George Newman (Al Yankovic) is a looser. He has been fired from every job he has ever had, and just got himself and his friend Bob (David Bowe) fired from Big Edna's Burger World.
Out of a job and down on his luck, the only thing he has left is his girlfriend, Terri (Victoria Jackson).
However fortune smiles on George. At a party of his uncle's, George is given the chance to manage a UHF station, channel 62. The station is on the verge of bankruptcy, but George and Bob take on the challenge. One of the first things they do is hire a janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards).
Things don't go so well for the station, however. The station is going broke. But lo! A miracle occurs! Stanley takes over a children's TV show and it becomes a hit after only 10 minutes on the air!
Overnight the station becomes a hit with it's zany, whacked-out programming like Bowling for Burgers, Town Talk, Fun with Dirt, The Volcano Worshipper's Hour, and more, or movies like Gandhi II.
However, channel 62 is so popular that it's beating out the networks. Especially channel 8. Management don't like this development at all. They will stop at nothing to pull the plug on channel 62 for good.
While this movie may only have been a vehicle to showcase Weird Al's nuttiness, the movie works, though barely.
UHF is basically about two guys trying to run a small-time TV station to which they have great success. The story is predictable; underdogs fight big-boys and win. Ho-hum.
Yankovic throws in some really funny parodies along the way, including Raul's Wild Kingdom (where poodles are taught to fly), or the movie Conan the Librarian. But the laughs die towards the end of the film, and instead of being about parodies, the film turns into a telethon about saving the station.
Although I dearly love this movie (it is really funny at points) it could have been so much better. Deleted scenes show several clips of really, really funny material. Add some of them back into the film and you've got a real winner on your hands. Otherwise, you have a regular mundane comedy. One that just-so-happens to star "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Plot: 
The plot is weak, I’ll admit it. Although the parodies are great, the story needs work.
Visual Effects:
There aren't many special effects shots; the most elaborate is the computer-animated music video The Beverly Hillbillies, a parody of Money for Nothing by the Dire Straights. (That actually is Mark Knopfler playing guitar on the track.)
Others include the ending shot of Philo, and the explosions of various landmarks around the world. There is nothing special about the cinematography either; it is average just like in any average comedy film.
Sound:
"Weird Al" Yankovic made two dandy songs especially for UHF: The theme song UHF, (which has a great music video which parodies about a dozen other music videos) and the above-mentioned parody The Beverly Hillbillies, a parody of Money for Nothing by the Dire Straights. Both songs are catchy (who doesn't like the Beverly Hillbillies song?) and showcase Yankovic's writing genius. (Even though he didn't write the Hillbillies song, you know what I mean.)
There is a decent soundtrack to the film, too, which includes a musical theme to Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse, a short clip called Let me be your Hog and the theme to Spatula city.
Character Development:
Atmosphere: 
This is just your average comedy, to be sure, but it is funny. A good film to kill an hour and half if you're bored.
Realism:
Although the film is cheesy and at times really corny, the film is a tad Hollywoodized in that it has the underdog triumph of the big bad corporate giant.
However, with Yankovic's zany parodies, the film broke away from the cookie-cutter Hollywood comedy mould and actually made something unique. But in the end though UHF comes up just short, falling into that same Hollywood trap... ending like most films do. Predictably.
Warren’s Rating:
Although I love this film, it is weak in points. A little more work to the script and it would have been great.
7.29/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
09-06-06
