The 21st century has seen a number of reality shows, but none like this! John Ritter and Pam Dawber play a couple who get sucked into a satellite dish and sent through a world of twisted shows whose titles reminded me of some of the scenes in "UHF". One scene even lets John Ritter spoof his most famous role.
As it turns out, the movie may have been intended as something silly, but it now looks more serious. So many reality shows force people to perform self-degrading acts for money - like what Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr do in "The Magic Christian" - while the audience cheers the whole thing on. Viewers end up desensitized to things previously considered appalling, sometimes thinking that a real-life tragedy is part of the show (like what happens at the end of "Phantom of the Paradise").
But like I said, the movie was almost certainly intended as totally silly, and it comes out really funny. Mind you, you'll only get the jokes if you know a lot of TV shows. I figure that if the movie got made now, other spoofed titles could be "666 Feet Under" and "No Country for Mad Men".
As it turns out, the movie may have been intended as something silly, but it now looks more serious. So many reality shows force people to perform self-degrading acts for money - like what Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr do in "The Magic Christian" - while the audience cheers the whole thing on. Viewers end up desensitized to things previously considered appalling, sometimes thinking that a real-life tragedy is part of the show (like what happens at the end of "Phantom of the Paradise").
But like I said, the movie was almost certainly intended as totally silly, and it comes out really funny. Mind you, you'll only get the jokes if you know a lot of TV shows. I figure that if the movie got made now, other spoofed titles could be "666 Feet Under" and "No Country for Mad Men".