[1][2] The film stars Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Timothy Patrick Murphy, Hallie Todd, Jonna Lee, James Karen, and Landon in a cameo.

Famous movie director Gene Orman (Landon) has visited the town to attend the premiere of his latest film Sam's Son.

The story then takes us back to the year 1953 when Gene is in high school and is an ordinary, shy teenager struggling with his identity (Murphy).

His parents, Sam (Wallach), a movie theater manager, and Harriet (Jackson), a housewife, were an unhappy couple, who constantly bickered.

Eugene is constantly bullied by his sharp-tongued mother Harriet, who had no patience for his privacy in the bathroom, disliked his long hair and his love for movies.

The next day, fellow schoolmate Cathy Stanton (Todd), who had been witnessing Eugene's work for several weeks, offers to help him with tutoring to make sure his grades don't fail if he wins a scholarship to the University of Southern California.

We then travel back to the present day, where Gene's friend Cy Martin (Howard Bassett) is seen explaining to someone on the limo's phone asking why they're not at the theater yet.

Michael Landon originally wrote the film's script in the summer of 1982 while his television series Little House on the Prairie was taking a break for the next season.

Timothy Patrick Murphy was cast as Eugene Orowitz because Landon thought he looked exactly like he did when he was younger and had seen him on Dallas as Charlene Tilton's boyfriend Mickey Trotter.

Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson were cast as Eugene's parents because Landon knew their real-life marriage would blend in with their characters.