Gang Member]

Maybe so,but some shows do resemble other shows.

Man About The House-Three's Company

Married With Children-Unhappily Ever After

Saved By The Bell-City Guys,California Dreams,and Hang Time

That 70s Show-That 80s Show

[Dean Winchester]

well... Three's Company was an American-ized Man About The House... and That 80's Show was from the same producers as That 70's Show, granted the reason how they got the patent to use that name.

The only real difference between Family Ties and Growing Pains was that Carol was more the Alex, and Mike was more the Mallory.

Family Ties...............................................................Growing Pains
7 seasons................................................................7 seasons
Michael J. Fox marries co-star..................................Kirk Cameron marries co-star
baby born midway into the show............................baby born midway
baby suddenly turns 5.............................................baby suddenly turns 6
Jennifer....................................................................Ben
relied on Cosby for huge ratings..............................relied on Who's The Boss for huge ratings
discovered Courtney Cox.........................................discovered Leonardo DiCaprio
Justine Bateman, recovering anorexic......................Tracey Gold, recovering anorexic
Justine's brother Jason makes it as a star...............Kirk's sister Cameron makes it
Michael J. Fox went into movies and succeeded......Kirk Cameron went into movies and does straight to video Bible films

the comparisons are endless..... I personally think Family Ties is much better though

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by Jackhammer
Maybe so,but some shows do resemble other shows.

Man About The House-Three's Company

Married With Children-Unhappily Ever After

Saved By The Bell-City Guys,California Dreams,and Hang Time

That 70s Show-That 80s Show

Yeah they are similar, but I think Growing Pains is better, I mean one could argue the Nanny is a Who's the Boss? ripoff, it's very similar, but it's not a rip off.

Lots of shows are similar, that's what tv is about, I mean look how many networks tried to copy Friends

[barwars]

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
Michael J. Fox went into movies and succeeded......Kirk Cameron went into movies and does straight to video Bible films

hahahahahah


Michael J. Fox is a good actor.... Kirk Cameron isn't.


wait, maybe that doesnt count.
.... but its true.

[mstewart]

I thought Steven and Elyse was a much better couple than Jason and Maggie.

I preferred Meredith Baxter Birney anyday over JoAnna Kerns.

[factsoflife]

Family Ties debuted several season prior to Growing Pains and was a huge hit. Other newtorks started reaizing that maybe their was a market for show centered around families, that didn't include cat-fights, rich families fighting over oil and gowns designed by Halston and Bob Mackie. So a few seasons later we got "Growing Pains" a good show in its own right, but FAR inferior to Family Ties. thats why Micheal J. Fox has a mantle with Emmys on it and Kirk Cameron, well he doesn't even have a peoples choice award!

The reason why the nanny and whos the boss are so similar is that the people that produced WTB (Prudence and Fraser) also worked on The Nanny. But the WTB/Nanny connection doesn't stop there. Some years before TN, Fran Drescher made a memorable apperance on WTB as an interior designer. She made such an impression on WTB producers that she was offered her own WTB-spin-off. The pilot was ordered and filmed, but ultimately the spin-off did not become a series. A WTB spin-off called "Living Dolls" was made many years later, but it had no connection to Fran Drescher or The Nanny. but it did produce some of the biggest stars in the USA, including Halle Berry (who went on to win an Emmy for "Introducing Dorothy Dandride" And an Oscar for "Monsters Ball) and Leah Remine who stars on CBS's "The King Of Queens". So Fran Drescher no doubt took some inspiration from the creative set-up of "Who's The Boss?". She served as an Executive Producer on The Nanny for its entire run. In fact it ws Fran Drescher who first pitched the idea of "The Nanny" to CBS executives after spenind a weekend with the children of her good friend Kathy Irleand.


and you're right when "Friends" hit it big we suddenly got a slew of shows about friends living in the city, looking for love- some of the more obvious ones-Usually they didn't last too long.

Partners (Fox) (lated what, 2 season)
Caroline In The City (NBC) (became a modest hit and lasted long enough to be syndicated)
Veronica's Closet (NBC) (lasteed three seasons)
Suddenly Susan (NBC) (lated long enough to get syndicated.)
Can't Hurry Love (CBS) (1 season)
For Your Love (NBC/WB) (NBC canned it after 13 episodes, it got picked up by WB and ran for 3 or 4 more seasons. never made it to Syndication.)
High Society (CBS)-though to its credit the main characters were at least 20 years older than the characters on "Friends" (1 season)
Sex and The City (HBO)- The only diff between this and friends, all the characters are females and it was on HBO which meant, more sex and more graphic langauge. (well we all know how this one turned out)
Jenny (NBC) (1 season)
Union Square (NBC) (1 season)
Fired Up (NBC) (2 seasons)- in its credit it had a great cast, Sharon Lawrence, Leah Remine and Mark Furenstien and was a decent hit in season 1. it was moved to a new timeslot in season 2 which killed it. it was a good sitcom.

and many years later.... Coupling (NBC)- a remake of a british show that was pretty much the exact same concept as "Friends". and well all know what a collosal FLOP thjis show was.

[spunkygirl]

Originally posted by factsoflife
Family Ties debuted several season prior to Growing Pains and was a huge hit. Other newtorks started reaizing that maybe their was a market for show centered around families, that didn't include cat-fights, rich families fighting over oil and gowns designed by Halston and Bob Mackie. So a few seasons later we got "Growing Pains" a good show in its own right, but FAR inferior to Family Ties. thats why Micheal J. Fox has a mantle with Emmys on it and Kirk Cameron, well he doesn't even have a peoples choice award!

The reason why the nanny and whos the boss are so similar is that the people that produced WTB (Prudence and Fraser) also worked on The Nanny. But the WTB/Nanny connection doesn't stop there. Some years before TN, Fran Drescher made a memorable apperance on WTB as an interior designer. She made such an impression on WTB producers that she was offered her own WTB-spin-off. The pilot was ordered and filmed, but ultimately the spin-off did not become a series. A WTB spin-off called "Living Dolls" was made many years later, but it had no connection to Fran Drescher or The Nanny. but it did produce some of the biggest stars in the USA, including Halle Berry (who went on to win an Emmy for "Introducing Dorothy Dandride" And an Oscar for "Monsters Ball) and Leah Remine who stars on CBS's "The King Of Queens". So Fran Drescher no doubt took some inspiration from the creative set-up of "Who's The Boss?". She served as an Executive Producer on The Nanny for its entire run. In fact it ws Fran Drescher who first pitched the idea of "The Nanny" to CBS executives after spenind a weekend with the children of her good friend Kathy Irleand.


and you're right when "Friends" hit it big we suddenly got a slew of shows about friends living in the city, looking for love- some of the more obvious ones-Usually they didn't last too long.

Partners (Fox) (lated what, 2 season)
Caroline In The City (NBC) (became a modest hit and lasted long enough to be syndicated)
Veronica's Closet (NBC) (lasteed three seasons)
Suddenly Susan (NBC) (lated long enough to get syndicated.)
Can't Hurry Love (CBS) (1 season)
For Your Love (NBC/WB) (NBC canned it after 13 episodes, it got picked up by WB and ran for 3 or 4 more seasons. never made it to Syndication.)
High Society (CBS)-though to its credit the main characters were at least 20 years older than the characters on "Friends" (1 season)
Sex and The City (HBO)- The only diff between this and friends, all the characters are females and it was on HBO which meant, more sex and more graphic langauge. (well we all know how this one turned out)
Jenny (NBC) (1 season)
Union Square (NBC) (1 season)
Fired Up (NBC) (2 seasons)- in its credit it had a great cast, Sharon Lawrence, Leah Remine and Mark Furenstien and was a decent hit in season 1. it was moved to a new timeslot in season 2 which killed it. it was a good sitcom.

and many years later.... Coupling (NBC)- a remake of a british show that was pretty much the exact same concept as "Friends". and well all know what a collosal FLOP thjis show was.

Who's the Boss? and The Nanny seem to share a lot of similarities...
Several episodes of The Nanny were virtual recreations of Boss scripts. The show benefited from WTB? vets in its production. On a related note, Fran Drescher, the star of The Nanny, had two guest parts on Who's the Boss?. She played Carol Patrice in The Heiress and Joyce Columbus in Charmed Lives (the pilot for a WTB? spin-off). Also, Judith Light and Fran Drescher are good friends.
The Nanny also seemed to recycle some of the old WTB? sets. For example, Maggie's bedroom has the exact same layout as Tony's bedroom, with new wallpaper.


I like both GP and FT I like GP better

[Ant-Lox]

I never did like growing pains...

[vze3t9q9]

I didn't like either one of them. The time they were on I was into the Golden Girls. No teenybopper shows for me.

[Mr. Television]

I like both shows although I like Family Ties slightly more.

[~*Emma*~]

IMO:

Family Ties vs. Growing Pains = Definately Family Ties

The Nanny vs. Who's the Boss = I like the Nanny alot more.

Tho that's just my opinion.