UHF (1989) on Netflix
George Newman drifts between jobs and spends much of his time daydreaming. His uncle wins a struggling UHF station, Channel 62, in a poker game and puts George in charge.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/1034,727 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes63%
Trailer
Plot summary
Harvey Bilchik wins a UHF television station, Channel 62, in a poker game, and hands the manager's job to his nephew, George Newman, a daydreamer who has drifted between jobs. With his friend Bob Steckler, George finds the station nearly bankrupt and kept on the air by reruns of old shows. A package meant for the competing VHF station Channel 8 arrives at Channel 62 by mistake, and George delivers it. R.J. Fletcher, who owns and runs Channel 8, dismisses him rudely. Outside, George meets Stanley Spadowski, a janitor Fletcher has just fired, and brings him onto the Channel 62 staff. George and Bob add new programs, among them a children's show George hosts himself, and the station's viewership does not grow.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about UHF (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After Trinidad Silva performed his primary scenes he was to return for the yet-unfilmed telethon scenes, but he was killed by a drunken driver on July 31, 1988; the filmmakers were too grief-stricken to use body doubles and changed the telethon.
- Yankovic has stated the film was expected to save the studio for Orion and that he was treated very well because of it: every morning he would wake up to fresh strawberries next to his bed, and when the movie bombed, no more strawberries.
- Sylvester Stallone had initially agreed to a cameo appearance in the final act, where Newman imagines himself as a John Rambo-type soldier on a mission to rescue Stanley Spadowski, but Stallone ultimately declined.
- Yankovic wrote the role of Stanley Spadowski with Michael Richards in mind, impressed by his stand-up comedy and his performance on Fridays; Richards' agents said he was not interested because of a bout of Bell's palsy, but on second contact he arrived on set and dropped right into the character.
- The producers considered Jerry Seinfeld for the role of George's friend Bob Speck, but he turned it down; David Bowe, a long-time Yankovic fan, easily fit the role during auditions.
- Crispin Glover was approached for a role in the film, but there turned out to be only one part he wanted to play: a used car salesman.
