Awfully Good: Stay Tuned (1992) with John Ritter

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

WANDAVISION taking us back through sitcom history reminded me of another movie that made a hellish journey across television…

Stay Tuned (1992)

Director: Peter Hyams
Stars: John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, Eugene Levy

After being gifted a home entertainment system from the Dark Lord himself, an unhappily married couple get sucked in to their television and forced to survive demonic versions of their favorite shows.

John Ritter was just the absolute best. I grew up on THREE’S COMPANY and idolized his flawless comedic timing, gift for physical performance, and impossible-not-to-love personality. Maybe that’s why I have such a soft spot for this oft-forgotten movie.

STAY TUNED was critically derided on release (and still doesn’t seem to get much respect) and didn’t even make back half of its $25 million budget. I don’t know if everyone was expecting a brilliant satire on America’s relationship with television entertainment, but I will always believe this movie deserved better. While it does sort of have a message (“Don’t watch too much TV,” which Ritter actually says verbatim at the very end), the movie is more of a mindless romp through the early 90s pop culture landscape with a bit of dark comedy thrown in. It prioritizes its fun vibe over any kind of depth beyond its initial premise; in fact, one character makes a note about everything lacking subtext, which is immediately dismissed as unnecessary when catering to an increasingly unsophisticated viewer.

“And that, kids, was how I met your mother.”

Ritter stars as a man who, for some reason, does not want to have sex with Mindy from MORK AND MINDY. His Roy Knable is bored with life—a former fencing champion turned mediocre salesman—and secretly resentful of his wife Helen’s successful, high-paying job. To cope, he spends all his free time parked in front of the family TV, ignoring his spouse and his two children, and instead focusing his attention on whatever old movie or sporting event is on. One night, a random man shows up at his door offering a brand new big screen TV and satellite dish. This man is clearly the Devil. His name is Mr. Spike and he shows up late at night amidst a random thunderstorm, dressed in all black and laughing evilly, giving a random stranger an expensive free entertainment center with 666 channels in exchange for his soul. Somehow this never dawns on poor Roy, who agrees to the terms and watches the man drive away in to a pit below the earth.

As soon as Helen gets home and starts to fight with Roy about the clearly horrible decision he’s made, both husband and wife get sucked in to the satellite dish and thrown in to a version of Hell that’s made up of deliciously evil versions of popular television channels. It turns out the devil is bored with his normal job downstairs and wants some entertainment, so he digitally kidnaps unsuspecting souls and forces them to live through his favorite TV shows designed to constantly try to kill them. I mean, to be fair, that does seem more entertaining than most basic cable programming.

I’ll take “Superheroes we never asked for,” Alex…

This is all merely an excuse for the film to parody a number of then-popular shows and movies, including:

Duane's Underworld from Saturday Night Dead, featuring zombie versions of Wayne and Garth
Three Men and Rosemary's Baby
Autopsies of the Rich and Famous
An aerobics version of THE EXORCIST called “The Exorciseist”
A Leave It to Beaver-style sitcom starring "Chuck" Manson
Different Strokes (literally just two old men having strokes)
Death Trek: The Next Generation
A hidden camera show where the host tells people their loved ones have died
Driving Over Miss Daisy (self-explanatory)
And an amazing Looney Tunes-inspired cartoon that was actually directed by Chuck Jones

"Mmm mmm mmm mmm."

Most of these are funny, if not a bit obvious in how they send up the material. And much like IDIOCRACY, some of it feels ahead of its time. There’s a cruelness to all the shows that may have seemed exaggerated in the early 90s, but doesn’t seem that bad compared to what would pass for reality TV a couple decades later. It’s not a great sign for society when parody seems less bad than reality.

Some of the pop culture references and gags from the time may also be a bit dated for younger modern viewers watching this now, but take it from someone who recently injured his shoulder by sleeping the wrong way—they’re all on point.

"Lieutenant Furley… Engage."

Director Peter Hyams (TIMECOP, SUDDEN DEATH) does a fantastic job seamlessly recreating so many different genres, styles and locations, blending them all together in one cohesive film. It’s a really impressive feat given how vastly different each segment is, from film noir to spaghetti western to professional wrestling. The costumes, sets, and even the score perfectly encapsulate each specific show and film without breaking any pricey copyright infringements.

One interesting fact: In what ironically also sounds like a deal with the devil, screenwriters Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker, who debuted with this movie in 1992, went on to write THE FLINTSTONES, RICHIE RICH and GETTING EVEN WITH DAD all in 1994—before completely disappearing from Hollywood.

What Ferris Bueller sees when he closes his eyes at night.

STAY TUNED is also a perfect vehicle for John Ritter and Pam Dawber, both former sitcom stars. They’re able to physically adapt to each new setting and character while also playing off of their former recognizable personas. The breadth of material really allows Ritter specifically to shine, showcasing his classic physical comedy and reactions. He’s joined by the always dependable Eugene Levy as a henchmen with wavering allegiances, as well as actual evil person Jeffrey Jones as the Devil’s #2 in charge of Hellivision.

Unfortunately, anything with Ritter and Dawber’s kids is not as successful and any time it cuts from TV Hell to the kids at home the movie grinds to a halt. The two children serve mostly as exposition devices and the occasional deus ex machine (the son is technology wizard who is able to hack the Devil’s satellite system using a boombox), but thankfully their roles are small.

When you've experienced one too many easily avoidable misunderstandings.

After all the great set pieces and homages mentioned above, the finale must be something truly spectacular, right? Well, while they do zap threw a ton of random genres at the end, including a horrified Ritter’s brief return to THREE’S COMPANY, the pop culture climax and final showdown for the heroes’ souls takes place… in Salt-N-Pepa music video. Yes, the Devil and Roy battle each other for life and death while dressed as extras from a 90s hip hop video (that of course takes place in an abandoned warehouse). They did get Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella to appear as themselves, so maybe this was a mindblowing ending in 1992. It’s a bit anticlimactic given everything that came before it, but not enough to stop me from reccomending this flick any day of the week.