The Evolution of 80s Sitcom Opening Credits: Growing Pains

This segment explores the opening sequences to some of the 80s most popular sitcoms and analyzes how those sequences changed over the course of the show's run. This week we take a look at the mildly influential Growing Pains, starring Alan Thicke as Dr. Jason Roland Seaver and the sneaky hot Joanna Kerns as his wife, Maggy. The cast also featured Kirk Cameron as Mike Seaver, Tracy Gold as Carol, and Jeremy Miller as Ben. From 1991-92, Leonardo DiCaprio played Luke Brower, a homeless teen who was taken in by the Seaver family.

The opening credits to Growing Pains underwent radical changes after the successful first season in 1985. The season 1 main opening featured various works of art, closing with a shot of the cast, which goes from black-and-white to color. See below.



The opening credits from seasons 2 through 5 featured an opening shot of the cast in front of the house where establishing shots of the Seaver house are used, switching to photos of each cast member from childhood and, in Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns' (sneaky hot) case, to adulthood, mixed with various episode clips. In all episodes that aired from 1986-1990, the opening sequence ends with a "house gag" immediately after the final episode clip, and, starting with the fifth season, ran while the executive producers names' were listed. The house gag changes from episode-to-episode, and usually features the cast standing in front of the Seavers' house. A typical gag featured all but one member of the cast (this was usually the cast member whom the main story was about in that particular episode) leaving to go inside the Seaver house, with the other leaving seconds later. This was a running visual joke mildly similar to that of the "couch gag" sequences on The Simpsons. Most house gags last only about 10 seconds, but the longest one lasted about 20 seconds. Since Ben is the one left outside the house in the clip below, it is reasonable to think that this episode was probably Ben-centric. But I can't be sure, so I won't say for certain.



If you ask me, the first season kind of has that Cheers opening theme feel to it, with the old pictures, etc. It makes sense because Cheers was at the top of its game back then and probably would have influenced the writers of other sitcoms. Even in the Season 5 clip, they still have those sepia tone photos of Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns (so sneaky). The one constant throughout the show's run is the theme song, "As Long As We've Got Each Other," originally composed by John Bettis and Steve Dorff. However, if you listen closely, you will notice a subtle, yet important difference. In season one, the song is performed solo by B.J. Thomas. Famous in his own right for his rendition of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," Thomas brought a great deal of star power to the show's opening. In seasons 2,3,5, and 7, Thomas was joined by Jennifer Warnes in a duet. For season 4 (and season 4 only), Thomas sang the theme with none other than Dusty "Son of a Preacher Man" Springfield.

Although cancelled in 1992, Growing Pains is still in syndication and remains one of the most popular TV shows in China, where it is often used to teach English classes.