Growing Pains

Growing Pains
Premiere	September 24, 1985
Finale	April 25, 1992
Creator	Neal Marlens
Network/Provider	ABC
Style	30 minute sitcom
Company	Guntzelman-Sullivan-Marshall Productions (seasons 5-6), Warner Bros. Television
Seasons	7
Episodes	166
Origin	USA

Growing Pains is a sitcom about an upper-middle-class family living in Long Island. The father, Jason Seaver, was a psychiatrist forced to stay at home with his kids while his wife worked as a reporter. They had three children: Mike, a "bad boy" troublemaker; Carol, a "goody-goody" honors student; and Ben, the youngest who often found himself caught in the middle of his sibling's schemes.

Though generally not considered a remarkable show, the program was very popular at the time, with cast member Kirk Cameron (Mike) becoming something of a teen idol. Today, the show is remembered for two things in particular. First, Cameron converted to evangelical Christianity during his tenure on the show and began to make demands on the writers and producers not to include "immoral" elements. This possibly led to the firing of actress Julie McCullough (who played Mike's fiancée) for her past appearances in Playboy magazine. Three producers also quit in 1991 as a result of Cameron's actions. (Reportedly, when the cast reunited for their first TV-movie, Cameron made peace with his former cast members over his past actions.)

The other notable element was the addition of Leonardo DiCaprio as a regular cast member in the last season. The actor was an unknown at the time, as he was just beginning his acting career. After Growing Pains he went on to do mostly film roles, gaining an Oscar nomination the following year.

Growing Pains had one spinoff, Just the Ten of Us. The actors who played the Seavers later reunited for two made-for-TV movies, in 2000 and 2004.

Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Main Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Alan Thicke	Dr. Jason Seaver	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Joanna Kerns	Maggie Seaver	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Kirk Cameron	Mike Seaver	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Tracey Gold	Carol Seaver	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Jeremy Miller	Benjamin "Ben" Seaver	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Kelsey Dohring	Chrissy Seaver				o	o
Kirsten Dohring					o	o
Ashley Johnson							*	*
Leonardo DiCaprio	Luke Brower							*
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season. Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.
Supporting/Recurring Cast		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Andrew Koenig	Richard "Boner" Stabone	*	*	*	*
Julie McCullough	Julie Costello					*
Chelsea Noble	Kate MacDonald					*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
ABC
Season One	September 24, 1985	May 13, 1986				22
Season Two	September 30, 1986	May 19, 1987				22
Season Three	September 18, 1987	May 4, 1988				26
Season Four	October 19, 1988	May 3, 1989				22
Season Five	September 20, 1989	May 2, 1990				26
Season Six	September 19, 1990	April 24, 1991				24
Season Seven	September 18, 1991	April 25, 1992				24
TV Movies
The Growing Pains Movie	November 5, 2000
Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers	October 16, 2004

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
The Complete First Season			February 7, 2006	purchase		4
The Complete Second Season			April 26, 2011	purchase		3
The Complete Third Season			May 21, 2013	purchase		3
The Complete Fourth Season			April 14, 2015	purchase		3

External Links

• opening credits for season 1on YouTube