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Jeremy Miller Reveals Honoring Alan Thicke Is the ‘Whole Reason’ He Wants a ‘Growing Pains’ Reboot
A Growing Pains reboot is currently in the works, and Jeremy Miller couldn’t be more thrilled to honor late costar Alan Thicke‘s memory. While recently chatting with Closer Weekly at a Victoria’s Voice event, the beloved actor revealed why the potential revival is so important to him.
“It’ll be 35 years since we started next year, and I think that would be perfect timing to relaunch it,” the 43-year-old — who played the role of Ben Seaver on the iconic American sitcom — gushed to Closer at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Friday, October 25. “Since Allen passed away, I’ve kind of taken the spearhead on this.”
As fans of the beloved TV show know, Alan sadly passed away in December 2016, after suddenly collapsing while playing hockey with his youngest son. Before his untimely death at the young age of 69, Jeremy dished that Alan was writing up a reboot for the original Growing Pains series — which first premiered in September 1985 and ran for seven seasons until coming to an end in April 1992.
“Alan had been working on this about five years ago, right before and right as the reboot fad was beginning,” he explained. “At that time, I guess people didn’t really know if it was going to last, so there weren’t a lot of interests. He proposed it, brought a whole package to Warner and ABC — they just, there wasn’t the interest to push it forward at that point.”
Jeremy, however, revealed that all things changed when he reached out to former costars Tracey Gold and Kirk Cameron a few years later about the possibility of reviving the beloved TV sitcom. “They were on board with doing one,” he said of their conversation in 2018. “In fact, we’re very excited to possibly bring it back.”
The When I Wished Upon a Star: From Broken Homes to Mended Hearts author explained that the possible reboot is “pre, pre, pre-production,” but they’re “hoping to move forward by next year.” He added, “I have a dear friend who is a brilliant writer, he’s put together the first season scripts. I believe that they’re brilliant,” Jeremy gushed. “It’s very respectful and honoring of Alan, which is my whole reason for wanting to do this in the first place.”
Considering Alan would not be able to reprise his starring role of Dr. Jason Seaver, Jeremy admitted he’s trying to “be that glue that gets everybody” together. “That’s what he was. He was our patriarch,” the Deceptions actor shared. “He was our dad.” Even though Jeremy is trying to step up in honor of Alan, he said there’s no way he could ever fill his acting shoes. “It’s a space we can’t fill. But Alan was always our bond.”
With the possibility of a Growing Pains revival in the works, Jeremy said he hopes the new storyline will do Alan’s “memory justice” because of how special he was to the show. “Truthfully, watching Alan every day was the most inspirational thing,” he sweetly confessed. “You’ve never met a man with more energy or more drive to succeed and create. He was a writer, he was an actor, he was a singer. He’s a songwriter. He was… I’ve never met a more multitalented man.”
We can’t wait to hear more information on the possible Growing Pains revival!
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