Product Details

• Actors: Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, Martin Mull
• Directors: John A. Alonzo
• Writers: Ezra Sacks
• Producers: Bob Larson, Rand Holston
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: November 24, 1998
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305242151
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,299 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Los Angeles radio station QSKY has become a ratings juggernaut under the guidance of hip, passionate program director Jeff Dugan (played by Michael Brandon). The executives who own the station naturally see it as an opportunity to make lots and lots of money by flooding the airwaves with ads. Meanwhile, the personal lives of the DJs are also in turmoil: Mother (Eileen Brennan) is burnt out with the radio lifestyle and wants to quit; Doc (Alex Karras) has been losing his audience and is on the verge of being fired; Eric Swan (Martin Mull, in his movie debut) has fantasies about becoming a game show host and ignores his affectionate girlfriend; Dugan himself has the hots for Laura (Cassie Yates), who isn't sure she's ready for a steady relationship. A laid-back comedy, FM is deeply, deeply '70s. It portrays its radio heroes as if they were as significant as the rock music they spin. When the corporate suits try to force Dugan to play ads for the U.S. Army, the DJs occupy the station in protest, setting off a near riot. (The irony, of course, is that the music QSKY plays is all top-40 hits of the '70s.) FM features appearances by Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffet, REO Speedwagon, and extensive concert footage of Linda Ronstadt. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Turn Your Radio On, May 11, 2005

By 

Erik North (San Gabriel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: FM (Widescreen Edition) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Though it was not necessarily a big box office hit when it was released in the spring of 1978, FM does remain something of a cult favorite--not only for the wall-to-wall soundtrack of what were then Top 40 favorites and are now classic rock radio staples, but also because at least some of what it shows has come to pass with respect to the radio business.

The film chronicles the fictitious L.A. radio station QSKY, whose program director (Michael Brandon), along with a staff of wild and crazy DJs (Martin Mull; Cassie Yates; Alex Karras; Eileen Brennan) has made the station the #1 radio station in the nation's second biggest media market by playing the best music with as little commercial interruptions as is humanly possible. But all this success has got "the boys upstairs" thinking that the station could make even more money by cutting down the music and ratcheting up the corporate way of thinking; in this case, it would be placing ads for the U.S. Army in-between bursts of Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, and more. The pressure finally gets to Brandon and his merry crew, until they instigate a strike that nearly erupts into a riot.

Though it is hardly the stuff that cinematic masterpieces are made of, and its similarity to the later CBS-TV show "WKRP In Cincinnati" is rather coincidental (the TV show's plot being shot while the film was being made), FM still stands out as a sort of classic rock answer, at least in soundtrack terms, to the disco onslaught of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Also, the idea of a radio station's on-air staff and program director rallying against excess on-air commercialization in which the music is merely the filler between efforts to part listeners from their hard-earned money has to a certain extent come true in the last few years, as big media giants like Clear Channel keep chewing up the landscape for their own financial and political gain.

The film is notable also for a few other things. It is the only feature film directed by John A. Alonzo, better known as one of Hollywood's great cinematographers, whose credits include SCARFACE, CHINATOWN, BLACK SUNDAY, and parts of Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. And besides having a killer soundtrack, it also sports concert footage of Jimmy Buffett (a.k.a. "Mr. Margaritaville") doing "Livingston Saturday Night", and Linda Ronstadt doing "Tumbling Dice", "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me", and even Elvis' 1956 classic "Love Me Tender" (the concert footage was taken from Linda's performance in Houston on her SIMPLE DREAMS tour shortly after the King's passing in August 1977).

Even if only seen as a time capsule depiction of L.A. in the late 1970s, FM stands up as a look at what radio was like before MTV, Clear Channel, and over-commercialization caused it to rot. Alternately seriocomic and dramatic, with a very likeable cast, it is well worth seeing.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No static at all, baby., February 29, 2000

By 

Pat McCurry (Wilton, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FM [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a classic film that possibly inspired TV's WKRP. Unlike some films, it is chock full of notable music and artists. The atmosphere is a throwback to simplier times. I first saw this film back in 1988 when i was in high school. I thought it was pretty good. Too bad I wasn't old enough to go that Jimmy Buffett concert. The one thing I love about this movie is that it is put into mini storylines. That is what makes this movie interesting and unique. Martin Mull is likeable as Eric Swan, the station's self-centered DJ. If you watch closely, you'll notice some of the smiliar traits that the DJs have with the WKRP DJs (Jeff Dugan=Andy Travis, Eric Swan=Dr. Johnny Fever, Prince of Darkness=Venus Flytrap, Bobby Douglas=Bailey Quarters). Give this one a try. It will really take you back.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a realistic look at 70s radio, February 20, 2000

By 

mike (minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FM (DVD)

this movie will take you back to when rock music came into being.. it takes me back to when i was in late elementary-early jr. high school listing to my little am radio that would sit in the palm of my hand. music like the EAGLES and STEELY DAN, are really timless. if you look in the background, notice all the posters of the then really poupular musicians.. its a real precious little time-capsul that will take you back to when music wasnt gothic,or grunge. give it a try, and reminice where you were in the 70's at that time.. to bad we cant go back to some of the concerts they show. the buffet concert would have been wild!