Top Ten Films featuring Libraries, Librarians and the Book Arts
Compiled by Steven J. Schmidt
IUPUI University Library

UHF (Orion, 1989) Rated: PG-13
[Also released as: Vidiot From UHF, The]

Director: Jay Levey.
Screenplay: Jay Levey, 'Weird Al' Yankovic.
Cast: 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Michael Richards, Kevin McCarthy, Anthony Geary, Billy Barty, Fran Drescher, Roger Callard.

Storyline: A sophomoric, but funny cult film about George Newman (Yankovic), the manager of a small UHF TV station his uncle won in a poker game. When George drafts the janitor (Richards) as the star of Stanley Spadowski’s Playhouse, starts showing an eclectic mix of unusual programs like "Wheel Of Fish," "Name That Stain," and "Conan The Librarian," U-62 becomes an overnight success. As the station’s ratings start to rise, TV mogul R.J. Fletcher (McCarthy) schemes to buy the station and turn it into a parking lot.

Library focus: One of the upcoming programs advertised on U-62 is Conan the Librarian. This short ad features the Roger Callard as the longhaired, muscle-bound Conan the librarian picking up a patron and asking: "Don't you know the Dewey Decimal system?" Later, Conan slices a borrower in half for returning a book late. This sequence is a delightful parody of the librarian's stereotype image.

Image copyright of Internet Movie Database.

Back to Top Ten Films featuring Libraries, Librarians and the Book Arts