BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

powermandan Growing Pains is a family sitcom that deals with traditional matters that need dealing. Drinking, smoking, curfews, and others. Some episodes are sadder that deal with death in the family and suicide. The episode about teen suicide is one that there should have been more of if Growing Pains wanted to set itself apart from other shows around this time. The suicide episode was like something Diff'rent Strokes would do. That is what set it apart from others, they took risks. But there are many meaningful episodes that can come to help and really make you laugh. I know that this doesn't have very high ratings on many sites and sources, but I have a personal connection with this. I feel this is my own.Growing Pains is about the Seaver clan: Maggie (Kerns) pursues her career in journalism again while husband Jason (Thicke) does his psychiatry work at home. They have three children: girl- chasing slacker, Mike (Cameron); clever, bookworm Carol (Gold); and nutty, rambunctious Ben (Miller). By season four, Chrissy Seaver was introduced and aged very fast when Ashley Johnson was cast in the role. The character of Chrissy is one of the most recognized TV characters that age faster. Around that time, Maggie and Jason's work locations switched again with Maggie working from home and Jason having an office. One thing I like about Growing Pains is the chemistry and evolvement of the characters. The one that evolves the most is Mike. In the early seasons, he is girl-crazy, immature, and trouble making with no ambition. he eventually decides he wants to be an actor, and the episodes where he puts his plan into action show how had it is to find work as any artist. He later works as a teacher, where he takes in homeless Luke Brower (DiCaprio). Mike becoming a teacher was very unrealistic because a university degree is needed and Mike just went to community college for drama. He becomes a sophisticated and responsible young man. He totally changes from the slacker in the first few seasons. Luckily, his transition was very smooth and precise, making it realistic and admirable. This was also when he fell in love with his character's girlfriend (Noble) in real life and wound up marrying. Mike becomes Luke's guardian and father figure. The introduction of Luke alone was a good addition to the show. Tracey Gold was having health problems and her character was seen less in the last season as she attends university, and they needed a good replacement. Who better than a young Leo DiCaprio? This was before the days of Gilbert Grape and Titanic, but DiCaprio still shines in a very memorable role. Any old fan of Growing Pains knew that Leo was destined for greatness. With most seasons in the 80s and a couple in the 90s, Growing Pains is a wonderful cruise down memory lane.

Steve Lee When I was a young boy, which probably is more than 10 years ago, every night I would wait in front of my TV to see Growing Pains. It was dubbed into Chinese. I found it really funny and laughed with the spot audience every single night. Well I didn't laugh all the time because even though I was only 11 or 12 years old I could get some of the serious messages in Growing Pains. I remember the episode where Mike gave every teen a lesson about quitting drugs, and another one where he had the whole family help him lie to a girl who's into art and finally told her the truth that he is not artistic. I sure got those, but when I watched the whole series all the way again a few months ago I got more.To do the spoiler click justice I may wanna talk about the episode I remember the most. It was the one where Boner is going to list in the marine and Mike tries to persuade him out of the decision but Boner really feels he's gonna do what he knows he should do and it's the first time in his life he knows what he wants to do. So all Mike can do as a best friend is give him his best love and wishes and see him off. And that was real touching...Not only did I find my favorite episode, I also learned more when I watched it the second time. Well the messages and points are quite simple and easy to understand but there is one thing you have to get out there to feel with your own heart. I think Jason just put it very accurately by asking Maggie: Can you imagine all those kids have just suddenly grown up? I am not a parent myself but I could really feel it when I heard Jason say it... You won't notice the growing if you don't want to but as long as you put a little bit of attention and love you will see the family around you are becoming more mature, more lovable! Just try to imagine if Mike had got the 5000 dollars from his grandparents a couple of years before he got them, would he have used the money to help a homeless guy? And would Carol have bought her grandparents the tickets to Ireland with the 5000 dollars if it'd happened a few years ago? If you wanna find out what kind of kids they were just get back and watch episode one. We see their growing and that's a great feeling to have for us as audience because we all have family around us.Get your dusty family album outta your cabinet and have a look at it, with some smile and love.

dwissba Lets be honest here. After the success of Family Ties there was an attempt to match what Micheal J. Fox did on that show. Michael brought charm to the part he played and was funny as the young Republican. Kirk Cameron brought nothing to the role as Mike Seaver except as some jerky bonehead. The show pretty much followed the same lines as Family ties with kids growing up and dealing with family issues by trying to be funny at the same time. Family Ties was able to do this where as Growing Pains was not. None of the characters in this show never really gelled in my view and it just flat lined to boredom. Tracy Gold also brought nothing to the part with Alan Thicke at least somewhat interesting.So where are they all now? What has Tracy Gold been doing these days? Last I heard Kirk Cameron is some bible thumping TV infomercial preacher. Yeah good career move Kirk!!

mnbvcxz112 When I first saw "Growing Pains" I referred to it disparagingly as "The White Cosby Show". In 1984, sitcoms were the junk food of the television diet. They lacked quality, and were relegated to the basement of the Nielsen ratings. Then, in 1984, NBC showed that a sitcom could be #1 in the ratings with "The Cosby Show". I greeted "Growing Pains", ABC's apparent attempt to cash in with a new family sitcom in 1985, with cynicism, and watched every week for them to drop the ball. I watched, in the beginning to see this show crash and burn, and was very surprised to find, in a few weeks that I liked it!In a time before shows about dysfunctional families like "Married...With Children" and "Roseanne" (good shows in their own way) "Growing Pains" showed a reasonably functional family in a basically caring environment, Mike's constant put-downs of Carol being his way of handling the affection he felt for his sister but felt uncomfortable showing.The members of this family liked each other, and their feelings were infectious. I liked being able to hang out with the Seaver family for half an hour every week, and daily when the syndicated reruns began. I haven't been able to see GP reruns in at least 4 years. When the twice-a-day reruns of "Seinfeld", "Friends", and "The Simpsons" begin to lose their steam, I hope "Growing Pains" is given another opportunity.