History YMMV / GrowingPains

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: In "How the West Was One, Part 1" Mike starting a protest to save his teacher's job.

* TearJerker:
** The episode where Carol's boyfriend (pre-''Friends'' Matthew Perry) dies. (Even worse, Cameron had a hand in this too, demanding that Perry be fired as he believed him to be "an agent of Satan")
** [[http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/actor-alan-thicke-dies-69-n695681 The real-life death of Alan Thicke]] from an aortic aneurysm, and the fact, not unlike Creator/JohnRitter (who died from a similar cause) that he wasn't all that old by most standards when he died.
** The suicide of Andrew Koenig, who played Boner.

** The episode where Carol's boyfriend (pre-''Friends'' Matthew Perry) dies.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Matthew Perry, years before ''Series/{{Friends}}'', played Carol's [[spoiler:doomed]] boyfriend, Sandy. Also, as mentioned above, Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] as temporary family member Luke. Brad Pitt, Jennie Garth and Hilary Swank also had small one-off roles.

* {{Tearjerker}}: [[http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/actor-alan-thicke-dies-69-n695681 The death of Alan Thicke]] (Jason) on December 12, 2016.

*** And pretty much ''any'' scene with Mike being a fun, normal member of the family when in fact Kirk Cameron's newfound fundamentalist tendencies made him the kind of guy who'd do things like demanding that the actress playing his character's girlfriend be fired because she was once in {{Playboy}}, or denouncing the producers as "pornographers" for having pretty much your standard family sitcom level of occasional suggestive humor. ''Far'' from [[ThemeSong sharing the laughter and love]] with anyone by this point, he pretty much singlehandedly turned it into a TroubledProduction, and it's probably not a coincidence that the show was not around for very long after. Cameron's scenes take on a very different tone upon rewatch because of this.

* RealLifeRelative: RobinThicke, Alan Thicke's son, appeared in three episodes. He was named "Ralph" in "Ben and Mike's Excellent Adventure."

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bruce Willis was considered for Alan Thicke's role.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny:
** "HE'S A WEINIE!"
** In "How the West Was One" (2-parter), Ben watches the news of a school protest and sees his siblings and dad being taken away by the police, and Maggie, who's reporting the event, [[MamaBear yells at the police to not hurt her kids]].
--->'''Maggie:''' WATCH THEIR HEADS YOU NAZIS!! [[MoodSwinger Back to you, Jerry.]]\\\
'''Ben:''' Whoa, my family's been busted!
*** "[[SarcasmMode OH NO WHAT HAVE I DONE??]]" (Mike and Jason's reaction to Carol's perfect attendance being ruined.)
*** The principal's secretary finding the chant "Heck no, he won't go!" catchy. Even Jason think so.
*** "[[ThatCameOutWrong We're just a couple of guys, cuddling on the front of a parked car.]]"

* {{Tearjerker}}: [[ http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/actor-alan-thicke-dies-69-n695681 The death of Alan Thicke]] (Jason) on December 12, 2016.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Matthew Perry, years before ''Series/{{Friends}}'', played Carol's [[spoiler:doomed]] boyfriend, Sandy. Also, as mentioned above, Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] as temporary family member Luke. Brad Pitt and Hilary Swank also had small one-off roles.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Matthew Perry, years before ''{{Friends}}'', played Carol's [[spoiler:doomed]] boyfriend, Sandy. Also, as mentioned above, Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] as temporary family member Luke. Brad Pitt and Hilary Swank also had small one-off roles.

*** "[[SarcasmMode OH KNOW WHAT HAVE I DONE??]]" (Mike and Jason's reaction to Carol's perfect attendance being ruined.)

'''Ben:''' My family is busted!
*** "[[SarcasmMode OH KNOW WHAT HAVE I/WE DONE??]]"

** "My family is busted!"

*** And pretty much ''any'' scene with Mike being a fun, normal member of the family when in fact the actor's newfound fundie tendencies made him the kind of guy who'd do things like demanding that the actress playing his character's girlfriend be fired because she was once in {{Playboy}}, or denouncing the producers as "pornographers" for having pretty much your standard family sitcom level of occasional suggestive humor. ''Far'' from [[ThemeSong sharing the laughter and love]] with anyone by this point, he pretty much turned it into a TroubledProduction singlehandedly and it's probably not a coincidence that the show was not around for very long after. His scenes take on a very different tone upon rewatch because of this.

* CrowningMomentsOfFunny:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen : Bruce Willis was considered for Alan Thicke's role.

*** And pretty much ''any'' scene with Mike being a fun, normal member of the family when in fact the actor's newfound fundie tendencies made him the kind of guy who'd do things like demanding that the actress playing his character's girlfriend be fired because she was once in {{Playboy}}, or denouncing the producers as "pornographers" for having pretty much your standard family sitcom level of occasional suggestive humor. ''Far'' from being part of the "family," he pretty much turned it into a TroubledProduction singlehandedly and it's probably not a coincidence that the show was not around for very long after. His scenes take on a very different tone upon rewatch because of this.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen : Bruce Willis was considered for Alan Thicke's role.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Matthew Perry, years before ''{{Friends}}'', played Carol's [[spoiler:doomed]] boyfriend, Sandy. Also, as mentioned above, Leonardo [=DiCaprio=] as temporary family member Luke.

** Almost any appearance of Boner, given the actor's tragic death.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Any instance of Carol being teased about her weight. HollywoodPudgy actress Tracey Gold would go on to have a well-known (and near-fatal) battle with anorexia.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Any instance of Carol being teased about her weight.