UHF (1989)

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 | Exploding Body | Sliced In Two | Douche

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:

Despite the fact that, since the beginning, roughly half of the material on Weird Al's albums has been original songs (using his own melody and not parodying an existing song - although often based on a known performer's *style*), he has not been widely known for his own creations. In fact, the theme song for this movie (also titled "UHF") was the first Al "original" to be released as a single.

Goofs:

Continuity: Indiana Jones cuts off the left arm of the gunman, but when we see the fake arm lying on the ground it has a right hand. This mistake is mentioned on the DVD commentary.

Quotes:

George Newman: Hey, kids. Where y'wanna go?
[dead silence]
George Newman: That's right. To Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse. And boy-oh-boy, are we gonna have big fun today. We're gonna have so much fun, we'll forget about how miserable we are, and how much life sucks, and how we're all gonna grow old and die someday.
Little Weasle: I wanna go home.
George Newman: Shut up, you little weasel!
[beat]
George Newman: Okay. Right now I'd like to show you one of my favorite cartoons. It's a sad, depressing story about a pathetic coyote who spends every waking moment of his life in the futile pursuit of a sadistic roadrunner who *mocks* him and *laughs* at him as he's repeatedly *crushed* and *maimed*! Hope you'll *enjoy* it!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Soundtrack:

THE BALLAD OF JED CLAMPETT

A perfect movie for humans of all ages!!

This is the single greatest movie ever made. It has everything you could want in a movie: a stellar cast, music, romance, suspense, and hilarity, hilarity, hilarity!! "Weird Al" Yankovic leads a brilliant cast of stars in this tale of a guy whose overactive imagination unites a town when he becomes manager of a small UHF station and invents new and innovative programming.

Michael Richards ("Kramer" from Seinfeld) is amazing as Stanley, a sweet but simple janitor who turns out to be the perfect kids show host. Such luminaries as Gedde Watanabe, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Billy Barty, and Fran Drescher co-star. The music is so great, you'll want to order the soundtrack (you should!) The movie is entertaining enough for adults, but wholesome enough for kids, and they'll love its messages of putting your creativity to productive use and being a good friend.