Stay Tuned | | Cast : | John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones | | Director : | Peter Hyams | | Studio : | Warner Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | August 14, 1992 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | February 22, 2005 | | Summary | A good family film | Content
 | Whether you enjoy the experience of watching Peter Hyams's 1992 film "Stay Tuned" depends in large part whether you can stomach the antics of John Ritter. Personally, I always found Ritter enjoyable if a bit too "in your face." It's almost as though the late actor desperately needed you to like him, and he would do anything to get that attention. "Three's Company," that old show about three young people sharing an apartment in California while trying to move up in the world, obviously was the vehicle that propelled him into the stratosphere of beloved American television comedians. They even got Lucille Ball to host a greatest hits episode, which served as sort of an endorsement of Ritter's talents by the goddess of American sitcoms. Something unpleasant happened after "Three's Company" folded, however: Ritter couldn't seem to find meaningful work in Hollywood. His attempt to do a spin-off of "Three's Company" crashed on takeoff, and his movie career was mostly a disappointment unless you take into consideration the two "Child's Play" movies. Despite his cinematic problems, I've enjoyed several of Ritter's lesser entries. "Real Men" is one of them; "Stay Tuned" is another. The latter movie received heavy rotation on cable back in the early 1990s.
Ritter plays Roy Knable, the lazy patriarch of your typical American family who smothers his resentments underneath heavy doses of television. His lousy job as a plumbing supply salesman can't compare with the exciting career of his wife Helen (Pam Dawber). Roy hates that his wife is more successful than he is, so he routinely ignores her. Their two kids, Darryl (David Tom) and Diane (Heather McComb), generally stay out of the way. Darryl, who also does double duty as the film's narrator, spends most of his time up in his room figuring out new ways to torment his sister. Diane is moving through the adolescent airhead phase typified by boyfriends, social activities, and cheerleading. What Diane and Darryl Knable don't realize, along with their parents, is that the family's life is about to take a turn for the worse. When the television set implodes after yet another confrontation between Roy and Helen, a most unusual salesman turns up on the doorstep with an incredible offer: he's selling a new satellite television system with 666 channels of prime entertainment. The man proposing the deal is Spike (Jeffrey Jones), one of Satan's most important underlings who heads up a devilish program that tries to steal souls by sucking them into the world of television. Predictably, Roy and Helen Knable end up in this demented world battling for their very existence.
The television channels these two wander through resemble little the networks normal people watch. This is programming straight from the fiery pits, programming like "Duane's Underworld," a demonic wrestling program, "Northern Overexposure," a game show where losing carries a greater cost than mere money, "Driving Over Miss Daisy," "Thirty Something to Life," and dozens of other wacky programs based on real television shows but with the purpose of killing Roy and Helen in order to steal their souls. There's even a scene where Ritter finds himself in the role of Jack Tripper on a "Three's Company" spoof and another segment where Roy and Helen are stuck in a cartoon as mice battling a robotic cat. The two need to survive this nightmarish world for twenty-four hours whereupon Spike must return them to the land of the living. Problem is, very few people last that long. Not with Spike and his toady Crowley (Eugene Levy) working behind the scenes to seal their doom. Only with the help of Darryl, Diane, and a suddenly contrite Crowley will Roy and Helen return to their domicile. It won't be easy since Spike, facing the wrath of his boss, enters the system to personally bring about Roy's demise. Battling the forces of darkness has rarely been this much fun.
The thing that struck me after recently rewatching this film is how out of date it is. "Stay Tuned" by its very nature hasn't aged well. A film that spoofs television relies on the content available at the time for laughs, and nowhere is this truer than in this film. It's entirely possible there will be viewers watching this picture on DVD who have no idea what some of these spoofs mean. I clearly remember the Memorex commercial, for instance, but younger people won't. Fortunately, the movie is still great fun even if you don't catch all the references largely due to the efforts of John Ritter and Pam Dawber. Ritter does his usual shtick, namely breaking a few objects, falling down a couple of times, playing the moral and physical coward, and even engaging in a bit of swordplay with Spike. Dawber's role is low-key but critical as she plays the straight man to Ritter's antics. She still looks great, too. I'm less enchanted with the two kids, especially the grating Heather McComb. She's supposed to play a snotty pre-teen, however, so I guess she does her job well. "Stay Tuned" is, surprisingly, a fairly conservative film that endorses the idea that less television and more family time is a good thing. I can't see many viewers arguing with this thesis.
Trailers for "Big Bully," "Ace Ventura," "Chill Factor," and "Stay Tuned" are on the disc, as well as a short making of featurette and cast biographies. I'm happy to see "Stay Tuned" make the sometimes difficult transition from VHS to DVD even though I forgot all about the film for at least ten years. Hyams's picture is a rather obscure slice of early '90s nostalgia that is still amusing to watch all these years later. Fans of the late John Ritter will find this disc a must have for their collections.
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| Rating | | | Date | September 16, 2004 | | Summary | For the television conisseur | Content
| Pam Dawber and the late John Ritter are Helen and Roy Knable who end up in a world of television. Helen is so fed up with Roy's addiction to television that she ends up leaving him. Their kids stay with Roy and the kids themselves join their parents in the world of television. Roy finds himself in drag,as an animated mouse and in a black-and-white detective drama. What's even cooler is that Roy is on the set of Three's Company,Ritter's legendary classic sitcom. Two unknown actresses as Janet and Chrissy,walk into the apartment and ask Roy in unison,"Where have you been?". Ritter actually reprised his role of Jack Tripper for a short time! There's also Duane's Underworld on Saturday Night Dead,a parody of Saturday Night Live's Wayne's World. Duane and his sidekick,both ghouls,have Roy on the show and rave about Helen's physical beauty("Schwing!"). The Knables' kids get their mom and dad out of TV and back into the real world. Dawber's sitcom Mork & Mindy,a spinoff of Happy Days,ran on ABC from 1978 to 1982,during the tenure of Three's Company,another ABC sitcom(1977-1984). I dedicate this film to the memory of Ritter(9/17/48-9/11/03). |
| Rating | | | Date | September 12, 2004 | | Summary | 666 channels is a "hell" of a lot | Content
| Roy Knable (John Ritter) "Real men "(1987), is a plumbing supplies salesman and he does not like his job. So he buries himself in TV. His wife Helen (Pam Dawber) thinks he is not a doer anymore and he is not fun. He just will not talk to her during double overtime.
Spike (Jeffery Jones), you may recognize him as the principal in "Farris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), recognizes a soul snatching opportunity when he sees one. He offers Roy 666 channels that are not seen on regular TV. The creators of this movie were real creative with the channel selection.
Surprise Roy & Helen are drawn into TV land where they are destined to wander from channel to channel until they learn a little about themselves and each other. Spike is sort of hoping to bump them off in one of several ways before 24 hours is up.
Will Spike have his way?
Will Roy realize the error of his ways?
Will Helen get blown up and ran over?
Stay tuned. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 25, 2004 | | Summary | Not your usual programming. | Content
| I first caught STAY TUNED on weekend afternoons when I didn't have anything better to do. Sure the movie was kind of cheesy and had a plot that was meant to be satirical and not realistic, but I always enjoyed watching. John Ritter was a great comic and like all great actors, was able to improve any material given to him. Ritter plays Roy Knable, a traveling plumbing supply salesman who is suffering from a midlife crisis and slowly retreats into the world of television. One night a strange man (Jeffery Jones) shows up at his doorstep offering him that chance to preview a new satellite system. Knable can't refuse, sings a contract, and after an argument with his wife (Pam Dawber), the couple are sucked into the satellite system and begin living television shows. The big hitch is that the satellite station is a pet project of Satan and some of his demons and all the shows have a diabolical twist meant to kill the "participants" and steal their souls. The only way out of the contract that Knable signed is if they survive 24 hours in the tv programming world from Hell. Besides Ritter, the movie provides some decent performances from Dawber and Jones (he seems to be the king of modern cheesy movies) and also a fine supporting turn from Eugene Levy. The movie offers some comic parodies that are now outdated (Wayne's Underworld for instance) and some cheesy dialogue. Still, the show is fun to watch and Ritter is a total joy. Also, this film was made years before reality tv (the first season of MTV's REAL WORLD hadn't even aired yet) and it's satirical look at television viewing and making is even more relevant today than when it was more than a decade ago. The DVD includes a brief featurette, theatrical trailers, and a list of cast information. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 14, 2004 | | Summary | Tune In, Turn On, and Drop that Remote | Content
| An underrated sci-f/horror comedy from Director Peter Hyams (CAPRICORN ONE, 2010:THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT) starring John Ritter. STAY TUNED would have worked better as a made-for-tv-movie (no pun intended) than a major release. There are some inspired gags in the film and social satire about television viewing habits. John Ritter is perfectly cast along with Pam Dawber (both television veterans) as a husband and wife whose marriage is on the rocks due to Ritter's (as Roy Knable) over obsessive couch potato persona. He unknowingly signs away his soul to the devil (Jefferey Jones) for "DirecTV" from hell. The package includes a big screen tv and a most unusual satellite dish that broadcasts programs from the netherworld and also serves a portal into those shows. Naturally the two get transported into this dimension (via the satellite) and this is where the fun begins. Taking cues from SNL or Mad Magazine, Ritter and Dawber are thrown into and forced to participate in very clever (yet evil) parodies of popular televison shows and movies (i.e. WAYNE'S UNDERWORLD, NORTHERN OVEREXPOSURE, & DRIVING OVER MISS DAISY) and are supposed to be eliminated so their souls could be collected immediately. One hilarious sequence Ritter/Roy Knable ends up in is a tribute Ritter's series, THREE'S COMPANY. It's a shame they didn't do the same for Pam Dawber's series MORK AND MINDY. One complaint of the film are the scenes of the tv programming offices (featuring Jeffery Jones and Eugene Levy). It is very vague where these scenes come from as they are monitoring the televsion programming activities. The audience is supposed to assume that this is supposed to be "Hell" but it makes no mention or distinction of this fact. Perhaps the message in the film is that all television (executives and programming) are located and come from "Hades". Overall, the film is harmless and entertaining family fare. On a peculiar note, another film released the same year that almost has the same premise, along with the look and feel to it (and also has actor Jefferey Jones in the cast) is MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD. The late John Ritter is an engaging personality and the film was suited for his talents. Overall a decent comedy horror/sci-fi that succeeds mainly for the hilarious tv/movie parodies and John Ritter's likeable on and off screen personality. |
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