The 1980s were, in a way, a renaissance for television.

With more channels and shows to choose from than ever before, TV was experiencing a new golden age, where channel flipping at any time of day would probably get you something worth watching at some point.  Whether you had a taste for action, mystery, comedy, horror, or drama, there likely was more than one show for it.

Nowhere was that truer than in the case of the sitcom.

As I mentioned early on, in the 1980s, the sitcom became one of the most popular styles of shows on television.  Growing Pains was just one of an incredibly large catalog, including Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls, The Cosby Show, ALF, and Full House.  All of these shows, while possessing mostly unique setups and characters, were in the same genre, and still followed a few of the same beats.  The Very Special Episode was on the rise, and more and more sitcoms tried to include important episodes to teach young viewers about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.  Some shows did it more masterfully and realistically than others, and these episodes were memorable (some for the wrong reasons) but despite these ‘special episodes’, most sitcoms of the time tended to be pretty standard stuff.

Why mention this?

Well, because, as odd as it seems, it’s important to remember that Growing Pains was made in the 1980s, and to do that, we need to know what was going on at the time around it.

See, in order to really understand any piece of media, we have to understand the climate in which it was made.  The culture surrounding anything, book, movie, or television show directly affects whatever piece of media is being made, not only in what was popular in fiction of the time, but also in nonfiction attitudes and ideas.  

That’s to be expected.  After all, our culture shapes who we are and what we think, and therefore the kinds of things we create.  This leads us to the idea of something being ‘dated’.

Despite the negative connotations of the word, being ‘dated’ in and of itself is not a problem.

The term ‘dated’ typically comes with images of old-fashioned special effects, out-of-date slang and styles, or technology that has been rendered obsolete in recent years.  While typically pointed out today as an example of a film or television show being less enjoyable in a modern era, the fact is, even what we create today is not immune to being dated.  That’s just how it works.

Nothing can stop any piece of media from being a reflection of its culture, no matter how timeless we try to make it.  And contrary to what some would tell you, it isn’t the style, special-effects, or soundtrack that dates a television show.  If it was, Growing Pains would be in trouble indeed.

What does date something is the element connected to a culture that can damage it: its ideas.

Outdated ideas and beliefs held by the culture at the time of a story’s creation can certainly add to the discomfort modern audiences can have while watching media made before their time.  All of this leads us to today’s question:

Is Growing Pains outdated?

Let’s take a look.

Keep reading