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Growing Pains

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Growing Pains
Growing Pains-Logo.jpg
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.

Contents

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

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