After dropping out of school and overcoming his alcohol dependency, Michael Jr. meets his future wife Sharee Gregory while working on the set of Highway to Heaven and the young couple are married.

Michael Jr. finally learns from his mother the truth of his father's unstable childhood, which may partly explain his irrational behavior and turbulent family life as an adult.

Michael Landon Jr. has stated that the film is based on a combination of his own experiences growing up and the last interview his father gave which was published in the June 1991 issue of Life magazine shortly before his death.

Entertainment Weekly critic Ken Tucker gave the film a C+ writing, "[L]ove starved, Michael Landon Jr. harbors little affection for one of TV's most beloved stars.

Where the public saw the elder Landon as a cocky-but-concerned family man, Junior recalls a workaholic who neglected the kids of his multiple marriages in favor of a succession of ever-younger wives.

"[2] People magazine critic Terry Kelleher felt similarly, writing "There's talk of forgiving and moving on in the last stages of this TV movie.