Phaneron

Trivia: Brandon Call's mom did not allow the hair and makeup department to style his hair for each episode. She insisted on doing it herself.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: Although the production paid to have Magic Mountain closed off for the cast and extras to film the show's opening titles sequence, the cast was not allowed to ride any of the rides for insurance reasons. The close-up shots of the cast on the roller coaster were done in front of a green screen, while the long shots were of stunt doubles.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: At the very beginning of the opening titles, the woman in the red top and white pants walking on the left is actually Christine Lakin's mom.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: Staci Keanan and Christine Lakin are the only cast members among the child actors to maintain an acting career after this show ended. Keanan eventually retired from acting and became the Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County. One of her notable cases was the trial of Danny Masterson.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: Despite only weighing around 100 lbs, Staci Keanan struggled with body dysmorphia while filming this show. Her own mother was one of the biggest contributors to her issues.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: Even though her mom recorded every episode when they aired, Staci Keanan never watched any episodes of this show until 2022, 25 years after it ended. She finally started watching them ahead of launching a podcast called "Keanan and Lakin Give You Déjà Vu" in February 2024 with fellow cast member Christine Lakin.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: After completing a day of filming on September 3 1996, Brandon Call, who played JT, was shot in both arms in a traffic altercation. Christine Lakin said on the Pod Meets World podcast that she believes the incident made Call decide he no longer wanted to be in the spotlight. He retired from acting following the conclusion of Step by Step, which lends some credence to her theory.

Phaneron ★

Trivia: Sasha Mitchell was dismissed from the show after the fifth season due to allegations of spousal abuse. It was later revealed that Mitchell's wife at the time would abuse their children in drug-induced rages and that Mitchell would intervene to protect them. Mitchell would later be brought back in a guest appearance in the show's penultimate episode.

Phaneron ★

We're in the Money - S7-E18

Character mistake: Mark walks into the house and is surprised to see Cody there, and remarks that he heard he was back. However, just before this, when Mark entered the house, Cody's van - which Mark had to walk by to enter the house - was visible through the open door, so that should have confirmed it for Mark before he saw Cody in person.

Phaneron ★

We're in the Money - S7-E18

Visible crew/equipment: When Cody is saying to Mark "You know it's really good to see you're dating," a crew member steps into the shot on the right side of the screen. (00:08:45)

Phaneron ★

We're in the Money - S7-E18

Visible crew/equipment: When Cody is handing Carol the cashier's check, a camera and a crew member's arm are briefly visible on the right side of the screen.

Phaneron ★

Season 6 generally

Deliberate mistake: Lily was an infant for all of season 5, but beginning with this season, she is around 5 years old. The show didn't jump forward in time, because JT states in a season 5 episode that he is 19, and in the episode this season where he and Rich go to Mexico, he states that he is almost 20, as well as Al and Mark are both still in high school.

Phaneron ★

Video Mania - S3-E6

Plot hole: The plot for this episode is that Mark reluctantly tries out video games for the first time and soon becomes addicted to them. However, the season 1 episode "All in the Family" showed him to already be an avid gamer.

Phaneron ★

Show generally

Continuity mistake: The layout of Frank and Carol's house is inconsistent with the exterior shots. The driveway as seen from their backyard is more shallow and narrow than what is shown in the exterior shots, and the stairway to the left of their front door has a window halfway up, but the exterior shot shows a low section of roof that would completely obscure any window.

Phaneron ★

Hog Wild - S3-E7

Audio problem: When Cody is playing the blues on his guitar, he is shown to be fretting the higher pitched strings while playing the lower strings open. However only low notes are heard and at least three different chords are heard, which would not be possible if he was playing the strings open.

Phaneron ★