Please Don't Hit Me, Mom (TV 1981)

A babysitter realizes that one of the children she looks after is being physically abused by his mother.

Director:

Gwen Arner

Writers:

Jeri Taylor (teleplay), Sydney Julien (story),

Stars:

Patty Duke, Nancy McKeon, Lance Guest

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Patty Duke	...	Barbara Reynolds (as Patty Duke Astin)
Nancy McKeon	...	Nancy Parks
Lance Guest	...	Michael Reynolds
Sean Astin	...	Brian Reynolds
Deena Freeman	...	Judy
Terrence Beasor	...	Parks
Sean De Veritch	...	Matthew (as Sean DeVeritch)
Leah Kates	...	Dr. Jessica Gage
Toni Sawyer	...	Mrs. Parks
Sandy Sprung
Beverly Todd	...	Louise Hawley
Harvey Vernon
Joseph Whipp	...	Coach Egan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
J. Michael Baran
Marian Wilson	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

A babysitter realizes that one of the children she looks after is being physically abused by his mother.

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Plot Keywords:

babysitter | brother brother relationship | single mother | after school special | mother son relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Sport

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1981 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TAT Communications Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When filming a scene in which Brian (Sean Astin) is being abused by his mother (Patty Duke), Astin found it very hard to cry, instead he would laugh hysterically as it reminded him of situations their family had been in. This was until his mother (Patty Duke is Sean's mother) took him aside and told him, "Look, I took a chance on you. What do you think you're doing? This is my career, this is my life... These people are counting on me. They're counting on you." Astin promptly burst into tears and Duke signaled for the cameras to keep rolling so that they could complete the scene.

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Connections

Edited into ABC Afterschool Specials: Please Don't Hit Me, Mom (1983)

User Reviews

afterschool cautionary tale courtesy of Patty Duke and Sean Astin

This movie, which I believe was originally an afterschool special, concerns a family dealing with the reality of child abuse. Patty Duke is a single mother dealing with the difficulties of raising two sons alone in a new community. She hires teen Nancy McKeon to babysit her youngest son (Sean Astin in his first film appearance). Through the course of the movie, as McKeon gets to know her young charge, she realizes that he is, in fact, being physically abused by his mother. Duke, as usual, turns in a great performance as the conflicted mother, struggling to control the rage that prompts the abuse and feeling guilty over the results. While it may have seemed cutting edge 20 years ago, the film comes across now as a bombastic public service announcement, watering down the complexities of the nature of abuse presumably to make the situation understandable to kids and teens. It might be shown somewhere like the LIFETIME network, which seems to have a soft spot for Patty Duke TV movies.