The Second So Bad It’s Good Blogathon – UHF (1989)

This is a post dedicated to The Second So Bad It’s Good Blogathon! taking place over at Taking Up Room this weekend.

Tnx Rebecca for letting me take part!

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“For those of you just joining us, today we’re teaching poodles how to fly. [claps his hands] Come here… come here, Foofy. Ah, Foofy. Are you psyched? Are you ready? Okay… Here we go. Get ready. And… FLY! [tosses poodle out of the apartment window. Poodle barks all the way down and hits with a loud thump] Oh, man… You know, sometimes it takes them a little longer to learn how to do it right. Okay, come on. Come on. Cheer up. Cheer up. Eh, eh, eh. Who’s next? Ah, Gigi! [tosses black poodle out of the window which barks all the way down and hits with another loud thud] Ah, man!” – Raul Hernandez

Number of Times Seen – At least five times (Cable in the 80’s and 90’s and  23 Feb 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A daydreaming loser gets the chance to run a TV station with hilarious results.

My Take on it – This is a film that I have loved ever since I first saw it not long after it came out 3 decades ago.

The story itself is a bit silly, but it still works quite well despite this.

Weird Al Yankovic is an amazing artist who is widely known for his parodies of famous songs, but this is the perfect film vehicle for him because he is able to combine his parodies of famous and iconic films while keeping this movie’s plot so much fun along the way.

The story comes across as being a bit sophomoric most of the time, yet the antics of the various characters help make this so enjoyable to watch.

The on screen humor (both in the foreground and background) are superb and one can laugh at everything going on without a problem because it’s so cleverly done.

In addition to Yankovic, the supporting cast is also great here.

Michael Richards shines among the all and allows us to get a preview of his “goofy” character acting that would help him make a name for himself as Kramer on Seinfeld.

The film has various snippets of commercials and of scenes from the “shows” that are hilarious to watch and enhance the film so much because they are all so much fun.

It’s a shame that Weird Al, never made more films like this ever since because he really knows how to create such a great slew of humorous sketches that are truly a movie lovers delight to watch from the very first frame all the way to the credits.

Bottom Line – This is the perfect vehicle for Yankovic. He does a great job both creating a really fun film and parodying many iconic Hollywood scenes within this film. The story itself is a bit silly, but the antics of the characters and on screen humor help make this so enjoyable to watch. The supporting cast is also great and I loved seeing Richards in a very important part here where he gets to show off his “goofy” talent. The various skits that we get to see as commercials or samples of shows work so well in helping make this so much fun to watch. It’s too bad Yankovich hasn’t made any more movies like this in the 3 decades since this came out because he really knows how to make a comedy that is a movie-lovers delight from start to finish. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The Spatula City billboard was purchased by the production and it was placed for the one shot it appears in, for ease of filming it was a billboard on a highway not frequented by many travelers. For this exact reason the billboard was not purchased after the rental period ran out, and the company did not remove the phony advertisement, it is reported that for months after the film finished shooting many travelers turned on the indicated exit and inquired about Spatula City, the ad was removed shortly afterwards when the company began receiving complaints. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)

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