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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Growing Pains: Complete Second Season'
(Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Kirk Cameron, Tracey Gold, Jeremy Miller, et al / 3-Disc DVD / NR / 2011 / Warner Bros.)

Overview: Congratulations…you’re fired. Mike (Kirk Cameron) receives a car from his pleased parents after he’s named Employee of the Month. (So how’s he going to tell them he’s been canned?) Mike’s not the only one with secrets. Brainy Carol (Tracey Gold) wants everyone to think she has a romantic extracurricular life with a hunky football hero. And what’s up with 10-year-old Ben (Jeremy Miller) and those 67 calls to a sex line?!

DVD Verdict: After such a long wait since season one was released, literally years, it looks like we are finally getting season two. Hooray-it's about time. If you like 'Growing Pains,' you already know the basics of the show. Many fans, including me, have been waiting for more DVD releases.

I wonder if the passing of Andrew Koenig, who played Mike's friend Boner, had anything to do with it. Maybe someone decided to take another look at the show and realized it needed more proper dvd releases. I don't know, that's just a completely wild guess. But I do know there will be many happy fans getting this DVD.

I have most of season 2 (and some of 3) on vhs tapes, and I watch those episodes more than I watch the season 1 DVDs. I like the first season of course, but I think the show got funnier and was written better in seasons 2 and 3. The characters became better too. There are many memorable episodes in this season, including: when a popular girl befriends Carol in order to get to Mike; the first day of school when Ben stands up to a bully, and Mike gets surprised by a "new girl" at school; Carol dates a football player; Mike works at the fast food place; Maggie and Jason fight after a school meeting (hilarious when she leaves him at the movie theater); Ben invites a homeless girl for Christmas dinner; the "goofy glue incident", which has a few funny sight gags; Mike pretending to be in college to impress a girl (and it doesn't go well); Mike turning down drugs (and a special message at the end of the episode).

One notably funny scene is when Mike and Carol are fighting over the phone, which again uses sight gags to good effect, and is also a reminder of days when teenagers didn't have cell phones to carry everywhere. Candace Cameron makes at least one guest appearance. My personal favorites this season are the episodes when the kids uncover a secret about their parents' marriage (Mike is particularly funny in this one), and when Ben brings home a "magic rock", leading to the whole family learning lessons on being conned - hilarious! This may be my favorite season of the entire series.

This show brings back a lot of memories, especially if you were a child or teenager in the 80s. I'm looking forward to getting the dvds so I can see these episodes in much better quality than my vhs tapes. I don't have all the episodes, so it will be nice to see the ones I haven't watched in years. I really miss 80s sitcoms, they just don't make shows like this anymore. You can just laugh and enjoy yourself without tons of crude humor that is obvious and not even funny. I don't care if it's corny and silly at times - that's part of it's charm. These early seasons are also when Kirk Cameron was at the height of his teen heartthrob status. So many memories. [MF] This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.growingpainsondvd.com







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