I say Family Ties (Micheal J Fox)

Family Ties

Neither, I have not watched any of these two television shows.

I watched both.

Same here.

I'd say Family Ties. It came first and set the standard for the '80s liberal parents, conservative kids sitcom, not to mention that it garnered higher ratings while on the air. Growing Pains did spin off Just The Ten Of Us, but it feels closer to a formulaic TGIF-style show.

I'd say Family Ties. It came first and set the standard for the '80s liberal parents, conservative kids sitcom


You are correct about this. And in truth, comparing "Family Ties" and "Growing Pains" is like comparing apples and oranges. Except for the fact that they were both 1980s sitcoms about families, they are very different in their intent. So I'm not really sure why it's even a topic, since they are not comparable. But since it is a topic anyway, what the heck. "Family Ties" was the first TV show to point out the fact that there was now an entire generation of kids (the as yet unnamed "Generation X") who had grown up with Boomer (or Boomer hippie) parents but were very conservative, very materialistic, very, well, EIGHTIES. Reagan-era 80s. The pendulum had swung from liberal to conservative and the children had taken up the mantle. This was a culture shock to many.

Everybody remembers John Lennon's famous 1966 comment about the Beatles being "bigger than Jesus", but few remember an equally insightful comment he made around the same time, "our children will hate us too, you know". Unlike many of his peers, Lennon knew that the pendulum must swing.

Actually, the first thing to tackle the subject that children of hippie Boomers might not turn out to be perfect little spiritual Baby Buddhas with flowers in their hair was the 1979 movie "Over The Edge". But it didn't take the hard line of liberal parents and conservative children that "Family Ties" took. It was too soon and that dichotomy was not fully formed yet. So "Over The Edge"  just portrayed confused kids of even more clueless Boomer parents. "Over The Edge" was still very much a product of the 1970s, rather than the 1980s of "Family Ties". In fact, the world just wasn't ready for "Over The Edge" in 1979 and it did not receive any type of widespread distribution until 1982 or so (and even then it wasn't that wide).

I liked Family Ties better but what I didn't like about either of them. Not too sure which season but both didn't learn from Cousin Oliver.


Cat

I liked Family Ties better but what I didn't like about either of them. Not too sure which season but both didn't learn from Cousin Oliver.


Cat


Yup. Cousin Oliver Syndrome. In the case of "Growing Pains" they did it twice. Of course, the second time was with the soon to be enormously famous Leonardo Dicaprio. He may have been a superstar in the making, but he didn't add much to the plot. It was still Cousin Oliver.

I don't know which Father I'd prefer to hang out with, Father from Family Ties or Growing Pains?

I don't know which Father I'd prefer to hang out with, Father from Family Ties or Growing Pains?


Oh, DEFINITELY the father from "Growing Pains". The "Family Ties" father was a first class dweeb. Onscreen, anyway. Alan Thicke was Mr. Cool, onscreen and off. When he died, Leonardo DiCaprio said this:

"“I’ve seen him a number of times over the years and when Alan Thicke walked in the room, quite frankly, no one was cooler."

Oh, DEFINITELY the father from "Growing Pains". The "Family Ties" father was a first class dweeb. Onscreen, anyway. Alan Thicke was Mr. Cool, onscreen and off. When he died, Leonardo DiCaprio said this:

"“I’ve seen him a number of times over the years and when Alan Thicke walked in the room, quite frankly, no one was cooler."

You're right, I definitely prefer Alan Thicke too, He was such a good Father in Growing Pains.

I prefer both and I can't really choose.  I recall Family Ties having more episodes that dealt with serious stuff...

- When an old friend of Steven's makes a pass at Mallory
- When Alex questioned his own existence after his best friend Greg died in a car wreck.
- When Elyse's brother Ned wouldn't admit that he had a drinking problem and ended up hitting Alex across the face.

The only serious episode that comes to mind for Growing Pains was Carol's college boyfriend who died after he got into a car wreck from a DUI

Fun fact:  Prior to Growing Pains, Alan Thicke was already a known name in Canada as he had his own daytime talk show that ran for 3 seasons (1980-83).  He ended up leaving it because he got offered a night time talk show in the US called Thicke of the Night, which aired opposite Johnny Carson during the 1983-84 season, so as you can imagine, it did not last long lol  The failure of his American talk show opened his schedule to do Growing Pains, so it all worked out!

Both were great, but if we're talking nostalgia, then Family Ties takes the edge. Great theme tune too!

I agree that the last few seasons of both: Andy Keaton and Chrissy Seaver is asking what tooth do you want pulled without anesthesia?