Photo: ABC
How many years did you watch Growing Pains and never connect the disturbing dots that a show with that name has a character named Boner? Well, those were the only TV blunders we have overlooked, but today, all that will change.
While we sadly lost Andrew Koenig (Boner) a few years ago to depression, we can’t help but wonder how the Growing Pains writers thought they could throw a name like that into a family program and not have anyone ask questions. This isn’t Disney! If that had happened today, there’d be a boycott and a city-wide march, and the NFL would have a brightly-colored headband to remind people (I borrowed that last joke from Bill Burr).
Check out some more of TV’s biggest blunders below. The show may have groomed a homophobic man who would nearly destroy a beloved holiday with his horrid Christmas movie, but then again, we did get Leo out of it at the end. We’ll call that a wash, but the Boner problem sticks (that’s what she said (I borrowed that from The Office)).
TV Blunders We Overlooked
More TV tidbits: ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Expected to Implement Wheelchair Access and a Paper Wheel to Appease Vanna White and Pat Sajak’s Withering Bodies
TV BLunders
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A Boy Named Boner on 'Growing Pains'
Kirk Cameron doesn't support homosexuality, but his childhood says otherwise.
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An Overeating Actor Who Never Works Out
Every episode, Joey makes some kind of reference to his love of food, yet despite his profession as an actor, you never once see him exercise. Amazing.
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A Nerd Turned Switch-Blading Porn Actor
How could you name a character Screech and not be setting him up to make a porn called Screeched. According to Diamond, he was stunt-cocked, but his face is definitely in there.
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A Constantly Unemployed Guy Living Alone in New York
Aside from the lifting of his strike at H&H Bagels, Kramer was never fully employed with pay, outside of a few small business ventures (Hennigans) and a couple court settlements. Yet he managed to have his own place across the hall from a very successful comedian. There's a spin-off just waiting to happen right there.
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A Serial Killer Who Forgot to Kill the Worst of All
Dexter was smart enough to kill all kinds of horrible people, yet he couldn't see clearly enough that his sister, Deb, just needed to go. She didn't meet the code, but she was a bad enough actress we'd be alright with it. If they could work up to a storyline in which she fell in love with her brother, surely they could get around to killing her on a show like that. Worst finale ever.
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The Semi-Racist Swap-Out
Everybody knows they tried to swap out Aunt Viv, like we wouldn't notice. Judging by her demeanor and dialogue here, we can't figure out why. Talk about racist!
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Making the Ordinary Family Extraordinary
They spent nearly a decade convincing us that the Conners were a regular American family, at least until they had them winning the lottery. Terrible last season, but should be a wonderful reboot. Isn't Dan dead? Doesn't matter when you have great writers!
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Taking Away the One Thing People Liked
Photo: Pinterest
People tuned into Felicity for Keri Russell's hair, then they cut it off. Not a huge surprise the show ended after four seasons.
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Making a Baby Gay to Up Ratings
Stewie was just a regular diabolical baby before the show was cancelled early on. When Fox brought Family Guy back, something about Stewie had changed.
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Taking Jay Over Conan
The biggest TV blunder belongs to NBC, letting Conan go after Jay handed over the reigns, only to bring Jay back and then lose ratings. We love you, Coco!
