The WORST episodes of Growing Pains

Every episode of Growing Pains ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Growing Pains!

It's hard enough to raise a kid nowadays but when you have to cope with THESE kids, things tend to get out of hand! Dr Seaver, a psychologist, and his wife Maggie Seaver, a journalist, try to do their best raising their family, and although their kids, Mike, Ben, Carol and Chrissy, cause them endless problems, they manage to keep the family close together. As long as they got each other, nothing else matters...

Last Updated: 11/13/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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Jason's Rib
star
6.09
11 votes

#1 - Jason's Rib

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/9/1986

A proposed school dress code puts Maggie and Jason at odds.

Directors: John Tracy
Writer: Tom Walla
Watch Now:Apple TV
Paper Route
star
6.10
10 votes

#2 - Paper Route

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/22/1989

Ben assumes Mike's paper route for half the money.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Obscure Objects of Our Desire (2)
star
6.10
10 votes

#3 - The Obscure Objects of Our Desire (2)

Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/30/1988

Household objects continue to recall occasions in the Seaver home.

Watch Now:Apple TV
This is Your Life
star
6.11
9 votes

#4 - This is Your Life

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/17/1987

During a tonsillectomy, Ben has an out-of-body experience, dreaming that he escapes with a friendly cabbie, only to find a new Ben has replaced him at home.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Mom Who Knew Too Much
star
6.18
11 votes

#5 - The Mom Who Knew Too Much

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/26/1988

Maggie and Carol share confidences at the beauty salon, but later Carol learns to her chagrin that a secret isn't safe with Maggie.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The World According to Chrissy
star
6.22
9 votes

#6 - The World According to Chrissy

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/19/1990

Chrissy starts spending much time with her imaginary friend, a six-foot-tall mouse named Ike.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Obscure Objects of Our Desire (1)
star
6.33
12 votes

#7 - The Obscure Objects of Our Desire (1)

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/30/1988

Spring-cleaning breathes new life into the family's household objects, and each has a story to tell (via flashbacks from past episodes).

Watch Now:Apple TV
Born Free
star
6.38
8 votes

#8 - Born Free

Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/31/1987

Airlines passengers Jason and Mike must deliver a baby.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Mike and Julie's Wedding
star
6.42
12 votes

#9 - Mike and Julie's Wedding

Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1989

Julie and Mike suffer prenuptial jitters.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Kid's Still Got It
star
6.44
9 votes

#10 - The Kid's Still Got It

Season 7 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/26/1991

Carol accompanies Maggie to a resort, which turns out to be hosting a singles convention; meanwhile, the all-male weekend planned at home is ruined when Chrissy is sent home with head lice.

Directors: Iris Dugow
Writer: Jerry Colker
Watch Now:Apple TV
The New Deal (2)
star
6.44
9 votes

#11 - The New Deal (2)

Season 5 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/15/1989

Jason can't tell Maggie about the job offer.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Carol's Papers
star
6.45
11 votes

#12 - Carol's Papers

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/25/1989

An angry Jason confronts Ben and Mike, who gives conflicting versions of how Ben came to sell Carol's old term papers to students at Dewey High -- and to date a seductive 18-year-old.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Meet the Seavers
star
6.50
8 votes

#13 - Meet the Seavers

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1991

In an homage to The Twilight Zone, Ben awakens to discover he's Jeremy Miller, an actor on the set of "Meet the Cleavers".

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Nanny
star
6.50
12 votes

#14 - The Nanny

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/4/1989

The Seavers hire a nanny for Chrissy.

Directors: John Tracy
Writer: Kevin Abbott
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Awful Truth
star
6.50
10 votes

#15 - The Awful Truth

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/17/1987

A genealogy assignment unearths a dark family secret.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Higher Education
star
6.56
9 votes

#16 - Higher Education

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/20/1987

A girl raises a grade for Mike, then demands payment.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Thank You, Willie Nelson
star
6.58
12 votes

#17 - Thank You, Willie Nelson

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/3/1987

Maggie's quarreling parents come to visit the Seavers.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Dance Fever (2)
star
6.60
10 votes

#18 - Dance Fever (2)

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/2/1988

Great expectations turn sour at the Dewey High dance after Mike hears Lydia's voice; and Ben and Stinky find themselves in a seedy diner eyeing a pinball machine that pays real money.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Be a Man
star
6.62
13 votes

#19 - Be a Man

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/11/1986

Custodian Mike watches a wild party explode in his home.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Great Expectations
star
6.63
8 votes

#20 - Great Expectations

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/9/1988

A letter from the girl he met in Hawaii has Mike scheming to fly to Los Angeles to see her without his parents' knowing.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Michaelgate
star
6.63
8 votes

#21 - Michaelgate

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/6/1987

Mike is unaware that he's been nominated for student-body president because he's "a sure loser."

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Bringing Up Baby
star
6.63
8 votes

#22 - Bringing Up Baby

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/9/1988

The Seavers begin to make room for baby, relegating Ben to the guest quarters and making the others lament the changes bound to come. Meanwhile, Maggie grasps for a way to tell her boss she is pregnant.

Directors: John Tracy
Writer: Tom Walla
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Scarlet Letter
star
6.64
11 votes

#23 - The Scarlet Letter

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/1/1987

An unearned "A" makes Carol doubt her academic record.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Anniversary That Never Was
star
6.64
14 votes

#24 - The Anniversary That Never Was

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/4/1986

Maggie's assignment interferes with anniversary plans.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV
Reputation
star
6.64
14 votes

#25 - Reputation

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/25/1986

Mike writes test answers on his shoe soles.

Directors: John Tracy
Watch Now:Apple TV