Movies you might have missed: UHF

'Weird Al' Yankovic stars in a comedy so broad it makes ‘Dumb and Dumber’ look like the work of Ingmar Bergman

'Weird Al' Yankovic stars in UHF

As admissions go, confessing to loving the work of 'Weird Al' Yankovic is on a par with being a Manchester United supporter – you know there are millions out there even if the stance is universally derided. The man most famous for his parodies of popular songs has been the butt of so many jokes that his most recent live tour included a video montage of just about every unflattering punchline about the man uttered over the last few decades.

In 1989, Yankovic co-wrote and starred in UHF, a comedy so broad it makes Dumb and Dumber look like the work of Ingmar Bergman. He plays George Newman (the name a nod to Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman), an unemployed dreamer who somehow stumbles into a job managing a low-budget television station (hence the title: UHF stands for Ultra High Frequency) and finds success with an array of bizarre new programmes. That’s about it, plot wise, but perhaps that’s to be expected from a man who found fame spoofing a Michael Jackson song with the words “Eat It”. And the crucial thing, in both cases, is just how funny it actually is.

The musician originally wrote the film with his manager, Jay Levey, after the release of his second album in 1984. The central idea was to take his method of skewering targets and apply it to film rather than music. The result is disjointed and episodic but undoubtedly hilarious in places. UHF was not helped by the fact that it was released during one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster summers. Reviews were unkind and punters stayed away but the picture has developed a cult following over time. It was never intended, in the words of its writer and star, to be a “critic movie”.

One of the joys on offer is an appearance from Michael Richards in the very month Seinfeld aired its pilot episode. Yankovic was so impressed with the actor’s appearances on the sketch show Fridays as well as his stand-up work that the role was written with him in mind. There is something eerily prophetic about the faith shown in Richards given he was on the verge of stardom and that’s not the only prescient aspect of the project; the whole thing feels like an early prototype of television programmes like Mr. Show with Bob and David or Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! More staggeringly, it seems to predict the rise of viral videos and meme culture in the years before the Internet was prevalent. UHF is far from a perfect vehicle for Yankovic’s talents but when it’s funny, it’s really funny, and sometimes that’s enough.