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''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by
Neal Marlens Neal Marlens (born November 8, 1956) is an American television producer and writer. He is known for work on the television series ''Growing Pains'', ''The Wonder Years'' and ''Ellen (TV series), Ellen'', all with his wife, fellow television produ ...
that ran on ABC for seven seasons from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The series follows the misadventures of the Seaver family, including psychiatrist and father Jason, journalist and mother Maggie, and their children Mike, Carol, Ben, and Chrissy. 166 episodes were produced.


Premise

The show centers on the Seaver family of Huntington, a town on
Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. Dr. Jason Seaver ( Alan Thicke), a psychiatrist, works from home because his wife, Maggie ( Joanna Kerns), has gone back to work as a reporter. Jason has to take care of the children: Ladies' man and rebellious troublemaker Mike (
Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor, author, Evangelism, evangelist, television host, documentarian and producer. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC si ...
); his sister, bookish honors student Carol ( Tracey Gold); and rambunctious Ben ( Jeremy Miller), who follows Mike as his role model and becomes a troublemaker too. A fourth child, Chrissy Seaver (twins Kelsey and Kirsten Dohring; Ashley Johnson), was added in Season 4 and, in Season 7, Luke Brower (
Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
), a homeless teen, was adopted into the Seaver family. Often mentioned but rarely seen are the Seavers's next door neighbors, the Koosmans, a reference to the 1969 Miracle Mets (and players Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman).


Cast and characters


Main

* Alan Thicke as Dr. Jason Roland Seaver. Dr. Seaver is a graduate of
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
and holds a Doctorate in Psychology. He initially practiced at
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
General Hospital before working from home and volunteering at his local community's free clinic. * Joanna Kerns as Margaret Katherine "Maggie" (née Malone) Seaver. Maggie is also a graduate of
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
where she met her future husband and majored in Child Psychology before switching to
Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...
. Prior to her marriage, she worked as a researcher for ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' magazine. She is a reporter for the ''Long Island Daily Herald'' (as Maggie Malone) and for the television news program ''Action News'' on Channel 19. She is also a columnist for the ''Long Island Sentinel''. *
Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor, author, Evangelism, evangelist, television host, documentarian and producer. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC si ...
as Michael Aaron "Mike" Seaver. Mike, the oldest child, attended Wendell Wilkie Elementary School before moving to Dewey High School. He accumulates multiple menial jobs.
Waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...
at The World of Burgers, Salesman at The Stereo Village, Car wash attendant, night man at the Stop and Shop
convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
, singing waiter at Sullivan's Tavern. Of average ability, he aspires nonetheless to become an actor. He enrolls at Alf Landon Junior College and, later, at Boyton State College. At Alf Landon, Mike was a member of the Drama Club where he meets his girlfriend Kate McDonald in the play "The Passion". He eventually becomes a teacher of remedial studies at a Community Health Centre. * Tracey Gold as Caroline Anne "Carol" Seaver. Carol is the second born child. She attended Dewey High School where she was the 1988 Homecoming Queen and President of the Future Nuclear Physicists Club. She later attends
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
(to the disappointment of her parents who would have preferred her to enroll at their alma-mater) but drops out to work as a computer page breaker at GSM Publishing. She returns to Columbia to study law and works with her father at the free clinic. * Jeremy Miller as Benjamin Hubert Horatio Humphrey "Ben" Seaver. Ben attends the same elementary and high school as his siblings. Heavily influenced by his older brother, Ben holds a number of menial jobs including newspaper delivery boy and attempts to make money by managing a rap group.


Later additions

* A fourth child, Christine Ellen "Chrissy" Seaver (twins Kelsey and Kirsten Dohring; Ashley Johnson), is born at the beginning of season 4, a day after Ben's 12th birthday. She was played in her newborn/infant stage by 2 uncredited sets of twin sisters, who remained in the role until season 4 (1988–1989) ended. By season 5 (1989–1990), she was played in her toddler stage by alternating twins Kirsten and Kelsey Dohring. In seasons 6 and 7 (1990–1992), Chrissy's age was advanced to 5 years old and she was played by Ashley Johnson. * A new cast member was added for the seventh and final season (1991–1992) when homeless teen Luke Brower (
Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
) is brought into the Seaver family to live with them until the end of season 7.


Recurring

* Andrew Koenig as Richard Milhous "Boner" Stabone (seasons 1–4), Mike's friend; left to join the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
. *
Chelsea Noble Chelsea Cameron (née Noble; born Nancy Mueller; December 4, 1964) is an American actress known for her role as Kate McDonnell on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1989–1992). Noble is married to her ...
as Kate MacDonald (seasons 5–7), Mike's girlfriend. They both meet at Alf Landon Junior College. She later becomes a model and appears in the 1992 swimsuit edition of The Sporting Man magazine. * Jamie Abbott as Stinky Sullivan (seasons 2–6), Ben's friend. * K. C. Martel as Eddie Ziff (seasons 1–7), Mike's friend. * Sam Anderson as Principal Willis DeWitt (seasons 1–7), Mike's history teacher in season one and principal from season 2 onward. * Betty McGuire as Kate Malone (seasons 1–7); Maggie's mother. * Lisa Capps as Debbie (seasons 2–4), Carol's friend. * Rachel Jacobs as Shelley (seasons 2–4), Carol's friend. * Gordon Jump as Ed Malone (seasons 1–7), Maggie's father. * Julie McCullough as Julie Costello (seasons 4–5), Mike's former girlfriend who was originally hired by Jason to be Chrissy's nanny. Julie is a sophomore at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
majoring in Child Psychology. When she and Mike break up, she quits school and becomes a waitress at Le Village Restaurant. * Bill Kirchenbauer as Coach Graham Lubbock (seasons 2–3; starred in spin off '' Just the Ten of Us''), a gym teacher. * Jane Powell as Irma Seaver (seasons 4–6), Jason's mother. * Jodi Peterson as Laura Lynn (seasons 4–6), Ben's girlfriend/love interest. * Kevin Wixted as Bobby Wynette (seasons 2–3), Carol's former boyfriend. * Christopher Burgard as Dwight Halliburton (season 7), Carol's love interest. * Evan Arnold as Richie Flanscopper (seasons 1–3), Carol's school classmate who has a crush on her. * Fred Applegate as Mr. Fred Tedesco (season 7), the principal of the learning annex where Mike teaches. *
Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 – October 28, 2023) was an American and Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He gained international fame for starring as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994– ...
as Sandy (season 4), Carol's love interest of 3 episodes. He died several hours after a DUI accident following 'a few beers'.


Episodes


Production


Casting

Soon after the cancelation of ''The Four Seasons'', Joanna Kerns auditioned for a new series in late 1984, called ''Growing Pains'', which was being developed by screenwriter Neal Marlens, alongside executive producer Mike Sullivan. She auditioned with Alan Thicke, who was coming off the failure of his syndicated late-night talk show '' Thicke of the Night''. Kerns joked in many interviews that she and Alan had immediate chemistry, especially when she kissed him on his nose by accident during their audition together. Kerns and Thicke's chemistry won them both the parts of lead characters Maggie and Jason Seaver, and the two became great friends off the show; both of them had many things in common, including being newly divorced single parents. Tracey Gold auditioned for the role of Carol Seaver, but was passed over in favor of Elizabeth Ward, who had starred alongside Gold in the 1983 ''
ABC Afterschool Special ''ABC Afterschool Special'' is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controve ...
'' ''The Hand-Me-Down Kid''. However, test audiences did not find Ward to be suited for the role of Carol, and Gold promptly replaced her; scenes featuring Ward in the original pilot were subsequently reshot with Gold for the broadcast version. Marlens and most of the original writing and producing staff (including wife Carol Black, who had quickly ascended from story editor to co-executive producer during the first half of the season) were let go from the series midway through its first season; replacing Marlens and joining Sullivan as showrunners were Steve Marshall and Dan Guntzelman (who met and formed their writing partnership while working on ''
WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences obs ...
''). In 1991,
Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
joined the main cast in the role of Luke Brower, a homeless teenager who is taken in by the Seaver family at the behest of Mike (who, by then, was a substitute teacher at the high school where Luke had masqueraded as a student). Co-star Joanna Kerns recalled DiCaprio being "especially intelligent and disarming for his age," but also mischievous on set. Then-15-year-old DiCaprio was cast in a bid to appeal to teenage female viewers (similar to how Cameron gained heartthrob status with that demographic during the show's earlier seasons), but was written out towards the end of Season 7, in order to allow DiCaprio to begin work on the 1993 biographical drama film '' This Boy's Life''. Still, the addition of DiCaprio—who would earn a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series for his work as Luke—did not improve the show's ratings.


Opening and closing credits

The opening credits varied from traditional sitcoms by having sight gags involving specifically shot scenes with the cast on locations. This was similar to the ottoman gag on The Dick Van Dyke Show however there were far more variations. The opening theme song, "As Long As We've Got Each Other", was written by Steve Dorff with lyrics by John Bettis. The end theme was an jazzy instrumental version of the song. In the first season, the song was performed by B.J. Thomas, with Jennifer Warnes added for season 2. In seasons 4, Thomas and singer
Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
performed the theme song. In season 5, the theme returned to a slightly altered Thomas/Warnes performance. Season 6 introduced an
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
version of the tune, before again returning to the Thomas/Warnes version. The last few episodes of season seven brought back the a cappella version of the song. In addition to the changes in the theme song, the imagery depicted on screen varied. In season 1, vintage photos of families played, with a sepia toned photo (that morphed into color) of the cast at the end. Season 2 initiated the familiar show title over a live-action shot of the cast standing in front of the set of the house, before mixed imagery of clips from the show and photos of the cast when they were younger. At the end of the intro, the cast left their standing position to walk towards the house and a rotating member of the cast would lag behind. For the third season opening two-part Hawaiian episodes, the family was depicted standing in front of the Maui Prince Hotel, with the clips interspersed with the vintage cast photos from the episode itself. The closing credits music (over scenes from the episode) was an instrumental version of the song "Swept Away", written for the episode by Dorff, Bettis and Christopher Cross (who also performed the full version of the song in the episode

The remainder of season 3 was similar to season 2, with updated show clips and old photos of the cast. With the introduction of the pregnancy storyline, the first episode of season 4 depicted a pregnant Joanna Kerns with the rest of the cast standing before the house set. For the second episode of the season, as the family begins to move towards the house, the theme music fades and Kern's character announces that she is giving birth, with the family ushering her back to the house while the theme music finishes. The remainder of season 4 again had the family standing in front of the house set, now with the youngest member (infant Chrissy) depicted. The remainder were again vintage photos of the cast.


Cast issues


Cameron's religion

Kirk Cameron, who was an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
in his early teens, became a born again Protestant Christian when he was 17, during the height of his career on the show. After converting to Christianity, he began to insist that the show's plotlines be altered to remove anything he thought was too inappropriate, objecting to even mild innuendo in show scripts (one such example involved a segment from the teaser scene of the Season 6 episode "Midnight Cowboy", which cut to his character, Mike, and a girl talking in bed, only to reveal they were rehearsing a scene for a stage play; Cameron, however, did the scene as written). Julie McCullough was cast as Julie Costello, a recurring character hired by Jason to work as a nanny for newborn Chrissy Seaver, during the fourth season in 1989, appearing in eight episodes until she was fired at the start of the fifth season. Though the show's producers have claimed that her character was never intended to be permanent—citing the idea of Mike being in a committed relationship went against his characterization as an "immature imp ..ill-equipped to deal with a grownup world on all levels"—and Cameron stated in his 2008 memoir ''Still Growing'' that he did not call for her firing, it is alleged McCullough's termination from the show was a result of Cameron's objections to her having posed nude in ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'', prompting Cameron to claim to the producers (and, allegedly, in a phone call with then-ABC Entertainment President
Bob Iger Robert Alan Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American media executive who is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and p ...
) they were promoting pornography by hiring McCullough. Cameron reportedly did not reconcile with McCullough, who claims that Cameron refused to speak to her during a later encounter. She remains critical of him, stating that the public criticism she endured during the controversy damaged her career. Cameron's conversion (specifically his subsequent behavior after becoming a Protestant) is said to have alienated him from his fellow cast members, as he did not invite any of them to his 1991 wedding to
Chelsea Noble Chelsea Cameron (née Noble; born Nancy Mueller; December 4, 1964) is an American actress known for her role as Kate McDonnell on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1989–1992). Noble is married to her ...
(who recurred as Mike's on-off love interest-turned-girlfriend, Kate McDonnell, during the show's last three seasons). The creative clashes between Cameron and executive producers Marshall, Guntzelman and Sullivan also are said to have prompted the three showrunners (along with co-executive producer/writer David Kendall and director John Tracy) to quit the series following the sixth season. ( Dan Wilcox replaced Marshall, Sullivan and Guntzelman for what would be the show's final season.) Cameron did not maintain contact with his former co-stars and did not speak to Gold for eight years after the series ended. Cameron has stated that this was not due to any animosity on his part toward any of his former cast members, but an outgrowth of his desire to start a new life away from the entertainment industry. In 2000, Cameron revealed he apologized to his television family for some of his prior behavior, saying, "If I could go back, I think I could make decisions that were less inadvertently hurtful to the cast--like talking and explaining to them why I just wanted to have my family at my wedding."


Gold's health issues

In 1988 at age 19, Gold gained some weight over the production hiatus between the show's third and fourth seasons. For Season 4, scripts called for Carol to be the brunt of fat jokes from her brothers, Mike and Ben, for many episodes in a row. By October of that year, Gold lost a total of 23 lbs. (dropping from a weight of 133 lbs to about 110 lbs) after going on a medically supervised diet, though scripts continued to include occasionally fat jokes made at Carol's expense. In her 2003 memoir ''Room to Grow: an Appetite for Life'', Gold revealed that she became increasingly obsessed with food and her physical appearance between 1989 and 1991, and continued to slowly and steadily lose weight. In 1990, Gold began group therapy in an eating disorder program but only learned more ways to lose weight. Gold's body image issues were touched upon slightly in the Season 6 episode "Carol's Carnival", which features a scene in which Carol looks at herself in a carnival mirror and describes to another character the distorted image in her head. By 1991, her disorder had devolved into
bulimia nervosa Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-indu ...
, having lost a massive amount of weight through both self-starvation and vomiting, causing her to be admitted to a hospital for treatment in early 1992. Gold—who was estimated to have been near 80 lbs. at her lowest weight—was suspended from the show following production of the Season 7 episode "Menage a Luke", due to her skeletal appearance that was fairly obvious in some scenes. Gold's absence is addressed several episodes later in "Don't Go Changin, which features a subplot in which Ben films a video letter for Carol, who in-canon is studying abroad in London. Photos of Gold's emaciated body were plastered all over tabloid magazines, and she was one of the first celebrities ever to be formally outed for anorexia. She returned for the show's final episodes ("The Wrath of Con-Ed", and the two-part finale "The Last Picture Show") in the late spring of 1992. Gold eventually recovered from her years-long struggle and starred in the 1994 made-for-TV movie '' For the Love of Nancy'', drawing on her own experiences with
anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...
to portray the title character.


Stalking

At about age 14, starting during the show's sixth season, Jeremy Miller received numerous letters from an older male stalker, who was later arrested and convicted on stalking charges.


Finale

ABC had moved ''Growing Pains'' from its longtime Wednesday slot to Saturday nights at the start of the 1991–92 season (joined by fellow ABC comedy veterans '' Who's the Boss?'' and, by midseason, '' Perfect Strangers'', all of which became the centerpieces of the short-lived '' TGIF'' spinoff block ''I Love Saturday Night''), which saw the show—which had seen a steady erosion in viewers over the past few seasons, while still remaining in the Nielsen Top 30 through Season 6—experience a dramatic decline in viewership from #27 to #75, resulting in ABC and the show's producers agreeing to end the series at the conclusion of its seventh season. The hour-long series finale ("The Last Picture Show", which incorporated clips from the show's seven-year run) aired on April 25, 1992, a night that also saw fellow veteran ABC series ''Who's the Boss?'' (also as a special one-hour episode) and ''
MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
'' end their runs.


Spin-off and connections


''Just the Ten of Us''

''Growing Pains'' spawned the spin-off series, '' Just the Ten of Us'', which featured 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.


''Hanging with Mr. Cooper''

Alan Thicke later made a cameo appearance as himself in the pilot episode of fellow ABC sitcom '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' in September 1992. The pre-credits teaser scene in which Thicke appeared alongside series star Mark Curry humorously referenced the pilot episode being filmed on the same set that had previously been used as the Seavers' home on ''Growing Pains''.


Reunion movies

In 2000, the cast reunited for ''
The Growing Pains Movie ''The Growing Pains Movie'' is a 2000 American comedy film, comedy television film directed by Alan Metter and written by David Kendall (director), David Kendall and Michael Sullivan (filmmaker), Michael Sullivan. It is the first of two reunion f ...
'', followed by '' Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers'' in 2004. Before the premiere of ''The Growing Pains Movie'', Kirk Cameron described his regrets over how his relationship with his cast mates changed after his religious conversion during the production of the series, admitting, "I definitely kind of made an about-face, going toward another aspect of my life," and "I shifted my focus from 100% on the show, to 100% on y new life and left 0% on the show—and even the friendships that were a part of that show."


Awards and nominations


Home media

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...
released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1. Seasons 3-7 were released via the Warner Archive Collection as manufactured-on-demand titles, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. On February 28, 2023, Warner Bros. released ''Growing Pains: The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1.


Syndication


United States

ABC aired reruns of the show on its
daytime Daytime or day as observed on Earth is the period of the day during which a given location experiences Daylight, natural illumination from direct sunlight. Daytime occurs when the Sun appears above the local horizon, that is, anywhere on the ...
schedule from July 1988 to August 1989. The show originally aired at 11:00 AM (ET) until January 1989, when '' Ryan's Hope'' was canceled and ''
Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
'' was expanded to an hour from 11:00 AM–noon. The reruns moved to noon. In the fall of 1989, the show was sold to local syndication, which continued until 1997. The show also aired on TBS for several years premiering in October 1993 at 6:35 PM. The show continued to air on TBS until September 1996. Reruns aired on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
from September 1997 to September 2001. The cable rights for the show moved to sister network
ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
, where it ran from 2001 to 2004. It has also aired on
ION Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
during the fall of 2006 into the spring of 2007.
Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...
began airing ''Growing Pains'' on February 12, 2007, launching with a marathon from 9:00 PM–1:00 AM. It was pulled from the line-up shortly after, and reruns later moved to sister network Noggin (as part of its teen block, The N). TeenNick re-aired the series on Monday, September 13, 2010, in a 5:00 AM hour block, and aired its final showings on December 27, 2010. ''Growing Pains'' aired on
Up TV UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and specia ...
from January 2015 to July 2017. Antenna TV began airing the series in December 2017 until it was moved to sister station Rewind TV when it launched on September 1, 2021. It was also available on The Roku Channel from November 2019 to 2021.


Asia

;Mainland China * The show was dubbed by Shanghai Television in the late 1980s ''Chéngzhǎng de Fánnǎo'' (成长的烦恼; literally "Growing vexation") ;Taiwan * The show was dubbed by Chinese Television System in the 1980s–1990s ''Huānlè Jiātíng'' (歡樂家庭; Happy Family) ;Japan * ''Growing Pains'' was dubbed in Japanese, and broadcast by the
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
of Japan in the title of "''Yukai na Shiba Ke'' (愉快なシーバー家)" (Happy Seaver family) from 1997 to 2000 ;Indonesia * ''Growing Pains'' was broadcast by RCTI from September 1989 to August 1991 and re-run by SCTV from 1991 to around 1994. ; Philippines * ''Growing Pains'' was aired by PTV-4 with Simulcast on GMA-7 in 1986–1991; it moved to
ABC-5 TV5 is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine free-to-air Television network, television and Radio network, radio network headquartered in Mandaluyong, with additional studios in Novaliches, Quezon City. TV5 serves as the flagship netwo ...
in 1993–2000 with English Dubbed in 1993–1994 & Tagalized in 1994–2000


Europe

;France The show aired with the title '' Quoi de neuf docteur?'' (What's New Doctor?) on Antenne 2 from 1987 then as part of a block called ''
Giga Giga- ( or ) is a metric prefix, unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of a Long and short scales, short-scale billion or long-scale milliard (109 or 1,000,000,000). It has the symbol G. ''Giga-'' is derived from the Ancient Greek, ...
'' from February 19, 1990, on the same network. Two books were published in French exclusively about ''Growing Pains'': Cyrille Rollet, Ph.D. (EHESS, Paris), * ''Physiologie d'un sitcom américain (voyage au cœur de Growing Pains)'', (volume 1) – ''Physiology of an American Sitcom (Journey to the Heart of Growing Pains)'' * ''Circulation culturelle d'un sitcom américain (volume 2) – The Cultural Circulation of an American Sitcom'' ;Germany The show aired with the title '' Unser lautes Heim'' (Our noisy home) on
ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...
from 1993. ;Italy The show aired in 1987 with the title '' Genitori in blue jeans'' (Parents in blue jeans) where the first two seasons original aired on Canale 5 then it moved to
Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...
for the later four seasons. This was also the name of an Italian comedy film from the 60s. ;Netherlands The show aired in 1986 with Dutch broadcast organization AVRO as ''Growing Pains'' in English with
subtitles Subtitles are texts representing the contents of the audio in a film, television show, opera or other audiovisual media. Subtitles might provide a transcription or translation of spoken dialogue. Although naming conventions can vary, caption ...
in Dutch. ;Spain In Spain the series aired with the title '' Los problemas crecen'' (Growing problems) and was dubbed to Spanish. Originally aired in La 1 from the end of the 80s to the beginning of the 90s, and subsequently in La 2, Antena 3 y Factoría de Ficción.


Australasia

;Australia * Digital free-to-air channel 7TWO began airing reruns of ''Growing Pains'' in October 2010, and reached the final episode in June 2011, replacing it with '' Night Court''. The
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
first aired the show back in the 1980s and 1990s. ;New Zealand * The show aired on
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
's TV2 on Saturday afternoons in the late 1980s-early 1990s.


Turkey

The show aired at the beginning of the 1990s on Turkey's first private TV channel, Star TV.


Latin America

The show was previously aired on
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
's block,
Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite since 2009) is an American nighttime programming block on Nickelodeon. List of programs broadcast by Nick at Nite, The block's programming broadcasts from prime time to Late-night television, late night, with ...
from 2006 to 2009.


Notes


References


Bibliography

*


External links

*
''Growing Pains'' French website

Growing Pains
() at UP TV Network {{Growing Pains 1985 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings 1980s American multi-camera sitcoms 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms American English-language television shows Coming-of-age television shows Metafictional television series Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set on Long Island Television series about families Television series about journalism Television shows adapted into films Television series created by Neal Marlens Television series about siblings American Broadcasting Company sitcoms