What would happen if you took Dante's Inferno and themed it after American television? That's the basic premise of Stay Tuned where clueless couch potato Roy and exasperated "at the end of her rope" Helen get sucked into their "free" cable package while in the midst of a marital spat. First off the good: The production design of the world of Hellevision is absolutely fantastic, it has a diverse collection of themes ranging from tacky Chuck Barris style game shows to violent Tom & Jerry inspired animation. Visually speaking the film is pitch perfect in capturing the look and feel of a fun house mirror nightmare inspired by TV. The writing however is not as strong. The Knable family consisting of the previously mentioned Roy and Helen, as well a children airheaded Diane and tech saavy Darryl feel so much like they belong in a siitcom that they don't work as straight men for the insanity that befalls them. Both Pam Dawber(Helen) and John Ritter(Roy) are best known for the their sitcom work on Mork and Mindy and Three's Company(to which a reference is made in movie), and they're both playing these roles like sitcom characters and this robs the premise of much of its comedic potential because instead of a level headed straight man placed against an insane scenario, we have wacky characters in a wackier scenario. The movie isn't a complete failure as there are a few moments of inspired humor such as a game show spoof called "You Can't Win" and an animated Looney Toons homage directed by Chuck Jones that has Roy and Helen as anthropomorphic mice being mercilessly hunted by a robotic cat(in probably their most grounded moment). But for every part that works, there's one that doesn't. This is mainly because many of the setups they have don't go beyond the pun they make on recognizable titles such as Saturday Night Dead with a skit of "Duane's Underworld" or Northern Overexposure where they're trapped in a snowy wasteland hunted by wolves with not much beyond that. There are comic opportunities that the movie just outright ignores, why don't Helen and Roy ever find themselves poorly dubbed by a sound alike when they swear for example as a dig at broadcast standards and practices? Why couldn't they crash an over the top soap opera? or how come they're never run across an aggressive commercial or infomercial? Stay Tuned is by no means a bad movie, but it does make you wonder "why am I not laughing more?"
Review of Stay Tuned
