The Groove Tube

The Groove Tube
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKen Shapiro
Written byKen Shapiro
Lane Sarasohn
Rich Allen
Produced byKen Shapiro
Starring
CinematographyBob Bailin
Edited byGary Youngman
Distributed byLevitt-Pickman
Release date
  • June 23, 1974 (1974-06-23) (New York City)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000
Box office$9.4 million

The Groove Tube is a 1974 American independent comedy film written and produced by Ken Shapiro and starring Shapiro, Richard Belzer and Chevy Chase. It features the song "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield in its opening scene.

The low-budget movie satirizes television and the counterculture of the mid 1970s. The film was derived from sketches shot on videotape and shown at the Channel One Theater on East 60th St. in New York, a venue that featured R-rated video recordings shown on three television sets, which was a novelty to the audiences of the time. Compilations of sketches from these presentations were taken on tour to college venues, and based on audience responses, the best-received sketches were restaged on film with most of the original actors reprising their roles. The news desk satire, including the signature line "Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow," was later used by Chase for his signature Weekend Update piece on Saturday Night Live, although in the film he does not appear in that segment.

Randa Haines, who later directed Children of a Lesser God, was script supervisor.