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UHF (film): Difference between revisions
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Like Weird Al's music, the film focuses its comedy on oddball humor and [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche|satire, parody, and pastiche]] of pop culture. Released in 1989, at the height of Weird Al's popularity, the film was expected to be a summer blockbuster, but barely broke even at the box office (opening against the 1989 ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'' movie, after all) and instead became a [[Cult Classic]].
Then again, maybe a feature making fun of independent local TV does fit best [[Vindicated by Cable|on the small screen]]?
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{{tropelist}}
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* [[Bloodless Carnage]]: Spoofed in George's ''[[Rambo]]'' fantasy sequence, where he sweeps an automatic rifle along a line of [[Mooks]] on a hillside. A moment later, they bloodlessly collapse simultaneously.
* [[Burger Fool]]: George and Bob work at "Big Edna's Burger World" before {{spoiler|they are fired for George insulting Big Edna while, unbeknownst to George, she's [[Right Behind Me|right behind him]], which leads to her literally throwing George and Bob out of the restaurant}}.
* [[
{{quote|'''Philo:''' You're welcome. Well, it appears that my work on this planet is finished, so I must now return to my home planet of Zarquon.
'''George:''' [dubious] Oh...okay. Have fun!}}
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]/[[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: The single coin Fletcher gives to the homeless guy {{spoiler|winds up being his undoing, being rare and valuable enough to pay for the last couple thousand shares of stock in Channel 62.}}
** And a [[Humiliation Conga|Rolex!]]
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...With just a hint of cheese!" }}
* [[I'm Your Worst Nightmare]]: George says this during his Rambo-parodying fantasy.
* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: Sort of. During the dreaded phone call between Uncle Harvey and Mr. Big, Mr. Big detaches his hand, replaces it with a meat cleaver appendage and violently chops a big loaf of lunchmeat (since it's Weird Al, probably
* [[Indy Escape]]: Parodied in a dream sequence with a dauntless boulder. Averted since the dream was interrupted, killing the character in said dream.
* [[I Need a Freaking Drink]]: Invoked by George, but Bob calls him on it, saying he doesn't drink; George says he's been meaning to start.
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** Who may or may not be [[Merv Griffin]], according to the commentary.
* [[Man Child]]: Stanley, so very much.
* [[Market-Based Title]]: Since the concept of UHF stations differs overseas (as some countries, like the UK, moved everything to UHF years ago), they asked Al for an alternate title. He suggested "The Vidiot"
** In a prime example of [[Executive Meddling]], the film was released in some countries, much to Al's chagrin, as "The Vidiot From UHF". This succeeded in transforming an incomprehensible title to a terrible one.
** Of course, [[Technology Marches On|modern televisions don't differentiate between UHF and other frequencies, and haven't for years]], so it's not much better in the US anymore.▼
** The Latin-American Spanish dub is known as "Los Telelocos".
** The concept of the small independent UHF station running [[Anime]] cartoons into the wee hours does exist in [[Japan]].
** The United Kingdom, on the other hand? Most stations are regional, not local, and the majors (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, 4) are routinely transmitted on adjacent sets of channels from the same (BBC-owned) sites.
▲** Of course, [[Technology Marches On|modern televisions don't differentiate between UHF and other frequencies, and haven't for years]], so it's not much better in the US anymore.
* [[Media Watchdog]]: The FCC appeared in the end of UHF.
* [[Metaphorgotten]]: George delivers many of these.
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** Stanley squeezes in a couple as well.
{{quote|''And now they're throwing me out like a bag of moldy...tangerines.''}}
▲* [[My Work Here Is Done]]: Philo at the end of the film.
* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: In [[Brick Joke]] form.
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: as a parody of Geraldo and other 80's talk shows that lead the way for Jerry Springer, a bruised George tells us about what could be described as the ultimate controversial matter: [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Lesbian Nazi hookers, abducted by UFOs and forced into weight-loss programs... all this week on]]''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|Town Talk."]]''
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* [[Prop Recycling]]: The producers struck a deal with KOED to build a news set in their studio. The Tulsa network used the set for their own broadcasts for a couple years afterward.
* [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!]]: "A U! H! F! Station!"
* [[Real Trailer, Fake Movie]]: Gandhi II and a few others. There are also many joke listings on U-62's schedule board for implausible and ridiculous programmes that don't exist, not even as trailers.
* [[Red Right Hand]]: Although he's technically not the main
* [[Sassy Secretary]]: Pamela Finklestein.
* [[Scary Librarian]]: ''CONAN: THE LIBRARIAN''
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* [[Science Marches On]]: An interesting tidbit in the very beginning at Big Edna's. You can see a sign in the background saying that they cook all of their meat "medium with a pink center unless otherwise specified". This was in 1989 and ''not a joke'', as it was before the 1993 [[wikipedia:Jack in the Box#E. coli disaster|Jack-in-the-Box E coli disaster]] in which four children died and hundreds of others became sick in the Seattle area as well as California, Idaho and Nevada, after eating undercooked and contaminated meat from Jack in the Box. These days '''all''' meat is cooked well done unless specified, and menus have warnings against eating undercooked meats.
** Though to be fair, ''pink'' beef can still be hot enough to kill bacteria. It's ''red'' beef that's trouble.
** [[Technology Marches On]]: The UHF band in general. The launch of [[FOX]] TV as a fourth US commercial network in 1986 meant twelve VHF TV channels (which had been enough for three stations in each major market) were no longer adequate; meanwhile the TV sets have improved, while digital transition meant many [[NBC]] and [[CBS]] affiliates who'd claimed "2" or "6" as prime spots for their analogue signals in the 1950s found these frequencies too plagued with impulse noise to be useful digitally and begrudgingly moved up the dial, leaving the low-VHF channels an over-the-air wasteland.▼
* [[Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!]]: R.J. Fletcher
* [[Severely Specialized Store]]: Spatula City.
* [[Shouting Shooter]]: In the ''[[Rambo]]'' parody.
* [[Show Within a Show]]: The entire picture is basically a series of short comedy sketches; the fictional TV station is merely a framing device to pass this all off as one feature-length film. [[Word of God|Al]]: "I was known for doing parodies, so we wanted to do a movie that was lousy with parodies — TV commercial parodies, movie trailer parodies, and obviously TV show parodies — and we hung them on a plot line that seemed like the thing to go well with that basic concept. Namely, that I would be the general manager for a small UHF [https://film.avclub.com/we-got-it-all-on-uhf-an-oral-history-of-weird-al-yan-1798278657 TV station]..."
* [[Smug Snake]]: RJ Fletcher.
* [[Struggling Broadcaster]]: Independent U-62's attempts to fill the entire schedule with [[No Budget]] original local programming. Most big-city independents would struggle but manage to fill most of their schedule with old movies, local/regional live sports coverage, "classic television" reruns or syndicated fare. U-62 doesn't even have the means to do that, so the operation basically runs ad-lib and hyperlocal.
* [[Styrofoam Rocks]]: Parodied. In the opening sequence, a rock bounces right off George Newman's head mid-fantasy and does nothing to him.
* [[Technology Marches On]]: The UHF band in general. In 1989? "It was a total anachronism even when it came out — it was on the tail end of UHF even being a thing. But as a kid, that was where you went to see all the weird programming. You know, you had your UHF dial, and you flipped it around, and there was everything from PBS stations to Spanish-speaking stations to low-budget public stations, to just out-and-out weirdness."
* [[Temporary Substitute]]: Anthony Geary wasn't originally planned to play Philo; one of Al's favorite comics, Joel Hodgson, was. But he couldn't accept the role. Before you go "aw, man!" keep in mind that Joel had turned it down due to being burned out in Los Angeles and returning to Minneapolis, where he ended up starting [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|his own little show]] on its own UHF station KTMA.▼
▲**
** The "U-62" frequency? Gone. UHF 52-69 were auctioned to mobile phone operators for billions in 2009-11. [[American Television Stations]] were moved down to DT51 or lower, only to be further repacked to DT36 or lower by 2021. Stations historically on this channel (such as CBS owned-and-operated WWJ-TV 62 Detroit) may still display '62' or '62.1' in their branding, but physically they're on some other, lower channel.
▲* [[Temporary Substitute]]: Anthony Geary wasn't originally planned to play Philo; one of Al's favorite comics, [[Joel Hodgson]], was. But he couldn't accept the role. Before you go "aw, man!" keep in mind that Joel had turned it down due to being burned out in Los Angeles and returning to Minneapolis, where he ended up starting [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|his own little show]] on its own UHF station KTMA.
* [[They Just Didn't Care]]: Parodied with ''[[Gandhi]] II'', which deliberately misses the entire point of the original movie (and, for that matter, [[Critical Research Failure|Mahatma Gandhi's way of life]]).
{{quote|"No more Mr. Passive Resistance... he's out to kick some butt!"}}
** Aside from the obvious, he's also depicted ordering a steak.<ref>[[Sacred Cow]] warning: Hinduism considers practice of the consumption of beef taboo.</ref>
** It's Weird Al. [[They Just Didn't Care]] because they were deliberately [[Comically Missing the Point]]?
* [[The Unseen]]: Mr. Big. Picture "Dr. Claw" from ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' but with a white jacket, smoking a cigar, no cat and a hand that detaches and can be replaced by a meat cleaver.▼
* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: As the trailers embedded in the film are jokes (where the corresponding feature presentations don't actually exist), the joke by necessity must be self-contained within the fake trailer.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: [[Sylvester Stallone]] was going to cameo as the helicopter ride ticketer during the ''Rambo'' parody scene, but had to cancel due to schedule issues.
**
** After Hodgson turned down the role of Philo, Al asked Crispin Glover if he wanted the role, and Crispin said he would only be in the movie if he could play Crazy Ernie. Al turned him down.
** David Spade was one of the people who auditioned for the role of Bob.
** [[Christopher Lloyd]] would've been another choice for Stanley if Michael Richards turned the role down.
** If the movie hadn't been picked up, Yankovic would have toured Europe opening for [[Michael Jackson]].
▲* [[The Unseen]]: Mr. Big. Picture "Dr. Claw" from ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' but [[Dissimile|with a white jacket, smoking a cigar, no cat and a hand that detaches and can be replaced by a meat cleaver.]]
* [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?]]: Although the station's location is never mentioned, it is clearly filmed in Tulsa, with several landmarks making appearances. There's an entire [http://tulsatvmemories.com/uhf.html fan page] listing these locations.
** Al lists off the addresses for many of the locations as they appear during his commentary track.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Short Titles]]▼
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Film]]
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