Ken Shapiro's The Groove Tube suffers from one primary problem: it doesn't know when to let the bits stop. There are some legitimately funny sketches in this spoof anthology film. But almost all of them go on and on and on for far too long. The best sketch involves a group of political pundits whose round-table discussion turns into an impromptu cafeteria. It's pitch perfect comedy: take something slightly ridiculous and carry it to its logical extreme. And the best part is that when it hits the apex of absurdity it ends. I wish they would have done the same for the rest of the sketches. Take the opening sequence. It involves a group of humanoid apes who discover a television set in the middle of desolate environment. Within seconds of seeing the first ape costume we know that it will be a 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) spoof. And yet it goes on for several unbearable minutes. Then there's the abominable drug dealers sequence, the longest in the film, that is singularly unfunny, poorly shot, and almost impossible to hear due to bad sound mixing. There's a saying about music: don't bore us, get to the chorus. The same can be said for comedy.
4/10
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