Growing Pains: Season 07

A new production staff is at the helm as Growing Pains launches its seventh and final season. The most significant development this year occurs when aspiring actor Mike Seaver (Kirk Cameron) returns to his family's Long Island home accompanied by 15-year-old homeless youngster Luke Brower, played by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio). Mike had met Luke while temporarily teaching at the inner-city Community Health Center, and felt that the boy could benefit by living in a loving and supportive family situation. Luke does his best to fit in with the Seavers, but he has serious honesty and behavior issues to deal with -- not to mention the unexpected return of his irresponsible father, George (Gary Grubbs). Mike himself has managed to land a role on the daytime soap opera "Big City Secrets," somewhat justifying his decision to pursue a show-business career to his doubting parents Jason (Alan Thicke and Maggie (Joanna Kerns) -- even though his TV character, "Strong Waverly," spends most of his time in a coma with no lines to speak. As for the other Seaver youngsters, 7-year-old Chrissy (Ashley Johnson) is now regularly attending school, making an effort to follow the rather dubious social and academic advice dispensed by her 16-year-old brother Ben (Jeremy Miller). Meanwhile, oldest daughter Carol takes leave of Columbia University to study abroad in London. This plot development was necessitated by the ongoing serious health problems of actress Tracey Gold, whose battle with anorexia had forced her to drop out of the series. Both Carol and Gold's absence were touchingly acknowledged in an episode wherein Ben cheers up his absent sister by sending her a family video that he has filmed. Of the season's guest stars, special attention should be paid to the actress playing the haughty Sasha Serotsky in the episode "Menage a Luke." Yes, it is Hilary Swank, long before either one of her two Oscar-winning film performances. The series ends with the two-part "The Last Picture Show," as the Seaver family prepares to move to Washington so that Maggie can accept a job as media-relations director for a prominent senator -- and in what is almost an afterthought, Mike finally proposes to his erstwhile girlfriend Kate Malone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide