Just the Ten of Us

I was never a Growing Pains fan. I found that show to be pandering, simplistic, and downright stupid. I would never have given even a second though to a Growing Pains spin off, had Brooke Thies not been in it. Brooke attended the same school that I did, and a big deal was made about her appearance in this new weekly series.

I was surprised to find that the show became an instant favorite of mine. Unlike Growing Pains, the show didn't take itself seriously, didn't obsess over providing a "moral lesson" in each episode, and was actually willing to insult its own characters. Now THIS is the type of comedy which can actually be funny!

Sadly, Just the Ten of Us never achieved the popularity that Growing Pains did, and it only survived for two seasons. The final episodes, where the girls were turned into the "Lubbock Babes" signing group, were embarrassing to watch, and were a clear indication that all was not well with the show's future.

I really liked the "Connie" character, played by JoAnn Willette. Even though this actress was far too old for the role, I found her character -- the smart, down-to-earth daughter who is "forgotten" amidst her attention grabbing sisters -- to be interesting.

Hopefully we'll see it on cable sometime soon.

I loved this spin off from Growing Pains, where the character of Coach Graham T. Lubbock from Dewey High School got his own show after the stupid principal Detwit fired him. Most of the episodes were pretty good and I did like the fact that some of the characters evolved a little bit, like Wendy near the end (the nature scout episode). Coach was also an all around teacher, teaching not only phys. ed, but regular classes and even directed plays for the school. Yes, he could be protective, but what father isn't? In fact, I think most parents today aren't like him. I'm glad to see some of the episodes on youtube, although I'd love to see the final season, that had some really great moments, like when the girls go to the Virgin Islands and the smoking episode. I'd love to see the show back in reruns on USA or somewhere. Maybe on DVD. Again, it is too bad they canceled this show since it was popular, but I guess sometimes decisions are made by network execs that we don't like.

What can I say about this show? This show is what got me interested in network television shows albeit I was very young when this show aired originally ( around 7 or 8) I still got hooked. And now when I get lucky enough to find one of my old VHS tapes that still is watchable I find that the show ages well. It is just as funny now as it was then, well I mean some of the jokes are a little cornier now but thats cool. The show, to me at least, defined what TGIF was to young people of my generation. Growing up in the early 90s and late 80s its what you did. On Friday night you watched TGIF and this show was a great addition to that line up. Too bad ABC canceled the show in its prime.

God, I'm getting old because I can recall this show being shown on Friday nights on ABC when it was really family viewing. Of course, it spun off of Growing Pains which was superior but it still worked with Coach Lubbock and his over-sized family including the devoutly Catholic wife played wonderfully by Deborah Harmon. The kids were also wonderfully played by Heather Langenkamp who played the equally religious Marie. Jamie Luner played one of the twins and I forget Brooke's last name who played the other twin. They were the only girls in an all-boy Catholic school in Eureka, California. The show only lasted two seasons but I bet it could have thrived in syndication. It's a pity that we don't have family oriented shows anymore like this.

I love this show... I only started watching because Heather Langenkamp was in it and I was (and am) a fan of hers from the Nightmare days, but then I realized that I truly enjoyed every episode.

I miss the show a lot...it was the only funny thing on that insipid TGIF line-up and once it was gone, ABC couldn't find a replacement that would stay for longer than a season...should have tipped them off to not bow to Miller-Boyette.

The humour was right on, if you were not too uptight to catch it or to laugh at yourself if you found it too close to home, and every episode was endearing and fun.

"Car in the Pool" is my favourite with "Highway to Heaven" coming in next, and "Heartbreaker" and "Radio Days"...*etc, etc, etc*