It's Your Move


It's Your Move is an American sitcom television series created by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, starring Jason Bateman, Tricia Cast, Caren Kaye, Ernie Sabella, David Garrison, Adam Sadowsky, and Garrett Morris. The show originally aired on NBC from September 26, 1984 to February 23, 1985.

Premise

The show centered on Matthew Burton, a teenage scam artist who lived in a Van Nuys, California, apartment with his older sister Julie and widowed mother Eileen. Matt ran various underhanded dealings with his high school friends, especially his sidekick Eli, such as selling pre-written term papers and exam answer keys, and even engaging in blackmail. His mother was oblivious to all his cons, grifts and scams; his older sister was aware, but couldn't prove anything.
The status quo of Matthew's world changed in the series' pilot, when Norman Lamb moved into the apartment across the hall. A quick-witted but impoverished writer from Chicago, Norman struck up a friendship with Eileen and the two were soon dating. Dismayed that his mother had chosen someone he felt was beneath her, Matt attempted to sabotage their relationship, but soon found Norman to be a cagey antagonist who regularly foiled Matthew's plots -- it turned out Norman had once been a teen con artist himself, and knew most of Matthew's tricks. Norman, meanwhile, also became one of Matthew's high school teachers. Not wanting to hurt Eileen, Norman kept Eileen in the dark about Matthew's true nature, as long as he could render Matthew's schemes harmless.
Also seen was Ernie Sabella as Lou Donatelli, the manager of the apartment building where the Burtons and Norman lived. Matthew sometimes used empty apartments in the building for some of his operations, but the none-too-bright Mr. Donatelli was usually several steps away from figuring out what was going on. Garrett Morris had a recurring role as Principal Dwight Ellis, who was both Norman's boss and Matthew's high school principal.
The battle-of-wits premise of the show was changed significantly after episode 14, in which Matthew was caught by his mother red-handed in the midst of one of his schemes. Matthew wound up confessing not only to his current escapade, but to virtually everything else he'd ever done. Eileen also discovered that Norman had been covering up for Matthew. After a lot of recriminations, Norman apologized for keeping the truth from Eileen, and the two made up. Matthew sincerely apologized and completely abandoned his scamming, as well as deciding to support Norman and Eileen's relationship. The show consequently became a much more traditional family-oriented sitcom for its last few episodes, in which Matthew's much-tamer 'scheming' was in support of the goals of family or classmates.
This almost complete change in Matthew's character may have been a result of letters that NBC received from parents of high school-aged boys. According to Jason Bateman, the reason the show was cancelled was because NBC was receiving “letters from mothers across the country whose kids were getting into trouble at school by mimicking Matthew’s antics”.

Cast

"The Dregs of Humanity" episode

A notable episode was a two-parter entitled "The Dregs of Humanity". In the first half of the episode, Eli loses the school's money that had been trusted to Matt for hiring a band for a school dance. To cover the loss, Matthew crafts the rise and fall of a band and acts as their manager. The fictitious band, which actually consisted of four skeletons stolen from the biology lab, is a little too successful and Matthew soon finds himself agreeing to allow Norman an interview with the band for Music Press magazine, figuring that if the truth ever comes out, Norman will be humiliated. The interview only fuels the Dregs' popularity, and this sets up the cliffhanger: the Palladium calls and offers a $20,000 gig for the Dregs. While heretofore willing to let the Dregs retire, the money is too enticing and Matt agrees to the gig.
The second installment of the two-part episode was scheduled to air the following week, but was preempted by a speech by then-President Reagan.
In the second part of the episode, Matthew is scrambling to explain why The Dregs failed to show up to a sold-out concert. To make matters worse, Norman is starting to suspect that the band doesn't exist and Matthew gets sued. He finally has the brilliant idea to send the "band" to a watery grave by concocting a story that the "band" drove off a cliff into the ocean. In a later episode, it is revealed that the fake band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Critical reaction and cancellation

The series opened with some positive reception from critics, but its time slot competed with the popular show Dynasty on ABC and the series was canceled in early 1985.

Production notes

The show's creators and executive producers were Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt, who just three years later would take the harder tone of the It's Your Move concept and put it in an entirely different context: Fox's Married... with Children, in which Garrison starred for four seasons.

Guest stars

Syndication

The show was rerun on the USA Network from 1989 to 1992.