I Really Didn't Want to Talk About This Again.

It was brought to my attention today that "Boner" is actually short for Richard Stabone, a character that was on "Growing Pains" for four years (missing the final three seasons, probably because the Seavers had a new child in the family and didn't want to utter his name in front of her). Okay, I understand that the guy's name is a nickname. I didn't think they would go so far as to claim that Boner was his real name. And it's a perfectly logical nickname. But give him a different one, please. How about "Bones" or "Bone" or "T-Bone?" Why Boner? My friend Derek asked what moniker I expected a high school kid like Mike Seaver to give his best friend. That's a good point, but why did a respected lawyer like Jason Seaver have to condone the name? Maggie even said it from time to time, although I seem to recall her calling him by his given name of Richard because she's just a flat-out classy lady. But the show loses points in the realism department because I just don't believe Jason Seaver would ever call someone Boner. Theo's friend "Cockroach" from TV's "The Cosby Show," now that was a clever name. It was funny every time you heard it (on a higher level of funny than "Boner" -- not a shameful funny, it was actually funny), and the parents could say the name -- heck, even Rudy could say the name without you having to give the television a look like it was swearing in front of your parents.