Danny Devito Movie:

		List Price: $12.98		Label: CineVu Salesrank: 132533 Released: March 10, 2004
		Our Price: $9.96
		Used Price: $8.99
		MPAA Rating: Unrated Media: DVD

The Mogul Reviews:
'Mongrel' is more like it!
2009-12-09 - THE MOGUL is an off-market edition of what was originally a PARAMOUNT home VHS release entitled THE RATINGS GAME. Various niche outfits have issued this comedy, mostly on tape. The general consensus is that NONE are worth buying due to inferior picture quality. As of 12/09, "Mogul/Ratings Game" was not available on a studio authorized DVD.

Recommended as a collectible certain to increase in value is the 1998 Paramount VHS of THE RATINGS GAME.

SYNOPSIS--
Danny DeVito is a Mob-connected trucking outfit owner. His girlfriend (Rhea Perlman) works for the Computron ratings company. With her inside info, Danny is able to send his goons to Computron households and artificially raise the ratings of various TV shows he produces for a struggling 4th-rate network.

This made-for-TVer plays like an extended SNL skit and has some outstandingly funny moments. The cast includes SEINFELD's Michael Richards in his third big screen appearance and Bowery Boy Huntz Hall ('Sach') in one of his last. Watch for George Wendt ('Norm' on CHEERS) in a small role. Jerry Seinfeld also cameos!


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.0) The Mogul ("The Ratings Game") (TV-1984) - Danny DeVito/Rhea Perlman/Barry Corbin/Huntz Hall/Kevin McCarthy/Michael Richards/Vincent Schiavelli/Daniel Stern/George Wendt/Steve Allen/Jayne Meadows/Army Archerd/Jerry Seinfeld/Selma Diamond (uncredited: Roy Firestone/Ed. Weinberger)

It is most certainly a "Bootleg"...
2008-03-21 - The original title was "The Ratings Game".The copy sold here on Amazon is definately a "Bootleg" copy released by an unknown production company.The picture is barely watchable and is "hazy" at times.The movie itself is quite funny and well worth 10 or 12 bucks if you can get a decent copy.Bring this one out every 4-5 years or so,otherwise more frequent viewings will cause it to lose its' appeal.The fictional cartoon in the movie titled "Goombah's" should tell you what type of laughs that you'll get with this cult movie from the mid 80's.

If you find another source...
2007-01-10 - If you find another source for this movie, pursue it!
I liked the movie very much, and saw it first produced on Showtime Entertainment. This copy appears to be burn made from someone's TV set.

Good movie for cheesy fun films, poor quality recording.


BIG LOW-BROW LAUGHS!
2006-01-30 - This movie is hilarious. Danny Devito is a thug with Hollywood dreams, and his mob-ties make them all come true. Just imagine the endless possabilities! Absolutely stupid-funny!

"I didn't make a move on you for four days. If that isn't love, I don't know what is..."
2005-09-20 - So what happens when a mobbed up New Jersey trucking magnate comes to California with dreams of becoming a TV producer? He uses his `influence' to manipulate the system and get one of the highest rated shows of all time...that's the premise behind The Mogul (1984), a made for cable TV show...you know, back when I saw this on cable, it was called "The Ratings Game". Written by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland, both former writers for The David Letterman Show and directed by Danny DeVito (he also stars in the movie), features his wife Rhea Perlman ("Cheers"). Also appearing is an extensive list of notables including Gerrit Graham (Used Cars), Barry Corbin (Urban Cowboy), Louis Giambalvo (Weekend at Bernie's), Ronny Graham (Spaceballs), Huntz Hall (The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters), Vincent `Mr. Vargas' Schiavelli (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Kevin McCarthy (UHF), George "Norm' Wendt ("Cheers"), Michael Richards (UHF), noted columnist Army Archerd (Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood), Jason Hervey ("The Wonder Years"), Tracey Walter (Repo Man), Jerry Seinfeld ("Seinfeld"), ESPN sportscaster Roy Firestone, Jayne Meadows ("The New Steve Allen Show"), and Steve Allen prolific composer, writer, and talk show host.

DeVito plays Vic De Salvo, a recent transplant to California from New Jersey. Seems Vic and his family have made a good deal of dough from their trucking enterprise, but Vic has aspirations of becoming a big time TV producer, yet he can't get any interest in his treatments. After being thrown out of nearly every major television studio, he tries MBC, a network struggling with exceptionally poor ratings (and their new fall line up ain't looking so hot). They're doing so poorly in fact, the president of the network, Parker Braithwaite (Graham) informs his executive in charge of programming of his impending termination. In retaliation, the executive gives Vic a deal based on the fact he knows Vic's show will be a bomb. Around this time we meet Francine Kester (Perlman), employee of Computron, the company that supplies the oh so important ratings to the industry...the higher a show is rated (meaning, the more people watching), the more money the network airing the show can charge for advertising. Anyway, Vic throws a celebratory party, one that Francine attends (she's the only one to show up) after snagging her boss's (McCarthy) invitation, and Vic and Francine hit it off. Soon taping of Vic's show, Sittin' Pretty, begins, with Vic as the director and star, and the network executives, seeing what a potential disaster the show is, decide to air it against impossible competition so that when it fails miserably, they can cancel it and get out of their contract with Vic...but Vic has a plan...with Francine's help, Vic gets the top secret names of viewing household in key, viewing areas, gets the families out of their houses, and installs his thugs so that his show will garner high ratings. The plan works, Vic is given free reign on the network, and his programming choices are interesting, to say the least. Things seem to be going well, but soon allegations surface, and the authorities begin to investigate...

This movie kind of reminded me of an overly long, semi-funny SCTV skit. It had some truly funny moments, but as a whole, it's just a tepid comedy. Some may call it a scathing satire of the television industry, but it always seemed to me that wasn't an industry that needed poking fun at, as it's kind of a joke unto itself...but then that's just my opinion. The characters are colorful, but ultimately shallow enough for the viewer to take little, or no interest in what happens, other than sitting around waiting for the next comedic bit. DeVito's character was probably the worst, being a particularly lame stereotype at best, and it's not that I'm hung up on the `political correctness' or lack thereof, but rather then fact it was just so lame. The funniest, and most memorable characters to me were Vic's extremely effeminate assistant/secretary Skip, played perfectly by Vincent Schiavelli, and Cap'n Andy, longtime children's show host recently fired by the network, played by Ronny Graham. In one scene, after Vic sells his original show to the network, wants to have a bash, so he tells Skip to set it up and invite as many A-list individuals as he can think of, to which Skip replies in a lispy tone "In that case, Chuck Heston is a must!". Another really funny line occurs near the beginning as Gerrit Graham's character of the MBC exec calls the ratings company to complain that their sampling plan is flawed because it doesn't include segments of the population who tune into his network, like prisoners and those in psychiatric facilities "We get a lot of fan mail from mental institutions." The best bits in this film occur once Vic becomes a powerful network exec and begins developing TV shows like Nunzio's Girls, a show about a street hustler and his women, a Remington Steele knockoff featuring Vic's spindly nephew, and a children's cartoon show titled The Goombas, which is basically The Sopranos, if they were cartoon fish. This last one provides some of the funniest bits only because it doesn't play off like it was made for children...in one segment the cartoon fish hoodlums are in trouble with their bookie, and the head Goomba, in the voice of Vic, calls another a `dumb b*stard'...it's much funnier on the screen than here. There is a certain amount of enjoyment in the movie, besides a couple of characters and a few bits, in that of recognizing all the famous and soon to be famous faces. All in all it's a middling outing with a few, really funny bits, but not enough to make me recommend anyone run out and buy it...a passable rental, perhaps...

The fullscreen picture quality on this Legacy Entertainment Inc. DVD release is so so...there's a few areas with slight pixilation issues (itty bitty squares appear on the screen briefly), indicating perhaps the transfer wasn't as smooth as it could have been, and quality of the picture itself is kind of mushy, meaning it could have been a lot better, and the same could be said of the Dolby Digital mono audio. It was passable, but not as good as it could have been...the DVD does feature an interactive menu and chapter stops, and lists a feature to `Play the Trailer'. Turns out it's not a trailer for this film, but a cheap looking montage of scenes highlighting other Legacy DVD releases, many featuring now big name stars in films they were in before they made it big.

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