Starring: John Ritter, Pam Dawber
Director: Peter Hyams (Timecop, Sudden Death, End of Days)
Year: 1992
“You can cool your heels in here for the rest of eternity if you kiss the right ass. And let me tell ya’, these lips ain’t calloused for nothing.”
In this 1992 comedy, a couple on the outs find themselves having to survive through a set of hellish reiterations of popular television programs, before an evil television executive obtains their souls.
Sounds pretty outlandish, huh? Here’s my review:
Roy Knable (John Ritter) is a couch potato who sells plumbing supplies (poorly) and watches television (constantly). His wife, Helen (Pam Dawber), works as a marketing executive for a vitamin company and refers to Roy’s situation as nothing more than a mid-life crisis.
She also hates television.
Very much.
Roy is soon visited by a mysterious gentleman named Spike (Jeffrey Jones), who claims that he is a salesman for a television company that can offer more than what is shown on “regular” television.
Being the bum that he is, Roy eventually signs up for the “free trial”. A ridiculous television is then placed in the Knables’ living room and an even more ridiculous satellite dish is placed in the backyard.
Needless to say, Helen is not happy to see Roy’s “new investment”.
In the attempted process of leaving Roy, the Knables are sucked into the dish and are transported to a world known as HVTV, preferred station of the one we call “the desolate one”…
The first of the fallen…
The spoiler of virgins…
The master of abortions!
Whew, kind of got off-topic there. Anyway, the bulk of the film revolves around Roy & Helen’s attempt to survive their limited stay in HVTV. If they survive for 24 hours: Redemption. If they fail: Spike’s quota of souls for Beelzebub gets filled.
The film is filled with funny pop culture references and parodies of popular television shows/films of the time, such as…
3 Men & Rosemary’s Baby
Autopsies of The Rich & Famous
My Three Sons of Bitches
And my personal favorite, Different Strokes
I’ve lost the feeling in my arm…
The casting department made very smart choices with this movie, as well. Both John Ritter & Pam Dawber were well-known on television sitcoms; Ritter playing Jack Tripper on Three’s Company and Dawber playing Mindy McConnell on Mork & Mindy, as well as the lead character on My Sister Sam.
I had to read that paragraph back to myself and referring to Pam Dawber by just her last name reminded me of this guy:
Different spelling, I know. Back to the casting.
Jeffrey Jones was a great choice as the “Mephistopheles of the Cathode Ray” who will stop at nothing to make sure his boss is satisfied. I don’t remember ever seeing Jones play a likable character in any movie and I definitely prefer it that way. Especially after finding out about the whole “he gets off to child porn” thing:
Woof. Hope the school board let Mr. Rooney know he wasn’t welcome back at Shermer High anytime soon. I guess that whole “your ass is mine” line meant something…
Eugene Levy did a funny job as Crowley, another lackey from HVTV, who is summoned for “field work” and decides to help out Roy & Helen along their journey. There’s also the couple’s children, brainiac Darryl (David Tom) and ditzy brunette Diane (Heather McComb). I honestly thought that Macaulay Culkin ripped off the Darryl look for The Pagemaster, but what do I know?
There were two roles that I wish had gotten more play: Wetzel & Pierce.
Wetzel was played by Don Calfa, who was best known as Ernie (take those rabbid weasels out back and shoot them) from “Return of the Living Dead”, but I don’t know what happened to the guy who played Pierce. Must have fallen off. Actor’s name is listed as “Erik King”.
Wait a minute…
Hold the phone…
HOLY SHIT.
On the cameo side of things, the legendary Don Pardo lent his voice as the announcer of the dangerous game show, You Can’t Win. Also, Mr. Gargon was played by someone familiar to wrestling fans:
Great Scott! It’s the One Man Gang (or Akeem, for those of you who forgot they were the same guy).
As a film, Stay Tuned is incredibly silly and is definitely enjoyable. The cast was great, the plot worked and the parodies were pretty funny (there’s a montage towards the end of the film that I love that includes Roy & Spike surfing through different channels that parody Star Trek: The Next Generation, Driving Miss Daisy and one parody that I won’t ruin for those of you will want to see the film). I didn’t want to reveal all of the worlds that the Knables travel to, mainly because even though the movie has been out for almost 25 years, some people will complain about me spoiling all of the movie 😉
If you like satire, this movie is definitely one to watch. It is a funny film that showcases all that television has done for us, both good and bad. I honestly would like to see a remake, as well. In an age where cable television is falling and streaming is king. I’d really like to see how a modern version of Stay Tuned would work. As long as Hollywood picks two stars who got their break on television to play the married couple, could it really hurt? It’s not like the movie’s a classic or anything…
Just don’t pick Ed Helms.
One more thing: I’d pay enough money to own the Napper Crapper.
Rating: 3.5/5
Favorite Quotes
“Holy Shatner!”
“It didn’t come from Radio Shack.”
(Reading) “Roy Knable, Private Dick. Heh, better than being a public dick.”
“I would have given you chocolates.”
Random Tidbit
Tim Burton was offered to direct this film, but declined because of Batman Returns.
Real Reels 