I'm 29 and for me the longest run in syndication i can remember is when the disney channel aired it. i miss this show and wondered why the nick at nite thing didn't work and why it hasn't really come back. I kind of wish the hub would pick it up since they got step by step and blossom.
shareBecause no one can stand Kirk Cameron, the creepy bible-thumper.
shareAnd that's just about it too.
shareI don't thin it has anything to do with Kirk and religion. Family Ties hasn't done much better in syndication over the years, and Michael J Fox has always been popular. Full House never left syndication in over 20 years. Candice is a religious nut too.
The key difference between Kirk and Candace is that Kirk was the breakout star of Growing Pains and pretty much the main draw/main reason why people (especially young girls at the time) watched the show. Kirk (at before he became "saved") was this charming, witty, mischievous "bad boy". D.J. Tanner on the other hand when you got right down to it, arguably had little if any personality other than being Bob Saget's eldest daughter.
shareI don't think Candace is as bad as Kirk. I think the real reason he does not act anymore is that no one wants to work with him. Candace still acts. She does movies for Hallmark and UP. And she is a host on the view now plus the netflex revival of Full House. So, she must not force her views on others like her brother does. Therefore unlike Kirk, she may not be impossible to work with.
sharehttps://www.thelist.com/148854/the-real-reason-fuller-house-is-being-cancelled/
The cast of Fuller House are no strangers to controversy. From Bob Saget's notoriously dirty sense of humor, to Jodie Sweetin's drug-fueled past, to Lori Loughlin's 2019 bribery indictment, they've all had their fair share of bad press. But vulgarity and addiction can be easily forgiven and forgotten in Hollywood. Controversial religious stances are a little harder.share
Candace Cameron Bure has always been pretty open about her faith. In 2018, the actress appeared on The Wendy Williams Show and said she's faced discrimination for her Christian views in the past, but that nowadays she's actually known for them. According to People, Bure has gone head to head publicly with several people over what she deems "freedom of association" and "constitutional rights," most notably in 2015 during an on-air clash with The View co-host Raven-Symoné regarding a same-sex wedding cake.
Bure's polarizing opinions have led her to become more well-known for her political and religious beliefs than for her acting, which is the kind of notoriety a company as mainstream as Netflix might have been better off avoiding.
Yeah you're not judgmental at all... Funny how most people call Christians close minded, yet you do the exact same thing. Lol
shareKirk Cameron became so forceful with his new-found beliefs that Growing Pains had to end. He refused to do anything that wasn’t in line with what he thought about things. When his on-screen girlfriend was supposed to offer him a key to her apartment, he accused the president of ABC of pedophilia. He demanded his established character be re-written as a very traditional Christian character. No more dating. No more girls! It got so bad that when he and that one-screen girlfriend married in real life, not a single member of the cast, crew, or anyone from TV, was there. It’s unknown if he just didn’t invite anyone, or if they were invited and no one could stomach showing up. Neither are favorable to him.share
Kirk spends his time now pushing for prayer in public schools, and for the bible to be the basis of all laws that are enforced on all of us. He’s not leaving his personal beliefs as personal. He’s trying to force us all to abide by them.
Jesus is to be Lord over all areas of our life. He is Lord of all heaven and earth.
I belong to Jesus: my Lord, Savior, my eternity, my everything. I love you, Jesus!
Okay I know this was posted several years ago but no way I can't let this stand- First of all there is a video on youtube called connect the pedo dots - it is pretty clear Growing Pains was infiltrated with pedos, but as to person he accused of being a pedo well guess what he ended up going to jail for child porn- yeah that is right and he accused him of being a child pornagrapher which it turned out he was. That show was infested with predators and Kirk was trying to protect the other kids on the show and yeah he used his new found star status to do it- Gee what an Ahole!
You may not agree with the stands he took but to demonize him for them is bs bc if you had been in the positition he was I would hope you would try to use your power to protect not only yourself but others too.
He's sharing God's truth in love. Nothing wrong with that.
I belong to Jesus: my Lord, Savior, my eternity, my everything. I love you, Jesus!
You don't think there's something wrong with getting employees fired because you personally disagree with with their personal choices? You don't think it's wrong to use your position and power to bully people?
Our first assignment is a documentary, they're like real movies but with ugly people.
When their personal beliefs were abusing children YES he was right to get them fired.
shareBecause it's one of those shows that doesn't age well. It's a total cliche sitcom of its time, very interchangeable with others of that period, so there's probably not much 'demand' for it by the general public. It feels good to reminisce about that period of your childhood when you watched shows like Growing Pains and the like, but that doesn't mean you need to see them again.
Another reason is that the show is now nearly 30 years old. Syndicated reruns of 80s shows started dying out last decade. Now the public is into reruns of late 90s and early 00s shows.
THE TALK ASYLUM -
Coming in November!
I think that a one problem w/ Growing Pains besides the stuff that you mentioned, is that there really wasn't a whole lot to make it stand-out on its own. My point is that GP wasn't exactly a revolutionary, cutting edge or groundbreaking show, it was just on at the "right place at the right time". GP isn't even a "guilty pleasure" type of show like Full House, which featured Kirk Cameron's little sister.
In all seriousness, other than the theme song, the controversy surrounding Kirk Cameron's on-set behavior (and to a lesser extent, Tracey Gold's eating disorder), and the fact that Robin Thicke's dad was on it, is there anything else about Growing Pains to take from (i.e. what exactly was Growing Pains about besides it being another '80s era family sitcom like Family Ties and The Cosby Show)? I don't even though that Leonardo DiCaprio's time on it comes close (not even as "old shame") since that came well after the show went into decline.
I also think that Growing Pains hasn't aged well simply because of evolving societal mores. When the show started in 1985, the premise could actually be considered quite relevant or ahead of the curb for the time. On GP, the mom went back to work while the dad stayed at home and in Jason Seaver's case, operated his business from the house. It was not so different than what Who's the Boss did (albeit, GP didn't have the "Will they, won't they?" dynamic like WTB) in regards to challenging traditional gender roles. Nowadays, is it really such a big deal that the dad stays at home while the mom goes to work?
sharesome shows come and go in waves. Especially nowadays, stations have competitive space for almost literally every time slot. Plus the older the show is, generally less immediate syndication value.
Also, in the particular case of Growing Pains, its main star became an evangelical minister prone to wildly out-there declarations, so that has some effect on the syndication value as well.
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Stan Lee, 1962
I used to watch the show all the time when I was a kid. Every once in a while I'll still find myself watching some episodes. Now that I have read a lot about what happened behind the scenes with Kirk, it's always interesting watching the early seasons and later seasons and seeing how different they are and wondering what episodes Kirk had changed versus what he didn't such as having Julie McCullough fired, and not wanting to do that scene in bed for that play in "Midnight Cowboy," etc
shareI never found anything worthwhile about the show. Cameron aside, all of them seemed hell-bent on witty one-liners to each other.
shareIn watching some of the reruns in the last few days, this show was simply not funny. How it stayed on the air as long as it did is more an indication of the sad state of television sitcoms in the late 1980s and early 1990s than anything else.
Golden Girls and Roseanne have both been mentioned on this thread and they were much, much funnier shows with the humour still standing up after all of these years. That is why those shows have been much more successful in syndication and DVD sales than Growing Pains.
I was looking over Falcon's Crest on here and noticed it seemed to remain on the air for the entire eight years Reagan was in office, as well as it seemed necessary for Jane Wyman to appear in each episode (she didn't, but Lamas did).
It was as tho the show had to be some sort of response to Reagan being in office (remembering Hollywood didn't like Reagan or Republicans).
There is definitely some odd politics of sorts going on with some shows. In the case of Growing Pains, as they had a fourth child and it aged quickly the same way Andy did on Family Ties, Growing Pains was probably propped up and kept around to make it as long-running as Family Ties and Cosby.
Malcolm Jamal-Warner had to object to something, I'm not sure what now, when Kirk Cameron was declared a teen idol over him, again, don't recall the details, but Cosby was around before Growing Pains, and I've never been a teen-aged girl one way or the other.
I'm surprised there weren't overwhelming attempts to get Cameron in movies as Michael J. Fox was doing back then.
Even the same way the duo sang the theme to Family Ties, so then did BJ Thomas do Growing Pains (and I have never listened to that song).
This has happened before. One I've often thought about was when Miami Vice was popular, ABC put on not one but TWO shows just like it; there was Hollywood Beat with Jay Acavone and Jack Scalia (two WHITE guys), then the Insiders with Stoney Jackson and Nicholas Campbell.
Then there was also Hawaiian Heat (1984) with two white guys.
None of these shows lasted over a year, by the way. I guess the dramas are more difficult to prop up than sitcoms.
I've even wondered about shows like Coach and Fred Dryer's Hunter. I hated both of them and never watched them, but they stayed on.
Dryer asked for a raise and suddenly Hunter was off the air. I was like, wow, that's all it took?
Murphy Brown and Designing Women seemed to be some political viewpoint as well.
Rounding it back up, I've always deduced Growing Pains was ABC's way to have their own Family Ties and Cosby Show.
I think that people find a lot of 80s family sitcoms to be very cheesy at best. Also, a lot of networks that air these reruns, have edited them so badly and cut out a lot of content in order to air so many damn commercials, that the shows are now unwatchable and make no sense.
I remember watching the episode of Growing Pains the other night, where Dana Plato guest stars as a girlfriend of Mike's who dresses like Madonna and tries to sleep with him. A great deal of scenes were cut out entirely.
With Full House still doing good in syndication, I'm surprised Growing Pains isn't. It's actually less corny, imo.
shareHere's the thing, while Full House was cheesy and corny too, it benefited from being "camp-cheese" (if that makes sense) much like for example, Saved by the Bell. As I said before, Full House at least could be enjoyed for the guilty pleasure factor. The Nostalgia Critic perhaps said it best when he said that Full House was "cocaine for the eyes". It was sort of like for people who grew up in the late '80s early '90s, their generation's Brady Bunch.
Here's another way to look at it:
https://therealfullhousereviewed.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/full-house-r eviewed/
So why was this show such a success? Honestly I think it just hit the right note at the right time. It was just harmless enough, friendly enough, easily digestible enough. It’s like junk food. You always know exactly what you’re going to get when you watch it and it presents no challenge or need to think whatsoever. You know it’s bad for you but you still engage. It’s an indulgence. One thing I didn’t realize going into this project that became clear as I paid attention to the site’s demographics is that an awful lot of young girls watched the show. That actually explains a lot, because a series about 3 little girls who have 3 doting, non-threatening father figures tending to their every whim and need is a pretty obvious little girl fantasy. Ultimately, I think that Full House is a product of a unique time, when a combination of low-quality elements somehow came together to create a hit series that couldn’t have endured during any other period.
Growing Pains was a family sitcom, but it wasn't as bland as it could've been. Actually kind of clever at times.
I loved Full House as kid. A few years after the fact, I realized just how unbelievably cheesy it was, though. For years, I couldn't stand to watch it.
It's still the corniest thing ever, but I've developed a soft spot for the past couple years or so.
I don't disagree with you, but GEESH. For me, "Growing Pains" was/is my guilty pleasure. I'm going through Seasons 2-4 (when it was at the height of its popularity, according to Nielsen Ratings) and I actually find a lot of stuff pretty funny. I do admit that I like cheesy family sitcoms and kind of miss them. Notice that most of our comedy shows now are so...raw? Snarky? The characters are just as over-the-top and tropey, but they actually seem to think that they're "smarter" and "edgier," and I just don't find that charming.
But gah, "Full House"'s popularity is a maddening mystery to me. Even when I was in KINDERGARTEN, I found the show too sappy and saccharine. I remember sitting through it just to get to "Family Matters" or "Boy Meets World" or whatever (I am remembering that correctly, right? It was part of the TGIF lineup?). The only reason I can think of for "Full House"'s popularity is because it's cutesy. At least "Growing Pains" only had the one annoying kid (or at least, one annoying kid at one time). "Full House" had like 3 of them. DJ was the only tolerable character, but gah that Kimmy person! I was six old and wanted to reach into the TV and thwack her away like an annoying gnat. They're all so annoying! I mean, apparently "Barney" has stayed alive all these years. Go figure.
I think that people just don't find the old-fashioned family sitcom that funny anymore. Or, as an extension, most '80s shows. It's not a "family" sitcom, per see (it doesn't revolve around a nuclear family), but "Perfect Strangers" was/is one of the funniest shows I ever saw, and I don't think I have EVER seen it in syndication. Apparently, "Growing Pains" offered somewhat of a new twist in that the wife was the one to go back to work while the dad stayed home, or whatever. But it was still basically a typical family sitcom, offering audiences a zanier premise than "Family Ties," which sometimes took itself a bit seriously.
There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly west
I mean are we really going to pretend that is what was going on? Let's cut the bs- it was all about access to kids and Kirk Cameron took a stand and shut that down on his show period and that is what happened and that is why they did not do reruns bc the pedos in Hollywood didn't want Kirk to get paid.
wake the heck up people. GP was always a better show than FH which was lame on it's best day.
I always thought that Hunter was canceled in part because of the beating of Rodney King. Basically, NBC was worried about having a show in which the lead character hero is a Dirty Harry-esque, "cowboy" cop. Plus the show suffered from the departure of Stepfanie Kramer a year prior.
shareit's a boring show. Dicaprio (who came along) did not become a movie star until later--after he left the series. Cameron was not successfully able to break out into movies WHILE on the show.
Compare that to 'family ties' where Fox was staring in blockbusters WHILE on the series. He was ALSO doing product placements. All are still remembered today.
Cameron might have led the more 'upright' life, but Fox was indisputably rolling in more wealth--which I am sure still had to sting deep down somewhere.
Yep it was boring even at the time. The cast lacked the appeal of it's rival Family Ties where the whole cast were just as interesting. On GP it was all about Kirk's character. Although the mother on GP was more attractive. And they had Julie McCullogh until Kirk stuffed that up with his zealousy.
sharehttp://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/publish/Peter_Dawson/When_Good_Shows _Go_Bad_Growing_Pains.shtml
Wanna know a good way to make a sitcom go from wholesome to mean-spirited? Fat jokes. Well, let me clarify, because I do believe even fat jokes have their place (though ideally less mean-spirited ones than we were getting come the later seasons). Fat jokes aimed at a woman (in this case Carol Seaver) who was really not overweight to begin with and visibly slimmed down as the show went on were really inappropriate. I tend to really hate mean-spirited humour in regards to weight, especially with women as there is a lot of pressure on them to remain thin in the circle of celebrity (I'm reminded of a joke about a TMZ headline: “IS SHE PREGNANT OR DID SHE EAT BREAKFAST?!”). Less you think I'm overreacting, Carol Seaver's actress Tracey Gold suffering from a serious eating disorder over the course of the show, one that nearly proved fatal.
Tragedy in regards to Growing Pains isn't limited to Carol and Tracey Gold. Mike had a best friend nicknamed Boner (not why you'd think he was called that, but that was his nickname). Boner was played by Josh Andrew Koenig (son of Star Trek's Walter Koenig). In 2010 Koenig hung himself from a tree. Now this obviously doesn't affect how the show was during its run but the tragedy certain can haunt rewatching the show now, especially combined with Tracey Gold's situation and Steve Marshall (the executive producer) getting caught with child porn in 2010. Some shows really can be ruined by real life despite cognitive dissonance... Speaking of that!
http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=24295049&postcount= 2
http://forums.previously.tv/topic/5426-old-shows-that-dont-stand-up-to -the-test-of-time/page-4#entry686433
Steve Marshall (the executive producer) getting caught with child porn in 2010
Thank you!
shareIf you're still interested in watching the show, it airs on the UP channel. It's available on DirecTV Ch. 338. It airs from 5 PM to 7 PM Eastern. You can check to see if the channel is available in your area here: http://up.viewerlink.tv/
shareI unfortunately can't watch it on UpTV (on Cox), but how chopped up are the episodes? I remember when it was on ABC Family they chopped it up a lot. Lines here and there were cut, and even full scenes in some episodes (especially the first few seasons, the final scenes right before the credits were cut out), and there were commercial breaks in the most random spots.
shareToday was the first time I watched it on UpTV and only saw two episodes: "Mom of the Year" and "Feet of Clay" (with Brad Pitt) with both episodes from Season 4. Honestly, I can't give you an answer regarding how much has been cut since it's been so long I have seen these but to give you idea, I recorded "Feet of Clay" without the commercials and it had a runtime of 21 minutes and 27 seconds.
Also, I get the Encore channels and one of the channels is dedicated to classics and they have some series of the '80s but don't have Growing Pains, although they do have Night Court. I checked some of the on-demand videos for comparison in length and some ran a little over 22 to nearly 24 minutes. There's also Murphy Brown, Diff'rent Strokes, Magnum P.I., What's Happening?, Amen, and 227. There are also shows and movies.
Since you've mentioned that you have Cox, there is a login for Cox subscribers among other providers if you care to try it.
http://www.encoreplay.com/Series#genre=Classic+TV
I don't know how much content has been taken out, but I do know either the word 'hell' or 'damn' has been edited out. I remember watching a scene where Jason said something, don't remember the exact words, but it was silent when either 'hell' or 'damn' was said. It was a few weeks ago, so I don't remember what word was said, it was one or the other.
shareWho says that it doesn't do well in syndication?
shareCause it's not shown. If it was popular it would still be airing on channels in syndication. The only channel that shows this is UP and that's really late at night and in marathons on the weekends. If it was doing well it would show more than that and on a more popular network like Full House and Friends do for instance.
"I'd rather lose for what I am than win for what I ain't"
Kacey Musgraves "Pageant Material"
The Simpsons and Roseanne killed the idea that people are entertained watching "perfect families" with two successful parents both with great careers (journalist and Psychologist!)
Even The Cosby Show seems super preachy after these shows.
Family Matters and Full House aren't as preachy and have therefore done much better in syndication.
Full House is a lot funnier than GP and has a true TV star in John Stamos. John is probably the reason why a lot of females watched and continue to watch.
GP seems like a calculated formula.
1) Have a cute kid
2) have a cute/cheeky teenager
3) have attractive parents
4) have the annoying sister
It filled a void in the 80s but doesn't have much worth for today's savvy viewers.
Full House did not have many "very special episodes", but it was filled with more cringe worthy than usual jokes and cheesy speeches with sappy music blaring.
shareMarried...with Children also had a lot to do w/ "killing" the "perfect family" type of sitcom back in the '80s-early '90s.
shareIn fairness, Family Ties arguably did it first. The only difference is that Growing Pains didn't have the hook of liberal, hippie baby boomers raising a Republican, Reagan-ite son.
shareThe Cosby Show and Growing Pains were about families where the dad was always right, the mom and dad always had wise and pithy advice for their kids (or a funny joke), where the kids recognized the wisdom of their parents and where no one ever really made a meaningful mistake. In essence, The Cosby Show and Growing Pains were the epitome of happy family sitcom to that point.
Roseanne when it first came on in 1988 however, blew it up (as did The Simpsons and you can argue, Married...with Children). The Conners in contrast to the Huxtables or Seavers, were a family that featured people who didn't like each other at times, were ignorant and flawed and made bad decisions. Also as partially a consequence of those decisions, the Conners didn't have a great life - and yet they were also a family.
This is probably why Roseanne seems to hold up better and is funnier than The Cosby Show or Growing Pains because it addressed much harsher realities.
why on earth would the state allow a psychiatrist to operate an office from his house--where presumably his kids could wander into his office where the patients are/the records are? That may be why it hasn't aged well
shareEven today, it's not unheard of for a doctor to run an office from his house. My Eye Doctor has his office in his house today. I even know an engineer who has his office in his home. Even added a little parking lot adjacent to his driveway for his clients.
shareengineer is different though and this is pre computer era---where stuff is still largely paper. The records are in the office itself.
sharePersonally, I would never allow strangers or "clients" into my house. That's weird. Especially people with mental health problems.
shareyeah and the psychiatrist talks about these people to his family too...I am sure this is unprofessional/violates confidentiality laws. The kids go into dad's office when he is not there! The office is not locked up.
Jason Seaver getting sued and losing his professional license to practice would have been a great TV special!! That would have made the show exciting.
That was always weird for me too but I think they just used it as a plot device because at the time it was a big thing to have men taking on traditional female roles so it allowed him to work and be at home. I can't even recall what the mother did, journalist maybe? She wasn't house bound from what I recall.