I did not learn until I got into the business myself that UHF was not a hit in 1989. For me, it was an event film as big as Batman, Last Crusade and Ghostbusters II . I even saw it a week early at a sneak preview, which I guess did not help with word of mouth.
It’s funny now that the wild fake shows they put on could just be on streaming now. UHF definitely got the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker style closest of any non Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker film.
The 4K tranfer really makes the movie parodies look like the real Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rambo, etc. They make some clips look like an old UHF signal but it holds up on a 77” TV. When the “TV signal” cuts to the clear studio it really feels like you’re in the studio.
Stanly Spadowski’s Clubhouse is a bright, colorful set, but even the real world is colorful. They wear bright red uniforms at Big Edna’s Burger World, and Philo’s bubbling chemical jars. For evil R.J.’s scheming scenes there is some pure deep black shadow hyping up the evil villain.
No new extras but Yankovic did the works when UHF first came out on DVD, and they even did more retrospectives in 2014 so it’s well documented.