Stay Tuned (1992)

A husband and wife are sucked into a hellish television set and have to survive a gauntlet of twisted versions of shows they find themselves in.

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writers:

Tom S. Parker (screenplay), Jim Jennewein (screenplay)

Stars:

John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Ritter	...	Roy Knable
Pam Dawber	...	Helen Knable
Jeffrey Jones	...	Spike
David Tom	...	Darryl Knable / Narrator
Heather McComb	...	Diane Knable
Bob Dishy	...	Murray Seidenbaum
Joyce Gordon	...	Sarah Seidenbaum
Eugene Levy	...	Crowley
Erik King	...	Pierce
Don Calfa	...	Wetzel
John Destry	...	Sackler (as John Blackwell Destrey)
Susan Blommaert	...	Ducker
Maurice Verkaar	...	Another Buyer
Ken Douglas	...	Skeletal Worker
Gerry Nairn	...	Newscaster

Storyline

The Knables are having marriage problems: Roy is a lousy plumbing supplies salesman by day and couch potato by night, and his wife, Helen, is a successful senior product manager for a vitamin company. Roy watches too much TV every night and Helen just cannot stand it. Then one night, Helen offers Roy a night to save their relationship: a romantic getaway without phones, their children, and especially no TV. Unfortunately, when Roy's hooked on the big screen, there's no going back. This frustrates and angers her and Helen decides to smash the family console with one of Roy's trophies as a wake-up call to reality. A heartbroken-to-disoriented Roy then hears the doorbell and finds out that it's a mysterious salesman named Spike who offers him the "ultimate getaway" from all the hate, frustration, and failures: a new remote controller and a new state-of-the-art satellite TV. Roy accepts the new TV by signing a free trial contract not knowing that he just sold his soul to the devil himself...

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Plot Keywords:

profanity | rap music | television | wrestling | reference to led zeppelin | 

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Taglines:

A comedy adventure on the wrong side of the screen.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some off-color humor and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ba Ma Bemanid

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$10,736,401

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment,Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early trailers and other promotional material showed a close-up of the two actresses in Three Company spoof, revealing that they were lookalikes and not the original actresses. In the final edit, the close-up shot was removed.

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Goofs

When Daryl is about to be sucked in to the satellite, a pair of hands can be seen holding him in the air.

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Quotes

Old Man #1: I've lost the feeling in my arm.
Old Man #2: All of a sudden, I can't see anything.
[they collapse]
TV Announcer: Sundays at 8:00... Different Strokes.

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Crazy Credits

Chuck Jones' credit is in a different typeface to the rest of the credits. It is in a handwritten style.

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Connections

Spoofs Married with Children (1986)

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Soundtracks

The Mic Stalker
Performed by Dr. Ice
Courtesy of Zomba Music Recording Corp.

User Reviews

Great movie!

Stay Tuned is a excellent movie! John Ritter, Pam Dawber, and Eugene Levy was good. Jeffrey Jones performed well. I like how the film was made. The scenes were really cool and the segment of Duane's Underworld was really funny! The wrestling match segment was awesome! George Gray played Mr. Gorgan. He was better known in the old wrestling days (when it was special in My opinion) of the WCW in the early 1990s as The One Man Gang and in the old WWF days in the 1980s as The One Man Gang and "The African Dream" Akeem! It was so cool seeing this 6'6, 400 plus pound wrestler because he is one of My all time favorites and also it was good to see Captain Lou Albano! Good music by Bruce Broughton and direction by Peter Hyams! Anyway, there is a whole bunch in the movie and is all I can say is that if you like Ritter, Dawber, Levy, and Jones and want a wild ride of a movie then I suggest you see Stay Tuned!