Siskel & Ebert (TV Series)

UHF/Valentino Returns/Shag (1989)

Gene Siskel: Self - Host

Quotes 

• Roger Ebert - Host : One of the many problems with "UHF" is that Yankovic never makes a commitment to stick with his original story idea. The movie is SORT of about how he wants to run his own TV station, but then it goes all over the map, with parodies of movie ads and TV satires that don't fit into that story format. We never know what the underlying reality of this film is, and so maybe there COULD be a funny movie about running this obscure station, but we find out here that "UHF" is not it.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Well, the show that was so great about parodying fringe television was "SCTV", which, week after week, year after year, came up with extremely funny material. And this film, how many jokes do you think he attempts? Maybe 200, something like that, in the course of the movie?

  Roger Ebert - Host : I wasn't counting.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Well, how many LAUGHS? That was easy to count.

  Roger Ebert - Host : None.

  Gene Siskel - Host : None. Not one from me, and I think, y'know, there's a thing when movies start having, show signs that are supposed to be funny, that's when they really get desperate. And this picture does that a number of times. I didn't laugh at a single thing, I was flabbergasted.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Well, the movie violates one of my little laws: The first law of funny names, which is that any movie that uses funny names in an attempt to get a laugh is probably in desperation.

  Gene Siskel - Host : You mean like "Weird Al Yankovic"?

  Roger Ebert - Host : I think that, I think that's his real name.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Yeah, "weird" was his given name, right.