Review of Stay Tuned (1992) by Mark B — 18 Nov 2007

John Ritter and Pam Dawber are brilliantly matched in this fantasy-comedy - the former another example of a great performer taken before his time.

He plays a couch-potato whose first move after driving his marriage to the brink of collapse over an unhealthy TV addiction, invests in the ultimate TV package from the Devil. Soon after they are sucked into the satanic prgramming that sees humans killed, for the entertainment of the hoofed-one.

Driving Over Miss Daisy, Dwayne's Underworld and I Love Lucifer are just some of the wonderfully dark spoofs of real-life shows that the couple must survive for 24 hours in order to ensure their redemption.

For a very light-hearted film, there is some fantastic satire woven in to the film, illustrating that in the movie the hellish programming seems daft and cruel compared to normal viewing - however these days, it's clear that audiences have really become just as demanding for merciless and cut-throat TV that Jeffrey Jones aims to deliver here.

Eugene Levy is typically brilliant as the motormouth slimeball executive that ends up on the run with Ritter and Dawber - however both the child actors are woeful.

Despite that there are a lot of laughs in the movie, it's fun and it's very easy-going. Definitely worth a watch.