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 | mouse | cartoon mouse | cat versus mouse | 

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Taglines:

The Knables signed up for a cable system that's out of this world.

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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)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,532,540, 16 August 1992

Gross USA:

$10,736,401

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,736,401

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The producers wanted Dan Aykroyd for the part of Roy Knable.

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Goofs

The width of Spike's remote changes right after he zaps Crowley into the television.

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Quotes

[the doorbell chimes]
Robocat: Identify yourself.
Voice from the door: Catnip-gram.

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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 Three's Company (1976)

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Soundtracks

Merrily We Roll Along
(uncredited)
Music by Murray Mencher
[Plays during the cartoon sequence.]

User Reviews

What's wrong with it? Heck if I know...

I've read a few bad-type reviews on this, but that just shows what I know. i think Stay Tuned is one of the funnier movies to roll along in a while. Yeah, it's filled with TV rejects like Ritter, Dawber, and Levy, but they're still kinda funny. The funniest thing are the TV parodies (yes, they're funny, dammit), and the whole parody of the modern entertainment industry. Plus you've got a great Chuck Jones cartoon set right in the middle. Moves along just fast enough to keep your interest, and the characters are just tolerable enough you don't want to turn off on it. As was noted, it grows on you.