#OnThisDay in 1984, 𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙀 debuted on NBC. Starring a 15-year-old Jason Bateman, fresh off of 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨, the show offered a unique brand of humor that resonated with many teenage viewers and has become something of a cult classic sitcom in the last 40 years. The show followed the antics of Matthew Burton, a silver-tonged teenager who was an accomplished con man, a fact known to just about everyone but his mother Eileen (Caren Kaye). The character of Matthew was quite similar to Derek, the character he had played on 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨. This is because the show was originally intended as a spin-off of Spoons, but either as a result of show development or inability to use the character, Derek became Matthew.
What set 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙈𝙤𝙫𝙚 apart from your typical family sitcom was its willingness to eschew sappy wholesomeness and embrace Matthew's unapologetically manipulative personality. When the series started, Matthew, assisted by goofy friend Eli (Adam Sadowsky) was an established operator, usually dodging sister Julie's (Tricia Cast) attempts to throw a wrench into the works of his schemes. Matthew wasn't all bad, his good-hearted side was also shown when he would secretly help his single mother by sneaking cash into her purse and later finagles free rent for his family. But when magazine writer Norman (David Garrison) moves in across the hall and becomes a potential boyfriend to his mom, Matthew finds Norman to be a sharp-witted adversary, introducing the shows catchphrase: "You're gonna laugh..."
Created by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, series episodes depicted Matthew's elaborate scams, now often targeting Norman - who presents a threat to the status quo - especially with his new position as substitute teacher at Matthew's school. The show's most memorable episode was "Dregs of Humanity", a fan-favorite that highlighted Matthew's outlandish schemes. When Eli loses money set aside to hire a band for the school dance, Matthew fabricates an entire rock band using skeletons borrowed from the school's biology lab puppeteered by Eli. Things quickly get out of hand when Norman 'interviews' the Dregs for a music magazine with Eli ad-libbing the answers!
"𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁. 𝗪𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹...𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬! 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗦." Incredibly, the second part was pre-empted by President Reagan, and to make matters worse NBC briefly took the show off the air the week after that. Although the show was later rerun on USA Network, some fans never saw the conclusion until decades later when it was finally posted to YouTube. Columnist Mark Dawidziak noted getting "lots and lots of letters" about the missing show at the time.
The show was well-received by critics and loved by fans, but it wasn't competitor Dynasty that did the show in. Unfortunately, the show ultimately was a victim of the infamous NETWORK RETOOLING. In response to letters from parents complaining about the antics of Matthew that supposedly had inspired their own kids to imitate his shenanigans, NBC forced a change in storyline and tentatively ordered 5 episodes at mid-season.
In episode 14, Matthew's mother catches him red-handed breaking into her place of work as part of his latest scheme. With Eileen now aware of things, the core premise and appeal of the show was lost. The remaining four episodes neutered the Matthew character into a 'nice boy.' As Caren Kaye noted to writer Bob Leszczak, “What I think happened was that NBC presented a mandate that if we wanted to have any chance at renewal for another season, Jason Bateman’s character had to be softened somewhat. In the end, it ruined the original chess match premise, and the show suffered as a result. This really should have been a five-season or more show.”
A couple of seasons later, Moye and Leavitt got another chance to bring an edgy comedy to the air, bringing David Garrison along with them: 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙... 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣. Sadly, Adam Sadowsky quietly passed away three years ago at age 50; something that only became known in SAG-AFTRA's yearly In Memoriam bulletin.
Extended article on 𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙀 found at ForgottenTV's Patreon page.
