Tunnelvision

Rating:
Summary: A blast from the past but Chase and Candy are not the stars
Review: Tunnel Vision is the name of a fictional TV Network similar to S.C.T.V. The premise is that in the not too distant future (1985) Tunnel Vision will have knocked out the other three big networks and left the entire population a mass of vegetating slackers. I'm not sure if Howard Hesseman is all that believable as a Senator, but it's fun to see him in action. This upstart network is on trial and we are led to the courtroom where the "evidence" is put on display. One of the first items that date the video right away is when they run through a brief visual history of the US presidents. The list pauses briefly on Lincoln and Kennedy and makes its way up to Ford before it shows us the subsequent "future" ones.
Now of course the political commentary is not as sharp as the best of Saturday Night Live, there is nowhere near the polish, but it does have its charm. I was reminded of the similar vintage Woody Allen movies like "Take the Money and Run" with the voice-overs and exteriors.
Essentially it looks as though this tape was packaged to cash in on Chevy Chase's and John Candy's faces but they have very little to do on screen. Chase's bit is less than a minute and Candy's is not even a speaking role.
And the low spots are in the skits. There is one Hispanic Bunker-like skit that has Laraine Newman using the F-word and is generally just unfunny mostly due to the quantity of racial slurs which neither seem to comment on or inform any particular world view.

However, the commentary on the Middle East is fun and probably gives a present-day viewer more to laugh about. What the contemporary audience might have seen as grim extrapolations on current 1970's affairs (but not likely), can now be openly praised for its insight (even though their predictions are still clearly farcical).
But the true value of this video is not for its biting social commentary or wit or insight (most half-hour Simpsons episodes have more of these qualities), it is in the nostalgia or even the historical value. We get to see what was important to a group of young writers and commentators in the mid 70's (the boomers were older now and took their protests out of the streets and into the airwaves). In its day it might have been pretty edgy stuff, and much of it would not have cleared the censors for SNL (then or now). These were young people who were just beginning to practice the skills that would lead to the true ironic detachment that we have today. Their goal no doubt was to entertain and inform, but there is the additional energy that is present when someone is doing something they believe might have a real impact. This is what is now missing in the new SNL crew and what is starting to go missing even in the Simpsons.
If you think you are going to see Chevy Chase and John Candy in some kind lost classic that has an eternal entertainment value, your hopes are set too high and you should look for "The Best of SNL" or some early Simpsons instead. But, if you want to get a good look at the unpolished beginnings of the modern history of popular social commentary, this is a fine video, but nothing more.

Rating:
Summary: No DVD extras / 70s comedy, love it or hate it
Review: Tunnelvision accurately mocks -- or perhaps it just reflects -- tasteless mid-Seventies TV programming. A disclaimer suggests that the film parodies the era's rampant on-screen sexism and assorted prejudices, but the script lacks the edginess needed to accomplish this successfully.

Mid-Seventies television was, let's face it, even schlockier than Fox is today. The writers and comedians behind Tunnelvision -- fresh from Second City Television (SCTV) and not yet honed through SNL -- knew TV was tasteless. But regrettably, their early effort at parody is often more cynicism than wit. We're supposed to laugh when a "Spy TV" victim kills himself, giggle every time a male news anchor tries to shack up with compliant "weather girl," roar with delight when a nearly naked Betty Thomas must pass gas to win a game show, and gasp at unexpected racial profanities.

The political vision behind Tunnelvision is much funnier: The film takes sharp, well-executed jabs at Israel, Exxon, air pollution, phone companies, political mudslinging, and a sporty new national anthem punctuated by nuclear missiles. These "news" items are well worth seeing, and the DVD format lets the viewer skip the stuff in between.

Ultimately, Tunnelvision's theme -- TV on trial -- is a well-crafted excuse to string together 70 minutes of SCTV skits and SNL-style fake commercials. Tunnelvision offers us a worthwhile glimpse at countless great comedians' humble beginnings, and it reminds us of an era that was coarser, more troubled, more cynical, and less hip than the fantasy depicted in "That 70s Show."

DVD buyers please note: While it lets you skip to the good skits, the DVD format also exposes Tunnelvision's low-budget video and audio production quality.