# TV movie: 14 going on 30 (1988) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287 "2016-06-02T07:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/1 "2016-06-02T07:10:09Z")
I found it on TV Trope’s “Overnight Age-Up”: > **[Overnight Age-Up - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OvernightAgeUp)** > > The reverse of Fountain of Youth, this is a scenario where Applied Phlebotinum (frequently in the form of a wish and/or a Physical Attribute Swap with someone older) turns one or more children into adults. Hilarity Ensues, and the kids either … I watched it on youtube. It was released in the same year as another movie in the trope, Tom Hanks’ “Big”. I’m a big fan of “Big” and “13 going on 30” (2004) (also called “Suddenly 30”). BTW both “14 going on 30” and “13 going on 30” feature the song “Crazy For You” by Madonna. (in the latter film it is at the start and the end) I hadn’t really heard of that song before but now it is one of my favourite Madonna songs. IMDB: > **[14 Going on 30 (TV Movie 1988) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094592/)** > > 14 Going on 30: Directed by Paul Schneider. With Steven Eckholdt, Daphne Ashbrook, Adam Carl, Gabriel Olds. Danny, 14, has a crush on his teacher, Peggy. He uses his inventor friend's growth machine to grow 30. The next day in school, he's mistaken... In this movie a character makes a machine that can grow and “ungrow” living things. The ending was nice. It was happy like “13 going on 30”. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/2 "2016-06-02T07:28:33Z")
The ending girl holds boys hand in class with nice music reminds me of the cool 1985 movie “Explorers”. For a long time I strongly wished I could go back and redo early high school like that. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/3 "2016-06-02T11:42:23Z")
We’ve been discussing this film for the past 14 years: > **[Anyone else remember the alternate ending to "Big"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=109762)** > > I was telling a friend the other day that I remembered the Tom Hanks movie ending different when I was younger. I saw it on video when it first came out and swear there is a different ending. In the version we all have seen, it ends with Josh and... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/4 "2016-06-02T15:00:17Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > The ending girl holds boys hand in class with nice music reminds me of the cool 1985 movie “Explorers”. For a long time I strongly wished I could go back and redo early high school like that. Hmmm…I remember a different ending… ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/5 "2016-06-02T21:38:16Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > We’ve been discussing this film for the past 14 years: > > [Anyone else remember the alternate ending to "Big"? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=109762) Ok… BTW I tried to search for it and it said: “Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : 14, going, on, 30” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/6 "2016-06-02T21:55:22Z")
I’m pretty sure that you can’t search for two character terms, so “14”, “on” and “30” were rejected. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/7 "2016-06-03T02:03:12Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Ok… BTW I tried to search for it and it said: > > “Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. > The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : 14, going, on, 30” Ha! Board searches are kind of annoying with the two minute delay between searches, so I typically just use google. For example, to search the boards for 14 going on 30 I would type “14 going on 30 site:boards.straightdope.com” into google. Click the link to see the results: [14 going on 30 site:boards.straightdope.com](https://www.google.com/#newwindow=1&q=14+going+on+30+site:boards.straightdope.com) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/8 "2016-06-03T04:16:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Hmmm…I remember a different ending… I thought at the end they’re back in their classroom then a boy and girl hold hands in a shared dream with nice music. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/9 "2016-06-03T04:40:13Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I thought at the end they’re back in their classroom then a boy and girl hold hands in a shared dream with nice music. No, you’re thinking of _Rashomon_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/10 "2016-06-03T06:23:41Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > No, you’re thinking of _Rashomon_. Well I went to youtube and bought the SD version of Explorers for AU$4.99. The ending - the 3 boys watch their spacecraft sink into the water. Next scene - boys talking in the rain. Next scene - in the classroom… young Ethan Hawke is playing around with a green crystal thing - his teacher asks him a question and he doesn’t know. He unscrunches a note: “have a nice trip?” the blonde girl he likes glances at him. The music swells and the object casts a green glow on his face. The scene suddenly jumps to within the electronic scene with clouds. The boys and the girl are flying in the clouds. The girl says “Ben” and reaches out to him and after a few attempts they hold hands. Then she reaches over and kisses him. “If this is all a dream, what happens when we wake up?” “I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/11 "2016-06-03T14:21:49Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > No, you’re thinking of _Rashomon_. I remember _Rashomon_ differently, too. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/12 "2016-06-03T14:29:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I remember _Rashomon_ differently, too. Was it the one with Tom Hanks? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/13 "2016-06-03T16:59:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Was it the one with Tom Hanks? Tom Hanks was only in the New Zealand TV adaptation of _Rashomon_. You remember, the one that had the daring casting choice of putting Lucy Lawless in the role originated by Toshiro Mifune. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/14 "2016-06-03T17:21:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > We’ve been discussing this film for the past 14 years: > > [Anyone else remember the alternate ending to "Big"? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=109762) No, you have not. If you had read the OP you would have noticed it is about the movie “14 Going On 30” and not “Big”. They are two different movies. > **[14 Going on 30 (TV Movie 1988) ⭐ 6.2 | Comedy, Family, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094592/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > 1h 34m > **[Big (1988) ⭐ 7.3 | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > 1h 44m | PG ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/15 "2016-06-04T00:24:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Tom Hanks was only in the New Zealand TV adaptation of _Rashomon_. You remember, the one that had the daring casting choice of putting Lucy Lawless in the role originated by Toshiro Mifune. That’s not how I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/16 "2016-06-04T01:18:40Z")
Yes, we have been discussing _14 Going on 30_, Drunky Smurf. We have been trying to tell the people who are convinced that they have seen a version of _Big_ with a different ending that they haven’t seen any such thing. We have been telling them that they have seen both _Big_ and _14 Going on 30_ and misremembering which part of the story goes with which. We have been trying to tell them that they are adding the last scene of _14 Going on 30_ to the end of _Big_. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/17 "2016-06-09T23:58:24Z")
Ok, totally unrelated to the ending, but how did the producers and writers of _14 Going on 30_ not understand alliteration? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/18 "2016-06-10T00:32:15Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Ok, totally unrelated to the ending, but how did the producers and writers of _14 Going on 30_ not understand alliteration? What do you mean? Did they think they were using it somewhere in the movie? I haven’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/19 "2016-06-10T00:40:21Z")
He means that “13” and “30” have the same first syllable, so 13 would have been better in the title. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287/20 "2016-06-10T10:00:52Z")
That’s because it is the sequel to 13 Going on 30, which was released 16 years later. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-movie-14-going-on-30-1988/756287.md?page=2)