Mr. Mom (1983): John Hughes Revisited

Long before Michael Keaton was Batman, he was a gifted comedian making a name for himself in big-screen comedies. Fresh off his debut in Ron Howard’s hit Night Shift, Keaton became one of the biggest comedy stars of the day thanks to a string of comedies. One of his biggest smash hits was Mr. Mom. While somewhat obscure nowadays, in 1983, this movie grossed a whopping $64 million dollars (equivalent to $174 million now) and cemented Keaton as a megastar. 

It was also an important film in the career of its writer, John Hughes, who came out of the film with a three picture deal at Universal, which led to classics like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. In our latest episode of JOHN HUGHES REVISITED, we go into the making of this smash hit, explaining how important it was for Hughes’ rise, while also exploring the long-forgotten chapter of Keaton’s career. 

For those of us who grew up in the eighties, a movie like Mr. Mom was a staple of cable TV. It’s popularity coincided with the rise of HBO and Home Video, so it was in constant rotation in a lot of households. For me, Mr. Mom was a favorite, and this latest edition of John Hughes Revisited certainly struck a bunch of nostalgic chords. With Michael Keaton once again in the limelight, with him reprising Batman in The Flash, maybe he’ll dip his toe into comedy again at some point? Heck, let him make Mr. Grandma! It would be great!

John Hughes Revisited is written, edited and narrated by Matthew Hacunda. It’s produced by Chris Bumbray (me!) and executive produced by Berge Garabedian. Check out some other episodes below. We plan to cover the entirety of Hughes’ career in chronological order! Sixteen Candles is next!