Problem Child

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Problem Child is a 1990 American comedy film. It stars John Ritter, Amy Yasbeck, Gilbert Gottfried, Jack Warden, Michael Richards, and Michael Oliver. The film was directed by Dennis Dugan, and was the first of many produced by Robert Simonds. Despite getting a 0% "Rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was successful enough that it was succeeded by two more movies and an animated TV series.

The basic plot revolves around the title character (Junior), a kid who basically is basically an Enfant Terrible who raises all sorts of hell, lots of stuff gets destroyed, and lots of people get screwed over in the process. However, Junior isn't all that bad and does have a decent side, despite his comedic yet disturbing antics, and by the end of the movies usually winds up a better person in some way.

The TV series has Junior still be a hellraiser, but is occasionally in a heroic role because he's dealing with those much worse than him at the time.

Tropes used in Problem Child include: