UHF (lost original cut of comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic; 1989)
Theatrical release poster for the film.
Status: Lost
UHF is a movie written by and starring "Weird Al" Yankovic that was released by Orion Pictures on July 21st, 1989, during one of the biggest blockbuster summers of all time, receiving mixed reviews from critics. It was a box office flop, making only $6.1 million against a $5 million budget. However, it became a cult classic after it was released on VHS.
The first mention of "UHF"'s deleted scenes came during the Midnight Star's "Ask Al" section in November/December 1997, where he mentioned that the first cut of the movie was an hour longer than the theatrical cut, though ends off by saying "You’re not really missing anything".[1].
When the DVD first came out in 2002, it included a deleted-scenes reel with commentary with Weird Al himself, talking about all the parts that were cut and how they "sucked." Most of the scenes on the reel are incomplete, sourced from a VHS that had been sitting in Yankovic's closet for about 13 years[2], and are narrated over by Yankovic. At the end, he says that there are far more deleted scenes that were not shown. According to Al's drummer, John "Bermuda" Schwartz, Orion never kept any extra footage after the release of the movie[3]. The unedited deleted scenes have never been seen, as they were not on the Blu-Ray release either. It is unknown when, or if, Yankovic will eventually release them.
Deleted Scenes
The known deleted scenes are:
- More romantic scenes between George Newman & Teri Campbell
- More scenes involving George & Teri exploring the U62 building
- More scenes from "Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse" (Part of one was used for the U62 promo in the theatrical cut.)
- Multiple different, extended takes of Joe Earley cutting off his thumb.
- A Station Promo for a sitcom called "Those Darn Homos!"[4]
- Scenes involving an unused U62 news reporter
- Scenes involving Elain the Receptionist, who was left out of the final movie
- An extended version of "Secrets of The Universe"
- Extended version of Pamela & Noodles outside of Town Hall with Richard Fletcher
- A scene involving R.J. Fletcher preparing for his announcement
- Extended version of Stanley escaping from the Channel 8 offices.
- A fight sequence after the "Supplies" scene in the Channel 8 offices
- A scene where George Newman goes to the bank in an attempt to get a loan
- Extended scene of George working at his desk
- The original ending to "Wheel of Fish"
- More scenes involving R.J. Fletcher
- An unused subplot about the Head Thug's fear of bugs
- More guests during the U62 "Save Our Station" Telethon.
- More scenes involving Raul Hernandez, some of which were never shot due to the death of Trinidad Silva during filming.
- A full performance from the Kipper Kids[5]
See Also
- Al's Brain (found 3D educational short film; 2009)
- Couch Potato (lost production materials of unreleased Weird Al Yankovic music video; 2003)
- Official “Weird Al” Yankovic Pretty Fly For A Rabbi Remix (lost official song remix from Yahoo! Music Beatnik GrooveGrams Contest; 1999-2000)
- Orgy on My Own (found unreleased "Weird Al" Yankovic song; 1981)
External Links
References
- ↑ The November/December 1997 "Ask Al" section, the first mention of the extended cut.
- ↑ An IGN article talking about the 2002 DVD release.
- ↑ A Weird Al Forum thread asking about UHF Bloopers/Deleted Scenes
- ↑ The January/February 1997 "Ask Al" section, where it is mentioned
- ↑ The November 1998 "Ask Al" section, where it is mentioned