Joey's birthdate[]
I've extensively reasoned out Spike's age, but I'd like to tackle Joey's.
Regarding previously stated reasoning that Grade 8s start as a mix of 12- and 13-year-olds, and end as a mix of 13- and 14-year-olds, Joey turned 14 during 1989 (the retconned birth year of Emma Nelson). Since in a very early episode of the second season (representing the winter and spring terms of 1989), he says he's 14, I will suggest a birth date that is entirely non-canonical for now (and probably for all time since Pat Mastroianni will no longer appear on the DNG series).
I suggest Joey's birthdate is January or February of 1975. That allows him to be 14 for Season 2 and the first part of Season 3 (when his friends have moved on to Grade 9).
Unfortunately, as is sometimes done for fictional characters (like Jean-Luc Picard), I can't take Pat's birth date (Dec 22) and use it, though there is one other possibility. Joey started school a year late (as I've speculated for Spike), so he turned 14 on Dec 22, 1988, and was therefore born in December 1974, three months later than Spike. GCapp1959 15:02, November 30, 2009 (UTC)