Stay Tuned (film)
Stay Tuned is a 1992 American fantasy comedy film directed by Peter Hyams, written by Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker, and starring John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, and Eugene Levy. Plot. Struggling Seattle plumbing salesman, former fencing athlete, and couch potato Roy Knable (John Ritter) lives with his neglected wife Helen (Pam Dawber), a vitamin product senior manager. 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 (Jeffrey Jones), 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 the four big networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox). Unbeknownst to Roy, Spike (later referred to as "Mephistopheles of the Cathode Ray") 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 latter usually happens). 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. Roy and Spike continue to fight throughout several shows, even in a cloak-and-dagger scenario where Roy displays his long-buried talent as a fencer. Through tenacity, improvisation, and sheer luck, the Knables stay alive, and their young son Darryl (David Tom) recognizes  his parents fighting for their lives on the TV set. He and his older sister Diane (Heather McComb) are able to provide important 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, manages to get 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. The dish destroys itself, leaving the Rottweiler trapped in the TV world forever. In the end, Spike gets eliminated by the Rottweiler on the command of Crowley (Eugene Levy), a vengeful employee he banished to the system earlier, and is then succeeded in his executive position by  Pierce (Erik King), 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. Production. In 1990, Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker wrote the entire script 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". The script was purchased by Warner Bros. for $750,000. Reception. The film was not screened for film critics. The film holds a 47% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 17 reviews. 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." Rita Kempley of the "Washington Post" called the film "wonderfully silly" and a "zippy action spoof." "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." "Time Out" called it "pointless 'satire'" with the "emotional depth of a 30-second soap commercial." Box office. "Stay Tuned" opened at #6 in the US, which  the "Los Angeles Times" called a "fuzzy reception". The film grossed $10.7 million in the US and Canada and grossed only $1 million internationally for a worldwide total of $12 million. Parodies. Some film and television series parodies include: 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. 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. Score album. Broughton's score was released in 2011 by Intrada.