One of the best things about doing a generalized TV blog is that I get to write about TV that I might not normally get to write about. Today, I get to write about one of my favorite series of childhood… Growing Pains.
Warner Home Video released the second season of the show a few weeks back, which means this set is already available in retail outlets and online stores.
So what did I think of the set, beyond the feeling of nostalgia that I have, remembering watching the show in syndication on afternoons when I was 14?
I like it. It’s more the Growing Pains I remember… the familiar opening title sequence with standing in front of the house is there, the characters are more defined than they were in the first year… and it’s not the Leonardo DiCaprio season, which is all the Disney Channel seemed capable of rerunning for a while there. Ben’s still the youngest at this point, Carol is getting away from the glasses look… it works. But more than that… the pop culture references are very dated, which makes it more fun for someone like me. There’s one episode where they go to a taping of The Cosby Show… a big deal in 1985, and actually surprising for me to see on a show that didn’t even air on Cosby’s home network. There’s one phone line in the Seaver house. Carol asks for a modem (!!) for Christmas… did the writers at the time even know what a modem even was? There are also things I never noticed so much as a kid that I do now… like how often Alan Thicke says “aboot” Canadian-style.
It’s been several years since the first season came out, and hopefully this will sell enough so there’s not a five-year wait for Season 3. This is one show that might be better served with a “complete series” to just get it all out in one sitting. I’d buy it.
Still, it’s a hearty helping of 80’s cheese, and if you grew up watching it, you’ll love the DVD set, even though it has no bonus material to speak of.
