UHFNowadays, UHF--short for ultra-high frequency--doesn't mean a whole lot to TV viewers, like it did not that many decades ago. UHF was the home of reruns, public domain, and community broadcasting. It was not the realm of the network elite; it was the place where the cheapest programming found a home, amid the double-digit channels that would come in through the static on good days on your cathode-ray tube set. I recall watching the likes of Hogan's Heroes and other obscure programs, many of which are lost to the annals of television history. How appropriate that an underdog story like UHF should be about the underdog of the television world.
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UHF represents the quintessence of music satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic's musical stylings, which take pop music and set them to different tempos, polka-like accordion accompaniment, and hysterical reworkings of the lyrics. But more than just a collection of funny music--there is that in spades here, too--UHF is a delightfully weird comedy, starring the virtuoso of pop parody as George Newman. George has been down on his luck, struggling to make ends meet between his dead-end jobs. It is only when his Aunt Esther (Sue Ann Langdon) convinces her husband with a gambling itch, Harvey Bilchik (Stanley Brock), to put George in charge of managing his recent poker acquisition, the ownership of channel U62, a UHF station on the edge of town. George's days are filled with his daydreams, usually of scenes mimicking other instantly recognizable moments from Hollywood classics, like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Rambo. For those remotely familiar with these movies, these clever twists share the same kind of magic Weird Al brings to his music, that unmistakable "reverent irreverence"--never sardonic, and always punchy. But George is not a "business-minded" person, even with the support of his work buddy, Bob (David Bowe); he lacks the ruthlessness which the villainous R. J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) prides himself on, so he struggles to keep afloat at first, even with his attempts to introduce original programming. His dedication ends up costing him his relationship with his love, Teri (Victoria Jackson), after he forgets her birthday as a result of working so late. But just when George feels crushed and maimed by life, ready to give up, he finds a surprise superstar in Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards), his janitor who he rescued from unemployment and humiliation on a visit to Fletcher's channel 8 network affiliate. What Stanley brings to the station is a jolt of life like a defibrillator, and his bizarre and frankly weird charm is an instant hit with the whole community. Stanley's success gives George and Bob the motivation and courage they need to try out other creative ideas for shows, like "Wheel of Fish", featuring their brutally harsh karate instructor and ex-neighbor, Kuni (Gedde Watanabe); station fixture and surprisingly mellow (for a mad scientist), Philo (Anthony Geary) imparts the "Secrets of the Universe" to his audience, who one has to hope is not comprised of DIY terrorists. And so the rising star that is U62 soars into the heavens, propelled by decidedly unorthodox programming and equally bizarre sponsors.
UHF represents one of the single best examples of a "cult movie"; it was released in 1989 amid a summer of huge blockbusters--even another Indiana Jones--and was all but forgotten. I was fortunate enough as a kid to have obtained a version of the film taped from cable TV (the irony), which got watched and watched and watched over and over by me and my friends and family. I had been introduced to Weird Al by a childhood friend, and we listened to the talented musicians riffs on pop songs I hadn't even heard of yet, but still found a great deal of entertainment in his renditions along with the melodies of the originals. But UHF is a comedy miles apart from so many others like it--screwy, but never raunchy--loaded with a multitude of references to a dozen other classic movies and more, but never in such a way to make you feel excluded because you never saw the original...just like Weird Al's albums. An uncommon amount of clever sight gags leave you in an almost constant state of chuckles, between the two-man operation of a benevolent bum (Vance Colvig, Jr.) and a blind man working out a Rubik's Cube, to the munchie-to-rule-over-all-munchies, the "Twinkie Weiner Sandwich". Weird Al's musical talents are not squandered here, either; aside from an extended dream sequence about The Beverly Hillbillies supplanted into Dire Strait's "Money for Nothing", he also contributes the theme song and other additions neatly cross-promoted with his album of the same name. As the programming at U62 follows the trend of their breakthrough show--"Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse"--scenes in UHF are interjected with commercials for the station in a way that cleverly makes the movie feel like it was broadcast on the station itself. And these are far from "normal" commercials--although they resemble them in spirit--from the absurd Spatula City advertisements (keep an eye out for that liquidation sale), to the programming bumps for specials like the ultra-violent "Gandhi II", not to mention George's own "Town Talk", now edgier and needlessly provocative--a real precursor to Jerry Springer. The plan to save the station in the end comes down to selling shares of it to help George's uncle pay off his gambling debts. Aside from the questionable legality of selling shares of someone else's property, it is a great metaphor to emphasize the importance of an institution like the (fundamentally) public access channel--that it is something which the whole community can be a part of, and not just another way to milk the public for all their pennies, like Fletcher would have it. Nowadays, the internet and sites like YouTube have effectively democratized the dissemination of creative programming, but to think back to a time like the end of the Eighties--when cable was a relatively new thing--and public access and UHF was the only real alternative to the select channels available, and you can appreciate how special a cause it is that George and his allies are rallying behind. TVs are a window to not only another world, but also our own, and we've all got a lot to say--and sometimes, it's just a fun excuse to drink from the fire hose.
Recommended for: Fans of the brilliant musical talents of "Weird Al" Yankovic, not to mention a hysterical and oft-demented comedy gem, which was nearly forgotten by many for too long. Now, thanks to the relative ease to obtain a copy of the film, it should be shared with many others. You'll be hard pressed to not be quoting the lines after even the first viewing.
UHF represents one of the single best examples of a "cult movie"; it was released in 1989 amid a summer of huge blockbusters--even another Indiana Jones--and was all but forgotten. I was fortunate enough as a kid to have obtained a version of the film taped from cable TV (the irony), which got watched and watched and watched over and over by me and my friends and family. I had been introduced to Weird Al by a childhood friend, and we listened to the talented musicians riffs on pop songs I hadn't even heard of yet, but still found a great deal of entertainment in his renditions along with the melodies of the originals. But UHF is a comedy miles apart from so many others like it--screwy, but never raunchy--loaded with a multitude of references to a dozen other classic movies and more, but never in such a way to make you feel excluded because you never saw the original...just like Weird Al's albums. An uncommon amount of clever sight gags leave you in an almost constant state of chuckles, between the two-man operation of a benevolent bum (Vance Colvig, Jr.) and a blind man working out a Rubik's Cube, to the munchie-to-rule-over-all-munchies, the "Twinkie Weiner Sandwich". Weird Al's musical talents are not squandered here, either; aside from an extended dream sequence about The Beverly Hillbillies supplanted into Dire Strait's "Money for Nothing", he also contributes the theme song and other additions neatly cross-promoted with his album of the same name. As the programming at U62 follows the trend of their breakthrough show--"Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse"--scenes in UHF are interjected with commercials for the station in a way that cleverly makes the movie feel like it was broadcast on the station itself. And these are far from "normal" commercials--although they resemble them in spirit--from the absurd Spatula City advertisements (keep an eye out for that liquidation sale), to the programming bumps for specials like the ultra-violent "Gandhi II", not to mention George's own "Town Talk", now edgier and needlessly provocative--a real precursor to Jerry Springer. The plan to save the station in the end comes down to selling shares of it to help George's uncle pay off his gambling debts. Aside from the questionable legality of selling shares of someone else's property, it is a great metaphor to emphasize the importance of an institution like the (fundamentally) public access channel--that it is something which the whole community can be a part of, and not just another way to milk the public for all their pennies, like Fletcher would have it. Nowadays, the internet and sites like YouTube have effectively democratized the dissemination of creative programming, but to think back to a time like the end of the Eighties--when cable was a relatively new thing--and public access and UHF was the only real alternative to the select channels available, and you can appreciate how special a cause it is that George and his allies are rallying behind. TVs are a window to not only another world, but also our own, and we've all got a lot to say--and sometimes, it's just a fun excuse to drink from the fire hose.
Recommended for: Fans of the brilliant musical talents of "Weird Al" Yankovic, not to mention a hysterical and oft-demented comedy gem, which was nearly forgotten by many for too long. Now, thanks to the relative ease to obtain a copy of the film, it should be shared with many others. You'll be hard pressed to not be quoting the lines after even the first viewing.