80's Month Day 12: UHF

"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!"

 

 "80's Month" rolls on and today's movie has been one of my all-time favorite comedies since before I can remember. It's the 1989 'Weird Al' Yankovic film UHF.

The movie stars 'Weird Al' as George Newman, a guy who's overactive imagination leads to him having a hard time holding down a job and often causes problems between him and his girlfriend Teri (played by Victoria Jackson). One evening George's Uncle Harvey wins a run-down UHF television station in a poker game and he allows George to go run it. This ends up being the dream job for George as he now has an outlet for all his crazy, imaginative ideas. Along with his best friend Bob (played by David Bowe) and a janitor named Stanley Spadowski (played by Michael Richards) they fill the stations line-up with original shows like; 'Bowling for Burgers', 'Raul's Wild Kingdom', 'Town Talk' (which tackles big issues like "Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs"), 'Wheel of Fish', etc. But, the stations big hit is the show 'Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse', a kids show that includes exploding train sets, drinking from a fire hose, and searching for a marble in a sandbox full of oatmeal. The rise of the UHF station and its success gets the attention of a major network run by R. J. Fletcher (played by Kevin McCarthy) who plans to buy the little station and turn it into a parking lot, thus eliminating the competition. So, George and all his buddies hold a telethon to raise $75,000 and to save the station. 

This is an odd-ball movie that was panned by critics when it was released, but has since developed a cult following. There are a ton of funny moments and, if you're a 'Weird Al' fan, you'll probably really enjoy all the wacky parodies. For me personally, there are very few other comedies that I get as many laughs from even after so many repeat viewings.

Plus, I can't forget to mention George and Bob's favorite snack the "Twinkie Wiener Sandwich" (hotdog, Twinkie, and canned cheese)

...it's actually pretty damn good

Overall, I probably like this movie more than most and it's one I highly recommend to everyone.

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.