Text | Zhang Shibaxian
There used to be such an American drama. After it was introduced into mainland China in 1990, it set off a viewing craze. This is "Growing Pains" (English title: Growing Pains). The daily life of the Seaver family on the outskirts of Long Island, New York, USA in the play, although far from the Chinese, firmly attracts the attention of Chinese people.
1. The advent of "Growing Pains"
In the early 1980s, sitcoms entered a period of depression, and until 1984, after a "Cosbys" was a hit, sitcoms became a favorite again.
In the context of a good situation, the American ABC Company fictionalized a family of five: the father Jason is a psychiatrist (Alan Thicke) who works at home, and the mother Maggie is a TV station who has been a housewife for 15 years. Reporter (Joanna Kerns), eldest son Mike slick (Kirk Cameron), daughter Carol a nerdy good student (Tracy Gold), youngest son Ben Eun is a ghost (Jeremy Miller).
There was a pilot version of the show (launched in 1984) to test the audience response. In the pilot version, Carroll was not played by Tracy, but by 15-year-old Elizabeth Ward. Tracy went to audition, but was eliminated because she was late and had trouble reading her lines.
Mike's role is the most popular in the whole film, but the casting was a headache at first. The late 15-year-old California teenager Kirk Cameron almost missed the role, but the staff was accommodating to get the audition. Because of his outstanding performance and fit temperament, Kirk was considered by the crew to be the best choice to play Mike.
The role of mischievous young son Benn was also chosen by then-8-year-old Jeremy Miller from more than 400 children. The interviewer's approach to interviews is eclectic, not letting them read lines, but telling them stories. Jeremy was very lively and cute as a child, with a sharp voice, which was very suitable for playing Ben, and was generally loved by the crew.
As for the role of parents, I couldn't find a suitable actor at first. Joanna Kerns was chosen from more than 50 actresses to land the role of mother Maggie. However, Maggie is nearly 40 years old in the play, and Joanna who plays her is only 32 years old. The crew tried more than 100 male actors but couldn't find a suitable person to play his father Jason, and was troubled for a time. A week before filming began, 37-year-old host and actor Alan Thicke from Canada offered himself up, and his humorous performance was affirmed by the producers.
After the pilot version was broadcast, the ratings were very good, so ABC decided to officially start filming the first season of 22 episodes of "Growing Pains". However, the crew felt that Carroll played by Elizabeth was out of tune with the family and decided to replace it. They later brought back Tracey as Carroll, who had been eliminated.
The first season of the show premiered on September 24, 1985. However, because the playwright Neo Mullins favored the role of Mike too much and ignored the shaping of other characters, the ratings at the beginning of the first season were not optimistic. Less than halfway through the first season (January 1986), Mullins was fired. The newly added screenwriter draws inspiration from the actor's real life to make the characters more three-dimensional. The ratings finally got a boost, and the show started to really take off.
Since the second season, the lead actors have become household names. The series has seven seasons.
2. The troubles of growing up in reality
Like the title of the film, the actors and producers in the play also staged "growing pains" in reality.
Alan, who plays his father Jason, and Joanna, who plays his mother, Maggie, are very much in love in the play, but in reality, they both encountered love and career crises.
Allen's TV talk show at the time ("The Alan Thicke Late Show") was canceled due to a failed competition, and he was afraid of losing his job. At the same time, he also divorced his wife of 15 years. Joanna was divorcing her husband (Richard Kerns), desperate for money, and wanted a stable job. Their performance in "Growing Pains" is also a career turning point and emotional sustenance.
As the series and characters are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the audience hopes that the couple who play the couple in the play can also walk together in real life. Although they long for a new relationship, they believe that love and filming cannot conflict, and they agreed to concentrate on filming and not establish a relationship.
Daughter Tracy Gold's grades in real life are very unremarkable, and she doesn't like going to school, but she has to play Carol, who is excellent in school, in the play. The attention deficit disorder made her not in the mood to read, but she was able to memorize the words completely. What makes her unhappy is that her fat figure is also used as a gimmick to be ridiculed in the play.
Before the start of the seventh season, she suffered from an old 12-year-old disease, anorexia nervosa, and her weight dropped from 133 pounds to 79 pounds. After a period of filming, Warner Bros. agreed that Tracy would stop filming and be hospitalized (missing three of the final four episodes). The doctor later brought Tracy back on set to film the episode where the family said goodbye.
Mike's actor Kirk is very popular and is especially loved by female fans, but he did not get lost in the success and contracted bad habits, and also used his influence to do charity. Before filming of the sixth season, he converted to Christianity under the influence of his then-girlfriend (who later broke up).
Under the influence of religious beliefs and philanthropy, Kirk believes that Mike should not be too naughty and should become mature and stable. He is reluctant to say some lines and actions that affect his image (such as kissing), and even drove away an important supporting actor (playing Julie), suspected of "playing a big name". But if the people in the play are all textbook characters, the plot will have nothing to watch. Therefore, in order to increase the humor of the plot, the crew managed to make the baby sister Chris quickly grow into a 6-year-old girl.
Religious beliefs caused Kirk, who was not sociable, to distance himself from family members on the show, and even did not invite him to his 1991 wedding to actress Chesia Noble (6 years older than Kirk) who played Kate on the show. Any member of the Seaver family will attend. This makes everyone who has been together for six or seven years a little lost.
After filming began on season seven, Kirk let the script put him in a teacher position, which was more mature. In order to make up for Mike's "giving up" joke, the crew arranged for Mike's student Luke to appear and become a member of the Silver family. Luke is played by the famous little plum (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Ben's actor, Jeremy Miller, didn't reveal any growing pains throughout the filming.
Not only did Kirk tarnish Mike's character, but he also pissed off several of the writers who had succeeded Neo Mullins after the sixth season. In 1992, the ratings for the show's seventh season slumped so much ( Cameron wins, Cameron loses ) that ABC decided to end the show.
The first season started on September 24, 1985, and the last episode was broadcast on April 25, 1992, which lasted seven years. The crew has been with each other for 7 years, and when the parting scene was filmed, everyone burst into tears.
3. Post "Growing Pains" Era
After the disbandment of the crew, all family members are still in the entertainment industry, but their activity and concentration are not high.
Allen's interest is mainly in hosting, followed by acting; Joanna is also a director in addition to acting; Kirk's journey to the big screen was not smooth (related to his being too picky after he believed in Christ), and unfortunately he was badly filmed (" Save Christmas") dragged down, took the worst actor in the golden raspberry, also worked as a pastor, and published an autobiography; Tracy continued to shoot TV and movies, but was too low-productive and unpopular; after Jeremy became famous, there were Lost and splurged for a while, once wanted to be a chef, and then returned to acting.
These family members make special appointments to meet and chat during the holidays, and even make appointments to wait for Tracy when she gives birth. But the sociable Kirk was the coldest, and for a long time (until the movie version was later released), he had little contact with the other members of "Growing Pains". Despite being invited, Kirk did not attend the weddings of Tracy, Ellen and Joanna, among others.
In 2000, 8 years after the end of the TV version, the American ABC company started filming "Growing Pains: The Movie Version", and all the original cast members were invited to continue to play the Seifer family (Xiao Lizi may be too expensive and did not participate in the show). ).
In the filming of the film version, Kirk, who continued to play Mike, began to reconnect with everyone, no longer alienated everyone, and began to care about everyone. After the film was released, it became the most popular movie of ABC that year.
In 2004, the original team gathered again to film the film "Growing Pains: The Return of the Seafolk". This is a movie directed by mother Joanna herself, of course everyone should join in. However, this version of the plot has no continuity with the one in 2000, and it can be directly regarded as a follow-up to the TV version.
4. Conclusion
"Growing Pains" has become a masterpiece for the starring actors to become famous, and a classic that they themselves cannot surpass.
Although the protagonists haven't remained popular so far, they are all very grateful for the benefits the show has brought.
Alan Thicke said:
"If only one line of writing was allowed on my tombstone, I would like it to be 'He was one of Growing Pains'".
Joanna Kerns said:
"Growing Pains gave me a lot of opportunities. I'll always remember it."
A production crew can spend several years running a show, which is the working model of American TV dramas. Under such a mode, the audience can really see the gradual growth of the actors themselves, and there is enough time to cultivate the feelings between them and the people in the play. (It is the conscience of the industry to not change the actor's model when the character grows up?)
It is not so much that everyone in "Growing Pains" is a performance, it is better to live. Everyone is intoxicated by this classic family combination, and even seeing their respective families in reality will be a little uncomfortable. This is probably the feeling that the audience is difficult to play.
For the Chinese, in addition to today's emotional sustenance, this drama is also a reference for family education back then. The parents of the first generation of only children would look for ways to educate their children from the play. There is a saying that the popularity of the show in China has surpassed that of the United States. There is also a saying that the domestic sitcom "I Love My Home" directed by Yingda later was "suspected" of borrowing from the show.
Audiences who have watched "Growing Pains", this play is a memory worth cherishing for a lifetime. Actors who have played "Growing Pains" can also rely on the fame brought by this play to earn a lifetime of money.
Classic things are eternal, and even the post-00s can feel the charm, so talking about this old drama cannot reveal the age.
Note: This article was first published on my WeChat public account "Broaden Time" (live_moments)
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