A New Jersey trucker creates a hit TV show with help from his girlfriend in the ratings business.
Writer/director Trey Edward Shults talks about taking audiences on an emotional roller coaster in Waves.
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Title: The Ratings Game (TV Movie 1984)
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1 win & 1 nomination.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Danny DeVito | ... | Vic De Salvo | |
| 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 | |
Edit
Plot Summary
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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. Written by Volker Boehm
Plot Keywords:
man in a wheelchair | fictional tv show | fictional tv network | urban setting | directed by an actor |Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
15 December 1984 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
El juego de las audiencias See more »Filming Locations:
Laird International Studio - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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Goody DeSalvo: The lobby of the Golden Nugget.
Sid: Class!
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
A TV movie made for the Showtime/Movie Channel network. See more »Quotes
Sid: [looks around at Vic's decor] Am I nuts or have I been here before?Goody DeSalvo: The lobby of the Golden Nugget.
Sid: Class!
See more »
Connections
Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Danny DeVito/Joan Embery/John Searing (1986) See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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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).