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''It's Your Move'' is an American
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
television series created by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, starring
Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
, Tricia Cast, Caren Kaye,
Ernie Sabella Ernest Sabella (born September 19, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pumbaa from '' The Lion King'' franchise, voicing the character in all media except the 2019 and 2024 films. Sabella's TV roles include Mr. Donald ...
, David Garrison, Adam Sadowsky, and
Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980. He ...
. The show originally aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
from September 26,
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
to February 23,
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
. The series is available on Crackle.


Premise

The show centered on Matthew Burton (Bateman), a teenage scam artist who lived in a
Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, apartment with his older sister Julie (Cast) and widowed mother Eileen (Kaye). Matt ran various underhanded dealings with his high school friends, especially his sidekick Eli ( Adam Sadowsky), 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 (Garrison) moved into the apartment across the hall. A quick-witted but impoverished writer from
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, 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 (though not ''always'') 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 Ernest Sabella (born September 19, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pumbaa from '' The Lion King'' franchise, voicing the character in all media except the 2019 and 2024 films. Sabella's TV roles include Mr. Donald ...
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 Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980. He ...
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 ("Caught In The Act"), 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 (generally wholesome) 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 (Bateman) antics”.Smartless
"Martin Short" 04 January 2021 (Podcast), Accessed 22 September 2023. Event begins at 47:09


Cast

*
Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
as Matthew Burton * Caren Kaye as Eileen Burton * Tricia Cast as Julie Burton *
Ernie Sabella Ernest Sabella (born September 19, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pumbaa from '' The Lion King'' franchise, voicing the character in all media except the 2019 and 2024 films. Sabella's TV roles include Mr. Donald ...
as Lou Donatelli * David Garrison as Norman Lamb


"The Dregs of Humanity" episode

A notable episode was a two-parter entitled "The Dregs of Humanity".Weinman, Jaime (3 July 2009)
Weekend Viewing: It's Your Move
''
Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...
'', Retrieved December 15, 2010
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 (The Dregs of Humanity) and acts as their manager. The fictitious band, which actually consisted of four skeletons stolen from the biology lab (and controlled by strings with a smoke machine to cover them up), 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 Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...
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 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
.


Critical reaction and cancellation

The series opened with some positive reception from critics,Holston, Noel (26 September 1984)
TV's junior con man proves oddly endearing
''
Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...
'', Retrieved December 15, 2010
Duffy, Mike (Knight-Ridder) (28 September 1984)
'It's Your Move' Shows Promise
''
The Beaver County Times ''The Beaver County Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States, serving suburban Beaver County northwest of Pittsburgh. It is the sole newspaper covering Beaver County. The ''Times'' has previously produc ...
'', Retrieved December 15, 2010
but its time slot competed with the popular show ''
Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
'' on ABCJicha, Tom (26 September 1984)
NBC makes the wrong move with new sitcom
''
The Miami News ''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the ''Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...
'', Retrieved December 15, 2010 (noting that debut episode of the series had to go up against ''Dynasty'' and a miniseries installment)
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 Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
's '' Married... with Children'', in which Garrison starred for four seasons (the two shows also shared the same production company, Embassy Communications).


Guest stars

*
Kristy Swanson Kristy Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''. Her first starring role was in ...
("Love Letters") * River Phoenix ("Pilot") *
Justine Bateman Justine Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American filmmaker, author and former actress. Her acting work included '' Family Ties'', '' Satisfaction'', ''Men Behaving Badly'', '' The TV Set'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and ''Californication ...
("Pajama Party") *
Alan Blumenfeld Alan Blumenfeld (born September 4, 1952) is an American character actor, best known for his role in NBC's TV series ''Heroes (U.S. TV series), Heroes'' as Maury Parkman, the telepathy, telepath father of Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg, and ...
("Dad and Me") * Shawnee Smith (“The Experts”) *
Liz Sheridan Elizabeth Ann Sheridan (April 10, 1929 – April 15, 2022) was an American actress. While best known for her roles as the nosy neighbor, Mrs. Ochmonek, on the sitcom '' ALF'' (1986–1990), and Jerry's mother, Helen, in ''Seinfeld'' (1990–1998 ...
(“A Woman is Just a Woman”) *
Nina Blackwood Nina Blackwood is an American disc jockey and music journalist, who was the first of the original five MTV VJs (along with Mark Goodman, J. J. Jackson, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn). She has been an actress and model noted for her raspy voice ...
(“The Dregs of Humanity: Part 2”)


Episodes


Award nominations


Syndication

The show was rerun on the
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
from 1989 to 1992.


References


External links

* *{{epguides, id=ItsYourMove 1984 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings 1980s American teen sitcoms American English-language television shows Television series about families American television series about teenagers Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series created by Ron Leavitt NBC sitcoms 1980s American multi-camera sitcoms