UHF

"Put down your remote control.  Throw out your T.V. Guide." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1989 Cult Classic Film UHF is still entertaining 28 years later.  Written by “Weird Al” Yankovic and Jay Levey, the humor is mostly family-friendly and timeless in its brilliance.  In fact, the central villain, R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) reflects an attitude even more prominent in today’s mainstream media than in the media of 1989.  “…But there is one good thing about broadcasting to a town of mindless sheep.  I always know I have them exactly where I want them.  Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”

 

“Weird Al” Yankovic plays George Newman, a man with an incredible imagination, one that interferes with his work, causing him to bounce from job to job, until the right job finally comes along, manager of a UHF television station, owned by his Uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock.)

 

Assisted by his friend, Bob (David Bowe) , George begins work at the station.  The receptionist, Pamela Finklestein (Fran Drescher) is furious that she has not yet been promoted to news, after two years, because her bosses keep changing.  Philo (Anthony Geary) is a mysterious mad scientist, a technical engineer who lives at the station.  Noodles MacIntosh (Billy Barty) is a midget cameraman.  Lou B. Washington plays a much taller cameraman.  This is essentially the complete employee list at the UHF station, until they acquire a quirky but likeable janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards.)   Michael Richards plays this slapstick role in such a talented manner that no actor after him has ever quite succeeded the way he has in this type of role.

 

The station plays a bunch of re-runs and is on the brink of bankruptcy.  George tries to liven it, but his new shows tank, like Uncle Nutsy’s Clubhouse, starring George Newman as Uncle Nutsy, and a show with shop teacher Joe Earley (Emo Phillips) in which Joe accidentally cuts his own finger off and has a relatively nonchalant attitude about it, given the magnitude of the situation. 

 

George’s girlfriend Teri (Victoria Jackson) breaks up with him after the distress of the station’s slow demise makes George forget to meet Teri and her parents out for a dinner that he arranged for her birthday.  This compounds George’s depression over his failure at the UHF station.  He gets to the point in which he wants to give up on the whole thing, and start drinking for the first time.  Bob convinces him that he can’t just walk out on the show, so George gives Stanley a chance to star in the show, as George and Bob head over to the bar, Bob for a beer, George for a blueberry daiquiri.

 

The UHF station is playing at the bar, as the new show, Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse has an instantly packed audience of kids and their parents, while also reaching popularity with the bar crowd.  As an instrumental rendition of “Battle Hymn of The Republic” plays in the background, Stanley gives a motivational speech...

 

“Sometimes you just hafta take what life gives ya, 'cause life is like a mop and sometimes life gets full of dirt and crud and bugs and hairballs and stuff... you, you, you gotta clean it out. You, you, you gotta put it in here and rinse it off and start all over again and, and sometimes, sometimes life sticks to the floor so bad you know a mop, a mop, it's not good enough, it's not good enough. You, you gotta get down there, like, with a toothbrush, you know, and you gotta, you gotta really scrub 'cause you gotta get it off. You gotta really try to get it off. But if that doesn't work, that doesn't work, you can't give up. You gotta, you gotta stand right up. You, you gotta run to a window and say, ‘Hey! These floors are dirty as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!’"  The bar crowd cheers, motivating George and Bob to return to the station and give Stanley that show to be his show everyday.

 

It is not long before UHF becomes number one in the ratings, beating out R.J. Fletcher’s Channel 8.  They think of ideas for some more shows to bring their station that much higher.

 

One such show, Raul’s Wild Kingdom features Raul Hernandez (Trinidad Silva) who sticks a turtle to the ceiling, shakes up an ant farm, and throws poodles out the window, claiming he is trying to make them fly, which they don’t.  This is an excellent performance by a talented actor who unfortunately passed away before all the filming was complete, thereby limiting his role in the film.

 

Another show is Wheel of Fish, hosted by George’s friend Kuni (Gedde Watanabe), the actor known for playing Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles.  On Wheel of Fish, a contestant spins a wheel that contains a bunch of fish.  She is given the option of either choosing the fish that her spin lands on, or choosing what is inside a box.  She chooses the box.  When the contents of the box are revealed, Kuni exclaims the results, “Nothing, absolutely nothing!  Stupid!  You’re so stupid!”

 

Things are going quite well until George’s Uncle Harvey runs himself into a gambling debt of $75,000.00.  His plan is to sell the UHF station to R.J. Fletcher.  The movie proceeds with the goal of George and friends trying to save the station, and for George to rekindle his relationship with Teri.

This movie introduces a new gourmet delicacy to the world, the Twinkie Wiener Sandwich!  This is made by taking a Twinkie, splitting it like a hot dog bun, placing the hot dog in, and then spraying easy cheese on top.  You may think that sounds completely disgusting, but don't knock it until you try it! 

 

Parodies of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gandhi, Conan the Barbarian, Geraldo, Gone with the Wind, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Rambo all enhance the humor, as do the spoof commercials like Spatula City and Plots R. Us.  References to the Shining and Star Wars are also subtly made.  "Weird Al" Yankovic's band members (Jim West, Steve Jay, and Bermuda Schwartz) make a cameo appearance in a video and song parody of Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.” 

 

If you want to see one of the greatest movies of the 1980s, one that did not come with the same fanfare as many others, yet rivals them in quality, I highly recommend UHF, especially if you are a fan of satire and clean comedic humor.  It is worth your time!