| | Growing Pains
Cast and Crew
In 1990, the producers chose to "leap" the character of Chrissy five years, and she suddenly became seven years-old. Alan Thicke was predominantly known as a Canadian talk show host before the role of Jason on the show. Most involved with the production did not want him, but when no one reading for the part fit the bill, Thicke was auditioned and hired. Matthew Perry appeared in the 88-89 season as Carol's boyfriend, Sandy. After a handful of episodes, Sandy dies from injuries sustained from a drunk-driving accident. Kirk Cameron was so intent on keeping the show devoid of adult themes that he phoned the president of ABC and accused producers Dan Guntzelman, Steve Marshall and Michael Sullivan of being "pornographers". The three then resigned from the show, having had enough of Cameron's shenanigans. Tracey Gold (Carol) suffered from severe anorexia and missed most of the show's final season. Pay close attention to the final episode and you will notice Gold does not take one bite of the pizza she is holding. Kirk Cameron met his future wife 'Chelsea Noble' when she guest-starred as Kate on the show. Although Mike is the oldest of the Seaver kids, actor Kirk Cameron actually was more than a year younger than Tracey Gold who played Mike's younger sister Carol. Julie McCullough was unaware of her firing as she was handed the script just moments after showing up on-set. She found it difficult to do a follow-up episode a year later, as her character makes good with Mike, when in real-life she resented Cameron for having her fired. The character Jason Seaver was ranked #37 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" (20 June 2004 issue). Elizabeth Ward was cast as the original Carol Anne Seaver, but was replaced by Tracey Gold (who had auditioned for the part but at first didn't get it) after the pilot was shown to test audiences with poor results prior to the network premiere of the show.
Composition
The video portion of the theme featured five different variations; season 1 had artwork from various eras (Egyptian, Renaissance, Victorian, etc.) with the cast names superimposed; season 2 had clips of season 1; season three showed real-life photos of the cast when they were younger, and always had Thicke standing alone at the end of the song, then running to catch up with other cast members; season four and five had a different cast member linger in front of the camera before running for other
Episodic
Etymology
Location
The series was videotaped in front of a live studio audience at Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank. The neighborhood exteriors were shot at the neighboring Warner Bros Studios. The Seavers lived at 15 Robin Hood Lane, Huntington, NY 11743. The shows creator Neal Marlens grew up on the affluent Long Island and based the series in his hometown. Robin Hood Lane is fictional but many speculate it may be based on Robin Lane off of Sweet Hollow Road.
Merchandise
On February 7, 2006, Warner Home Video released the complete first season of Growing Pains on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. In conjunction with the release, Thicke, Kerns, Gold, and Miller reunited for a CNN Larry King Live interview, which aired on that same date.
Music
There were four renditions of the theme song. Initially, B.J. Thomas sang it solo. Later, a track recorded by Dusty Springfield was overlaid to create a duet. Springfield's track was replaced by Jennifer Warnes version following her successful duet with Bill Medley on the Dirty Dancing (1987) soundtrack. The final season featured an a cappella version.
Production
Between the 88-89 season cliffhanger and 89-90 season premiere, Kirk Cameron had a religious awakening and demanded that Julie McCullough's character of Mike's fiancée be written out of the show because of McCollough's real-life Playboy Magazine past. Producers had to seriously re-tailor the show to better include other cast members after the network complained that the pilot too heavily focused on the Mike character.
Reference
The Family's last name was Seaver and they had neighbors named Koosman. Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman were teammates on the New York Mets during the '60s and '70s. The show takes place on Long Island so it's likely that the creators were Mets fans. The junior high school (Wendell Willkie Jr. High), high school (Thomas Dewey High School), and junior college (Alfred Landon Junior College) that the Seaver children attended were named after three presidential candidates defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt (Alfred Landon in 1936, Wendell Willkie in 1940, and Thomas Dewey in 1944). Maggie Seaver hums the opening tune to Who's the Boss? at the beginning of the Pilot. Just the Ten of Us was an ABC show that had Coach Graham Lubbock, Mike and Carol's gym teacher, moving to California with his large family to teach at an all boys Catholic school after he was fired from Thomas Dewey High School. It was a consistent hit on the Friday lineup, but was abruptly cancelled after three seasons.
Schedule
TV Rating
|
|
