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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 [[
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{{tropelist}}
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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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* [[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."
** The launch of [[FOX]] TV as a fourth US commercial network in 1986 was the [[Trope Breaker]]. Twelve VHF TV channels (which had been enough for three stations in each major market) were no longer adequate. TV sets have improved. And then there's the digital HDTV transition. Many longtime [[NBC]] and [[CBS]] affiliates chose UHF for their HDTV, as the once-valuable low-VHF channels are too plagued with impulse noise to be useful. VHF 2-6 became largely an over-the-air wasteland, to the point that the government paid [[PBS|WGBH-TV]] about $160 million to move off a now-valuable UHF channel and go to VHF 5.
** 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]]?
* [[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.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Short Titles]]▼
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Film]]
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