UHF

1989 | 97 minutes | Rated PG-13

Music video parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic stars in this satirical 1989 farce about a bumpkin who takes over a run-down TV station; after he enlists a retarded janitor (Michael Richards) to take over the kiddie show, the station's ratings soar, but the owner of a competing station (Kevin McCarthy) tries to put him out of business. Gamely running through parodies of TV commercials and shows, not to mention Spielberg, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Selznick, and Gandhi, this is awful by any standard—feeble, corny, and labored in script as well as direction—although the Capracorn of the basic premise occasionally manages to convey a certain sweetness. Jay Levey directed; with Victoria Jackson, David Bowe, and Stanley Brock. By Jonathan Rosenbaum

Director: Jay Levey
Producer: Gray Frederickson, John W. Hyde and Gene Kirkwood
Cast: Weird Al Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, David Bowe, Stan Brock, Anthony Geary, Trinidad Silva, Gedde Watanabe and Billy Barty