Tracey Gold originally auditioned for the role of Carol Seaver but was passed over in favor of Elizabeth Ward; after test audiences didn't respond well to Ward, Gold replaced her and scenes from the original pilot were reshot with Gold for the broadcast version.

Joanna Kerns and Alan Thicke auditioned together for the roles of Maggie and Jason Seaver, and Kerns joked that their immediate chemistry included her accidentally kissing Thicke's nose during the audition, which helped them both land the parts.

Leonardo DiCaprio joined the cast in season 7 as homeless teen Luke Brower at age 15, partly to attract teenage female viewers the way Kirk Cameron had earlier; he was written out before the finale so he could start filming This Boy's Life, and his addition failed to boost the show's declining ratings.

Creator Neal Marlens and most of the original writing staff, including his wife Carol Black, were fired midway through the first season and replaced by Steve Marshall and Dan Guntzelman, who had formed their writing partnership on WKRP in Cincinnati.

The theme song 'As Long As We've Got Each Other' was performed by B.J. Thomas solo in season 1, then as a duet with Jennifer Warnes for most of the series, with Dusty Springfield replacing Warnes for a rock version used in season 4, and an a cappella rendition used in season 6 and part of season 7.

The opening credits sequence for seasons 2 through 5 featured sitcom-style sight gags similar to the ottoman gag in The Dick Van Dyke Show or the couch gags in The Simpsons, showing the Seaver family in varied on-location scenes before entering their house.

Kirk Cameron's conversion to born-again Christianity at 17 led him to object to scripts he found inappropriate, and he is alleged to have pushed for the firing of actress Julie McCullough after she posed nude in Playboy, reportedly even complaining directly to then-ABC Entertainment President Bob Iger.

Tracey Gold developed a severe eating disorder during production, dropping from 133 lbs to as low as an estimated 80 lbs by 1992; she was suspended from the show due to her skeletal appearance and her absence was written into the plot as Carol studying abroad in London before she returned for the finale.

Actor Jeremy Miller was stalked by an older man who sent him numerous letters starting around season 6, when Miller was about 14; the stalker was later arrested and convicted.

After ABC moved Growing Pains from Wednesdays to Saturdays for its final season as part of the TGIF spinoff block I Love Saturday Night, the show's ranking plummeted from #27 to #75 in the Nielsen ratings, leading to its cancellation.