Edtv (1999)

Video store clerk Ed agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a tv network.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Émile Gaudreault (screenplay), Sylvie Bouchard (screenplay),

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Ed 'Eddie' Pekurny
Jenna Elfman	...	Shari
Woody Harrelson	...	Ray Pekurny
Sally Kirkland	...	Jeanette
Martin Landau	...	Al
Ellen DeGeneres	...	Cynthia Topping
Rob Reiner	...	Mr. Whitaker
Dennis Hopper	...	Henry 'Hank' Pekurny
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Jill
Adam Goldberg	...	John
Viveka Davis	...	Marcia
Clint Howard	...	Ken
Geoffrey Blake	...	Keith
Gail Boggs	...	Wife
Jenna Byrne	...	Felicia

Storyline

A comedy about a video store clerk Ed whose life is thrown into chaos when he agrees to let an executive of a television studio film him for 24 hours.

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Plot Keywords:

television | video store | producer | broadcast | father son relationship | 

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Taglines:

The story of a nobody everybody is watching

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex-related situations, partial nudity and crude language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ed TV

Filming Locations:

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - One S. Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£290,984 (UK) (19 November 1999)

Gross:

ESP 104,113,741 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imagine Entertainment, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dennis Hopper replaced Tom Berenger, who backed out due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When Ed is yelling up to Shari's window asking to come up, the light behind Shari is off. In the next shot the light is on. In the next the light is off again.

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Quotes

Al: How about sex?
Ed: I'm sorry, Al, but I'm gonna have to pass. And it's not an age thing, 'cause you are still a handsome man.

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Connections

References The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Let's Go Team #1"
Written by Dan Stein
Performed by Dan Stein
Courtesy of Zomba Music Services

User Reviews

"...and you, Ed, are no Truman Burbank!"

EDTV is more concerned with "Ed" than "TV".

In fact, throughout this dull and relentless tale of ordinary Joe Ed turned real-life 24-hour television star, Director Ron Howard consistently resists the obvious satire on the fallout of fame and focuses on the cloyingly saccharine romance that lies at EDTV's mushy core.

If you doubt this (and considering Howard's track record, you may), visit EDTV on DVD and you'll be treated to numerous deleted scenes that satirically drive home the point that fame is indeed a bitch. Unfortunately, these scenes are also some of the darkest, funniest and most telling in the script. (An entire subplot about an EdTV imitator that ends with tragedy was completely eliminated from the final cut.) Why then did they end up on the cutting room floor? Howard can't seem to get away from Mayberry sentimentality enough to make EDTV the film it needs to be by it's very nature. In fact, the stars of the film (Hurley, DeGeneres, Harrelson) could have made a more interesting documentary on the price of fame than EDTV does at it's cautious best.

All hail, however, the film's bright spot, Ellen DeGeneres. Yes, Ellen. With her balance of quirky humor and self-doubting charm, she manages to infuse the film with some sense of purpose and it is she (not wrongly cast lead Matthew McConaughey) that we care about.

See it for Ellen. Or, better yet, rent THE TRUMAN SHOW and cap it off with a re-run of TV's ELLEN. I guarantee more laughs and heaps more satire than the botched EDTV can ever provide.