PHOTO PROVIDED Terri Garr (left) and Michael Keaton (right) star in the 1983 hit “Mr. Mom.”

This week’s “Throwback Thursday” review was supposed to be the Mel Brooks comedy classic “Blazing Saddles.” I noticed that it was listed under free movies on Xfinity’s OnDemand. However, I hadn’t watched “Blazing Saddles” since I was in high school and I had forgotten how wildly inappropriate it was. I got about 15 minutes into before I decided to switch gears.

I went completely in the other direction and and decided to go with “Mr. Mom,” a 1983 comedy starring Michael Keaton and Terri Garr. I saw the movie in the theatre with my Dad, if memory serves. During the winter months, we would often go to Sunday matinees, and “Mr. Mom” was one of those rarities — a PG-rated family film.

The plot of “Mr. Mom” is pretty simple — dad gets laid off from job, mom steps up and goes back to work leaving dad all alone with the kids. As you can imagine, hijinks ensue.

The film is set in Detroit, where Jack Butler (Keaton) lives with his wife, Caroline (Garr), and their children Alex, Kenny, and Megan, in a suburb. During the early 1980s recession, Jack and his friends Larry and Stan lose their engineering jobs at the Ford Motor Company. Caroline, having been a housewife for years, uses her college education and experience working in advertising to re-enter the workforce, leaving Jack to deal with the new responsibilities of a stay-at-home dad.

At first, Jack embraces his new role. However, he quickly realizes there’s more to taking care of the house than just laundry and meals. He struggles with the most basic tasks, such as grocery shopping and dropping the kids off at school. Early into the film, he overloads the washing machine, accidentally rips down a curtain and burns dinner.

Since I hadn’t watched “Mr. Mom” in about 30 years, I forgot how much the film depends on sight gags. Jack battles a vacuum cleaner, burns numerous meals and single-handedly destroys a grocery store, toppling over cans and grapefruits along the way.

The plot is simple and pretty far-fetched, but Keaton and Garr make it work. Caroline’s boss, Ron Richardson (Martin Mull) is a slimeball and immediately eyes her up as he tries to get between the couple. Jack also gets his fair share of attention from the neighborhood moms, including the flirtatious Joan (Ann Jillian), who has her sights set on the new stay-at-home dad.

The film is dated and you’ll laugh at some of the decor and outfits. I’m always fascinated by the technology as well. How did we ever live with just alarm clocks and a handful of television channels?

As the film progresses, Jack grows a beard, puts on weight and gets hooked on daytime television, mostly “Young and the Restless.” He also teaches the neighborhood moms how to play poker and they gamble for coupons while swilling Miller Lite.

Some quick nuggets about “Mr. Mom” — the story was written by John Hughes of “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” fame. He wrote it based on a disastrous experience he had looking after his own two children. Hughes wrote the film, then flew to Los Angeles to rewrite the script. Hughes had a TV deal with Aaron Spelling, so he brought him in as an executive producer. Studio executives at Universal Studios, however, were unhappy that Hughes worked in Chicago and not LA. So they fired him, bringing in a group of TV writers to remake his script. Ron Howard was offered to direct the film but turned it down to do “Splash” with Tom Hanks, another megahit.

“Mr. Mom” needed a leading man and they found it in Keaton, who was coming off his debut success in “Night Shift” with Henry Winkler. As you watch Keaton in films like “Spotlight” and TV shows such as “Dopesick,” it’s hard to envision him as a comedic actor, but that’s how he started.

Much like last week’s “Due Date,” “Mr. Mom” is a fun, but dated, light romp. It’s certainly worth 90 minutes of your time, especially if you are feeling nostalgic.

“Mr. Mom” is rated PG for some gross humor and a few adult situations. All in all, it’s pretty harmless stuff.

You can find “Mr. Mom” on a myriad of streaming services, including Xfinity OnDemand, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Chris Morelli is a staff writer for The Express.