Stay Tuned is a 1992 American fantasy comedy film directed by Peter Hyams and written by Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker. The film stars John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, and Eugene Levy. Its plot follows a suburban couple who are sucked into a television world by an emissary of hell, and must survive for 24 hours in order to be released from it.
Stay Tuned was released in the United States on August 14, 1992, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $12 million.
Plot[]
Struggling Seattle plumbing salesman, former fencing athlete, and couch potato Roy Knable lives with his neglected wife Helen, a vitamin product senior manager who attempts to divorce him. After a fight (which involved Helen smashing the family television screen with one of Roy's fencing trophies as a wake-up call to reality), Mr. Spike, a mysterious salesman, appears at the couples' door, offering them a new high-tech satellite dish system filled with 666 channels of programs one cannot view on regular television. Unbeknownst to Roy, Spike is an emissary from hell who wants to boost the influx of souls by arranging for TV junkies to be killed in the most gruesome and ironic situations imaginable. The 'candidates' are sucked into a hellish television world, called Hellevision, and put through a gauntlet where they must survive a number of demonic satirical versions of sitcoms and movies. If they can survive for 24 hours, they are free to go, but if they get killed, then their souls will become the property of Satan.
The dish eventually sucks Roy and Helen into this warped world. Spike pursues them, entering some shows along with the Knables to halt their advance. Through tenacity, improvisation, and sheer luck, the Knables stay alive, and their young son Darryl recognizes his parents fighting for their lives on the TV set. He and his older sister Diane are able to provide assistance from the real world. This infuriates Spike to the point that he makes good on Roy's contract, releasing him, but not Helen, as she was not in the system under contract.
Having no choice, Roy re-enters the system to save Helen while bringing his own remote control with him, allowing them to control their journey. After being pursued by Spike through several more channels, Roy finally confronts his enemy in a Salt-N-Pepa music video, gets hold of Spike's remote, and uses it to save Helen from being run over by a train in a Western movie. By pressing the "off" button on the remote, they are evicted from the dish moments before it sucks their neighbor's abusive Rottweiler into the TV and destroys itself. In the end, Spike gets eliminated by the Rottweiler on the command of Crowley, a vengeful employee he banished to the system earlier, and is then succeeded in his executive position by Pierce, a younger upstart employee. Having learned a valuable lesson after his adventure, Roy dramatically cuts back on his TV viewing, quits his job as a plumbing salesman, and opens his own fencing school, in which he advises one of his students that watching too much TV can get you into trouble.
Cast[]
Template:Cast list The group's manager and primary producer Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (credited under his birth name "Herby Azor") and his brother Steve Azor appear as dancers during the "Start Me Up" segment.
Production[]
In 1990, Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker wrote the entire story for the film, under working title Terrorvision (not to be confused with TerrorVision), inspired by the idea was "The Evil Dead meets Monty Python".
Tim Burton was originally chosen to be the director on account of his art and style, but left to direct Batman Returns.[4]
The script was purchased by Warner Bros. for $750,000.[5]
Reception[]
The film was not screened for film critics.[6] The film holds a 47% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 17 reviews, with an average score of 4.6/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 41 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film a "cleverly plotted movie" based on a "nifty satiric concept" but said that "most of its takeoffs ... show no feel for genre and no genuine wit."[9] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called the film "wonderfully silly" and a "zippy action spoof."[10] Variety reported the film was "not diabolical enough for true black comedy, too scary and violent for kids lured by its PG rating and witless in its sendup of obsessive TV viewing...a picture with nothing for everybody"; it noted that the "six-minute cartoon interlude by the masterful Chuck Jones, with Ritter and Dawber portrayed as mice menaced by a robot cat...has a grace and depth sorely lacking in the rest of the movie."[6] Time Out called it "pointless 'satire'" with the "emotional depth of a 30-second soap commercial."[11]
Box office[]
Stay Tuned opened at #6 in the US, which the Los Angeles Times called a "fuzzy reception".[12] The film grossed $10.7 million in the US and Canada and grossed only $1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $12 million.[13][3]
Television adaptation[]
In August 2020, it was reported that AMC Studios was developing a television series adaptation of the film with Ian B. Goldberg and Richard Naing as writers, a part of Goldberg's overall deal at AMC Studios.[14]
Soundtrack[]
The soundtrack to the film is made up entirely of hip hop songs with the exception of the last two tracks, which were themes composed by Bruce Broughton. Tracks in bold are used in the movie.
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Start Me Up" | Salt-n-Pepa | 4:45 | |
| 2. | "The Choice Is Yours" | Black Sheep | 3:22 | |
| 3. | "Taste" | Cherokee & Auto | 4:07 | |
| 4. | "Xodus" | X-Clan | 4:22 | |
| 5. | "Strobelite Honey" | Black Sheep | 3:07 | |
| 6. | "Message From the Boss" | Ultramagnetic MCs | 4:47 | |
| 7. | "The Mic Stalker" | Doctor Ice | 2:57 | |
| 8. | "Bad, Bad, Bad" | Kool Moe Dee | 4:48 | |
| 9. | "Darryl's Dad" | Bruce Broughton | 1:17 | |
| 10. | "Stay Tuned (Main Theme)" | Bruce Broughton | 2:07 |
Score album[]
Broughton's score was released in 2011 by Intrada Records.
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Title" | 2:57 | |
| 2. | "Meet Darryl" | 1:03 | |
| 3. | "The Dish" | 2:56 | |
| 4. | "A Bumpy Ride" | 2:12 | |
| 5. | "Sayonara, Mrs. Seidenbaum" | 0:33 | |
| 6. | "Field Work" | 0:55 | |
| 7. | "Gordon Bashing" | 2:04 | |
| 8. | "It Ate My BMX" | 2:01 | |
| 9. | "Wolf Attack" | 0:45 | |
| 10. | "That's My Bike!" | 2:53 | |
| 11. | "Offering to Help" | 1:47 | |
| 12. | "You Have Tits" | 1:35 | |
| 13. | "Aim The Dish" | 0:30 | |
| 14. | "Off With Your Wig" | 3:34 | |
| 15. | "Darryl Breaks Through" | 0:52 | |
| 16. | "Redemption" | 1:31 | |
| 17. | "Roy Goes Back" | 1:10 | |
| 18. | "The 3:10 to Yuma" | 1:55 | |
| 19. | "Roy Gets Shot" | 0:53 | |
| 20. | "Crashing In" | 0:32 | |
| 21. | "The Big Sword Fight" | 1:19 | |
| 22. | "Turn It Off!" | 1:50 | |
| 23. | "So What Can I Tell You..." | 0:53 | |
| 24. | "The Game Show" | 1:29 | |
| 25. | "TV Theme Medley" | 3:32 | |
| 26. | "Roy Knable, Private Dick" | 3:26 | |
| 27. | "We're Cartoons" | 6:42 |
References[]
- ↑ "Stay Tuned (PG)" (October 1, 1992).
- ↑ "AFI|Catalog".
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Morgan Creek Prods. Box Office". Variety. February 15, 1993. p. 46.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ Childs, Paul (February 22, 2018). "Looking back at Stay Tuned". Den of Geek.
- ↑ Ayscough, Suzan (January 12, 1993). "MGM 'Geting Even' for 500G". Variety. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 McBride, Joseph (August 17, 1992). "Stay Tuned". Variety. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ "Stay Tuned". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
- ↑ "Stay Tuned Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive.
- ↑ Bedeviled Suburbanites With a 24-Hour Deadline, an August 15, 1992 review from The New York Times
- ↑ Kempley, Rita (August 18, 1992). "'Stay Tuned' (PG)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2009.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ Review of Stay Tuned Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine from the Time Out Film Guide
- ↑ Fox, David J. (August 18, 1992). "Weekend Box Office : Eastwood Still Tall in the Saddle". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2012.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.
- ↑ "Stay Tuned". Box Office Mojo.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 6, 2020). "'Stay Tuned' TV Series Based On 1992 Film In The Works At AMC Studios From Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing". Deadline Hollywood.
External links[]
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Wikiquote has quotations related to Stay Tuned (film). |
- Stay Tuned (film) at AllMovie
- Stay Tuned (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
- 'Stay Tuned' on a Spoofy Wavelength from Los Angeles Times
Template:Peter Hyams Template:Chuck Jones