The original post: /r/television by /u/80severything on 2024-06-18 22:30:45.
This show was probably a bit to ahead of it’s time, the main character is played by Jason Bateman and very much a teenage antihero. He’s a snarky and mean spirited 14 year old who is intelligent and a young con artist. When his mom finds a new boyfriend he makes it his mission to break them up because he doesn’t like the guy. It turns out this guy in his youth was a con artist himself and knows a lot of his tricks. It was a sitcom with a darker edge than what was on t the time. Jason Bateman was written off the show Silver Spoons so he could have his own starring Television sitcom that could play to his strengths.
When the show started it was well received by critics but it was on at the same time as Dynasty it’s ratings were okay but the problem was kids at the time were getting in trouble in their home lives trying to imitate Jason Bateman’s character and getting in lots of trouble, so NBC meddled with the show, they softened Jason Bateman’s character making him nicer, he got in big trouble with his mom for a scam and the character renounced his scheming ways with only a handful of episodes left in the season the ratings began to drop and the show was cancelled. The show would later be aired on USA Network in re runs.
There is a two part episode where the main character pulls a scam involving a fake heavy metal band called the Dregs of Society but the second part wouldn’t air because of a speech by President Reagan. I think the episode did air on the west coast but I could be wrong, The second part wouldn’t be aired again until it’s airing on the USA Network.
This show was created by the same group of people who would create another show with a darker edge Married With Children which was a massive hit.
I quite enjoyed It’s Your Move when it was on but I don’t recall to much about the characters beyond Jason Bateman’s.