The Big Picture

  • The cult classic film UHF, starring Weird Al Yankovic, is getting its first-ever 4K release for its 35th anniversary.
  • Special features for the disc are still in development, but the deluxe edition will come with cool collectibles like a replica poster and a stress toy.
  • This 4K release is part of Shout Factory's collaboration with Yankovic, who also worked with them on previous editions and a biopic.

Put down your remote control, and throw out your TV Guide. Weird Al Yankovic's cinematic magnum opus UHF is coming to 4K for its 35th anniversary. This will be the first-ever 4K release for the 1989 comedy.

So far, special features on the disc are still in the works, but Shout Factory has announced a wide variety of physical collectibles that will be available with the deluxe edition of the film, including a replica of the film's original poster, a spatula fridge magnet (to tie in with the Spatula City commercial featured in the film), a remote-control-shaped stress toy, a Smell-O-Vision scratch and sniff card (a gimmick once used by John Waters), and a selection of prismatic stickers. This is the latest collaboration between Yankovic and Shout Factory; the distributor has previously released other editions of UHF, as well as The Compleat Al, a collection of his music videos, and Weird, the Daniel Radcliffe-starring biopic that was released to great acclaim last year. UHF's 35th anniversary set will be released on July 2, and can be preordered at ShoutFactory.com.

What is 'UHF' About?

Yankovic, in his first and only cinematic starring role to date, plays George Newman, a small-town slacker who ends up running local TV station Channel 62 when his uncle wins it in a poker game. Although he initially struggles to pull the station out of bankruptcy, he turns things around when he hires oddball janitor Stanley Spadowski (a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards) to host the station's kids' show. Soon. the channel is dominating the local airwaves with bizarre programming like Wheel of Fish, Raul's Wild Kingdom, and the ultraviolent sequel Gandhi II. They still need to run a telethon to keep the station on the air - and it might just work, unless rival station Channel 8 pulls the plug. The film also stars Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live), Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Billy Barty (Time Bandits), and David Bowe (A Few Good Men).

Although it was well-received in test screenings, UHF came out in the blockbuster-crowded summer of 1989, where it had to fend off heavyweights like Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Ghostbusters II. It made a paltry $6 million USD at the box office, barely recouping its $5 million budget, but subsequently became a cult hit on home video, especially as Yankovic established himself as an elder statesman of musical comedy.

Shout Factory's 4K release of UHF is set to be released on July 2, 2024.