The popularity of TV genres has ebbed and flowed throughout history, but sitcoms have remained an enduring format. The genre’s lighthearted, low-stakes escape from daily life and endless sense of familiarity and comfort has made sitcoms some of the most popular and bingeable shows to hit TV. Sitcoms have evolved throughout the decades, and the 1980s welcomed an era of classic and influential shows like Cheers, The Golden Girls, and Family Ties. This November, one of the best ‘80s sitcoms returned to free streaming as fans continue to hold out hope for a reboot.
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More than three decades after it wrapped its seven-season run on ABC, Neal Marlens’s beloved sitcom Growing Pains is streaming free on Tubi. All seven seasons and 166 episodes of the hit show joined the free streaming service on November 3rd. A suburban sitcom with a twist, Growing Pains starred the late Alan Thicke as Dr. Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist who moves his practice into his Long Island, New York, home so that his wife can resume her career now that their children are older.
Growing Pains Is an Iconic ‘80s Sitcom
Growing Pains is one of those rare shows where every episode is just as good as the last, making it no surprise that it was the eighth-most-watched show in 1986. The series was among the most relatable shows on TV at the time and still remains highly relatable, thanks to the fact that it managed to capture the life of an all-American family and all of the ups and downs that come with it, including everyday teen and family issues as well as serious and more sensitive topics like substance abuse, homelessness, and death. The perfect mix of lighthearted family situations and genuine emotional depth, Growing Pains was a staple of family television from that era, and it even helped launch the careers of actors including Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
In the current era of reboots and remakes, it’s genuinely surprising that a Growing Pains revival hasn’t yet hit the screen. Discussions over a possible reboot date as far back as 2019, when Miller told Us Weekly that the cast is “doing story creation and brainstorming right now” for a possible revival. Then in 2023, reports surfaced that a reboot was in the works and Warner Bros. had ideas for a “reimagining,” but nothing has come of a potential reboot since, leaving it all but dead in the water for the time being.
What’s New on Tubi?
Growing Pains was part of a wave of fresh additions to hit Tubi this November, and it’s one of several shows freshly streaming on the platform. Tubi viewers looking for their next show to binge-watch can pick between titles like Dead Like Me, The Roots and its 2016 reboot, and the canceled-too-soon sci-fi show V. On the movie front, the free service is streaming hits like No Country for Old Men, Face/Off, and Titanic.
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