UHF (1989)

Poster from the Internet Movie Database
Before I begin, I have to say that I love Weird Al Yankovic and his parodies. I have most of his CDs, and they're a hoot. With that said, let me begin.

UHF was released in 1989, but went out of print around 1996, making the VHS version very hard to find. I had to buy one from eBay for around $40. And now, the DVD is out where you can get it for less that $10! A lot of critics don't like it, but I find it very funny.

UHF starts off as a funny parody of Raiders of the Lost Ark with Al going into a cave for a hidden treasure (an Oscar, as we see). That turns out to be just a fantasy sequence; we see Al as an employee of Big Edna's Burger World. He, along with his friend Bob (David Bowe), get fired Al's character George Newman burns fries and insults Big Edna.

We then learn that Al can't keep a job and his girlfriend Teri's (SNL's Victoria Jackson) relationship with him is strained. George's uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock) gives him a small UHF station, channel 62, that he won from a poker game.

Basically, the rest of the movie is about UHF's zany hi-jinks and shows. Kevin McCarthy gives a great comedic performance as the president of network Channel 8, that feels threatened, because with U62's wacky shows, they're getting more viewers. Some of U62's shows include "Conan the Libraian", "Celibrity Mud Wrestling", and "The Volcano Worshipers Hour". Along the way, Michael Richards comes in as janitor Stanley Spadowski, who is the funnies part of the movie. Stanley is just a big kid himself, telling "Mr. Coyote to watch out!" while watching cartoons.

Stanley gets his own hit show, "Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse", that everybody loves. Along with Stanley, George gets some other people to do shows, like his friend Kuni (Gedde Watanabe) who hosts "Wheel of Fish", and Raul, who hosts "Raul's Wild Kingdom", where he teaches poodles how to fly! All of UHF's humor is basically in the shows that U62 produces. But Channel 8 is very funny with R.J. Fletcher's (president of Channel 8's) son Richard's relationship to U62 cameraman Noodles MacIntosh (Billy Barty, who you may remember as a munchkin from The Wizard of Oz), and the hobo is memorable.

So if you want a laugh-out-loud-and-you-can't-stop movie, rent, or better, buy, UHF. The commentary by Al and director Jay Levey is great, maybe the best commentary I've ever heard. Al knows tidbits of the addresses of the locations to every cut scene. A few guests come into the studio during the commentary; it's worth a listen!

Rated PG-13 for cartoony violence.

Review Date: August 24, 2002