The ’90s Fantasy Horror Comedy With A Star-Studded Cast, Stream Without Netflix

Stay Tuned was written by Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker, in the duo’s screenwriting debut. Jennewein and Parker originally envisioned the script as something of a crossover between Monty Python and The Evil Dead, and wrote scenes with Tim Burton in mind as their go-to filmmaker for the project. The pair would later go on to collaborate on scripts for 1994’s The Flintstones and 1994’s Richie Rich.

Peter Hyams wound up directing the film, in between some of his other excellent comedy/horror outings such as 2010, Timecop, The Relic, and Narrow Margin. While young kids of today may not recognize much of the talent stacked up on-screen during the run-time of Stay Tuned, any 90s kid will surely be surprised to see the sheer collection of big-name actors. The film’s cast includes John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, David Tom, Heather McComb, Joyce Gordon, Eugene Levy, and Dexter‘s Erik King.

The narrative of Stay Tuned centers on Roy Knable, a miserable plumbing supplies salesman who prefers to spend as much of his time as possible slumped over on the couch watching television. Knable’s incessant binge-watching causes his wife to throw a fit, which sees her smashing the TV to bits using trophies from Roy’s high school athletics ventures as blunt objects. The following morning, a mysterious salesman appears at the Knable home, and offers them a high-tech satellite that’s capable of getting exactly 666 channels.

As the plot of Stay Tuned carries on, Roy and his wife Helen learn that the salesman was actually a demon from the pits of hell, who uses the satellite device to kill and corrupt the souls of habitual couch potatoes across the country. The satellite dish sucks Roy and Helen into a horrific otherworldly dimension known as the Hellevision, where they must survive a gauntlet of strange television and film productions in order to save their souls from damnation.

If the movie sounds completely bonkers, that’s because it absolutely is. Despite serving as something of a cult classic today, Stay Tuned failed to impress critics upon release, and bombed miserably at the box office. The film is said to have taken in just over $12 million against a production budget of $25 million, making it a major loss for the studio. Still, the film’s popularity has led to talks of a Stay Tuned sequel series as recently as 2020, so the movie’s value is still being recognized now over 30 years after release.

If you’re interested in watching Stay Tuned today, the film can be streamed for free through Tubi. Just don’t accept any shady offers from door-to-door salesmen offering streaming bundles that sound too good to be true, or you may wind up living inside the plot of Stay Tuned rather than watching it unfold from the comfort of your couch.