UHF

I always choke up a little when they hit the goal and George screams “We did it, the station’s ours!!”

 

I have very fond memories of seeing UHF in the theater during the summer of 1989. I took my then-girlfriends kids who were around 7 and 9 years old and they loved the movie. We had such a good time that afternoon and they begged me to take them to see it again. I bought them the album on cassette and they played it continuously all that summer. Those were very good days.

 

So disappointed that the Blu-Ray now appears to be out of print.

I have the DVD.

But I want UHF in HD!

 

A few years ago I got sick of waiting and found it on DVD on eBay. Unless I missed it, this movie has not been released on home video in Australia since 1990 (or was it late '89?). Direct to video, at that. Under the title "The Vidiot From UHF". Not sure if you could buy it. But you could rent it. So I did. Now I finally own a copy.

Not complaining. I just forgot about it for 15~20 years. And as I watched the DVD, the biggest jokes in the biggest scenes came back to me, a minute or two before they happened. Not so much the dialogue, but all the big (and small) silly bits that make this movie fun.

 

My wife and I mention going to "Spatula City" about 6-8 times a year.

 

At the time, Ted also owned WRET-TV, channel 36, in Charlotte. The call letters were his initials, Robert Edward Turner, & like WTBS, it was a mix of cartoons, old syndicated shows, & old movies, along with a religious based kid's show created & hosted by Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker. Scary I know! It was that show that lead the Bakkers to founding PTL, & WRET aired that as well.

When the local ABC affiliate switched to NBC in the late 70s, Ted went after & got the NBC affiliation for channel 36, created news programs for it, & then sold the station at a handsome profit. The money from that sale & experiences starting up those news programs is what allowed him to be able to start up CNN & really begin his media empire.

I still have fond memories of the programming on WRET, The "Friday Night Frights" collection of old Universal Horrors films hosted by "Dead Ernest" is where I discovered those great films, (& it was always a double feature!), the morning & afternoon blocks of Warner Bros & MGM cartoons, & their airing of Speed Racer. The Friday night horror films proved so popular that they started airing them on TBS as well, back in the days when they literally had to ship the tapes of the show from Charlotte to Atlanta each week, & there was a rumor that ol' Ted hisself hosted them once they started airing on TBS also! That wasn't true, as an old Charlotte radio guy, Bob Chesson was actually the character.

Here's the old WRET logo:

 

Same

 

Definitely more profound than "life is like a box of chocolates".

 

He was supposed to have a bigger role in the movie, but, tragically, got killed in an accident before filming had completed.

 

Of course Trinidad Silva's greatest role was as gang leader Jesus Martinez on Hill Street Blues. The portrayal of gang warfare on that show leaned a little hard into West Side Story territory but Silva always was a treat to watch.

 

Amazon has it in stock and so does Shout Factory's store.

 

A big fan of the movie. Kevin McCarthy is great in it!

 

I LOVE UHF!

 

Badgers?... Badgers?... I don't need no stinking Badgers!

 

what's in her brain?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!! STOOOOOPID!!!

 

aww, we got a coupla romantics here.

 

Playing an air headed nimrod comes so easily to her. Like its her natural state....

 

I love spatulas so much, I bought the company

 

Weird Al says in the commentary that they left the sign for Spatula City up after filming was complete. People began asking where the store was and thought is was real.