Growing Pains

Growing Pains 80's TV Show

Growing Pains was a family comedy that ran from 1985 to 1992 on ABC.  The show was about as innocuous as shows come, thanks in part to Kirk Cameron’s conversion to Christianity and insistence that questionable material be stripped from the show.  The show was primarily about the Seaver family and the problems associated with raising a big family.  There was Dr. Seaver  (Alan Thicke), Maggie Seaver (Joanna Kerns), Michael (Kirk Cameron), Carol Ann (Tracey Gold), Benjamin (Jeremy Miller), and  Christine (Ashley Johnson).  One of Mike’s friends went by the nickname "Boner”, which is a coincidence considering the name of the show.  Lovers of Leonardo DiCaprio will remember that Leonardo starred as Luke Brower in the early 1990’s.

The Seaver family was well off, living in a fancy neighborhood in Long Island, NY.  The mother of the family, Maggie (Kerns), worked, while the father, Dr. Seaver (Thicke), was a stay-at-home dad.  The show revolved around, what else, the “growing pains” of a normal family.  The kids had school issues, moral lessons to learn, boy crushes, girl crushes, cheating in school issues, self-esteem issues, etc.  By the by, Boner flunked out of school and had to join the Marines.  Hoorah, Boner!