Dr. Demento Movies

Larry "Wild Man" Fischer was a wildly eccentric singer who in 1968 was discovered on the streets of Hollywood by Frank Zappa, who was intrigued by Fischer's offer to write and perform original songs for passers-by for a mere ten cents each. After hearing a few dollars' worth, Zappa offered Fischer -- who had been wandering the edges of the music business for several years, with no success -- a recording contract, and in 1968 the album An Evening With Wild Man Fischer was released. Sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing, and always boasting Fischer's wobbly matter-of-taste voice and adult-child songwriting, the two-LP set of oddball tunes (including "Merry-Go-Round," "Monkeys vs. Donkeys," "Are You From Clovis," and "The Rocket Rock") sold only modestly, and after an altercation at Zappa's home, Fischer soon found himself without a record deal. While he remained a favorite among a tiny cult of admirers, Fischer was difficult for most folks in the music industry to deal with -- he'd been diagnosed as both a manic-depressive and a paranoid-schizophrenic, and his extreme mood swings, obsessive need for attention, and inability to conform to societal standards of public behavior have kept him at the sidelines of show business as a freak talent, when his abilities are acknowledged at all. But there are a number of people who know music and believe Fischer is a genuine talent, including legendary big band singer Rosemary Clooney, soul icon Solomon Burke, Devo leader Mark Mothersbaugh, and music historian and disc jockey Dr. Demento. Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer is a documentary which offers a look at Fischer's torturous childhood, his strange adventures in show business, his struggle to be heard, and his constant battle with his own demons; the film includes interviews with Fischer and his admirers, as well as vintage performance clips (including his appearance on Laugh-In). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

UHF is the film debut of comedy-rock satirist Weird Al Yankovic, who also co-wrote the screenplay. George Newman (Yankovic) and his friend, Bob (David Bowe from The Cable Guy), are fired from their jobs at Burger World. So George decides to take over channel 62, a failing local TV station that his Uncle Harvey (Stanley Brock) won in a poker game. George turns it around into an overnight success after letting the janitor, Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards from Seinfeld), host a kid's show. George then fills the broadcast day with bizarre programming, bringing the ratings up and saving the station. Soon, rival station CEO R.J. Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) of channel 8 threatens to sabotage the successful station and George must come up with a way to save it. Only loosely constructed around this story line, UHF is mostly a series of TV, movie, and music parodies strung together and played for cheap laughs. UHF also stars Victoria Jackson, Emo Philips, and Fran Drescher. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide