Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Growing Pains Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1988 - 1989
Episode 1
Fool for Love
Wed, Oct 19, 198825 mins
Ben works up the courage to ask a girl to a Halloween party.
Episode 2
Birth of a Seaver
Wed, Oct 26, 198825 mins
Maggie goes into labor on Ben's Birthday, and she gives birth to a baby girl, meanwhile Ben wanders around the hospital and befriends an old patient named Chris. At the end Ben names his baby sister Christina.
Episode 3
Family Ties: Part 1
Wed, Nov 2, 198825 mins
In a showdown over his rights as an 18-year-old college student who is too old to play by the house rules established when he was a child, Mike moves out of the house and into his car.
Episode 4
Family Ties: Part 2
Wed, Nov 9, 198825 mins
Mike converts the storage space above the garage into an apartment. In so doing, he must choose whether he wants to be tenant or family member. Second of a two-part episode.
Episode 5
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Wed, Nov 16, 198825 mins
Jason sends his mother on a cruise to get her mind off her dead husband, but when she returns with a fiancé in tow, Jason finds it hard to accept the man who will "replace" his father.
Episode 6
Homecoming Queen
Wed, Nov 23, 198825 mins
It's homecoming at Dewey High, and Principal DeWitt is gleefully announcing the candidates for the homecoming court. Carol is scoffing at the apparent elitism of the court members - until her name is announced as one of the queen nominees. Carol is ecstatic - then very scared and anxious at the thought of being on the court. This triggers many of her past insecurities of being "fat" and nerdy. During one dream sequence, the court is being announced when Carol (wearing an expensive dress and having her hair done) suddenly gains weight and shifts back to her "bookish nerd" self, Mike pointing out the obvious to everyone's ridicule. But on the night of the homecoming dance, Carol learns that the "elite" girls of her class are just as nervous - perhaps more so - about being on the court. Carol realizes that she is not alone in her anxiety and, even though someone else is crowned queen, she has a great time at the dance.
Episode 7
Nude Photos
Wed, Nov 30, 198825 mins
When the family learns that a photo Mike took for a photography class he was taking is being honored, he didn't want them to know about it. So he tries to weave a tale but they know that Mike took the class so that he could take naked pictures of girls. So they go to the exhibit and discover what his photo is.
Episode 8
Ben's First Kiss
Wed, Dec 7, 198825 mins
Ben wants to score a date with a classmate who is not allowed to date. He throws himself a spontaneous birthday party at home and invites her. With help from Mike and Carol, they concoct a scheme to make it all happen.
Episode 9
The Nanny
Wed, Jan 4, 198925 mins
When Maggie returns to work after her maternity leave, Jason hires a pretty young co-ed to be a nanny, but Maggie starts to feel threatened and wants her fired.
Episode 10
Mandingo
Wed, Jan 11, 198925 mins
A trip to Martha's Vineyard goes wrong when Mike and Julie are the only ones who make the ferry, and they end up alone together for the night.
Episode 11
In Carol We Trust
Wed, Jan 18, 198925 mins
Carol gets away with her late-night return home from the library where she met a guy but the next night, her date with the guy ends poorly when her parents come home early. MATTHEW PERRY guest stars.
Episode 12
Mom of the Year
Wed, Jan 25, 198925 mins
Maggie is set to receive a prestigious award from a local women's group only to be called out to cover a garbage strike instead. Meanwhile, Carol tries dating a guy 11 years her senior.
Episode 13
Semper Fidelis
Wed, Feb 1, 198925 mins
Mike gets upset at Boner after he decides to drop out of college to join the Marines.
Episode 14
Feet of Clay
Wed, Feb 8, 198925 mins
When Ben's favorite rock star, Jonathan Keith (Brad Pitt), comes to town, Maggie pulls some strings through her television station to get him a backstage pass and tickets to the show. Jason accompanies Ben and quickly realizes that Ben's idol is not what he seems.
Episode 15
Anniversary from Hell
Wed, Feb 15, 198925 mins
Jason and Maggie are in for a surprise when an anniversary party is planned without their knowledge. As things get out of hand, desserts start flying.
Episode 16
Fortunate Son
Wed, Feb 22, 198924 mins
Mike is tired of his job at the car wash. While playing video games with Ben at a neighborhood convenience store, he inquires about working there. The manager immediately hires him for the graveyard shift. The store has many minorities working there. When he asks his boss to be let off the graveyard shift, his boss complies. It makes him feel uncomfortable being that he just started there, and that his wish was only granted because he is white. So Mike sets out to prove his boss is prejudice.
Episode 17
Double Standard
Wed, Mar 1, 198924 mins
Charges of sexism are heard when Jason and Maggie dole out punishments to the kids according to gender. Meanwhile, Mike keeps a new relationship a secret.
Episode 18
The Recruiter
Wed, Mar 15, 198924 mins
Carol tries to fail in her interview for Boston College, her parents' alma mater, because she doesn't want to go there. Mike helps her by hiring someone to play her dad for the interview.
Episode 19
Show Ninety: Who Knew?
Wed, Mar 22, 198925 mins
After Jason tries to help Mike with his psychology homework, both are surprised to find that Jason does even worse than his son.
Episode 20
Second Chance
Wed, Apr 12, 198925 mins
Carol's college-aged boyfriend Sandy--the butt of Mike and Ben's recent ridicule--takes her out for a night on the town despite her parents saying no. During their date, they stop at a bar. The next day, Ben pesters Carol with the family's video camera, recording Carol's nervousness at Sandy being an apparent no-show for their date. But the fun and teasing quickly ends when Carol gets a phone call informing her that Sandy is in the hospital; he was involved in a car accident on his way home from his date with Carol. She goes to the hospital to visit him. He appears to be just slightly bruised, then confesses that drunk-driving charges are pending against him, but he feels lucky to have gotten a second chance. Carol tells her parents, who are upset. Jason wants to teach her a lesson, but Maggie is just glad Carol is OK. When she gets home, Mike is waiting with terrible news: he has just gotten a phone call informing him that Sandy has died of internal bleeding. At first Carol thinks that Mike is just playing a cruel practical joke, but as he presses on with the details, it becomes clear that Sandy really has died, driving home the point of the dangers inherent in drunk driving.
Episode 21
The Looooove Boat: Part 1
Wed, Apr 26, 198925 mins
Wally and Irma invite everyone to a cruise wedding on the same ship they first met on, but the trip is marred by fighting and arguing. First of a two-part episode.
Episode 22
The Looooove Boat: Part 2
Wed, May 3, 198925 mins
Jason apologizes to everyone, and Irma and Wally are married. Meanwhile, Mike and Julie reveal their secret relationship and Mike makes a surprise announcement. Second of a two-part episode.