Like most people, I grew up in my own bubble filled with things that me, my family and friends enjoyed together. It didn’t even occur to me that the rest of the world didn’t love UHF. It was very high on my rewatch for at least a year and was very quotable.
I begin the episode talking about what my friends and I took away from our first viewing, Twinkie Dogs! We decided to try it and the results were mixed. I later learned that Weird Al had a similar problem with the Twinkie Dogs. Having to take bites out of too many during shooting was just too much. Also, if you watch closely, he dips the dog in milk. We didn’t do that. After my story, I move onto the film itself. I discuss the plot, its production, the stars of the film, music, its reception and much more.
Weird Al is very funny and he brings his brand of comedy to the big screen and sadly America wasn’t ready for it. I think comedy has evolved over time and maybe the disjointed silliness would be more welcome today? I hope so. This is a film I would like to catch on and be considered something more than a cult classic. So if you haven’t seen UHF, please give it a chance.
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Production Notes
This is the 334th episode of the Retroist Podcast and episode 9 of the new season. How did I go this long without talking about UHF?
I considered making a Twinkie Dog before recording this, but I remember how it upset my stomach and decided maybe it wouldn’t be worth reliving that.
We had so many great UHF stations. My favorite was UHF 68. I spent a lot of hours watching Uncle Floyd and Mr. Ed there.
Its is crazy how much people want for some VHS tapes. I wonder how many collectors are actually watching the videos? Is it just speculation? Not a fan of he high prices.
When I first saw Seinfeld, I was hoping that Kramer was going to be more like Stanley.
Weird that Jay Levey doesn’t have a lot of info online about himself.
It would be a dream to work my way up the world of film production for the opportunity to say to Weird Al that I want to be in the Weird Al business.
I like the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and thought the remake with Ben Still wasn’t bad.
Had a much longer section about the stars but I cut it down by about 40%. It was just a bit much.
Wonder why Ellen Degeneres turned down the role?
Would have loved to see Joel Hodgeson take a change in the film
My friends and I showed up to see the first showing, thinking it was going to be Batman 89 crowded. It wasn’t, but we didn’t notice, we were laughing so hard.
Bonus Clipping should be up on Patreon tomorrow.
Music on the show is, as always, by Peachy.
Thanks for listening to the show and I hope you have a great weekend.
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