History Main / LostTheTVRemote

Although typically used as the punchline of a joke concerning a character's [[LaboriousLaziness perceived laziness]], this trope is slowly falling out of favour as many modern entertainment devices can only be operated using their designated remote controls. There are ways to work around a lost remote, but they are for the most part not practical in the immediate sense -- ordering a new remote takes days, for instance.

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* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', vampires kidnap Torg, and he had the TV remote in his pocket. Getting back the remote is the only reason Bun-Bun is willing to help rescue him.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

* In the WhatACartoon short, ''Godfrey and Zeek'' the title characters accidentally flush their remote down their toilet and have to go to the sewage treatment plant to find it.

Although typically used as the punchline of a joke concerning a character's perceived laziness, this trope is slowly falling out of favour as many modern entertainment devices can only be operated using their designated remote controls. There are ways to work around a lost remote, but they are for the most part not practical in the immediate sense -- ordering a new remote takes days, for instance.

* If there's one thing guaranteed to drive Doug Heffernan nuts in ''Series/KingOfQueens'', it's losing the remote.

* In the WhatACartoon short, ''Godfrey and Zeek'' the title character accidentally flush their remote down their toilet and have to go to the sewage treatment plant to find it.

* This was the basis for a skit from ''Blue Collar TV''. Probably comes from one of {{Jeff Foxworthy}}'s standup jokes: "... and it's always in the last place I look" "well duh."

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: C.O.U.C.H." involved the TV remote getting lost in the sofa, prompting Numbuh Four to go down and retrieve it, only for him to find an entirely Greek-influenced civilization (which is populated by Film/AnimalHouse-Esque Greeks) in possession of the remote.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': This was Stan's excuse for throwing the TV out the window when Dipper and Mabel return.
** Even better is that he really couldn't find the remote, and simply got caught up in the movie he was stuck on.
-->"Kids! I can't find the remote and I refuse to get up!"
* This happens to Toot in DrawnTogether, her solution being to [[ExtremeOmnivore eat the television]]. [[YourAnswerToEverything Apparently she does this with everything that doesn't work]].

* JimGaffigan has a bit about this: "Have you ever been sitting on the couch and you suddenly lose the remote? How does ''that'' happen? 'I haven't even got up! And I don't remember ''throwing'' it...'"

'''Joey:''' I can't find the remote. ''(Phoebe turns off the TV)'' Thank you.

Many TV sets and cable/satellite/PVR/DVD etc devices can only be operated using their designated remote controls. (If you're really lucky, you might have a TV that uses the same control codes as your last one, and by a stroke of luck when you threw that one out you forgot to throw out the remote with it...)

And you can get replacement remotes from various places online.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: C.O.U.C.H." involved the TV remote getting lost in the sofa, prompting Numbuh Four to go down and retrieve it, only for him to find an entirely Greek-influenced civilization in possession of the remote (which is populated by Film/AnimalHouse-Esque Greeks.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: C.O.U.C.H." involved the TV remote getting lost in the sofa, prompting Numbuh Four to go down and retrieve it, only for him to find an entirely Greek-influenced civilization in possession of the remote.

** The "use the on-set controls" solution is sadly becoming less and less of an option. Few DVD players have onboard menu navigation buttons anymore, and [=TV=]s are reducing their controls as well, awkwardly tying everything to a single wheel/button.

'''Joey:''' I can't find the remote. ''(Phoebe turns off the TV)'' Thank you.\\
--''Series/{{Friends}}''

-->'''Joey:''' Hey Pheebs.\\

--''{{Friends}}''

* In ''{{Click}}'', Michael is just trying to find the TV remote, but accidentally ends up using a remote for his kids' toys and a remote that controls the garage door. He decides that he's just going to go buy a universal remote so that it won't take forever trying to find the one that they need. And so it all begins...

* ''{{Garfield}}''

* A short arc in ''TheBoondocks'' occurs when Riley loses the TV remote, and is too lazy to find it. Huey, who has found the remote, chooses to try to force him into action by [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment changing the channel]] to The Discovery Channel and C-SPAN.

* In ''SluggyFreelance'', vampires kidnap Torg, and he had the TV remote in his pocket. Getting back the remote is the only reason Bun-Bun is willing to help rescue him.

* The ''CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: C.O.U.C.H." involved the tv remote getting lost in the sofa, prompting Numbuh Four to go down and retrieve it, only for him to find an entirely Greek-influenced civilization in possession of the remote.

* There is an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', of course, that mentions this trope. Homer has to yell to Bart through a megaphone, and is told the true location of his remote:

** The "use the on-set controls" solution is sadly becoming less and less of an option. Few DVD players have onboard menu navigation buttons anymore, and TVs are reducing their controls as well, awkwardly tying everything to a single wheel/button.

** In another strips, he's forced to watch boring shows like "The History of Norwegian Flowerpots", because the remote is lost, doesn't work, or he's just too lazy to reach it.

-->Joey: Hey Pheebs.\\
Phoebe: How come you're watching a rabbi play electric guitar?\\
Joey: I can't find the remote. (Phoebe turns off the TV) Thank you.\\

* A ''{{Garfield}}'' strip had Garfield finding things in the couch, such as a pencil, some change, a comb, and a fork before finding the remote control.

* This was the basis for a skit from ''BlueCollarTV''. Probably comes from one of {{Jeff Foxworthy}}'s standup jokes: "... and it's always in the last place I look" "well duh."