Fair warning: every episode can’t be a winner and this one is definitely a major snooze-fest.  In fact, it was so bad that it seriously tested my commitment to actually watching every single episode, and you came incredibly close to not getting a recap.  I’m telling you that if you want to dive back into Growing Pains magic, you really should just skip this one because it’s absolutely not worth a second of your time.  

The title makes this relatively obvious but it’s Jason and Maggie’s anniversary and that’s cause for celebration. The kids are even making them breakfast in bed, which is super nice except for the fact that they’re not so skilled in the kitchen. I mean, even the garbage disposal rejected Carol’s breakfast, and those things will normally eat anything. 

Their surprise breakfast in bed plans are foiled when Maggie and Jason aren’t there. Somehow they’ve managed to get up, get dressed, and leave their room all without crossing paths with their children during what I assume was a lengthy breakfast preparation session. This seems implausible. No matter, the surprise gift has been ruined but thankfully they have a back up gift which is treating their parents to a day without the kids.  Maggie and Jason should be pumped by this, but they claim they had way too much work planned for the day. The kids ultimately wear them down, they agree to spend a day basking in their love for one another sans children, and the kids fly the coop.

Maggie and Jason’s day of love goes off the rails in mere minutes. First, there’s the garbage disposal repairman who claims he’ll only be a couple hours but who also moves as slow as molasses. Then Maggie’s work calls and she’s got a big opportunity to interview a major witness for her story, but that would require a trip to Washington. And suddenly, love isn’t in the air. Anniversary celebrations are officially off. 

Because this episode is so dull, I’m interjecting here with what I consider to be fun facts about Bud the Plumber (aka the garbage disposal repairman). So this guy appears in 8 Growing Pains episodes, always as a different character! Growing Pains actually did that a lot, but I digress. Anyway, man alive, if you look at this guy’s IMDB profile he acted steadily from 1941 to 2006, which was only four years before his passing. He appears to be one of those great character actors who showed up in an episode or two here or there. Sorry, I’m totally geeking out on this.  Actually, I’m not sorry because this is the best part of this whole episode!

Back to our hum-drum episode, Maggie is heading off to Washington which Jason is only okay with in theory because he wants to be a progressive husband.  She plans to be home in time for a celebratory anniversary dinner, so Jason acquiesces and stays home, where he seems to spend the bulk of the day waiting for Bud the plumber to finish the job (which, I should add, takes another 5.5 hours and $347.75 and which, I also need to add, would be $831 in today’s dollars!).

Jason’s somewhat-cool-with-Maggie-going-to-Washington-on-their-anniversary quickly shifts to not-at-all-cool-with-it when she calls to say her interview got delayed and she won’t make it home for dinner after all. Jason overreacts, and then the kids sort of freak out because Jason’s freaking out. And then they decide to buy him a plane ticket to go to Washington so he’ll stop freaking out. It would have been a great plan were it not for the fact that at the very same time, Maggie was deciding that, work be damned, she was going home for her anniversary.  

They miss each other by mere minutes, and just when you think it means the anniversary is ruined for good (and that the episode might finally be over), Maggie does the quickest turnaround possible and makes it back to the airport just in time to board Jason’s flight to Washington. They even get seats in the same row! That would never happen with a last-minute booking these days.  At least now the episode is finally over, and Maggie and Jason can enjoy their romantic anniversary flight to Washington in peace and quiet, just like the kids had hoped for. 

At the end of this episode I’m left wondering:

• I’m still perplexed by how Maggie and Jason got up, got ready for the day, left their room and somehow the kids never saw them or heard them. How is that possible within the confines of a relatively small house?
• How did Mike and Carol pay for this last-minute plane ticket? Surely you would need a credit card for this?
• How did Maggie and Jason not come up with this plan to go to Washington together before their 9 year old son did?
• Is anyone else as thrilled as I am about Bud the Plumber/Bill Erwin?
• Why is this episode so incredibly boring?