hold of Spike's remote, and uses it to save Helen from being run over by a train in a Western movie. By pressing the "off" button on the remote, they are evicted from the dish moments before it sucks their neighbor's abusive Rottweiler into the TV and destroys itself. In the end, Spike gets eliminated by the Rottweiler on the command of Crowley, a vengeful employee he banished to the system earlier, and is then succeeded in his executive position by Pierce, a younger upstart employee. Having learned a valuable lesson after his adventure, Roy dramatically cuts back on his TV viewing, quits his job as a plumbing salesman, and opens his own fencing school, in which he advises one of his students that watching too much TV can get you into trouble. Cast The group's manager and primary producer Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor (credited under his birth name "Herby Azor") and his brother Steve Azor appear as dancers during the "Start Me Up" segment. Production In 1990, Jim Jennewein and Tom S. Parker wrote the entire story for the film, under working title Terrorvision (not to be confused with TerrorVision), inspired by the idea was "The Evil Dead meets Monty Python". Tim Burton was originally chosen to be the director on account of his art and style, but left to direct Batman Returns. The script was purchased by Warner Bros. for $750,000. Reception The film was not screened for film critics. The film holds a 47% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 17 reviews, with an average score of 4.6/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 41 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film a "cleverly plotted movie" based on a "nifty satiric concept" but said that "most of its takeoffs ... show no feel for genre and no genuine wit." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called the film "wonderfully silly" and a "zippy action spoof." Variety reported the film was "not diabolical enough for true black comedy, too scary and violent for kids lured by its PG rating and witless in its sendup of obsessive TV viewing...a picture with nothing for everybody"; it noted that the "six-minute cartoon interlude by the masterful Chuck Jones, with Ritter and Dawber portrayed as mice menaced by a robot cat...has a grace and depth