<?xml version="1.0"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang="en">
	<id>https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&amp;feed=atom&amp;title=UHF_%28film%29</id>
	<title>UHF (film) - Revision history</title>
	<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&amp;feed=atom&amp;title=UHF_%28film%29"/>
	<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=UHF_(film)&amp;action=history"/>
	<updated>2026-08-18T17:55:36Z</updated>
	<subtitle>Revision history for this page on the wiki</subtitle>
	<generator>MediaWiki 1.43.6</generator>
	<entry>
		<id>https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=UHF_(film)&amp;diff=291449&amp;oldid=prev</id>
		<title>-&gt;Bsherr: capitalization</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=UHF_(film)&amp;diff=291449&amp;oldid=prev"/>
		<updated>2022-01-09T02:16:27Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;capitalization&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;New page&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;{{short description|1989 American comedy film}}&lt;br /&gt;
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}&lt;br /&gt;
{{Infobox film&lt;br /&gt;
| name = UHF&lt;br /&gt;
| image = UHFposter.jpg&lt;br /&gt;
| caption = Theatrical release poster&lt;br /&gt;
| director = Jay Levey&lt;br /&gt;
| producer = Gene Kirkwood&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;[[John W. Hyde]]&lt;br /&gt;
| writer = [[&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic]]&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;Jay Levey&lt;br /&gt;
| starring= {{Plainlist | &lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Michael Richards]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[David Bowe (actor)|David Bowe]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Victoria Jackson]]&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
| music = [[John Du Prez]]&lt;br /&gt;
| cinematography = David Lewis&lt;br /&gt;
| editing = Dennis M. O&amp;#039;Connor&lt;br /&gt;
| studio = Cinecorp&lt;br /&gt;
| distributor = [[Orion Pictures]] &lt;br /&gt;
| released = {{Film date|1989|7|21}}&lt;br /&gt;
| runtime = 97 minutes&lt;br /&gt;
| country = United States&lt;br /&gt;
| language = English&lt;br /&gt;
| budget = $5&amp;amp;nbsp;million&lt;br /&gt;
| gross = $6.1&amp;amp;nbsp;million&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;mojo&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=uhf.htm |title=UHF (1989) |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=July 12, 2014}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; (released internationally as &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;The Vidiot from UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;) is a 1989 American [[comedy film]] starring [[&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic]], [[David Bowe (actor)|David Bowe]], [[Fran Drescher]], [[Victoria Jackson]], [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]], [[Michael Richards]], [[Stanley Brock]], [[Gedde Watanabe]], [[Billy Barty]], [[Anthony Geary]], [[Emo Philips]] and [[Trinidad Silva]]; the film is dedicated to Silva, who died shortly after principal filming. The film was directed by Jay Levey, Yankovic&amp;#039;s manager, who also co-wrote the screenplay with him. The film was originally released by [[Orion Pictures]] and is currently owned by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yankovic stars as George Newman, a shiftless dreamer who stumbles into managing a low-budget television station and, surprisingly, finds success with his eclectic programming choices, spearheaded by the antics of a janitor-turned-children&amp;#039;s television host, Stanley Spadowski (Richards). He provokes the ire of a major network station that dislikes the competitive upstart. The title refers to the [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) analog television broadcasting band on which such low-budget television stations often were placed in the United States.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Yankovic and Levey wrote the film after Yankovic&amp;#039;s [[&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic in 3-D|second studio album]], looking to apply the musician&amp;#039;s parody and comedy to film, and chose the approach of George being a [[straight man]] with a vivid imagination to support the inclusion of parodies within the film. They struggled with finding a film production company for financing the film, but were eventually able to get Orion Pictures&amp;#039; support after stating they could keep the film costs under $5&amp;amp;nbsp;million. Principal filming took place around [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], with many of the extras for the film from the Tulsa and [[Dallas, Texas]] areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; earned mixed critical reviews, and was further impacted by opening in the summer of 1989, which also saw the release of several major Hollywood blockbusters. While only a modest success during its original theatrical release, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; became a [[cult film]] on home video and cable TV. [[Shout! Factory]] released a special 25th-anniversary edition of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; on November 11, 2014, on DVD and Blu-ray.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Plot==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
George Newman&amp;#039;s uncle Harvey wins the deed to Channel 62, a nearly bankrupt [[Ultra-high frequency|UHF]] [[television station]], in a poker game, and puts George, a dreamer who bounces between jobs, in charge. George and his friend Bob realize the station is nearly bankrupt, subsisting on reruns of old shows like &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Green Acres]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Mister Ed]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. When a package is mis-delivered to the station, meant for their competitor [[VHF]] station Channel 8, George decides to deliver it himself, only to be rudely thrown out by RJ Fletcher, the CEO. Outside, George runs into Stanley, a janitor unfairly fired by RJ, and offers him a job at Channel 62.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
George and Bob create new programs, including &amp;quot;Uncle Nutzy&amp;#039;s Clubhouse&amp;quot;, a live children&amp;#039;s show hosted by George. The new shows fail to increase viewership with the station days from bankruptcy, and while fretting over their finances, George forgets his girlfriend Teri&amp;#039;s birthday dinner and she leaves him. George laments about his life on &amp;quot;Uncle Nutzy&amp;quot;, then goes to a bar for a drink with Bob, giving Stanley the opportunity to host the show. At the bar they find the patrons enjoying Stanley&amp;#039;s slapstick antics on Channel 62. Inspired by Stanley, George comes up with a range of bizarre shows to fill the schedule, headlined by the re-titled &amp;quot;Stanley Spadowski&amp;#039;s Clubhouse&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
RJ, infuriated that Channel 62&amp;#039;s ratings now rival those of Channel 8, discovers Harvey owns the station and owes his bookie Big Louie $75,000 by the end of the week and offers to pay off Harvey&amp;#039;s debt in exchange for the deed to Channel 62. George launches a [[telethon]] to sell stock in the station, which would not only save it from RJ but also make it [[State ownership|publicly owned]]. RJ&amp;#039;s henchmen stall the telethon by kidnapping Stanley, whom George and several staff members rescue. RJ again attempts to stall the telethon with a televised public statement, but engineer Philo [[broadcast signal intrusion|hijacks]] it with footage of RJ insulting the city&amp;#039;s population during a confrontation with Teri which Philo had covertly recorded.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The telethon ends $2,000 short of its goal. Harvey concedes victory to RJ who, instead of immediately taking ownership, celebrates by triumphantly speaking to the crowd about what will become of the station. Meanwhile, a hobo whom George had helped earlier approaches him, wanting to buy the rest of the stock with money he got from selling a [[1955 doubled die cent|rare coin]] that RJ had given him, unaware of its true value. George pays off Big Louie, Harvey signs the ownership transfer, and the station officially becomes publicly-owned. RJ learns that due to Channel 8 filing late for renewal of their broadcast license and, moreover, the rant Philo had broadcast, the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] is revoking their license. George and the Channel 62 staff and their audience celebrate and George and Teri rekindle their romantic relationship.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Cast==&lt;br /&gt;
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}&lt;br /&gt;
* [[&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic]] as George Newman&lt;br /&gt;
* [[David Bowe (actor)|David Bowe]] as Bob Steckler/Bobbo the Clown&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Fran Drescher]] as Pamela Finklestein&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Michael Richards]] as Stanley Spadowski&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Kevin McCarthy (actor)|Kevin McCarthy]] as R.J. Fletcher&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Victoria Jackson]] as Teri Campbell&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Stanley Brock]] as Uncle Harvey Bilchik&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Sue Ane Langdon]] as Aunt Esther Bilchik&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Anthony Geary]] as Philo&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Billy Barty]] as Noodles MacIntosh&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Trinidad Silva]] as Raul Hernandez&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Gedde Watanabe]] as Kuni&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Vance Colvig|Vance Colvig Jr.]] as the bum&lt;br /&gt;
* [[David Proval]] as Fletcher&amp;#039;s head goon&lt;br /&gt;
* [[John Paragon]] as R.J. Fletcher Jr.&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Belinda Bauer (actress)|Belinda Bauer]] as Mud Wrestler&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Dr. Demento]] as himself/Whipped Cream Eater&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Emo Philips]] as Joe Earley&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Patrick Thomas O&amp;#039;Brien]] as [[Satan]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[The Kipper Kids]] as themselves&lt;br /&gt;
{{div col end}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Production==&lt;br /&gt;
Yankovic and his manager Jay Levey had discussed the idea of a movie for Yankovic around 1985, after his second major successful album; his popularity at that time led the two to thinking what other venues would work for the musician.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = https://www.avclub.com/article/we-got-it-all-uhf-oral-history-weird-al-yankovics--215579 | title = We got it all on UHF: An oral history of &amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic&amp;#039;s cult classic | first= Sean | last = O&amp;#039;Neil | date = March 23, 2015 | access-date = March 23, 2015 | publisher = [[The A.V. Club]] }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The story concept they created was based on Yankovic&amp;#039;s approach to his music videos, making parodies of other works. After sketching out a number of such parodies for a film, the concept of Yankovic being the owner of a small-time UHF station broadcasting these parodies as shows was born, as this would not require having any significant plot to string the parodies together, in a manner similar to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Airplane!]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; (1980).&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The two attempted to shop the script around Hollywood film agencies for about three years without luck. They were surprised when one of their agents had shown the script to the founders of a new production company, Cinecorp, who were interested in the script and had given it to producers Gene Kirkwood and [[John W. Hyde]]; Kirkwood stated he had previously seen Yankovic&amp;#039;s videos and wanted to make a movie with him.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Kirkwood and Hyde had connections with [[Orion Pictures]], who offered to fund the production as long as they could keep it under $5&amp;amp;nbsp;million.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title of the film was selected to refer to, at the time of the film&amp;#039;s writing, the predominance of local television stations operating on [[UHF television broadcasting|ultra-high-frequency broadcasts]] in the United States, which were typically known for quirky, low-cost production shows, which the film spoofed.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Yankovic suggested the title &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;The Vidiot&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; for the film&amp;#039;s international release, but the studio eventually went with &amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;The Vidiot from UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; in an effort to connect the international and American versions, with which Yankovic has expressed dissatisfaction.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;DVD audio commentary, menus, etc.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Locations===&lt;br /&gt;
Primary filming for &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; occurred in [[Tulsa]]; the film&amp;#039;s executive producer [[Gray Frederickson]] had earlier finished shooting of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[The Outsiders (film)|The Outsiders]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; in Oklahoma, and found the ease and the cost to film in the state to suit the needs of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; They found several favorable factors that made the city suitable for filming. At the time of filming, the Kensington Galleria (71st and Lewis) was being closed down to convert the mall into office space, allowing the production team to use it for both sound stage and interior scenes including those for both Channels 8 and 62; the mall was also situated near a hotel making it ideal for housing the cast and crew during filming.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; The area and close proximity to Dallas allowed them to recruit additional local talent for some of the acts during the telethon scenes.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Burger World location was Harden&amp;#039;s Hamburgers at 6835 East 15th Street in Tulsa, and &amp;quot;Bowling for Burgers&amp;quot; was filmed at Rose Bowl Lanes on East 11th Street. The bar location was Joey&amp;#039;s House of the Blues at 2222 East 61st Street. The building used for Kuni&amp;#039;s Karate School belongs to the Tulsa Pump Company and is located at 114 West Archer in Tulsa, while &amp;quot;Crazy Ernie&amp;#039;s Used Car Emporium&amp;quot; was filmed on the lot of [[Pontiac (automobile)|Ernie Miller Pontiac]] at 4700 South Memorial.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.robohara.com/uhf UHF - My 15 Year Pilgrimage], [[Rob O&amp;#039;Hara]]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The dead fish in the [[game show]] &amp;quot;Wheel of Fish&amp;quot; were real, obtained from the White River Fish Market. The news desk was located at [[Oklahoma Educational Television Authority|OETA]], a local [[PBS]] member station. The steps of City Hall are actually First Christian Church at 913 S. Boulder, built in 1920. Channel 8&amp;#039;s exterior is an office block (6655 South Lewis Building) occupied by [[Hewlett-Packard]]. The &amp;quot;U-62&amp;quot; building was constructed around [[KGTO]] 1050&amp;#039;s [[AM broadcasting|AM radio]] [[transmitter]] site (5400 West Edison Street); the real KGTO studios had been moved elsewhere in 1975. Just the tower itself remains at this location today.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://tulsatvmemories.com/kfmj.html A little history of KFMJ 1050 AM], Wayne McCombs, Tulsa TV Memories&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The airport scenes were taken at [[Tulsa International Airport]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Casting===&lt;br /&gt;
Yankovic was always envisioned to be the central character of the film George Newman, written as a [[straight man]] with a vivid imagination as to allow the insertion of the parodies into the film&amp;#039;s script in a manner similar to the film &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 film)|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; (1947).&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; As the focus of the film was to be on the parodies, George was not fleshed out beyond enough character development to drive the principal storyline.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; The name &amp;quot;Newman&amp;quot; was selected as homage to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Mad (magazine)|Mad]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; magazine&amp;#039;s mascot, [[Alfred E. Neuman]], further referenced by the name of &amp;quot;Uncle Nutsy&amp;#039;s Clubhouse&amp;quot;.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The role of Stanley Spadowski was written by Yankovic with Michael Richards in mind; at the time, Yankovic had been impressed with Richards&amp;#039; stand-up comedy and performance on the show &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Fridays (TV series)|Fridays]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Yankovic had also considered that Stanley&amp;#039;s role was influenced by [[Christopher Lloyd]]&amp;#039;s performance on &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Taxi (TV series)|Taxi]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, and had considered reaching out to Lloyd to offer him the role, but decided to stay with Richards due to their original premise.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Richards&amp;#039; agents had told Yankovic that he wasn&amp;#039;t interested in the role as Richards at the time was suffering a bout of [[Bell&amp;#039;s palsy]], but when they reached out to Richards again, Richards came to the set, dropping right into the character of Stanley for the test read.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other principal roles were cast through normal auditions, with most of the choices based on how well the actor fit the role. For George&amp;#039;s girlfriend Teri Campbell, they didn&amp;#039;t feel that they needed to spend a significant amount of time developing this side as they did not consider Yankovic to be the type of actor for a romantic lead. Although [[Jennifer Tilly]] and [[Ellen DeGeneres]] auditioned, they found Victoria Jackson&amp;#039;s soft demeanor to be well-suited for the role.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For R.J. Fletcher, they found that Kevin McCarthy was in a similar stage of his career as [[Leslie Nielsen]]...one of many &amp;quot;serious vintage actors who had crossed over into satire&amp;quot;, according to Levey, and McCarthy relished the role.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; In the DVD commentary, Yankovic noted that McCarthy struggled not to laugh during takes. McCarthy himself later described his own character as a fellow who &amp;quot;makes [[Ebenezer Scrooge]] look like [[Sally Struthers]]&amp;quot;. Yankovic also cited one of McCarthy&amp;#039;s best-known roles as the ageless history teacher in the classic &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Twilight Zone&amp;#039;&amp;#039; episode &amp;quot;Long Live Walter Jameson&amp;quot;. Noting McCarthy&amp;#039;s gray hair, Yankovic recalled a scene at the end, when Jameson aged rapidly, saying, &amp;quot;For just a split second, he looked just like [he did in the movie].&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Fran Drescher]] was selected for the role of Pamela Finklestein, both for her established comedy and for her nasally voice that made a humorous contrast for a news anchor.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The producers considered [[Jerry Seinfeld]] for the role of George&amp;#039;s friend Bob Speck, but he turned it down. David Bowe, who had been a long-time Yankovic fan, easily fit the role during auditions.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Philo&amp;#039;s role was written with [[Joel Hodgson]] in mind, building on Hodgson&amp;#039;s stand-up routines of using homemade inventions and deadpan comedy. Hodgson turned down the role feeling at the time that he wasn&amp;#039;t a good actor.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; At the time, Hodgson was also working on &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. They also approached [[Crispin Glover]] for Philo&amp;#039;s role, but Glover said that he only wanted to play a used car salesman and no other part, turning down the offer.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; As they sought other actors, their casting agent Cathy Henderson offered up Anthony Geary, who at the time had gained popularity due to his role on &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[General Hospital]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;. Geary wanted to perform the role both as a fan of Yankovic and seeing the role as completely opposite from his normal acting.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kuni was written from the start with the intention of being performed by Gedde Watanabe.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Emo Philips was a close friend of Yankovic, and Yankovic felt that he had to include Philips in the movie, eventually creating the role of the clumsy shop teacher for him.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ginger Baker]] of the rock band [[Cream (band)|Cream]] volunteered to audition for the role of the hobo, but Yankovic and the production team found Vance Colvig Jr. to be a better fit.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Levey himself appears in the movie playing [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in the spoof segment &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Gandhi II&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
After Trinidad Silva performed his primary scenes, his character was to return for the telethon scenes which had not yet been filmed; however, he died in a car accident.  The filmmakers were too grief-stricken to use body doubles and dropped Silva&amp;#039;s appearances in the telethon. The film was dedicated to Silva.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Reception==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; received mixed reviews. On review aggregation website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has a 61% rating based on 23 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. The site&amp;#039;s critical consensus reads, &amp;quot;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; is bizarre, freewheeling, and spotty, though its anarchic spirit cannot be denied.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web |url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uhf/ |title= UHF (1989) | work = [[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date= July 6, 2014}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; On [[Metacritic]], which assigns a weighted average based on selected critic reviews, the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating &amp;quot;generally unfavorable&amp;quot; reviews.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/uhf |title= UHF Reviews |work= [[Metacritic]] | publisher = [[CBS Interactive]] |access-date= July 6, 2014}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Critic [[Roger Ebert]] wrote in the &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Chicago Sun-Times]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; that Yankovic&amp;#039;s approach to satire and parody works for the short-form music video, but does not work to fill out a full-length movie. Ebert also called to Yankovic&amp;#039;s lack of screen presence, creating a &amp;quot;dispirited vacuum at the center of many scenes&amp;quot;; he gave &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; one star out of four.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uhf-1989 | title = UHF | date = July 21, 1989 | access-date = July 14, 2014 | publisher = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | first = Roger | last = Ebert }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Chicago Tribune]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; critic [[Gene Siskel]] wrote of the film, &amp;quot;Never has a comedy tried so hard and failed so often to be funny&amp;quot;; he gave it a zero star rating.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-07-21/entertainment/8902190273_1_bond-film-star-uhf-tv |title=&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;s&amp;#039; attempts to be funny a complete failure |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=July 21, 1989 |access-date=2014-09-10 |first=Gene |last=Siskel}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fellow &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Tribune&amp;#039;&amp;#039; critic [[Dave Kehr]] said of it &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not surprising to find that &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; ultimately resolves itself into a series of four-minute, video-style sketches laid pretty much end-to-end, but at least Weird Al has given feature-length fiction the old college try, introducing rudimentary plot and number of semi-functional characters.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1989/07/21/page/162/article/weird-al-yankovic-gives-old-college-try-with-uhf |title=&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic gives old college a try with UHF |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=July 21, 1989 |access-date=2017-04-17 |first=Gene |last=Siskel}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Michael Wilmington of the &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Los Angeles Times]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; believed that, as the entire film comprised parodies, it gave no structure for the larger plot to work, thus resulting in &amp;quot;not much of a movie&amp;quot;.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = https://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-21/entertainment/ca-4050_1_daffy | title = Movie Reviews: The Parody Runs Amok in Yankovic&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039; | date = July 21, 1989 | access-date = July 14, 2014 | first = Michael | last = Wilmington | work = [[Los Angeles Times]] }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to Yankovic&amp;#039;s &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Behind the Music]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; episode, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; enjoyed one of the most successful test screenings in Orion&amp;#039;s history. Orion Pictures released &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; on July 21, 1989, hoping it would be a [[Blockbuster (entertainment)|summer blockbuster]] that would revive their commercial fortunes. However, critical response was negative,&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;av club retro&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; and it was out of the theaters by the end of the month.{{citation needed|date = April 2011}} The film has been compared to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Young Einstein]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, which similarly scored well with test audiences but failed to make a critical impression.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;av club retro&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Yankovic has stated that it was not a &amp;quot;critic movie&amp;quot;. As Yankovic states in his commentary of the movie, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; was thought to be the movie that would &amp;quot;save the studio&amp;quot; for Orion. He was treated very well because of this. He states in the commentary: &amp;quot;Every morning I would wake up to fresh strawberries next to my bed. Then, when the movie bombed, I woke up and...no more strawberries!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Within the month prior, and up to the release of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, studios released bigger movies like &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Ghostbusters II]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Honey, I Shrunk the Kids]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Lethal Weapon 2]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Licence to Kill]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[When Harry Met Sally...]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Weekend at Bernie&amp;#039;s]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/index1989.php |title=The Numbers }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The draw of these blockbuster movies also contributed to the low attendance at &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039;{{&amp;#039;s}} premiere; &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[The A.V. Club]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, in a retrospective, called &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; &amp;quot;a sapling among the redwoods&amp;quot; and the type of film that Hollywood has since abandoned.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;av club retro&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = https://www.avclub.com/article/weird-als-iuhf-iis-uneven-but-that-just-made-it-ah-81212 | title = Weird Al&amp;#039;s UHF is uneven, but that just made it ahead of its time  | publisher = [[The A.V. Club]] | date=  June 14, 2012 | access-date = July 14, 2014 | first = Scott | last = Tobias }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Yankovic and the film&amp;#039;s creators considered that the film had a strong audience with younger viewers, which did well to fill midday matinees but did not succeed in helping to sell tickets for more lucrative evening and nighttime showings.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The poor critical response of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; left Yankovic in a slump&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; that lasted for three years, impacting the finalization of his next studio album. The slump was broken when the band [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] rose to wide popularity, inspiring him to write &amp;quot;[[Smells Like Nirvana]]&amp;quot; and complete the album &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Off the Deep End]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = https://www.spin.com/2012/10/weird-al-yankovic-looks-back-at-20-years-of-smells-like-nirvana/ | title = &amp;#039;Weird Al&amp;#039; Yankovic Looks Back at 20 Years of &amp;#039;Smells Like Nirvana&amp;#039; | work = [[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |publisher=[[Buzzmedia]] | first = Christopher R. | last = Weingarten | date = October 11, 2012 | access-date = October 11, 2012 }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Legacy===&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; has since become a cult classic, becoming popular on cable and home video.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;avclub&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; The movie was released on [[VHS]] in Europe, the United States and Canada but, because of the little money earned at the box office, it soon fell [[out of print]]. In the several years &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; was out of print, the film developed a [[cult following]], and fans of the film and Yankovic in general pawed desperately for a copy. Prices skyrocketed, ranging from fifty to a hundred dollars or more. Finally, &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; was released on [[DVD]] in 2002 by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] and, in its debut week, it became a top ten bestseller in &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; magazine. The US and Canadian DVD contains numerous extras including a music video of the movie&amp;#039;s theme song, a commentary track featuring director Jay Levey and Yankovic himself (with surprise guest appearances by costar Michael Richards and Emo Philips and a phoned-in appearance by Victoria Jackson), and a deleted-scenes reel with Yankovic&amp;#039;s commentary. [[Shout! Factory]] released a special 25th Anniversary Edition of &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; on November 11, 2014, on DVD and [[Blu-ray]], while Fabulous Films released the movie on Blu-Ray in the United Kingdom on July 27, 2015.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;mtv 25&amp;quot;&amp;gt;{{cite web | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/1994887/weird-al-uhf-25-interview/ | title = &amp;#039;Weird Al&amp;#039; Yankovic Reflects On 25 Years Of &amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039; – And Looks Forward to a Broadway Musical | first = Alex | last = Zalben | date = November 11, 2014 | access-date = March 23, 2015 | publisher = [[MTV]] }}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Though Yankovic has considered the possibility of a sequel, he has not actively pursued this. Yankovic noted that &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; is &amp;quot;a product of its era, and comedy has changed so much over the decades&amp;quot;, but also considered that the type of comedy predated the nature of [[List of Internet phenomena|Internet phenomena]] and [[viral video]]s.&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;mtv 25&amp;quot;/&amp;gt; Yankovic further maintained the unlikelihood of a sequel to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; in an interview, citing the underwhelming box office returns of the film, and lack of industry interest in financing another &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; project.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{Cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/UHF-2-Here-What-Weird-Al-Yankovic-Has-Say-68184.html|title=UHF 2? Here&amp;#039;s What Weird al Yankovic Has to Say|date=November 12, 2014}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gedde Watanabe later reprised his role as Kuni for a guest appearance on &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[The Weird Al Show]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; in 1997.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The music video for Yankovic&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Word Crimes&amp;quot;, a song about errant grammar, includes a nod to this movie. When a test paper is shown on the screen, the name George Newman (Weird Al&amp;#039;s character from the movie) is displayed on the test. It also features a [[Reddit]] account called u/George-Newman.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A [[webseries]] called &amp;#039;&amp;#039;The Real UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; which was heavily inspired by &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF&amp;#039;&amp;#039; started in 2009.  It starred [[Dr. Demento]], [[Neil Hamburger]] and [[Count Smokula]], and it featured guest appearances from [[Devo]], [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]], and others. The series was the brainchild of Zack Wolk, an intern for &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the [[Cartoon Network]] series &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Regular Show]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039; references the Twinkie Wiener Hotdog in the season 1 episode &amp;quot;Rigby&amp;#039;s Body&amp;quot;. Where they show a montage of Mordecai and Rigby eating the food in the food stand of the park &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
YouTube chef Andrew Rea, also known as [[Binging with Babish|Oliver Babish]], has attempted to cook &amp;quot;Bob&amp;#039;s favourite,&amp;quot; the [[Twinkie]] Wiener Sandwich, which is a wiener inserted into a top-cut Twinkie, topped with a helping of [[Easy Cheese]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;{{Cite web|last=Babish|first=Oliver|date=Jun 23, 2020|title=Binging with Babish: Twinkie Wiener Sandwich from UHF|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKslWoZXvn0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/jKslWoZXvn0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The video has accumulated over two million views as of August, 2020. According to him, it is delicious.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Soundtrack==&lt;br /&gt;
Yankovic also released a quasi-soundtrack for the film in late 1989, titled &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;, which featured songs (and commercials) from the movie as well as his own new, unrelated studio material.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
{{portal|Film}}&lt;br /&gt;
* &amp;#039;&amp;#039;[[Pray TV (1980 film)|Pray TV]]&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&lt;br /&gt;
* [[List of films featuring fictional films]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{Reflist}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
{{wikiquote}}&lt;br /&gt;
* {{IMDb title|0098546|UHF}}&lt;br /&gt;
* {{Amg title|51555|UHF}}&lt;br /&gt;
* {{rotten-tomatoes|uhf|UHF}}&lt;br /&gt;
*{{AFI film|id=68107|title=UHF}}&lt;br /&gt;
* {{MusicBrainz release|mbid=03cbe36e-81c7-44d4-b72f-bdaeedf8c5de|name=UHF and Other Stuff}}&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.robohara.com/uhf &amp;#039;&amp;#039;UHF Filming Locations, 15 Years Later&amp;#039;&amp;#039;] at robohara.com&lt;br /&gt;
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081226204032/http://monsterofmud.livejournal.com/64804.html &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Another UHF Tour&amp;#039;&amp;#039;]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{&amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1989 films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1989 comedy films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1980s parody films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:American independent films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:American parody films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:American films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:American slapstick comedy films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:English-language films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Orion Pictures films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films about badgers]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films about television]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films directed by Jay Levey]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films scored by John Du Prez]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films shot in Oklahoma]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films set in Oklahoma]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films set in Tulsa, Oklahoma]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films with screenplays by &amp;quot;Weird Al&amp;quot; Yankovic]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Jay Levey]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1989 directorial debut films]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>-&gt;Bsherr</name></author>
	</entry>
</feed>