UHF (1989)

• Year: 1989
• Released: 21 Jul 1989
• Country: United States
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/UHF
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/uhf
• Available in: 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
• Runtime: 97 min
• Writer: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Jay Levey, Charles Holloway
• Director: Jay Levey
• Cast: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy
• Keywords: cult film, satire, loser, game show, music video,

	6.9/10
	32/100
	61% – Critics
	77% – Audience

UHF 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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UHF Movie Reviews

‘Weird Al’ – Harmless Fun

For some reason, I never pictured myself watching a film starring “Weird Al” Yankovic. He just looked too weird or too stupid….but he was okay. In fact, he was pretty likable in this fun-but-unmemorable film. He’s actually more like Jim Varney”s “Vern” character that was so popular in the ’80s: a lame but super nice guy.

That’s what “Weird Al” plays in here, a Mr. Nice Guy who prevails against forces of evil against him, in this case a TV station owner: Kevin McCarthy, who plays a totally over-the-top villain.

Yankovic will never win any Academy Awards for his acting but he suffices in this no-brainer comedy. Some of the bits are actually quite clever and some are a bit raunchy (hence the PG-13 rating) but there is almost no profanity in here. Michael Richards was funny as the stupid janitor. Lots of jokes in this movie. You just pick out the ones you like.

fun–just pain stupid fun

At times we all can be dreadfully serious when it comes to movies. I know I can be–based on many of my other IMDb reviews, it’s obvious I can be critical and occasionally too serious.

Because of this, I am glad there are really funny and stupid movies like this one. While not as sophisticated as The Producers or as wacky as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it is one of the best “turn off your brain and just have fun movies”.

The movie can be very amateurish at times and some jokes fall flat. However, the incredible energy and originality of the film make it very endearing. Unfortunately, it is too often just tossed aside as a “dumb movie” by many who just don’t give it a chance. So my advice is to sit tight–don’t turn it off! Allow yourself to wade through the slower first 1/4 of the movie so you can get to the GOLD, such as Gandhi 2, Conan the Librarian, or the commercials for cut rate funerals or for Spatula City! Feeling depressed or in a funk? See this film to cure what ails you!

hit-and-miss stupidity

Daydreamer George Newman (Weird Al Yankovic) can’t hold down a job and gets his best friend Bob (David Bowe) fired as well. Their friend Kuni (Gedde Watanabe) runs a karate school. His uncle Harvey Bilchik wins a rundown UHF TV station Channel 62 in a poker game. His aunt convinces Harvey to make him the manager. He and his girlfriend Teri (Victoria Jackson) go to the station and find the weird engineer Philo (Anthony Geary). Receptionist Pamela Finklestein (Fran Drescher) wants to be a reporter. He goes to meet R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy), rival owner of Channel 8. Evil Fletcher throws him out. As he leaves, he hires weird janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards) who was just fired by Fletcher for Fletcher’s own mistake. George decides to put on original programming instead of the endless reruns of old shows.

This is an excuse for Weird Al to make spoofs of movies and TV shows which he jams into the script. It also allows Michael Richards to go nuts in one of the many crazy TV shows. The comedy is generally at a pretty silly level. The stupidity gets a few laughs but it’s mostly hit-and-miss. It’s reminiscent of SCTV.