Problem Child 3: Junior in Love
| Problem Child 3 | |
|---|---|
 German DVD cover | |
| Based on |
Characters by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski |
| Written by | Michael Hitchcock |
| Directed by | Greg Beeman |
| Starring |
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| Music by | David Michael Frank |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Anthony Santa Croce |
| Cinematography | Peter Smokler |
| Editor(s) | Mallory Gottlieb |
| Running time | 84 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Telvan Productions The Robert Simonds Company MCA Television Entertainment |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original release |
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| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Problem Child 2 |
Problem Child 3 is a 1995 American made-for-television film and the third and final installment of the Problem Child series. However, it sets off completely different from the second film. In it, Junior is a preteen and is in love with a girl named Tiffany. However, she does not notice him. Things take a mischievous turn when he finds out there are three other boys interested in her as well. In this installment, he is portrayed by Justin Chapman and Ben is portrayed by William Katt. Neither Annie (Amy Yasbeck) nor Trixie (Ivyann Schwan) appears in it, nor are they mentioned. Gilbert Gottfried and Jack Warden are the only cast members to appear in all three films. It neither explains how Big Ben is still rich, since his apparent new wife, LaWanda, is never mentioned, nor how Mr. Peabody went from being a school principal to a dentist. It aired on May 13, 1995 on NBC.
Plot
Junior Healy (Justin Chapman) tells a story from multiple drawings in a coloring book, and it switches to his classroom where he is told by Miss Hicks (Marianne Muellerleile) that he got an "F" for not finishing his science project, and he mentions that "it's all about sound waves", and the bell rings, causing a set of traps to trigger, and her to fall out a window. The audience is told that Murph (Eric Edwards), one of his classmates, told on him, and the principal called his dad, Ben (William Katt), prompting him to take him to get help. They meet Sarah Gray (Carolyn Lowery), a therapist who tests him, and decides that he needs some activities to do, such as boy scouts, sports and ballroom dancing. He takes this harshly, and does not approve of these options.
He is taken to a dance school, run by Lila Duvane (Ellen Albertini Dow), a tyrannical débutante, and dislikes it at first, then he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Ogletree), a pretty little girl recently moved to town, but Murph - who had asked him to dance with his sister, Bertha (Edwards), - informs him that three boys, the Prairie Dogs' Scout Duke Philim (Brock Pierce), the bad boy and roller hockey team's captain Blade (Jake Richardson), and the flamboyant actor Corky McCullum (Blake McIver Ewing) have already taken her. Junior tries to proclaim his love to her, but fails miserably. At school, he is given a new teacher, the tyrannical Mr. Burtis (Bruce Ed Morrow), who he traps similar to Miss Hicks at the beginning. He bites an apple and feels pain. He and Ben go to a dentist's office where it is discovered by the infamous Igor Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried) that he needs braces. Ben asks his father, Big Ben (Jack Warden), for a $5,000 loan which leads to disappointing results.
After meeting the trio and Tiffany, he decides to start with scouting under Scoutmaster Eugene Phlim (Sherman Howard) who is Duke's father. Afterwards he decides to enter hockey which Blade is in. He gets beaten by Blade's team (a scene shows his gear flying up into the air after a critical hit, an obvious parody of the first film). After his rough encounters, he decides to "get even" and take part in a Peter Pan play, where he is stuck playing a weed. Ben meets Sarah at Big Ben's, and it is discovered that she was with Scoutmaster Phlim, and subsequently broken up with him.
When Junior comes back to get his braces tightened, he gets his revenge for his humiliation he received from them by releasing laughing gas that knocks Dr. Peabody and Nurse Kiki unconscious. They later wake up wearing braces with her tied to the patient chair and him hanging from the ceiling fan by his.
During the hockey tournament, Junior beats everyone of the opposing team players, and strikes Blade with a puck (quickly after sticking superglue on his mask). After this, he is banned for life, and then he traps Corky by distracting the janitor (Rance Howard), and pulling the rope attached to the suspension harness and crashing it down, severely injuring Corky and Lila Duvane.
After these two schemes, Junior and Ben are challenged by Duke and Scoutmaster Philm to a relay race which consists of a sack race, a tire run, a monkey bar cross, a rope climb, and a canoe race. Junior sabotages every obstacle on their side, and they win. Duke, Blade, and Corky are all seriously injured and Junior finally tries to spend some time with Tiffany. However, she winds up being not what he expected; she is really a spoiled brat. He pranks her by tying the sash ribbon on her dress to a statue, and as she walks forward, it rips off. Half-naked, embarrassed, and laughed at, she runs out crying, and Murph's sister, Bertha, blames Junior and chases after Tiffany. Sad and alone again, he meets a nicer girl who is also wearing braces. Like the beginning, he depicts everyone in a coloring book, and signs off by saying "So long, suckers!" as the words "The End" pop up in the book.
Cast
- William Katt as Ben Healy, Junior's kind hearted adoptive father
- Justin Chapman as Junior Healy, the avenging mischief maker, who this time is trying to be with Tiffany.
- Sherman Howard as Scoutmaster Eugene Phlim, the aggressive Scoutmaster of Prairie Dogs. He used to date Sarah Gray until she broke up with him, but refuses to accept it and jealously stops anyone else from dating her.
- Carolyn Lowery as Sarah Gray, a therapist and the ex-girlfriend of Scoutmaster Phlim who developed a crush on Ben Healy.
- Eric Edwards as Murph / Bertha
- Jennifer Ogletree as Tiffany, Junior's crush who turned out to be not what he expected.
- Blake McIver Ewing as Corky McCullum, a snooty, spoiled, and rich child star.
- Brock Pierce as Duke, son of Scoutmaster Phlim and lead member of the Prairie Dog Scouts.
- Jake Richardson as Blade, a bully and the captain of a Roller Hockey team called the Weasels.
- Gilbert Gottfried as Dr. Igor Peabody, Junior's archenemy who is now his dentist.
- Jack Warden as Big Ben Healy, Ben's father and Junior's adoptive grandfather. He is extremely selfish and mean.
- Ellen Albertini Dow as Lila Duvane, a senior dance teacher who immediately takes a dislike to Junior.
- Marianne Muellerleile as Miss Hicks, Junior's nasty teacher who left after one of his pranks
- Bruce Ed Morrow as Mr. Burtis, the teacher who temporarily replaced Mrs Hicks, until after another one of Junior's pranks.
- Jacqueline Obradors as Conchita, Big Ben's maid
- Kelli Thacker as Nurse Kiki, Dr. Peabody's mean hygienist
- Rance Howard as the Janitor