FM is kind of silly and broad... the characters are two-dimensional weirdos out of a TV sitcom, and the plot feels paint-by-numbers. Despite this, the movie is quite charming and for me, poignant, because it manages to capture something about the now-departed era when rock music and FM radio were a cultural force to be reckoned with. In a time when music listeners are far more likely to be isolated in their iPod headphones, it's somewhat painful to realize what has been lost in music in terms of the communal listening experience that a locally-run, idiosyncratic radio station provided. When the plot briefly passes through the Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard --- now as lost to the ages as the library at Alexandria --- you are confronted with the fact that the entire culture of rock n' roll that many of us grew up with at the center of our lives -- radio, record stores, and arena concerts -- is essentially a thing of the past. Even though this isn't a great movie, it does a great job of taking you back in time to that era.The soundtrack is pretty middle of the road, but it's good to hear songs that the years have ground into mush briefly re-contextualized into their natural habitat. I can't think of a better way to hear a lot of late 70's radio fodder ("Baby Come Back"; Billy Joel) than within the confines of this movie.

I just watched FM for the first time in almost 29 years, and while I certainly can't say it's a bad movie, there surely is a reason I hadn't revisited it since The Jimmy Carter Era. It just doesn't entertain like a movie should.The main story with Michael Brandon as a "stick-to-your-guns" radio station GM was OK, but other than the scene with the dope-smokin' army pitchmen, there weren't many attempts at laughter. And this sure looks like it's presented as a comedy.Alongside a low-key Eileen Brennan's smoky voiced hippy DJ and Alex Karras' woefully miscast "country rebel", there was no way I could believe these were the main jocks at the top-rated rock station in LA. Only Martin Mull's Eric Swan (and his over-inflated, fragile ego) seemed to ring true.So look at it on face value...if you care to see what bland, mainstream FM radio looked and sounded like in the late 70's (Eagles, Foreigner, Boston---god, they're still in heavy rotation in Chicago in 2007!), give FM a viewing. Just don't expect to enjoy it..

I, too, was fortunate enough to see this movie in the theater upon its release in '78 (no multiplex--an actual one-movie theater non-corporatized). All I can say, is that it is such an accurate portrayal of the pre-Clear Channel debauchery-that which illustrates all that was a good and simple way of music life, and what we were fortunate enough to live, breath, be molded by, and experience during radio privatization (long since gone). True life to the hilt- for the day! My heart breaks for those who didn't get to experience it real and first hand, for it was truly a magical time!! Alas, those days are gone, we at least have FM to watch (and perhaps learn from). BTW, for the youngsters...Tom Petty's music started long before the 90's!

As someone who works in "the business", I did notice that FM has its share of inaccuracies and things that don't quite work...big whoop...do not let those deter you from enjoying a movie that has been underrated and under-appreciated...with a cast that works well together and a killer soundtrack, FM tracks the musings of a station in LA that takes its music and its audience seriously...without commercial interruption...Michael Brandon is superb as the hero, Jeff Dugan... Martin Mull is great as an over-the-top DJ, Eric Swan...Eileen Brennan as Mother, the late Cleavon Little as the Prince of Darkness, and Cassie Yates as Laura Coe make up an air staff that I would love to work with...the bad guys are Albert Driscoll, a company exec who doesn't understand anything beyond the bottom line, Regis Lamar, a "flunky" salesman who is doing what he's being told- even though he tries to understand what the radio people are doing, and Michael J Carlyle, a greasy radio exec not unlike a few in radio...and all through the movie, the fact that it is fun to work in radio is very evident...one note...Alex Karras as the Cowboy is a little bit of miscasting...not sure why he was put in there other than his character was in the book...but overall the quality and flow is excellent...and, as its catchphrase goes, "no static at all"...for those of you who are historians of radio, you will love the dual mikes they use at QSKY...brings back the memories...you're probably going to have to find the movie online somewhere, since it's unusual to locate it in a rental store, but it is a nice addition to a library...and try to find a brand new copy...WITH the poster!