Growing Pains

[poof]

In my personal opinion, one of the greatest underrated sitcoms of ALL time was Growing Pains.

Sure, it enjoyed a LONG 7-year run from 1985-1992, but MANY critics called it at first a Family Ties knock-off, with Kirk Cameron, during his teen-idol days, being called a young Michael J. Fox.

Though ratings were low in its 1st season, after creator Neal Marlens quit the show, ratings by Season 2 climbed to #17 thanks to the takeover of the trio of Dan Guntzelman, Mike Sullivan and Steve Marshall.

A personal favorite episode of mine is the episode called Fast Times at Dewey High, the episode that introduced recurring guest star Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock, a teacher at Thomas E. Dewey High School who in 1988 would spin off into his own show, Just the Ten of Us.

Besides the 15 regular cast members during its 7-year run, including Gordon Jump as Ed Malone, Betty McGuire as Kate Malone, and Andrew Koenig as Richard Stabone, other recurring guest stars included Jane Powell as Irma Seaver, the mother of Dr. Jason Seaver, who in Season 4 married Wally Overmeir (Robert Rockwell), much to the disapproval of her grown son; & character actor Sam Anderson as Willis DeWitt, who made a once-a-year appearance every season (3 times in Season 3 and twice in Season 5) starting with another personal favorite episode of mine, Reputation.

One thing I always liked and loved about Growing Pains is that though most episodes were classic family sitcom fare, several episodes dealt with real issues teenagers faced, including teen suicide, drunk driving, and peer pressure to use cocaine. What do YOU like about the show?

[Family Ties Forever!]

I thought it was a good show. It was my second favorite show behind Family Ties. Growing Pains was a nice show and the family was fun to watch.