Director
Peter Hyams
Cast
John Ritter - Roy Knable
Pam Dawber - Helen Knable
Jeffrey Jones - Spike
David Tomb - Darryl Knable
Heather McComb - Diane Knable
Eugene Levy - Crowley
Among the cinematic comedy corridors of the late 1980s through 1990s, some movies are fondly remembered more than others. Some movies obtain a "cult following" - groups of passionate fans dedicated to a body of work despite how poor or unpopular that work generally is. And other movies are just remembered because a few happened to catch it in theaters upon its release, or saw it on T.V. once. These latter titles stay in people's collective memories as "that one thing with that one guy I remember seeing."
Stay Tuned is definitely in the latter. I saw this in the theater when it came out. And between 1992, to watching it last night, I only remembered John Ritter and the film's Wayne's World spoof.
In the movie, John Ritter plays salesman Roy Knable who struggles at his job during the day only to plant himself in front of the TV at night and tune out the rest of the world.
Stay Tuned is definitely in the latter. I saw this in the theater when it came out. And between 1992, to watching it last night, I only remembered John Ritter and the film's Wayne's World spoof.
In the movie, John Ritter plays salesman Roy Knable who struggles at his job during the day only to plant himself in front of the TV at night and tune out the rest of the world.
His wife, Helen (Pam Dawber) feels Roy is neglecting his family as she wants to plan a getaway with just the two of them. They both have a fight, and Helen throws a trophy into Roy's T.V. set.
Still, he uses the broken set as a stand for a small T.V. he keeps upstairs.
Meanwhile, Mr. Spike (Jeffrey Jones), a TV. salesman straight from hell, appears at Roy's front door with a special offer - a brand new T.V. and satellite which will provide the Knable house 666 channels to choose from.
While Roy isn't interested at first, Mr. Spike offers him a free trial, and offer Roy can't refuse.
Spike sets up a large screen T.V. in Roy's living room, and a satellite dish in the backyard.
Roy is anxious to see what this new setup has to offer, and finds the programs are Hell-ish, satirically evil versions of familiar programs and movies.
When Pam sees the new television and satellite, she starts packing and attempts to leave.
But when the argument finds its way into the backyard, Pam and Roy get sucked into the satellite dish, and end up in Hell's T.V. lineup.
We see Spike and others running Hell's cable network monitoring souls stuck in the programs as he tells a new employee that souls have 24-hours to survive programming before they can return to earth. Otherwise, they're in eternity for...eternity.
Their son Darryl (David Tom) soon discovers what happened to his parents as he finds them on T.V. He tries to convince his older sister, Diane (Heather McComb), that their parents are trapped in the television, but she obviously doesn't believe him.
After almost getting sucked into the satellite dish himself, it's clear to Darryl how they ended up inside the T.V.
As Diane is taking advantage of their parents absence by having friends over, it takes a while before she learns for herself where they went.
And while Roy and Diane are trapped in the television, they jump from demonic-ish themed spoofs of Pro-wrestling, Northern Exposure, a cat and mouse cartoon animated by the legendary Chuck Jones, Wayne's World, a game show, and Driving Miss Daisy among other shows and movies.
Meanwhile, Spike fires a network employee named Crowley (Eugene Levy) and sends him into the system.
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| Pam Dawber and John Ritter |
Crowley randomly bumps into Roy and Helen and helps them when he can to spite Mr. Spike for letting him go. Roy and Helen attempt to survive each deadly program after another hoping they'll make it out after 24-hours.
It's only recently that I've started to appreciate the late John Ritter's comedy. He's the everyday guy who lets life happen to him when it does. And the small, perhaps unusual, circumstances and events he takes as normal and understood. He may not be hysterical, but his comedy makes me smile.
The comedy certainly makes this movie dated. I can't imagine anyone born after 1990 taking any interest in watching Stay Tuned. It's like a kid turning on one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons from the 1940s were celebrities of the era are caricaturized. Not too many children today watching such a cartoon would recognize Jack Benny, or Humphrey Bogart, or Harpo Marx. Still, you'll catch these cartoons at random still played on television, and they're still funny regardless.
Even the term "stay tuned" seems outdated as its not a staple of modern streaming services. That's certainly not a strike against the film, though.
The beginning of the move is narrated by Darryl, which seems superfluous to me. The movie is all visual which makes it easy for the audience to figure out the premise rather quickly. We don't need a narrator.
The emotional ties among the family are forced, and thrown in at what seems like the last minute in an attempt to add some depth.
The movie depends primarily on the Hell themed spoofs of pop culture up to 1992.
The beginning of the move is narrated by Darryl, which seems superfluous to me. The movie is all visual which makes it easy for the audience to figure out the premise rather quickly. We don't need a narrator.
The emotional ties among the family are forced, and thrown in at what seems like the last minute in an attempt to add some depth.
The movie depends primarily on the Hell themed spoofs of pop culture up to 1992.
One scene in the movie that made me laugh pretty hard, Roy finds himself on the set of the sitcom Three's Company. John Ritter starred on the series as Jack Tripper from 1977 to 1984. So, when he lands in the middle of the show, he falls over the sofa as the show's opening theme song plays. As he stands up, the sitcom's characters Janet and Chrissy come through the front door and ask "where have you been?"
Roy then screams at the camera before jumping to a new program.
Still, the movie has a very nostalgic charm to it, and the comedy is there. The pace and variety certainly work in its favor, entertainment wise. It's unique for sure, though the 1989 comedy UHF is somewhat similar with spoofing pop culture programs and movies via a television network.
Stay Tuned just puts a demonic spin to it.
For what it is, this movie works as it's obviously the satire it's selling to the audience. And it delivers.
It tries to preach a lesson in how many hours the average American spends watching T.V. (today, that would be replaced with Social Media) which tears down social interactions. Here, Helen and Roy are forced to communicate and work as a team because of T.V.
And for all practical purposes, the movie pulls off the lesson. It's not a hard lesson to teach.
It's fun to watch, though the comedic visuals may fly over the heads of younger viewers.
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