Stay Tuned (1992)

The Knables are having marriage problems: Roy is a lousy plumbing supplies salesman by day and couch potato by night, and his wife Helen is a successful senior product manager for a vitamin company. Roy watches too much TV every night and Helen just cannot stand it. One night she suggests a romantic getaway without phones, their kids, or--especially--TV, but when Roy's hooked on the big screen, there's no calling him back. Frustrated and angry, Helen decides to smash the family console with one of Roy's trophies as a wake-up call to reality. Disoriented but heartbroken, Roy then hears the doorbell and opens the door to a mysterious salesman named Spike who offers him the "ultimate getaway" from all the hate, frustration, and failures: a new remote controller and a new state-of-the-art satellite TV. Roy accepts the new TV by signing a free-trial contract not knowing that he just sold his soul to the devil himself. When Helen finds out, she is both unimpressed and steamed; as they fight outside, the "dish" activates. Roy and Helen try their hardest to escape, but it's too late: the force of gravity from the dish sucks them into the "Cable Television World of Hell"--all 666 channels' worth. Now they must survive through every episode of shows such as the game show "You Can't Win", the U.W.W.F. (Underworld Wrestling Federation) match, "Northern Overexposure", "Driving Over Miss Daisy," and a cartoon sequence called "RoboCat", "Autopsies of the Rich and Famous", "Duane's Underworld", "HTV", and "Off With His Head", all within 24 hours. If successful, they will return home, but if they fail, the devil keeps their souls forever. After they survive one day without harm, Roy gets sent back home while Spike holds Helen hostage. Now with the help of their children, communication whiz Darryl and fashionista Diane, Roy must re-enter the underworld of Hell Vision TV and save his wife, while keeping his distance from Spike. Will he learn the hard way that there's more to life than television--like commitment? (Formerly written by Christopher Howell)