Why so much hype?

What a waste of my time!!!

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Darryl Knable is a nerdy kid in the suburbs. He likes to modify the TV and do his own broadcast. His dad Roy (John Ritter) however is obsessed with watching TV nonstop while struggling as a salesman. His successful wife Helen (Pam Dawber) breaks the TV in frustration. A mysterious stranger named Spike (Jeffrey Jones) offers Roy a magic remote and a giant TV to access a massive new TV package. Helen tries to leave Roy and both are sucked into Hellvision by the satellite dish. Darryl suspects foul play but his sister Diane just wants to party. Spike with his minion Crowley (Eugene Levy) have 24 hours to send Roy and Helen down to the devil.I'm a couch potato and this takes a good jab at people like me. I would probably like it more if Roy didn't start off so pathetically. Ritter is doing a lot of his bumbling pratfalls. This becomes a series of TV spoofs. Some of it works great in terms of danger in the scheme of the story. It's especially great when Roy uses his TV knowledge to good use. Sometimes the spoof is nothing but a spoof. The endless spoofs become repetitive tired puns. Obviously, there's the Three's Company scene. That's fun but there's no Mork & Mindy. The cartoon is the only truly fun section while the others are functional. It's not anything spectacular.

We all watch TV, whether that's really a good or bad thing only time will tell. But all the same it has because a big part of everyone's lives, from childhood to adulthood and throughout the decades we all have shows that we remember, became a part of history, as well as those new shows we all get excited for.This film I feel is another under the radar gem, it's also a childhood relic since I saw it when I was about 10 and is both one of my favorite parody films in the subgenere and one of my favorite films in general. This was a parody movie that I feel was just made for me because it's pretty much parodies on top of parodies which to me is just a dream come true and something that I don't feel has been done again since. It would be awesome to see a parody (a good one) on a comic book or anime franchise where a single hero or a group of heroes go into one segment out of the norm into another.This film is pretty much a live action Mad Magazine, as each of the show/situations both characters jump into are practically a Mad Magazine cartoon you would flip to, pretty much taking things were familiar with and turning them upside down. But mainly I love the premise which is part of why I love it, it's sort of that dream we all kinda have in the back of our minds of being part of a TV show and in the action. If there is a few TV shows I'd want to be a part of it would be "Doctor Who", "Sailor Moon", and well you get it, I'm sure you have your lists as well (admit it). This film takes that concept and has fun with it. I even like that there is a bit of a horror fantasy element which makes it both bizarre and funny, but it makes sense since most humans watch TV so why wouldn't Satan think of using this opportunity to take souls. But in a way it sort of also makes the film kinda a Christian movie, since there is this element let alone a theme of redemption and family values throughout the film.The characters are solid, from the late great John Ritter as Roy Knable and Pam Daber as Helen Knable which is ironically funny since both of them are of course TV sitcom vets. Also their last name is kinda funny since it's a play on words for able or could be a slight reference to the biblical character Abel.Roy is funny and he's not a bad person, the problem with him is his head's in the wrong place which of course is TV. This guy is clearly trying to tune out of reality because to him reality sucks. I can sort of sympathize and empathize with that feeling, we can see in little segments that left and right he is getting crap canned almost every day from working in a job he hates, let alone a butt head neighbor's dog attacks him every time he goes to work and comes back home. The only high point to him is TV, even though really it should be his family and his fencing talent; but like in any morality tale he's about to learn that the hard way.Helen is also funny and she's sympathetic because their marriage is crumbling and part of that is obviously from Roy's chronic TV viewing. It's obvious their marriage needs a jump start and well fate or should I say the Devil is about to give them that.I really like the back and forth between both Roy and Helen, you could say in a way this film is a bit of a romance comedy but done right, because the couple are not teen or young adults which I personally feel have been done to death. But actual grown adults that are married and do what any couple should do, interact and help one another.I even like the two kids, the sister I'll admit I had a bit of a crush on. But I really like the little brother, he's not a stereotypical nerd this kid I think is actually cool, smart, really knows his way around communication technology which becomes useful in the film, but most importantly takes a active approach in things.I really love the pacing and the adventure aspect of it, you could say in a way it's like a video game, as the couple are constantly going from one new situation after another much like levels and have to survive each of them.I don't want to give too much away, one segment if the noir show which is just fantastic for me since I'm a fan of the genre. And I simply love the blend of both visual and verbal humor, all the clichés in that genre are there. I really like the narration of Roy in the segment which cracks me up.And of course that cartoon segment, which was animated by late animator Chuck Jones whom is known for doing the "The Looney Tunes" cartoons. It was just funny also because it has some of the clichés as well. I really thought it was funny how Roy applied cartoon logic to get both him and Helen out. But also a visual joke seeing Helen open her wallet to see a photo of her kids and we see the cartoon mouse versions of them.And the film surprisingly has a good message which is simply to not watch too much TV and most importantly to simply tune into life, it can be better if you decide to tune in.This is a parody worth tuning into.Rating: 4 stars

The Knables are a very dysfunctional family. Roy Knable (John Ritter) is a very unhappy person, who cares more about his T.V shows, than his wife Helen (Pam Dawber) his wife is fed up of it. They have two children who bicker constantly. Things are in complete and utter disarray. Roy gets an offer from a mysterious salesman named Spike. He offers up a satellite dish with over 600 channels for Roy's choosing. Being the T.V addict Roy is, he is very much enticed. He turns Spike down, so Spike gives Roy a free trial. His wife flips and is about to move out, but they get sucked into a hellish world, filled with sadistic T.V shows. Roy and Helen are forced to try and survive the gauntlet, and get back homeNot only is this movie clever, but I enjoyed it very much. This movie is made for film buffs. It's filled with spoofs of T.V titles, which cracked me up. This is definitely one of those misunderstood films, and it's almost cultish in a way. It's not going to be for everyone. Casual movie goers may not get into all the inside jokes, and stuff like that. But for people that watch a lot of movies and T.V shows on a yearly basis, will howl. There is even a bizarre cartoon sequence, where Roy and Helen play mouses, and try to evade a mechanical cat of sorts. Strangely enough, it was very funny. My favorite one is near the end of the movie, where Roy gets transported onto the Three's Company set. I won't spoil it all, but it's absolutely hilarious. Those that don't know, John Ritter was propelled into stardom due to Three's Company. I do have a minor carp. It did seem to me that Roy & Helen accepted their predicament a bit too easy. Maybe it was just me, which could be the case. The film also leaves their kids to be the heroes, and I especially found the sister annoying. John Ritter & Pam Dawber ace their parts with charisma and likability. Jeffrey Jones hams it up like no tomorrow, and is clearly having a blast. Eugene Levy is amusing as wellStay Tuned for extra title jokes at the end credits!Final Thoughts: This is a highly underrated film. I think many people didn't grasp what this movie was going for. I watch a ton of movies on a yearly basis. I managed to get most of the jokes. This is highly recommended for big movie fans, not so much for people that watch movies on a casual basis. I personally dug it7.5/10

Roy Knable (John Ritter) loves watching television so much that his marriage is falling apart because of it. When a door-to-door salesman shows him a high-tech remote control, Ritter listens to his pitch, and buys into it when he discovers that it's for a new television and satellite system that offers 666 channels of programming--much of which is not available anywhere else. However, the salesman may not have been what he seemed to be, and Knable soon discovers that he may have agreed to a contract that obligated him to give up more than money.Oh, how I loved this film! Director Peter Hyams and the writing crew of Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein and Richard Siegel definitely had my number on this one. Stay Tuned is a very clever horror comedy that is extremely underrated and perhaps was a bit mismarketed. Although I'm a huge horror fan, and love horror comedies, I'd never heard of this one before (however, later I did find references to it in a couple horror sources, so it seems it wasn't completely overlooked by the industry and fans). But the horror aspect of the film doesn't appear to be advertised anywhere. I watched this on HBO's Family Channel. Even though Knable's son is important to the plot and there are strong fantasy aspects, this is not really a family film. Not that kids might not like the film, but they'd have to be kids who like horror (comedies) and whose parents let them watch horror (comedies). Enjoyment of the film is also helped by having a familiarity with the material that is being spoofed, and the references are broad enough that it would take years of experience to acquire that familiarity.Why spoofed? Well, on one level, Stay Tuned is just a long series of crafty takes on film and television programs and genres, giving many well-known classics a more immediate horror twist--immediate because they all put our heroes, Knable and his wife Helen (Pam Dawber), in peril in some way. There are many more subtle jokes, as well, and the film even pokes fun at film students/film geeks. The spoofs range from silly to poignant, and can be as quick as a title or as long as ten minutes or so. One of the best is a classic Warner Brothers-styled animated segment. The style and the quality should not be surprising, as Chuck Jones designed and supervised the animation.Under different hands, maybe this material wouldn't be quite as good as it is. Hyams' direction is spot-on throughout the film, the script (including the dialogue) is very intelligent, and in addition to Ritter and Dawber being as good as I've seen them, Stay Tuned also features Jeffrey Jones (one of my favorite character actors) and Eugene Levy. Both are fantastic.Stay Tuned deserves much wider recognition. It is funny, suspenseful and seems to draw from a well of endless inventiveness. It's as good as any other horror comedy I've seen. There is also a surface message of turning off the television and living your life, which is a worthwhile sentiment, but perhaps a harder sell when it is packaged in a film as excellent as this.A 10 out of 10 from me.