Stay Tuned (film)

Infobox Film
name = Stay Tuned


caption = The movie poster for "Stay Tuned"
director = Peter Hyams
producer = James G. Robinson
writer = Tom. S. Parker
Jim Jennewain
Richard Siegel (story)
Tom S. Parker
Jim Jennewain (screenplay)
starring = John Ritter
Pam Dawber
Jeffrey Jones
Eugene Levy
music = Bruce Broughton
cinematography = Peter Hyams
editing = Peter E. Berger
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = August 14, 1992
runtime = 88 min.
country = United States
language = English
budget = $25,000,000 (estimated)
gross = $10,736,401
amg_id = 1:46741
imdb_id = 0105466

"Stay Tuned" (1992) is an American film directed by Peter Hyams, starring John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, and Eugene Levy.

Plot

John Ritter plays Roy Knable, a couch potato, and Pam Dawber (of "Mork & Mindy" fame) plays his neglected wife Helen. After a fight (which involved Helen throwing one of Roy's fencing trophies into the the family television, smashing the screen and matrix as a wake-up call to reality), Mr. Spike (Jeffrey Jones) appears at the couples' door, offering him a high tech new satellite dish system filled with 666 channels of every program you can't get on the four big networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX). The dish soon sucks Roy and Helen into a hellish television world, full of satirical shows and movies. In some shows, the Knables are transformed into various roles and forms that fit the plot of the movie they happen to be in at the time (Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the "Star Trek" scene, Clint Eastwood in a spaghetti western scene, and even as Jack Tripper on the set of "Three's Company"). If they can survive for 24 hours, they're free to go, but if they get killed, their souls will go to Satan. They are pursued by Mr. Spike (also known as "Mephistopheles of the Cathode Ray") who enters some shows along with the Knables in order to halt their advance. He too takes on alternate forms that reflect the themes of the various shows (the Klingon and Android in the "Star Trek" scene, the driver in "Driving Over Miss Daisy", etc.).

The early 1990s musical group Salt N Pepa have a cameo near the end of the film in a "Hell TV" (MTV) segment. Mr. Spike, the DJ in that segment of the film, threw bladed-records at Roy Knable (dressed in a satirical Prince outfit.) However, Roy dodged them all and confronted Spike, winning back the remote. The music video ended and Roy used the remote to save his wife from being run over by a train. At the end of the movie, Roy is teaching a fencing class (he was a co-captain of his fencing team in junior college) when a student attempts to disarm him with a fancy move but fails. When he asks "Where did you learn that?", she replies "I saw it on TV once," to which Roy replies, "Don't watch too much TV, trust me it will get you into trouble."

Parodies

Some film and TV show parodies include:
*"Wayne's World", -- "Duane's Underworld" in a twisted sketch show "Saturday Night Dead" (a parody of "Saturday Night Live")
*"The Silence of the Lambs" -- "Silencer of the Lambs" commercial, a man binds and gags his kids to keep them quiet
*"Three Men and a Baby", "Rosemary's Baby" -- "Three Men and Rosemary's Baby"
*"The Dukes of Hazzard" -- "David Dukes of Hazzard"
*"Driving Miss Daisy" -- "Driving Over Miss Daisy"
*"Northern Exposure" -- "Northern Overexposure"
*"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" -- "Autopsies of the Rich and Famous"
*"The Exorcist" -- "The Exorciseist"
*"Murder, She Wrote" -- "Murder, She Likes"
*"Leave It to Beaver" -- "Meet the Mansons"
*"thirtysomething" -- "thirtysomething-to-life" (in prison)
*"Beverly Hills 90210" -- "Beverly Hills 90666"
*"I Love Lucy" -- "I Love Lucifer"
*"Golden Girls" -- "Golden Ghouls"
*"Married with Children" -- "Unmarried With Children"
*"Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" -- "Fresh Prince of Darkness"
*"Facts of Life" -- "Facts of Life Support"
*"My Three Sons" -- "My Three Sons of Bitches"
*"Diff'rent Strokes" -- "Different Strokes" (about two elderly men literally having strokes)
*World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) (then called World Wrestling Federation) -- "Underworld Wrestling Foundation"
*"" -- unnamed parody (additional minor reference to William Shatner of )
*"" -- This reference is made during a scene in Spike's control center. The center is modeled after the War Room and also features a Dr. Strangelove impersonator.
*"Three's Company" -- At one point, Roy Knable stumbles through a channel onto the set of the television show that catapulted John Ritter to fame in the 1970s. Two women dressed as Chrissy Snow and Janet Wood shout "Where have you been?" Roy screams in terror and changes the channel.

Other shows:
*"Off With His Head" (a documentary about the French Revolution, with Ritter as the Marquis de Knable.)
*A cartoon, animated by Chuck Jones, depicting Roy and Helen as mice trying to evade a mechanical cat
*"Yogi Beer" commercial (a commercial Yogi Bear parody about beer for children)
*"You Can't Win" (a game show awarding demises for wrong answers)
*Home Shopping Club - "Home Shoplifting Channel"
*"Totally Hidden Video," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Candid Camera" -- Sadistic Hidden Videos
*"Incredible Crash Dummies", Roy is inside a crash test car, while Mr. Spike states that the driver gets a seat belt & air bag, while Roy gets neither one.
*A western with Roy dressed like "Clint Eastwood" and Mr. Spike is the 'Black Suited' bad guy.
*A classic Black-&-White film noir, like "Casablanca" & "The Maltese Falcon"
*An Ice Hockey game where Mr. Spike is most of the opposing team.
*A medieval times castle, where Roy & Mr. Spike engage in a fencing duel.

External links

*
*