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Parents' Guide to

UHF

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Goofy '80s comedy is still funny but has dated stereotypes.

Movie PG-13 1989 97 minutes
UHF Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 1 parent review

Accurate P.
Accurate P. Parent of 15-year-old
August 17, 2022
age 9+
Rated PG
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In UHF, George Newman ("Weird Al" Yankovic) is a daydreamer whose vivid imagination makes it difficult for him to hold down a job. After he gets fired from a job once again, George's Uncle Harvey gives George the opportunity to be in charge of a television station he has just won in a poker game. The station, Channel 62, is struggling to stay afloat, offering mostly ancient sitcoms as its programming. George tries to turn the channel around with local programming, including a kids' show he hosts, but these changes don't seem to be working. However, when janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards) takes over the kids' show during an emergency, the kids take to Stanley's bizarre energy and slow-witted pep talks. The ratings for Channel 62 skyrocket to the top, much to the chagrin of RJ Fletcher, the cantankerous millionaire who owns the much bigger station, Channel 8. After learning that Uncle Harvey has accrued some new gambling debts, Fletcher offers to bail him out, on the condition that Harvey sell Fletcher Channel 62. While Fletcher plans on turning Channel 62 into a parking lot, George isn't going to go down that easy, and with the help of Spadowski, reporter Pamela Finklestein (Fran Drescher), and a whole slew of local eccentrics, George stages a telethon in the hopes of raising the $75,000 Harvey owes his creditors in the two days before the deadline.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (8 ):

Starring the renowned song parodist Weird Al Yankovic, this movie is essentially a Yankovic album in celluloid form. Parodies of movies, TV shows, commercials, food gags, and slapstick humor are in abundance. It isn't highbrow fare by any stretch, but who would want it to be? It's the kind of over-the-top and juvenile humor where you don't want to laugh, but commercials like "Spatula City" and premises like "Conan the Librarian" are so absurd, you laugh in spite of yourself. As an added bonus, the movie features Michael Richards shortly before he would be cast in Seinfeld, appearing to play at times a slower-witted version of Kramer, with similar jerky movements and expressions.

What's interesting about watching UHF years after its release is the deeper message underneath all the silliness. The movie celebrates the eccentric, the unusual, the individual in a world of drab conformity. In some ways, it's a celebration of "geek" years before "geek chic." UHF also champions "the little guy" in the media landscape. Channel 62 is a small, wacky, community-centered television station taking on the bland big-media conglomerate -- obviously a prescient portent of the current media landscape. It's also the celebration of the type of "ground up" low-budget entertainment one is now likely to find on YouTube. Or, if you don't want to be an overly analytical movie reviewer about it, UHF is simply enjoyable for its own sake.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about '80s comedies. How does UHF compare to other comedies you've seen from the decade? What are the ways in which the humor has stood the test of time, and what are the ways in which the humor seems dated?

  • How does the movie champion and celebrate misfits and underdogs? How does its story of small and independent community-based media taking on giant corporate media have relevance to today?

  • How does the movie use satire and parody to inspire laughter? How is this similar to what Weird Al does with music?

Movie Details

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