The Ratings Game

It's fun to see each person do their best. None of the acting is bad. The story is a little, well, seeing it once is good enough. I watched it while I was doing some of the work and we enjoyed a couple bits. I'm much happier that I watched it then if I didn't.

Veteran actor Danny DeVito here does a creditable job of directing what is a pretty clever skewering of the television industry. Vic De Salvo (DeVito) has had tremendous success in the trucking business, only now he's moved to L.A., and he has his heart set on attaining fame and fortune as a T.V. producer / star. His truly awful sitcom idea ends up becoming a huge hit after he's conspired with his girlfriend (played by DeVito's real-life significant other, Rhea Perlman) to manipulate the ratings system.

For this viewer, 'The Ratings Game' didn't necessarily generate any true belly laughs, but it's still an intelligent, amusing piece of work. DeVito displays his typical comic energy playing this shameless, unapologetic scoundrel, and milks the Jim Mulholland / Michael Barrie script for everything that it's worth. What's more, the romance between Vic and Francine is actually quite appealing, with the two stars unsurprisingly showing off real chemistry. (Francine is a notable contrast to Carla Tortelli, Ms. Perlmans' best-known TV character.). And Vic is the kind of guy whom you can't help but like, despite his shadiness. The phoney sitcoms he has devised are a hoot in their tackiness; to be fair, they probably wouldn't be much worse than some actual sitcoms that have made it to air in real life. DeVito's storytelling skills are solid, as well as his pacing. At no point do you feel that he's just marking time.

What's truly impressive is the cast that DeVito and casting director Marci Liroff assembled for this thing. There's a non-stop parade of familiar faces: established stars, stars-to-be, and many top character actors.

This landmark TV movie (one of the earliest made for cable TV) doesn't seem to be that well-remembered 36 years later, but discerning viewers will find it to be well worth their time.

Eight out of 10.

The stage curtains open ...

I stumbled across this one the other night and decided to give it a go. For a 1984 made-for-cable-tv movie, it wasn't half bad. I researched this one a little bit and found out that not only was it Danny DeVito's directorial debut, it was also the first original movie produced by Showtime. DeVito also starred, and starring along with him, was his real-life wife of two years, Rhea Perlman.

Vic DeSalvo (DeVito) has aspirations of making it big in Hollywood. He has written the script for what he believes will be a knock out winning sitcom called, "Sittin' Pretty" - where a college boy gets to room with two blonde bombshells while they are at school. However, the pilot show went so horribly bad, that the station director decides to run his show in the same time slot as the World Series so that it has no shot of becoming a regular on-the-air show. DeSalvo's new squeeze, Francine Kester (Perlman), works with a ratings agency and shows him how to beat the system.

This was a fun and clever comedy film with a good enough plot and acting to keep you engaged and smiling. It is made-for-tv, so the production value isn't anything spectacular, but it was good for its time. DeVito and Perlman showed great chemistry, no doubt a roll over from their marriage to each other, and were characters you can grow to care about. This was only maybe the 2nd movie I've seen them in together, besides "Matilda", and they were very enjoyable.

This isn't a big recommend, but I would still recommend it to anyone who needs a nice little escape to yesteryear with a fun little comedy long forgotten. Like I said, I found it by accident and I'm glad I took a chance on it. Worth the time spent. It gets a strong 6 stars out of 10 from me.

"The Ratings Game" is the first made for Showtime film and it's an over-the-top film...the sort that might make you laugh but also is pretty dopey.

Vic (Danny DeVito) is a rich guy who has dreams of being a TV producer. But he's also a talentless clod who doesn't know the first thing about making TV shows. Not surprisingly, again and again he's rejected by the networks because his ideas are, frankly, terrible. However, when a network exec is fired, he okays a TV pilot starring Vic....mostly out of a desire for revenge.

As for Vic, he's a guy who comes up with a scheme. It seems his girlfriend (Rhea Perlman) works for Computron...a Nielsen-type service that monitors TV viewing for the networks. Using her inside information, Vic and his associates track down a hundred of these families whose viewing is monitored. He arranges for these families all to have a free cruise...during which time, Vic's men break into the familys' homes and watch Vic's show....giving it incredibly high ratings despite the show being crude and stupid. But the problem is that when the show is a hit, the network wants to buy the show and make Vic a star....so this means keeping these unfortunate families on an extended cruise! What's next? See the film.

The acting in this one is very broad as is the writing. It's funny and insightful while ALSO being rather dopey. My daughter watched it with me and hated it. I thought that despite everything, it is cute and worth seeing....but I do agree the film was a bit stupid.

I just watched this for the first time in 2022, and I think this was one of those movies people saw but then forgot about, or never saw to begin with (ironic, considering the plot), because it's a very good movie.

Actually, it's a great movie, but I won't spoil it.

I think this is a movie that a lot of people will still want to watch even today, though, especially considering the cast (Danny DeVito, etc.).

Just watch it.