UHF (1989)

An unemployed visionary becomes the manager of a local television station. The station becomes a success, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.

Director:

Jay Levey

Writers:

'Weird Al' Yankovic (as Al Yankovic), Jay Levey

Stars:

'Weird Al' Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
'Weird Al' Yankovic	...	George Newman
Victoria Jackson	...	Teri Campbell
Kevin McCarthy	...	R.J. Fletcher
Michael Richards	...	Stanley Spadowski
David Bowe	...	Bob Steckler
Stanley Brock	...	Harvey Bilchik
Anthony Geary	...	Philo
Trinidad Silva	...	Raul Hernandez
Gedde Watanabe	...	Kuni
Billy Barty	...	Noodles MacIntosh
John Paragon	...	Richard Fletcher
Fran Drescher	...	Pamela Finklestein
Sue Ane Langdon	...	Esther Bilchik
David Proval	...	Head Thug
Grant James	...	Killer Thug

Storyline

George Newman is a daydreamer whose hyperactive imagination keeps him from holding a steady job. His uncle decides George would be the perfect man to manage Channel 62, a television station which is losing money and viewers fast. When George replaces the station's reruns with bizarre programs such as "Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse", "Wheel of Fish" and "Raul's Wild Kingdom", ratings begin to soar again. Mean-spirited and cynical mogul R.J. Fletcher becomes furious that the UHF station is getting better ratings than his network's programming. Because of gambling debts, the uncle is forced to consider selling the station to Fletcher, who would only too happily shut it down (he cannot legally own two stations in the same town). George and his friends organize a 48-hour telethon to raise the money by selling investment stock from Channel 62 to save the town's new favorite station.

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Plot Keywords:

television station | spoof | telethon | satire | janitor | 

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Taglines:

A lot of television stations have forgotten what "quality" means. But not Channel 62. They NEVER knew what it meant.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Richards improvised two scenes: telling the kids about his dream of being a bird and the Corn Flakes commercial in which he finds a toy man.

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Goofs

In the opening moments, a bad guy draws a gun with his left hand to shoot Weird Al in the back. Weird Al suddenly wheels around, takes his whip, and severs the bad guy's arm. In the next shot, the bad guy's right arm is lying on the ground.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Bum: Hey, mister! Change? You got change?

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Crazy Credits

The film is dedicated to the memory of Trinidad Silva who died in an auto accident during filming. See also note under Alternate Versions.

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Alternate Versions

The Comedy Central version deletes quite a little out of such a short film - mainly bits related to animal cruelty, such as much of the "Raul's Wild Kingdom" scene (involving teaching poodles how to fly) and the punchline of car commercial (the owner threatens to club a baby seal if buyers don't come). Among other bits deleted: a scene regarding gun nuts; part of the scene where Emo Phillips loses a finger in a saw; most of the first "Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse" scene (probably because the final punchline involves a guy eating dog treats by accident); the part of the "Conan the Librarian" sequence where a guy says he has an overdue library book, and Conan bloodlessly cuts him in half with his sword; a sequence with an elderly lady who knees R.J. Fletcher in the crotch.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Can't Stop the Music (2014)

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Soundtracks

Serenade
(uncredited)
Music by Joseph Haydn
Arranged by Charlotte Georg (as Les Peel)
[Plays in the restaurant scene.]

User Reviews

Makes Real T.V. Look So Boring!

UHF is a story about a man who gets to have a Television Station. It is hilarious in most of the scenes. The villain is also so funny, and never really gets credited most of the time people watch this film.

Weird Al stars as a wacky guy who always has many funny ideas for television and movies and many other things. The real show-stopper in this movie is Raul's Wild Kingdom, you have to see it for yourself. The bad-guy works for the competing station, which had higher ratings.

Some parts of this film are not that funny, but stupid. If you are a big fan of Weird Al you'll love this film. And if you aren't then you will still love it. This film is for everyone.

Rated PG-13

What I think it should be rated and why: PG-13 for some crude and sexual humor, brief language, and some comic violent images.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Vidiot from UHF

Filming Locations:

Rosewood Chapel - 2570 S Harvard Ave - Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,251,831, 23 July 1989

Gross USA:

$6,157,157

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,157,157

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinecorp SAC, Imaginary Entertainment, Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 150 min (rough cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1