The Ratings Game (1984)

A newly rich New Jersey trucker moves to Hollywood and creates a slew of hit TV shows by manipulating the ratings system with help from his girlfriend in the ratings business.

Director:

Danny DeVito

Writers:

Jim Mulholland, Michael Barrie

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Gerrit Graham

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	Vic DeSalvo
Rhea Perlman	...	Francine Kester
Gerrit Graham	...	Parker Braithwaite
Bernadette Birkett	...	Mrs. Sweeney
Barry Corbin	...	The Colonel
Louis Giambalvo	...	Goody DeSalvo
Ronny Graham	...	Cap'n Andy
Huntz Hall	...	Benny Bentson
Basil Hoffman	...	Frank Friedlander
Kevin McCarthy	...	Wes Vandergelder
John Megna	...	Al
Michael Richards	...	Sal
Ron Rifkin	...	T.V. Director
Joe Santos	...	Tony
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Skip Imperiali

Storyline

Vic De Salvo, a sympatic mafioso, manipulates with the help of Francine, a girl working for the TV audience controler, the data of the audience watching his program of a small channel. Thus he converts himself into a star of the TV screen.

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Plot Keywords:

man in a wheelchair | man wears eyeglasses | woman wears eyeglasses | fictional tv show | fictional tv network | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

A bonding scene in the movie brings transplanted Jersey lovers Vic and Francine together. In the 1960s a popular commercial for the New York city area was the Palisades Amusement Park Jingle that signified the beginning of spring. Danny DeVito grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey while Rhea was growing up in Brooklyn, New York. The commercial aired predominantly in the New York market on TV and radio stations.

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Quotes

Bruno: Hey, Boss, you got a good broad here.
Vic De Salvo: Bruno, didn't you have your consciousness raised by the women's movement? You're not supposed to say 'broad' in front of them.

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Connections

Spoofs Rocky (1976)

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Soundtracks

She and I
Composed and Performed by Gap Mangione

User Reviews

Classic Devito

Hilarious movie reminiscent of Mad TV and SNL mock TV shows. First saw this on cable in the 80s and fell off my chair laughing. This is the kind of stuff Danny Devito does best. Dark, sarcastic humor.

Struggling producer Vic de Salvo (Devito) hatches a scheme to become a big TV star by creating and staring in his own shows and selling them to a struggling network. When he meets and falls in love with Francine, (Rhea Perlman) a woman who works for the Neilson Ratings Beaureau, he uses her knowledge to kidnap the Neilson families and send his mobster crew to "house-sit" for them and tune into his shows.

The mock shows are hilarious and I swear some of them are actually templates for shows that were minor hits later on. This reminds me a little of "Stay Tuned". Well worth a look, though slightly dated. Future "Cheers" stars, Perlman and George Wendt and an early look at Michael Richards ("Seinfeld"'s Kramer).

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 December 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

T.V. - Total verrückt

Filming Locations:

Laird International Studio - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ratings Game Productions, Imagination Productions, Newstreet Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1