In this episode of the Retroist Podcast, I discuss the 1983 comedy classic, Mr. Mom. This film had mixed reviews on release, but thanks to strong word-of-mouth and a stellar cast, it did well at the box office. It would become a classic to generation once it made it to cable television, where it had a long run.
I begin the episode by discussing my attempt to get my friends to play coupon poker and my sister’s disappointment in my chronic uncoolness. My only regret is that I didn’t score more coupons during our single game.
Then I move onto the movie itself. I talk about the people in front of and behind the camera, the music, the TV movie, 220, 221, whatever it takes, and much more.
Mr. Mom was one of many role reversal films that did well in the Eighties. It wasn’t groundbreaking at the time, but it was accessible and it probably opened the eyes of many people to how home and work life would continue to trend.
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Production Notes
This is episode 242 of the Retroist Podcast.
Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.
This is one of those shows I have tried to record several times. I think the first time was about a decade ago. I am glad to finally release one, it was very overdue.
I cut about 4 minutes from the cast section. It went on too much. I instead just focus on the main cast.
One of the kids in Mr. Mom is on an online show called, Critical Role. This didn’t exist when I first started trying to record this show. Also, I had never heard of Critical Role despite being a lifetime D&D player. Just not in my wheelhouse, but I plan on checking it out.
I had a bunch of commercials I wanted to include, but I am never sure if people enjoy them as much as I do. So I just kept it to two. Including one from the movie itself. Like Cola makes its first mention on the Retroist Podcast.
I DID see Easy Money in the movie theater at the time.
I had a section where I speculated about what John Hughes would be up to now if he had lived. It was only two minutes, but it was pretty weak speculation, so I cut it out.
I had a section where I just talk about my favorite scenes. I turned that into just the section about the Supermarket scene. This movie has so many great scenes, so good to not try and pick just a few.
Subscribing to Vudu to get access to the Mr. Mom tv show, might not be worth your money.
I had a lame anecdote about quoting this movie at our local video store. It was typical obnoxious video store jockey behavior, I opted to drop it.
I had posted the wrong mp3 link above. Thank to David for pointing it out. It is now fixed.
Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.
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