As a kid in the 1970s and ’80s, Kirk Cameron, the teenage star of the television sitcom “Growing Pains” (1985–1992) remembers waking up early on weekend mornings and turning on the TV to watch magic shows on PBS and animated cartoons, including “Felix the Cat.”
Weekday viewing was “Sesame Street” and evening TV watching with the family included “Little House on the Prairie” and “Happy Days.”
By the time he was raising his own six kids (now aged 28, 27, 26, 25, 23, and 22) with his wife and former “Growing Pains” costar Chelsea Noble, Cameron, 54, had rejected much of the TV lineup of the day in favor of recorded copies of older TV series, such as “I Love Lucy,” and favorite movies, including “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”
“So much had gone by the wayside,” Cameron recently told The Epoch Times, referring to what he sees as “the moral decline” in children’s content that slowly became the norm pumped out by Hollywood.
Given that concern and how he’s devoted much of his adult career to prioritizing faith-based projects, it makes sense that Cameron is now putting his own stamp on children’s programming with the new series “Iggy and Mr. Kirk,” debuting on March 27 at watchbrave.com.
Turn the Focus Toward Good Values
The new series has a “cast of colorful, lovable puppets” that includes “Iggy the Iguana” and “a vulture named Culture who’s always lying to Iggy and deceiving him,” Cameron said.
“And so Iggy’s got to learn the difference between what’s true and what’s false, what’s good and what’s bad,” he continued. “He relies on a non-woke supercomputer that he has in the treehouse and the biblical wisdom from his parents.”
While Cameron has nothing but fond memories of his days on the set of “Growing Pains,” neither this show nor “Full House,” his sister Candace Cameron Bure’s series, was part of his own kids’ viewing diet.
“We just really didn’t have the TV on—almost ever,” he said.
Instead, it was important to Cameron that their childhood be geared similarly to his own, where “you were outside, you were playing until the streetlights came on,” he said.
“We just wanted to have that for them. We really were outside more than we were inside. We were in California, which is nice for the weather. So we were always hiking. We were always going down to the beach. We were playing in the mud. We were camping. We were digging in the dirt. We were building things out of Legos and reading stories together out of books,” he said.
A focus on those unplugged activities coupled with a few guiding principles set the tone for Cameron and Noble’s family.
“We have a piece of paper that has been taped to the front of our refrigerator ever since the kids were little, and it’s ‘The Cameron family values’,” he said. “I learned these from my parents: Number one: Love God. Number two: Family first. Number three: Be kind. Number four: Work hard. And number five: Tell the truth.”
“It’s igniting children’s imagination for their good,” said Cameron, who views the book series as an antidote to the current slate of kids’ TV.
“We have one opportunity to nourish their hearts and minds with truth and goodness. So let’s lean in with all we’ve got and create the alternatives to the twisted stuff.”
Be a Changemaker
One can’t help but think of the slowed-down episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” when viewing “Iggy and Mr. Kirk.”“He was such a big part of our inspiration,” Cameron said of the late Fred Rogers, who played the character Mister Rogers. “He had such a love for children. And he really was a simple guy who just understood the way that kids think and how to nourish their hearts and minds.”
After putting his heart and soul into “Iggy and Mr. Kirk,” Cameron’s next focus is a family affair.
“I have a new show coming out, and I am working with some of my kids to produce that show,“ he said. ”It’s going to be called ‘The Kirk Cameron Show’ and it’s essentially my version of a Joe Rogan show or a Ben Shapiro show. It’s a video podcast about life, politics, culture.”
Cameron also doesn’t rule out getting back together with his “Growing Pains” family.
“A reboot of [it] would be fascinating. I would love that,” he said. “Our beloved Alan Thicke, who played my dad, passed away. So I’m not sure how it would look, but we have done some reunion movies, one-off hour specials. Candace did ‘Fuller House’ as the sequel to ‘Full House.’
What keeps Cameron motivated is the gratitude he receives when he’s out on the road on his “Strong Families, Strong Communities Tour” and his annual “See You at the Library” national day.
Parents told him that they are “profoundly grateful” that he’s fighting for a set of values, championing a message, and leading a movement that is of utmost importance. And they want to be a part of it.
“There is an army of compassionate people who wanna fight the good fight for faith and family and their children’s future,” Cameron said. “And it’s really encouraging.”
