|  Dustin: Hey there! You were adventurous enough to click the link, so now you, the reader, get to watch us critique one of the all-time great cult movies... Weird Al Yankovic's UHF! I'd like to make two comments before we begin: One, I am listening to the title track of the soundtrack of the same name as I write this, for I am seriously HARD CORE. Two, I was also just cleaning my bathroom, and I am all about feelin' the “Comet effect.”
DJ: At the tender age of 12, I was one of Weird Al's biggest fans when this sumbitch came out! Had lots of his tapes, including the UHF soundtrack, which I listened to all the time, was totally excited when I saw he had a movie, and yet, it being released in the summer of 1989 (the summer of Batman & Indiana Jones)... I, like most people, didn't see Al's opus in theatres. Catching it on video years later, myself and one Tadd Branum laughed our asses off. Seriously. We have to pad our pants where our asses should be now. (Not sure why I use so much padding come to think of it.)
Dustin: I had discovered it on video after the fact as well--and like you, I had been an avid listening of his recorded work. It all began in sixth grade, when I was introduced to a little song called "Yoda."
DJ: To the tune of "Lola." Genius Al... Should I tell peeps what this lil' flick's about?
Dustin: Go for it. While you type, I will put on "Yoda" and sing along, since I still know all the lyrics. Perhaps I will even act out my own impromptu music video.
DJ: In UHF, Weird Al plays George Newman, one of those underemployed dreamer types who can't seem to get a break and sometimes put poodles in a bowl of fruit punch or make mash potato sculptures. Then, one fateful day, he wins a local UHF (ultra high frequency) station from his uncle! Instead of running reruns and crap, he comes up with all sorts of wacky programming, and it becomes a hit! And... Kramer's in the damned thing ta' boot! Al thinks up a bunch of movie parodies (much like his song parodies), my favorite being Conan the Librarian. Slapsticky, pretty harmless fun ensues. How's that?
Dustin: Dandy summation, although we have yet to discuss several of the various subplots--oh yes! In the midst of all this hilarity, there's two major storylines weaving in and out of the film:
DJ: There are? Yeah... there are!
Dustin: As a consequence of George's tendency to daydream, he's distracted, and it causes him no end of trouble with his girlfriend Teri, played by the then muuuuuuuch lighter SNL-era Victoria Jackson.
DJ: Yeah, like me, she's packed on some serious pounds in the years since ‘89.
Dustin: And as if his relationship problems aren't enough of a challenge, George's success at the little UHF station has attracted the ire of the owner of the "big player" affiliate in town, Channel 8. Played by always-excellent "ruthless bastard" type Kevin McCarthy, station owner R.J. Fletcher spends a better part of the movie trying to destroy rival station Channel 62.
DJ: Oh yeah, them's the cookie cutter g-friend problems and big tycoon versus little guy plots. Plotting schmlotting! This movie's about cornball gags and Airplane! type parody!!!
Dustin: It's a shame this this movie is treated as such a niche picture... the writing is actually really good.
DJ: It's... funny. I don't know if it's aged well, though. But still, any movie with legendary little person actor Billy Barty playing a dude called Noodles MacIntosh is A-okay in my book! I do think that, if it'd been released at a different time, it would've done better, and there'd be a few Weird Al movies out there. He was certainly funnier than Ernest (may he rest in peace). I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, should I?
 Dustin: Oh, I absolutely think it's aged well... all of the parody material was all fairly timeless, and even to those things that were specific little gags... it's of pop culture references that have managed to resurface in other forms. For example, back in 1989, there wasn't any of this "Jerry Springer" stuff that we of a... more enlightened time... have to deal with. Yet, there's a reference in one of George's "Talk Shows" to the Phil Donahue show, and how it was purposely over the top. Weird Al in turn goes with a joke of turning what was over the top at the the time into a ruthless brawl between satanists and girls scouts... at the time funny because it was unrealistic but somehow "right." And now, you go back and watch that and realize that you HAVE since seen shit even crazier than that on Springer. So it's still funny, although in a much different way.
DJ: Y'know... this sounds kind of dumb, but I've only seen this movie on vhs (both it at Odd Lots for about $2 years ago)... I think that shitty VHS picture quality and sound has had an effect on what I think of the movie... So maybe it's not the movie that hasn't aged wel, but crappy vhs technology... You have a point about the Springer thing--I think Al was making fun of pre-Springer Gerlado, though.
Dustin: Oh yeah... Donahue was the white-haired guy. My bad.
DJ: Yeah. Now we could see it on "real" talk shows! That curly haired, mustachioed guy was psychic!!!
Dustin: Other examples: the movie starts with a parody of the opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark--that ages just fine. Then all the humor that's non-sequitor, like a commercial for "Spatula City," or interviewing a high school shop teacher that cuts his thumb off on television just floats along with the parody.
DJ: Spatula City is one of my favorites. I love that it's out of nowhere. Good stuff. And, yeah, Indy is timeless. Too bad UHF opened against him, though. That was a funny way to open the flick. Also can't forget Al's amazing fake muscles as Rambo.
Dustin: Yup... it's all still viable humor. The only thing that you might say looks dated is just the overall look of that late-80s period.
DJ: Yeah. I mean, that's just how it goes. The 80s hasn't aged well, either... So, did you find yourself really laughing at the flick, or was it more memories of how funny it was when you first saw it as a younger Dustin? Or did you just see it for the first time recently? Are you wearing pants?
Dustin: Well, I've honestly seen it so many times over the years (and currently own it on DVD), that I don't "laugh out loud" at it any more, but it's still highly entertaining. I can see myself laughing at some of the jokes today if I was just now seeing it for the first time, although there are probably an equal amount of groaners. And hell no, I'm not wearing any pants.
DJ: Word to the pants part!!!!
Dustin: Represent.
DJ: I think that, like a lot of the Zucker movies, this one has lots of jokes... less of them hit in UHF than, say, Airplane!, but still, there are so many, it's easy to forgive.
Dustin: Well, I think a lot of that is the cast--the people in the Zucker films mean business when they get up there and work. The cast of UHF is really much more... well, B-list. To Weird Al's credit, though, he actually carries the picture well and he's not a trained actor. The guy that probably deserves more mention is Michael Richards--this was the last thing he did before going to to do Seinfeld a year later.
 DJ: The weird thing is that Al is, in a lot of it, the straight man to Michael Richards' (retarded?) janitor character and the other "zanies." I'd argue that Al should've been the "zany" one... I mean, his character's nuts, but not always nutty, you know?
Dustin: He was probably the most solid comedic actor in the film, although you can tell it's a lot of a very familiar kind of shtick. The difference between Weird Al's character and Michael Richards' is probably a matter of smarts--George Newman as a character is very smart, thoughtful, and his humor comes from absurdity and randomness. Stanley Spadowski as a character is sweet, earnest, and simple. His kind of funny is more from physical comedy and "dumb" humor.
DJ: Yeah. I guess Al gets to be livelier in the parody sequences, too. Credit must be given to his acting prowess for portraying both Rambo and Ghandi in one movie. That has to be a stretch.
Dustin: He wasn't Ghandi... that was Jay Levey, the director/co-writer.
DJ: Oh shit! I'm a buffoon! Jay levey, the director and Al's manager... why do I have it in my head that Al was Ghandi? My bad. Ebert wouldn't tolerate me.
Dustin: He also played high school shop teacher Emo Phillips.
DJ: Wait... are you saying Emo and Jay are the same person? Huh? What? I'm confused? Where are your pants???
Dustin: Okay, I can see that you're rapidly losing focus on what we're doing, so we'll wrap it up: final verdict on the movie?
DJ: Over all, though, I don't think that Weird Al's humor translated as well as I'd hoped as a kid from the albums to the movie, but I have a soft spot for him, and always found this flick amusing.
Dustin: It's in moments like these that I feel we would be benefited by having some kind of rating system.
DJ: 12-year-old me would give it 4 out of 5 spatulas, while 28-year-old me gives it 2.5 out of 5 spatulas.
Dustin: Okay, using your system... my 12-year-old gives it 5 out of 5 because I had no friends at the time. Me at 28 gives it 3 out of 5. Great, so that's another Spoiler Warning in the can. Speaking of, I'm going to go finish cleaning mine now.
DJ: With no pants on???
Dustin: Enough with the pants thing.
DJ: I’m sorry, I keep saying stupid shit. I think I need a drink. |
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