Editing Growing Pains (section)

=== Opening and closing credits ===
The opening credits varied from traditional sitcoms by having sight gags involving specifically shot scenes with the cast on locations. This was similar to the ottoman gag on The [[The Dick Van Dyke Show|Dick Van Dyke Show]] however there were far more variations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-03 |title=Hey Dick, Look Out for that Ottoman: Celebrating a Classic TV Moment |url=https://laist.com/news/entertainment/dont-trip-on-that-ottoman-50-years |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=LAist |language=en}}</ref> The opening theme song, "As Long As We've Got Each Other", was written by [[Steve Dorff]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Songs |url=https://www.stevedorff.com/songs |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Steve Dorff |language=en-US}}</ref> with lyrics by [[John Bettis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Bettis: The Songwriters on Apple Music |url=https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/john-bettis-the-songwriters/pl.4fbf3041f4e84a90a593688a79c2c0ff |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Apple Music - Web Player |language=en-US}}</ref> The end theme was an jazzy instrumental version of the song. 

In the first season, the song was performed by [[B. J. Thomas|B.J. Thomas]], with [[Jennifer Warnes]] added for season 2. In seasons 4, Thomas and singer [[Dusty Springfield]] performed the theme song. In season 5, the theme returned to a slightly altered Thomas/Warnes performance. Season 6 introduced an [[a cappella]] version of the tune, before again returning to the Thomas/Warnes version. The last few episodes of season seven brought back the a cappella version of the song.  

In addition to the changes in the theme song, the imagery depicted on screen varied. In season 1, vintage photos of families played, with a sepia toned photo (that morphed into color) of the cast at the end.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq7Z61wdttE |title=Growing Pains Season 1 Opening Credits |date=2008-01-21 |last=Bobby Francis |access-date=2024-11-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Season 2 initiated the familiar show title over a live-action shot of the cast standing in front of the set of the house, before mixed imagery of clips from the show and photos of the cast when they were younger. At the end of the intro, the cast left their standing position to walk towards the house and a rotating member of the cast would lag behind.  

For the third season opening two-part Hawaiian episodes, the family was depicted standing in front of the Maui Prince Hotel, with the clips interspersed with the vintage cast photos from the episode itself. The closing credits music (over scenes from the episode) was an instrumental version of the song "Swept Away", written for the episode by Dorff, Bettis and [[Christopher Cross]] (who also performed the full version of the song in the episode).[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5I98g8BAWg] The remainder of season 3 was similar to season 2, with updated show clips and old photos of the cast.  

With the introduction of the pregnancy storyline, the first episode of season 4 depicted a pregnant Joanna Kerns with the rest of the cast standing before the house set. For the second episode of the season, as the family begins to move towards the house, the theme music fades and Kern's character announces that she is giving birth, with the family ushering her back to the house while the theme music finishes.  

The remainder of season 4 again had the family standing in front of the house set, now with the youngest member (infant Chrissy) depicted. The remainder were again vintage photos of the cast.