The Age of Commercialism

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Interspersed with incredibly well-produced and hilarious faux commercials (later emulated on "snl") to preserve the conceit that it is an evening of strange TV, It presaged the "r" rated fare one can now find on cable. I was surprised to learn that its writers did not go on to write for the early "saturday night live" episodes, which it foreshadowed and perhaps outshone.I rented it about 17 yrs after my initial viewing on its release, and was amazed that I had not falsely exaggerated in memory its quality and its hilarity. It held up brilliantly.Of course, Chevy Chase was unknown at the time and, upon the reviewing, I noted the strangely expressive hand acting in the "lardo" and "let your fingers do the ***king" scenes, and until I saw chase later in the film as an actor, was convinced that he had ripped off this film for his similar efforts on "snl".The slow pan-in on the frog "puppet" who warns of the dangers of STD's afforded a test of the audience's eyesight and attention span as those possessed of those traits were the first to start laughing in the theater. Pay close attention! I personally blew the mind of Buzzy Linhart (the hitchhiker) sometime in the 90's when he alluded to his role as the first featuring full-frontal male nudity in an American film and, after imagining him without the now bald pate and gray hair, immediately guessed "Groove Tube." He said I was the first to recognized him in all those years. He also informed me that the "Geritan girl" was porn-star Jennifer Welles, and that she was, pardon the pun, stiffed on her salary for the film.I am deeply puzzled that its writers were not more prolific, except by was of emulation. A truly seminal piece in the genre and a must for any collection.

I noticed that the release date listed on your web site is 1974. That is strange, because I distinctly remember seeing the film in theaters in 1972. If people are confused, that may be because another multi-style movie came out in 1974 called "Tunnelvision", which was also a satire of TV genres but with a twist; The story was set in 1985 (11 years in the future) in which a Congressional committee was investigating the practices of Tunnlevision, which was a completely uncensored TV network. During a sample viewing of one of the Network's daily showings, the shows, commercials and news broadcasts showed futuristic forecasts of world events and celebrities (of 1974). Of course, this was all comedic speculation, but I found it funny all the same. Anyway, "The Groove Tube" was released in 1972, not 1974 as your web site reports.

"The Groove Tube" was one of only two Ken Shapiro movies, the other one being the equally zany "Modern Problems". This one is just a full-scale parody of TV. Aside from Shapiro - who apparently didn't do anything after "Modern Problems" - the movie also stars Chevy Chase and Henry Winkler's cousin Richard Belzer. The three cast members (plus some other people in smaller roles) appear in various skits. One of the funniest ones features Chase in a Geritol-spoofing commercial, in which he's describing the medicine as his wife strips, and it ends with her humping him. There's also a pornographic news program, an irritating cooking show, and the epic tale of some drug dealers.Anyway, the whole thing's just a real hoot. In my opinion, the three best TV-spoofing movies are this one, plus "Tunnelvision" and "Kentucky Fried Movie" (although I might also include "The Truman Show"). Really funny.I wonder what ever did become of Ken Shapiro.

You know what they say about the 70's..if you can remember them you weren't there. One of the few things I do remember about the 70's was the very first hippie and hip social satire as seen from a totally 'underground'or counter-culture perspective..The Groove Tube. If the humor seems faded or witless now to some viewers it can only be because a lot has happened in the last 30 years and the comedy isn't 'fresh' anymore..but hey! When this movie came out it was a first..and some of these skits were being done for the very first time...at a time when Nixon was in office, the Vietnam war was raging, the sexual revolution was in full swing..and J.Edgar Hoover was still in charge of the FBI. This is a film made before Watergate broke and as such it was one of the first to take a big swipe at the establishment..to make fun of it and the hippies at the same time. And frankly, some skits are still dead funny. If you liked Cheech and Chong's "Up In Smoke"..you will LOVE this film.If you want to know what the 70's were really like..check out the Groove Tube.. if you liked the Oscar winning "Network" from about the same year and thought it was right on the mark in its savage look at TV, you will dig the Groove Tube..which picks up on the theme but plays from the angle of the viewers...the young viewers who were turning off the TV in favor of other entertainments.... We had been raised on Ozzie & Harriet "Leave It to Beaver", Father Knows Best, My Three Sons..Happy Days...so imagine our glee when those of us who were experimenting with the new life-styles got to see a send up of the box as seen from our perspective! The commercials by the Uranus corporation alone are priceless.."Good things come from Uranus"....and the sudden break from straight film into Fritz the Cat-style animation when the hippies eat the weed is still one of the best segues in and out of sanity i have ever seen on film.If you liked the Kentucky Fried Movie, you will LOVE this film. And if you ever wondered why your weird uncle Harold still gets a wicked gleam in his eye when thinking back to his college days..this would be the perfect film to watch.Take it for what it is..a memento of the times...and a sassy little film that will help all of us who did forget the 70's to remember them anew.