RIP. And yes, I'm reminded of my age...again.

So sudden! Those are the hardest deaths to accept. Like it takes me a few minutes of contemplation that I could be next.

I was born in 1983. I kind-of watched Growing Pains, and remember the Seavers. But not really. Now when 90's-ABC TGIF stars being passing away...

I think I watched every episode of Growing Pains, but what really had made me a modern fan was his appearances on HIMYM. Very funny stuff.

Shitheads live forever it seems.

I was never a huge fan of Growing Pains but I always enjoyed his performance the few times I watched it. He seemed to be the best part of that show.

Growing Pains always came across as a poor man's Family Ties. It just never registered with me the way Family Ties did.

That's exactly what Growing Pains was, a poor man's Family Ties. Growing Pains was very watchable.

Besides the fact he's a religious nut, why all the Kirk Cameron hate?

Doesn't that cover it?

I never understood the "[Beloved Person] is dead and gone but we're still stuck with [Loathed Celebrity]..."-styled lamentations. I'm no Kirk Cameron fan but wishing you could swap his life for another's is kind of morally abominable.

Yep. Thanks Alan for a fun '80s show.

Sucks

Yeah both were good shows but I liked Family Ties more. Still I think I watched every episode of Growing Pains when Disney Channel aired it. I grew to like it a bit less when I found out what a douche Kirk Cameron is.

Tonight's episode of The Goldbergs began with an "In Memorium" to Thicke, and then I noticed that the epsisode was directed by Joanna Kerns, Thicke's on-screen wife in Growing Pains.

I find Cameron, in many of the stances he has taken publicly, to be morally abominable. Regardless, my comment was a joke; I don't actually have the power to swap one life for another. Apologies if you found it to be in poor taste.

I don't Growing Pains was ever part of the TGIF lineup. If I recall correctly it was on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. It was more of an 80's style show even though the last few seasons were in the 90's

It wasn't ever part of TGIF, but "Just the Ten of Us" which was a spinoff of GP, was.

I believe it was on Wednesdays which is why I likely missed it since my parents made me go to church every Weds night. I would rush home to catch Newhart at 8:30 and then Magnum P.I. at 9pm back then.

ABC had GP so I think it was more around a 7pm show (CST), right?

Aha! I wondered about that. I did not notice the director, I thought it was just because it was an 80s sitcom and the show is an homage to the 80s. I didn't watch Growing Pains too often, but I remember a few episodes that were funny.

The dad was a basketball coach? Did he start at the Seavers school?

I recall - in the 90s? - Thicke also hosted a TV version of Pictionary.

Yea, I recall he was the coach of the school that Mike went to.. was fired.. Mike got a protest together.. didnt work... and during a dinner with the coach and family at the Seaver household it was decided they were going to move to California. I remember watching this episode wondering why we're introduced to this family on Growing Pains - and then realized it was a spin-off in the making. Back then they really tried to force spinoffs based on very little.

He was cool RIP Alan

Totally forgot that's how they spun that off of GP.

Mostly I just remember Jamie Luner.

Donna Martin graduates!

You should know by now that it's ok to wish death on someone, even as a "joke", as long as the moral high ground you're on is en vogue.

Yay human nature!

It's called virtue signalling, a social signal meant to reaffirm some kind of status within a social group. It has become entrenched in liberal circles within the past decade as social media has grown.

Notice all the animosity towards Kirk Cameron in this thread for classic examples of virtue signalling.

I agree wholebonedly. Heather Langenkamp was certainly no slouch, though.