UHF

The laughs just keep rolling as 'Weird Al' makes a movie. Overheard from a still-convulsing woman after a recent screening of Weird Al Yankovic's UHF: "I'm sorry, but that's funny." I'm sorry, but she's right. Yuks you feel obliged to apologize for are yuks nonetheless. And UHF prompts a lot of apologies.

Yankovic fails to come up with anything new to freshen the stock storyline, and is content instead to let it serve as a creaky showcase for his forte, media parodies. But even the quality of these parodies is inconsistent, with the movie and music takeoffs being obvious and out of date.

Yankovic, an advocate of the Monty Python and Mel Brooks schools of comedy, favors yechy burlesque, and UHF, with its scant plot, is basically a variety show with skits, sight gags and gross stuff. "Weird" reminds us there's nothing quite like a good booger joke for pure entertainment.

UHF, a parody of trash television, is almost defiantly silly, but when it's funny it is very funny. This sloppy, good-natured satire certainly doesn't threaten "Network's" status as the classic decimation of the television business. [27 Jul 1989, p.1]

The result is a very unfunny movie. It's routine, predictable, and dumb - real dumb.

The problem with UHF is that everything in it is a parody. The only logic for anything that happens is that there's some new thing to make fun of-mostly inanely. It's not much of a movie. [21 Jul 1989 p.11]

Viewing UHF may be injurious to your sense of humor. Rarely has a comedy tried so hard and failed so often to be funny. [21 Jul 1989, p.A]

Gave us good laughs when my friends and I were just leaving our teenage years over 25 years ago. And now it gives my kids good laughs. The "Gandhi II" trailer alone makes UHF worth it.

This movie was under-rated when it premiered, and it still gets no respect. Personally, I think this movie is funnier than anything in the theaters now. No one associated with it ever claimed it was high comedy, or serious cinema - it was done for laughs....cheap, plentiful laughs. Kevin McCarthy stole the movie, as far as I'm concerned. His over-the-top portrayal of R.J. Fletcher was a riot. If you have an hour and a half or so to kill, and want to be mindlessly entertained. check this one out.

Like a living, breathing Weird Al song, UHF is silly, irreverent and gaudy in all the best and worst possible ways. I can think of a dozen reasons to hate this movie, yet it still holds a warm place in my heart. The paper-thin plot, for example, is really only there to serve as a vehicle from one skit or song to the next, like the host of a feature-length variety show. Al must have been mingling with the right circles on the comedy scene, though, because an odd blend of before-they-weres fill out the cast of his film: Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson and an especially hyperactive, scene-stealing Michael Richards would all go on to bigger things later in life. This is cult comedy in the same vein as The Kentucky Fried Movie, in that it does its thing without a care in the world, but outside of a few timeless gags and a huge spoonful of heart, it's not really all that good. Revised thoughts after a 2019 re-watch: First time sharing it with my sons. They're old enough to level-up, so to speak, so we're finally beginning to move beyond Disney and test wilder waters. This one's a virtual sugar-rush of wacky ideas, pulsing lights, loud music and general unbridled zaniness. In other words, a fine representation of Weird Al Yankovic at the height of his powers and a direct hit for twin seven-year-old boys. At heart, it's a loose collection of skits and gags in the spirit of Amazon Women on the Moon or Kentucky Fried Movie, but the humor is cleaner and there's just a bit more plot to hold it all together. The central idea of Yankovic in charge of a struggling little TV station, complete with cut-rate production standards and a DIY ethos, opens up all sorts of possibilities and wipes out any need to segue. We're just watching the next commercial / promo / live show; it's that simple. Al's wide connections in the entertainment industry, and particularly in the world of stand-up comedy, also land the film a seriously loaded supporting cast. Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson and Emo Philips all make memorable appearances (Al even wrote a part for MST3k's Joel Hodgson, who declined the role), but it's a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards who really steals the show as an upbeat, energetic janitor with a magnetic personality. Several skits fall on the wrong side of cheesy, and Al himself doesn't always hit a home run as the leading man, but those are mere speed bumps. Small price to pay for the really funny bits.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The story of a natural loser who strikes gold with an abandoned TV channel bears the hallmarks of Weird Al Jankovic, namely his parodic and **** humour. If anything, his fans will be grateful; those who aren't, look elsewhere.