Stay Tuned - Mit der Fernbedienung in die Hölle

The funniest bit is probably Roy Knable being plopped into a certain Santa Monica three story house, tripping over a sofa, and being questioned by a certain blonde and brunette, "Where have you been?!" Is "Three's Company" John Ritter's personal Hell? Who knows, but it's a broad wink to the couch potatoes in the audience.

I've read a few bad-type reviews on this, but that just shows what I know. i think Stay Tuned is one of the funnier movies to roll along in a while. Yeah, it's filled with TV rejects like Ritter, Dawber, and Levy, but they're still kinda funny. The funniest thing are the TV parodies (yes, they're funny, dammit), and the whole parody of the modern entertainment industry. Plus you've got a great Chuck Jones cartoon set right in the middle. Moves along just fast enough to keep your interest, and the characters are just tolerable enough you don't want to turn off on it. As was noted, it grows on you.

I stumbled upon this movie while channel flipping, ironically enough. I thought that the film was very well done, with just enough cheesy humor to keep me groaning and laughing. The jewels of the film were found in it's references and TV jokes. Some humor at actor Ritter's expense gives the impression that movie is making fun of itself. Jeffery Jones plays an excellent role, further showing off the actor's versatility. What the film lacked in plot, it made up for in originality. The highlight of the film is a cartoon segment done by the legendary Chuck Jones, parodying the Tom and Jerry clichés we all grew up with. All in all, a funny if not cheesy film, definitely worth watching.

"Stay Tuned" introduces us to the depressing world of Roy Knable, a man whom lives for television. When his wife Helen tosses a bowling trophy through the TV set in a desperate attempt to gain her husband's attention, he finds himself in the market for a replacement set... and thats where "Spike" comes in. Spike seems to be simply a pushy cable tv salesman, until we see that Spike works for the Devil himself!

Soon Roy and Helen find themselves sucked into the world of bad cable tv, filled with bizarre spoofs of Wayne's World, Driving Miss Daisy, MTV, 1940's black and white mystery movies, stereotypical westerns, and so on. The catch? They must stay alive for 24 hours, at which point they are allowed to come back to Earth. If they die in that time frame, their souls are doomed to hell forever.

As Roy and Helen, John Ritter and Paw Dawber are the perfect real-life sitcom graduates to play the suffering couple. Along the way, they deal with Spike (played by Jeffrey Jones - best known as Principal Rooney in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off") dogging their every move, and they make friends with Eugene Levy, as a demon executive cast off into the TV dimension by a threatened Spike.

Although the TV parodies skirt the line between wildly funny and clever, and dull and uninspired, the performances from the excellent cast make this better than it probably should be. The Underworld Wrestling Foundation sequence seems like it could have inspired MTV's current pop-culture parody, "Celebrity Deathmatch". And be sure to pay close attention to the animated "Robocat" sequence, directed by cartoon legend Chuck Jones, and featuring styles and motifs borrowed from Warner Bros classics, and Tom & Jerry shorts.

"Stay Tuned" is a funny film that although somewhat dated now, still manages to provide a wild ride.

Oh yeah, there IS a quick scene involving the sitcom that John Ritter is best known for, and it's one of the funniest moments in the film. Don't blink, or you may miss it! :^)

The concept story where heaven and hell have their war over souls displayed in a positive light involving Hell to lure people who watch too much TV be apart of its programming. It's a charming film with a good cast, John Ritters character becomes the encouraging Underdog.

This film is easily hidden away and should be apart of any families library. The story may seem light but it executes its purpose.

Character wise their wholesome and an homage to popular films and TV shows the characters ventures through.

Even displaying the TV shows that Roy watches on Hell TV is clever including Salt N Peppa making an appearance. It is an underrated film its charm and innocent.