MONDO EXTRAS

I have to preface this with a confession: I freaking loved Growing Pains. My brother always used to tease me about being chubby and smart, just like Mike teased Carol. Luckily (and unlike Tracey Gold), I never developed an eating disorder over it. But my relationship with my brother was a lot like that of the two older Seaver children, so much so that in the episode where Carol wants to get a nose job and Mike convinces her that she's pretty as she is, I cried. Okay, I was fourteen and really melodramatic, but still. We were a few years away from My So-Called Life, so Growing Pains was all I had. In my driver ed class, we had to watch the episode where Matthew Perry (playing Carol's boyfriend) dies in a drunk driving accident. This show, cheesy as it is, had an impact on my formative years. So, it was with deep trepidation that I approached the reunion television movie. Would my old favorites be back, or would I be sadly disappointed?

The movie opens with a Jason Seaver voice-over, explaining that the family has moved to Washington, DC, so that Maggie could become the Press Secretary for Congressman Mac Robinson (which you knew if you watched the series finale). The movie also opens with the first big mistake -- they don't reprise the theme song, "As Long As We've Got Each Other." I already feel a disconnection.

After a joke about how Maggie has not aged (and both Joanna Kerns and Alan Thicke look like they might have had some work done), we see Maggie looking on while the congressman gives a speech, poorly. Maggie is writing on a notepad, "Boring!" Um, didn't she write the speech? Yes, it is poorly delivered, but the speech isn't all that either.

Jason voice-overs that Mike has become "the youngest VP in the history of Genesee Advertising." We see Mike shooting pool and making meta-statements about how family comedies these days don't have laugh tracks. Kirk Cameron looks about the same, with maybe a little less hair. At least, at first glance.

Jason moves on to address the issue of Carol, who "graduated third in her class from Columbia" and is working on Wall Street. I'm happy to report that Tracey Gold is looking great these days.

But what about Ben? Jason reports that he has just started his own company "BenSeaverLeisureTimeConcepts.com" in California. Oh, those hilarious dot-com jokes. Will the fun never cease? We see Ben, wearing what I hope is a wig and not his real hair, throwing some chlorine over a fence and into a swimming pool.

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I have to preface this with a confession: I freaking loved Growing Pains. My brother always used to tease me about being chubby and smart, just like Mike teased Carol. Luckily (and unlike Tracey Gold), I never developed an eating disorder over it. But my relationship with my brother was a lot like that of the two older Seaver children, so much so that in the episode where Carol wants to get a nose job and Mike convinces her that she's pretty as she is, I cried. Okay, I was fourteen and really melodramatic, but still. We were a few years away from My So-Called Life, so Growing Pains was all I had. In my driver ed class, we had to watch the episode where Matthew Perry (playing Carol's boyfriend) dies in a drunk driving accident. This show, cheesy as it is, had an impact on my formative years. So, it was with deep trepidation that I approached the reunion television movie. Would my old favorites be back, or would I be sadly disappointed? The movie opens with a Jason Seaver voice-over, explaining that the family has moved to Washington, DC, so that Maggie could become the Press Secretary for Congressman Mac Robinson (which you knew if you watched the series finale). The movie also opens with the first big mistake -- they don't reprise the theme song, "As Long As We've Got Each Other." I already feel a disconnection. After a joke about how Maggie has not aged (and both Joanna Kerns and Alan Thicke look like they might have had some work done), we see Maggie looking on while the congressman gives a speech, poorly. Maggie is writing on a notepad, "Boring!" Um, didn't she write the speech? Yes, it is poorly delivered, but the speech isn't all that either. Jason voice-overs that Mike has become "the youngest VP in the history of Genesee Advertising." We see Mike shooting pool and making meta-statements about how family comedies these days don't have laugh tracks. Kirk Cameron looks about the same, with maybe a little less hair. At least, at first glance. Jason moves on to address the issue of Carol, who "graduated third in her class from Columbia" and is working on Wall Street. I'm happy to report that Tracey Gold is looking great these days. But what about Ben? Jason reports that he has just started his own company "BenSeaverLeisureTimeConcepts.com" in California. Oh, those hilarious dot-com jokes. Will the fun never cease? We see Ben, wearing what I hope is a wig and not his real hair, throwing some chlorine over a fence and into a swimming pool.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Next