UHF (1989)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jay Levey

Writers:

'Weird Al' Yankovic (written by) &
Jay Levey (written by)

Release Date:

21 July 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

TV as it was meant to be seen. In a movie theatre.

Plot:

A local public station gets a new owner. The station becomes a hit, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.

Plot Keywords:

Television Station | Television | Alien | Spoof | Exploding Body

Cast

'Weird Al' Yankovic	...	George Newman
Victoria Jackson	...	Teri
Kevin McCarthy	...	R.J. Fletcher
Michael Richards	...	Stanley Spadowski
David Bowe	...	Bob
Stanley Brock	...	Uncle Harvey
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	...	Aunt Esther
David Proval	...	Head Thug
Grant James	...	Killer Thug

Also Known As:

The Vidiot from UHF

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #29692) | UK:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Channel 8 - 6655 S. Lewis, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Company:

Cinecorp SAC

Trivia:

The first (rough) cut of the film was about 2.5 hours long, trimmed down to 90 minutes for the theatrical release. Yankovic has resisted the requests of fans to release a "Director's Cut" of UHF, telling them that the hour of deleted material contained countless gags that just didn't really work for the film's pacing. "There's a REASON those things got cut," he has said on his website www.weirdal.com.

Goofs:

Continuity: Before the shot in which Kuni changes the board to read $75,000, you can see the board changing to read $75,000 over the crowd in the preceding shot.

Quotes:

[afterlosing his thumb in a table saw]
Joe Earley: Can you believe this? Would you look at that? Just call me "Mr. Butterfingers." I think it's on the floor somewhere. Is my face red.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Flying Aarons (2004)

Soundtrack:

FUN ZONE

This is an absolute must-see for all Weird Al fans, and anyone!

"UHF" is, to me, one of the greatest comedies ever. So many great scenes, so many awesome quotes, and best of all, a chance for Weird Al Yankovic to show off his talents, both as an actor and as a singer. Also, it's so much fun to see if you can pinpoint all the references to famous movies that Al puts into this film, such as the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" parody at the beginning, and many others.

The film is the story of George Newman, a young man who has trouble holding a job (and frequently gets his best friend Bob in trouble too) due to his overactive imagination. When he is given ownership of a local TV station, UHF, his imagination can finally be put to good use, in inventing the most bizarre show lineup you can imagine. When a network owner gets jealous of UHF's success, George and his friends and fans must unite to stop him and keep UHF on the air. Michael Richards is also quite excellent as the optimistic, not-too-bright Stanley.

Though it can be somewhat difficult to find, it's definitely worth the time and effort to buy "UHF" on DVD, so you can enjoy Weird Al's movie again and again and again...