Editor's note: This is a nostalgic theater.
In 1995, I Love My Family became a sensation across China as the first sitcom in China, generating huge economic benefits and social impact. But to a large extent, I Love My Family was inspired by another sitcom, Growing Pains, which was first broadcast on ABC in the United States ten years ago (1985) and then introduced to China.
Growing Pains
The protagonists of this series are a typical middle-class family in New York at that time - the Seaver family of five. The male protagonist Jason is a psychiatrist, and his wife Maggie is a TV reporter. They raise three children together: the mischievous Mike, the top student Carol, and the clever Ben.
As a sitcom, each episode of Growing Pains is only half an hour long. In terms of subject matter, it is all about family trivia and small ripples, without any big scenes (of course, it is not absolute. The first and second episodes of "European Trip" will set the story stage in Western Europe). For example, there is an episode ("Fundraising") about the Seaver family holding a charity fundraising dinner and inviting a large number of celebrities, as if there will be celebrities coming to guest star. In fact, the focus of this episode is that Jason got the date wrong and the family had to prepare food at the last minute. Those "big shots" are just gimmicks that remain in the lines.
Jason got the fundraising time wrong
From this point of view, it is not easy to make a wonderful and popular drama within such a format that seems to have little room for maneuver. However, whether it is broadcast in the United States or China, "Growing Pains" has achieved quite high ratings. According to Kirk Cameron, who plays Mike in the play, "At one time, each season of ("Growing Pains") was more interesting than the previous season."
What is the secret of success? The casting of characters is of course a very important aspect. Everyone in the Seaver family has their own distinct personality, to the point where the audience can see their own shadow in them: Jason is kind and uses inspirational education for his children; Maggie is a strong woman in the workplace. Among the three children, Mike is a poor student who likes to show off, Carol is hardworking and studious, and Ben is smart and flexible. These personalities have also left a deep impression on the audience through various daily life trivia. In addition, the dialogue language in the play, puns, exaggerations, analogies, sarcasm, ridicule, and jokes are full of humor, making the audience feel like eating "happy nuts".
Punny line: All our guests are rich people.
Interestingly, in the series "Growing Pains", Mike, whose academic performance was terrible, once told his parents who were worried about his future that some people could make millions of dollars just by smiling. In the plot of the series, such a statement was of course sneered at, but in reality, Mike's charming smile was also one of the selling points of "Growing Pains" as a "situation comedy". Mike Sullivan, the producer of "Growing Pains", later recalled, "Kirk almost immediately caused laughter when he started performing... He was so great, he was simply fascinating, he was very humorous and charming."
However, as a sitcom that lasted for 7 seasons (1985-1992) and a total of 165 episodes, these alone seem to be insufficient. The Seaver family in "Growing Pains" also encountered the "troubles" that ordinary families may encounter in the process of educating their children, and they always solved the problems in an appropriate way in the end, as if providing a reference for family education. For example, in the episode "Quitting at the Top", Mike mistakenly entered a gathering of drug-addicted teenagers because of his pursuit of style, but at the critical moment, his family education over the years took effect on him, and he resisted the temptation of his companions and did not go astray. This emphasizes the subtle role of family education. In another episode, Jason, a psychologist, was so eager to love his son that he took over the job and completed Mike's college psychology homework. He thought this would increase his son's confidence, but after grading the homework, the score was not as good as Mike's own, which was ridiculous. Here, the topic of exam-oriented education and knowledge updating was mentioned.
Other episodes discuss the value of life for young people. In "Semper Fidelity," Mike's friend, Bona, who was just as muddleheaded as he was, suddenly realized that life couldn't go on like this, so he resolutely abandoned his comfortable life and joined the army, and the Marine Corps, which was known for its hardship. Mike tried to dissuade him, but after the two said goodbye, he seemed to be touched by Bona and rushed to school with his books. However, each story in the sitcom is relatively independent. Just when the audience thought Mike would change his ways, he would relapse in the next episode.
Mike and Bona say goodbye
However, the biggest challenge facing "Growing Pains" is "growth". As time goes by, children will grow up - this is an insurmountable problem for family sitcoms. For example, Mike was still a junior high school boy at the beginning of the series, but by the end of the series, he had left home to live independently and even had his own girlfriend (who later became Kirk Cameron's wife in real life), and at this time, the younger brother Ben had grown taller than his brother Mike. After becoming an adult, it is inevitable that they lose their "childishness".
In the later episodes, Mike has grown into a young man.
As a result, the ratings of "Growing Pains" have been declining since the fourth season. The producers were not unaware of this, and they added two new members to the Seaver family - the youngest daughter Chris and the adopted son Luke (played by Leonardo Dicaprio, who later became famous). Unfortunately, their role was limited and they could not turn the tide. The seventh season of "Growing Pains" was moved to the "garbage time" of Saturday night (most Americans would go out for the weekend, and few people watched TV at this time), which made the ratings of the seventh season even more miserable. Fortunately, due to the reputation of the previous years, "Growing Pains" still had a good beginning and a good end. In the last episode, the Seaver family moved out of the house where they had lived for many years, leaving behind only a happy time that the audience can still reminisce from time to time.
The youngest daughter Chris (second from left) and adopted son Luke (second from right) were added to the later episodes of "Growing Pains"
