You never watched either of these shows.
The mellow 1960s clashed with the conservative 1980s in this generation-gap comedy, which in some ways reflected America's changing values in the Reagan area. President Reagan, in fact, called Family Ties his favorite show. It was set it middle America--Columbus, Ohio--where one-time flower children Elyse and Steve Keaton still espoused the liberal values of the idealistic '60s, although they were now parents and professionals (she an architect, he the manager of public TV station WKS-TV). Their children's ideals were something else. Seventeen-year-old Alex was Mr. Conservative, habitually dressed in suit and tie and with a picture of William F. Buckley, Jr., over his bed. Mallory, 15, was into designer jeans, boys, and drunk food, while cute little Jennifer, 9, just wanted to be a kid. They were a loving family, though the kids never could understand those Bob Dylan records their parents kept playing.
Growing Pains was about a family of five, the Seavers, who lived on Long Island, New York. Jason Seaver was the father, a psychiatrist, who had his practice at home. (From the 1st to the 5th season) Maggie, his wife, was a journalist who worked for the Long Island newspaper in the first three seasons of the sitcom. She got a job as the news anchor for channel 19 news and worked there through the middle of the 5th season when she decided to stay at home. Jason moved his practice out of the house to an office. During the last seasons, she worked at home writing a consumer awareness column for the local newspaper. Together, Maggie and Jason raised four children. They often worried about "who would stay home with the baby" or would "be there for the kids" and the responsibility was often juggled, even fought over, between the two parents but eventually settled. The oldest of the four children was Mike. A dare-devil yet charming, Mike helped Growing Pains ratings shoot sky high and quickly became the 80's pin up boy appearing on cover after cover of teen magazines. The 2nd oldest was Carol. Carol was the complete opposite of Mike. She was a straight "A" student, (a "nerd" according to her brothers), struggling with social obstacles at school, just like most teenage girls. From wanting a nose job, to dealing with the death of her boyfriend, (Sandy, played by Matthew Perry) to tolerating her roommate at Columbia University, Carol added a lot of comedy as well as a serious side to the show. Next was little Ben. Ben was a clever "con-artist" in the beginning and a little more nieve during his teen years, sometimes being his brother's sidekick and other times his worst nightmare.
, I don't understand how people get so defensive, the fact that it was ripoff doesn't mean it didn't have funny moments, I used to love family guy when IT FIRST aired, it WAS funny, but then it got LESS funny and eventually it got cancelled.
