Stay Tuned (1992)
Last Watch Date - August 17, 2024
Total Times Watched - Too many to count
Comments
For some reason, my parents bought this movie on VHS back in the day. Maybe they were secretly massive John Ritter fans. Or Mork and Mindy fans? Or Eugene Levy fans? Or Jeffrey Jo– no, let's not do that one. I can't identify why we had this, but I know I watched it many, many times. Remember the days before streaming when you'd have a handful of movies and watch them every time it was crummy outside? I do! This was in the rotation pretty heavily with Total Recall. Very different movies, but still.
I already gave you the big hitters in the cast, although for some reason I always think Diane (Heather McComb) was in that awful Babysitter's Club TV series from the early 90s. She was NOT. Doesn't stop me from getting SAY HELLO TO YOUR FRIENDS stuck in my head every time I see this. The other kid in this is incredibly annoying. Actually they both are. Why does Diane have that weird lisp thing?
The story of this movie is that a COUCH POTATO (John Ritter) ignores his wife (MINDY from Mork and Mindy) to the point that she is ready to leave.. until they get sucked into his Hellevision! DO YOU GET IT? HELL-TELEVI.. forget it. From there it's a wacky world of whimsy! Or slightly twisted versions of regular shows and movies like Driving Over Miss Daisy, Sadistic Hidden Camera, and Duane's Underworld. It's all very silly but this is a comedy so whatever. These references are SO DATED. I couldn't possibly show this to my kids and have them understand any of it. I guess that works for the nostalgia factor for people my age, but it makes it difficult to stand up to the test of time.
There's also a whole Salt n Peppa music video in there that is so absurd that it's kind of worth watching for that alone. It has John Ritter in some sort of Prince costume and Jeffrey Jones as a pedophile. Wait...
As many times as I've watched this, I still enjoy it. It's silly and goofy, but it has a little bit of heart to it despite the heavy-handed "message" it's trying to send along the way. Plus, Eugene Levy is funny in it and I like all the costume changes and whatnot for the different channels.
Recommended?
Are you over the age of 40? Then sure! Otherwise, skip it.