Plot
George Newman ("Weird Al" Yankovic) is a daydreamer whose hyperactive imagination keeps him from holding a steady job. His gambling uncle, Harvey Bilchik, wins the deed to Channel 62, a bankrupt UHF television station, in a poker game, and prodded by his wife, gives control of the station to George. George and his best friend Bob (David Bowe) meet the Channel 62 staff which is made up of the receptionist and wannabe reporter Pamela Finklestein (Fran Drescher), dwarf photojournalist and cameraman Noodles MacIntosh (Billy Barty), and eccentric engineer Philo (Anthony Geary). George attempts to introduce himself to the rival VHF network station, Channel 8, but its owner, the cynical R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) chases him out angrily. On his way out of the station, he encounters the janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards), recently fired by Fletcher, and offers him a job at Channel 62.
Though George creates new shows, including the kid-friendly but poorly named "Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse" which he hosts, the workload and bad debt of the station get to him. Amid the stress, he forgets his girlfriend Teri's (Victoria Jackson) birthday, who breaks up with him over the incident. Despondent, George turns "Uncle Nutzy's Clubhouse" over to Stanley so he and Bob can go out for a drink. Arriving at the bar, they find that all the patrons are excitedly watching Stanley's antics on Channel 62. Realizing they have a hit on their hands, George and Bob are revived and inspired. They come up with ideas for more original shows in Channel 62's lineup, all spearheaded by the newly retitled "Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse."
As Channel 62's popularity grows, Fletcher becomes furious that a UHF station is getting better ratings than his network's programming. He learns that Harvey Bilchik is the owner of the station and has just gambled away $75,000 at the horse races. Fletcher makes Harvey the offer of covering his debt to his bookie, Big Louie, in return for ownership of Channel 62, which he would then only too happily shut down (legally he cannot own two stations in the same town). George learns of the deal and calls his aunt, who forces her husband to hold off, allowing George time to raise the money Harvey owes by selling investment stock in Channel 62 through a telethon.
The telethon starts off successfully, led by Stanley's boundless energy, but Fletcher sends his goons to kidnap Stanley. Without Stanley, the telethon grinds to a halt. George then leads a group to infiltrate Channel 8 and rescue Stanley. They return in time to successfully finish the telethon just before Harvey's debt comes due, saving the station and making it a publicly owned company. Fletcher, on the other hand, finds out that the penny, a 1955 doubled-die cent he mockingly gave to a beggar earlier in the film was rare and worth thousands, resulting in Channel 62 making its goal. He also discovers that a slanderous conversation of his contempt for his station's viewers was secretly recorded and rebroadcast by Philo, and that Channel 8 failed to file paperwork to renew its broadcast license with the FCC, which revokes his license and takes the station off the air. As the film ends, George and Teri rekindle their relationship, while the rest of the employees and fans of Channel 62 celebrate.
Throughout the film, there are cutaway scenes that are comic homages to popular shows of the time, through either George's imagination or shows specifically for Channel 62. For example, a dream sequence includes a music video for Yankovic's "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*" in both the audio and visual style of the Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing", and fake commercials for Plots 'R Us Mortuary Service, Gandhi II, Conan the Librarian and Spatula City are shown throughout the film.
Read more about this topic: UHF (film)
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