Joanna Kerns: From “Three’s Company” to “Growing Pains” to A “Million Little Things”

Joanna Kerns, at right, co-starred with Alan Thicke, in the 1980s sitcom "Growing Pains" from 1985 to 1992.
Source: https://www.today.com/health/growing-pains-star-joanna-kerns-underwent-double-mastectomy-t116374
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It was a name I had not seen for a long time. When I saw the name, it brought back all sorts of memories of slapstick comedy and sitcom success.

In the opening credits of the season premiere of “A Million Little Things”, I noticed the director was Joanna Kerns.

To me though, I will always think of two shows: “Three’s Company” and “Growing Pains”.

Three’s Company
The premise is simple. It was a time when it was frowned upon for men to share apartments with women they weren’t married to. Jack Tripper, played by John Ritter, had to pretend to be gay in order to room with two women – Chrissy Snow, played by Suzanne Summers and Janet Wood played by Joyce Dewitt.

Jack wasn’t really gay, the exact opposite actually, so he dated plenty of women. One was a sexy blonde played by a young Joanna Kerns. In fact, she played two different dates on two different episodes of the show.

It was only two episodes, but one scene I remember well. Kerns was Jack’s date, and he found himself double booked – as only he could. He had to pretend to be sick and told her so. Well, she decided to surprise Jack with a pot of chicken soup. Then she showed up unannounced and discovered what was really going on. I recall Jack ended up wearing that soup.

I believe that ended his relationship with that woman. I would not see Joanna Kerns until she surfaced a few years later in a new sitcom.

Growing Pains
By 1985, “The Cosby Show” had become such a hit that, like any popular show of that period, it spawned a number of imitations. Whenever this happened, the contenders turned to pretenders pretty fast. They just could not replicate the success of the original. That's what happened with “Charlie and Company”, an imitator that starred Flip Wilson, Gladys Knight and Kristoff St. John. Despite the star power, it quickly faded to black.

That's not what happened to “Growing Pains”. It followed along the same lines as “The Cosby Show”, with two working, professional parents, and a household of wise, and wisecracking, children. In this case Jason Seaver was a psychiatrist, played by Alan Thicke, who moved his practice to a home office. He had three children and a wife named Maggie, played by Joanna Kerns.

She was the perfect foil for Alan Thicke, and her three children. However, the show also did tackle some tougher issues. It showed Maggie was a compassionate, sensitive mother as well.

Ultimately, Maggie would go back to work as a journalist, and stay with “Growing Pains” for its entire seven-season run from 1985 to 1992.

Parting thoughts
It was not until I regularly watched “Growing Pains” that I realized I had seen Joanna Kerns before. The woman who played a couple of the women Jack Tripper dated, was playing Maggie Seaver. In a few short years, she had changed that much, and matured as an actor.

Joanna Kerns did a great job playing Maggie Seaver. She was always engaging and independent, but also the perfect match for Jason Seaver.

“Growing Pains” may have started out trying to mimic “The Cosby Show”, but it definitely developed a character and style of its own, and Joanna Kerns played a big part in that.

Coincidentally, I started this post on February 11. Little did I know that the very next day, February 12, was Joanna Kerns’ birthday.

Sometimes things are just meant to happen at a certain time.