Line #57 Series/RemoteControl


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/remote_control_set.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Steve, Colin, Kari and Ken in the basement.]]
3
4	->''"It's his basement! It's his rules! It's his game show!"''
5	-->-- '''Colin Quinn''', introducing host Ken Ober
6
7	GameShow about TV trivia that was Creator/{{MTV}}'s first venture out of music videos (and thus the very beginning of NetworkDecay to some). The premise was that host Ken Ober grew up addicted to game shows and longed to host his own, [[StartMyOwn so he set one up in his basement]] and bombarded contestants that dared to enter with [[BreadEggsMilkSquick questions about television, junk food, and threats to their well-being]]. The supporting cast was shockingly good for a low-budget cable show of the era and featured Creator/AdamSandler and Colin Quinn before they made it to ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''; Creator/DenisLeary before he developed ''Series/RescueMe''; actresses Marisol Massey, Creator/KariWuhrer and Creator/AliciaCoppola, who have worked consistently in film and TV since then; and future TV writer Rick Rosner.
8
9	Contestants played by selecting one of nine channels on the "Big [[ProductPlacement Zenith]]", each of which represented a category; Ober would then ask questions related to that category for increasing amounts of points. Of course, some of the channels were less pleasant than others: "[[SubvertedKidsShow Ranger Bob]]" and "Home Shopping Zone" took away points, and others such as "Wheel of Torture" and "[[DoubleEntendre Beat the Bishop]]" required the contestant to complete (or endure) a challenge to earn the points. MTV was always one of the categories, containing questions about music and videos.
10
11	Losers were unceremoniously thrown "Off the Air" and [[EjectTheLoser yanked through the back wall while still in their chairs]] (and wearing seat belts for safety). This part was copied from the 1975 ''[[Series/MusicalChairs1975 Musical Chairs]]'', albeit in [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence a much more violent manner]].
12
13	The show originally aired from December 7, 1987 until December 13, 1990, with a concurrent syndicated version running for the 1989-90 season. Two episodes (one each from the first and last seasons) were aired by MTV[[note]](2 in the wee hours of the morning)[[/note]] in tribute after Ober's death in late 2009.
14	----
15	!!GameShowTropes in use:
16	* BigWinSirens: Alternating burglar alarm sirens were used whenever the BonusRound was won. Inverted if it was lost, as one of the two sirens was used as the time-up buzzer instead.
17	* BonusRound: Three were done, each involving getting a certain number of answers. Each answer won a prize, while getting all the answers also earned a grand prize:
18	** MTV (season 1): Nine monitors playing nine music videos, some sideways or upside down. The player had to identify the artists in 30 seconds while strapped onto a [[ProductPlacement Craftmatic Adjustable Bed]].
19	** Syndicated: Players were strapped to the "[[Series/WheelOfFortune Wheel of]] Series/{{Jeopardy}}", surrounded by ten monitors. The host asked 10 questions in a single category while the wheel spun, and every correct answer lit one of the monitors. The wheel was then allowed to slow down and stop; the contestant won the day's grand prize if their head pointed at a lit monitor, or by default if they answered every question correctly.
20	** MTV (final season): The wheel was tilted at a 45-degree angle, and the player had to identify the artists in nine videos as they were shown on monitors at head and foot level.
21	* CarriedByTheHost: The show's entire premise revolved around [[PromotedFanboy Ober and his obsession with TV]].
22	* CelebrityEdition: Occasionally done, with the endgame played for $5,000 (runners-up earning $1,000), and the most notable being a match between Music/LLCoolJ, comedienne [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Julie]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Brown]], and Music/WeirdAlYankovic. Al won in a runaway, and aced the BonusRound to boot. (That episode also had a cameo from Creator/MollyRingwald, who just happened to be in the audience watching.)
23	* ConfettiDrop: Bonus round winners were showered with confetti and streamers while still strapped to the bed or wheel.
24	* ConsolationPrize: Losers got a "Television's Greatest Hits" CD and a [[ProductPlacement Zenith remote control]], among other prizes.
25	* CoveredInGunge: Whenever it was "Snack Break" time, the contestants would hold up some bowls and try to catch the food dropped from above- it didn't really work. Averted at times if the snack was too heavy or messy to dump on the contestants; it would be lowered on trays or brought to them by the hostess.
26	* DoubleTheDollars: After the "Snack Break" concluded Round 1, the questions in Round 2 were worth double the points.
27	* EjectTheLoser: While not the first to use it, this is the show that made an art form of it. While losing contestants were originally just sent back through the breakaway wall, this soon expanded to different walls that reacted in various ways as well as one chair that flipped the contestant upwards and backwards out of the studio. The first contestant to go (via "Off the Air") was additionally taunted by Ober and Quinn while the audience sang a CrowdSong. Exaggerated with computer and video game adaptations of the game, which showed the contestants being ''[[MadeOfExplodium blown up]] or [[ShockAndAwe struck by lightning]]'' (although this may be more due to the limitations of the software at that time, which might not have been capable of animating the actual ejections as seen on the show). Not everyone had a sense of humor about it: in his appearance, Music/LLCoolJ positioned a grumpy-looking bodyguard directly behind his chair to avoid getting tossed.
28	* ExpositoryThemeTune: This little gem (which was dropped for the final season):
29	-->Kenny wasn't like the other kids,\
30	Remote Control!\
31	TV mattered, nothing else did!\
32	Remote Control!\
33	Girls said yes, but he said no!\
34	Remote Control!\
35	Now he's got his own game show!\
36	Remote Control!
37	* HomeGame: A board game, a PC version, and a video game for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem.
38	* MysteryBox: Integrated into the "Snack Break" in Season 1; "[[Series/LetsMakeADeal Let's Pick a Fridge]]" thereafter.
39	* Personnel:
40	** TheAnnouncer: Colin Quinn.
41	** GameShowHost: Ken Ober.
42	** LovelyAssistant: Marisol Massey, Kari Wührer, Alicia Coppola, and Susan Ashley.
43	** StudioAudience: Interacted with parts of gameplay, most notably during "Off the Air" segments.
44	** While most game shows didn't have live music in the studio, this one did, via keyboardist Steve Trecasse.
45	* ProductPlacement: Zenith, Craftmatic, and PEZ, just to name a few.
46	* PromotionalConsideration
47	* SpeedRound: "Think Real Fast" (also called the "Lightning Round"), with 10-point questions asked for 30 seconds. Changed in the final season to "This, That, or the Other Thing" and shortened to 20 seconds.
48	* {{Whammy}}: Several channels, when selected, penalized the contestant that picked them 10 points automatically:
49	** "Ranger Bob", a parody of kids' safety PSA commercials where a park ranger gave a ridiculous safety tip.
50	** "Home Shopping Zone", where the contestant was forced to "buy" some ridiculous product. Cost the contestant 20 points in the first season.
51	** "Fashion Zone", a later variant of Home Shopping Zone where a model would show off a hideous outfit.
52	* {{Zonk}}:
53	** The product you were forced to "buy" with your points if you hit "Home Shopping Zone" or "Fashion Zone".
54	** In the first season, the contents of the two fridges that did not contain the Snack Break's bonus prize.
55	----
56	!!"It's his basement, it's his tropes, it's his game show":
57	* BigEater: Some of the episodes shot on location during MTV Spring Break rewarded this. The contestants were given trays of hot dogs or something similar at the start of Round 2 and could score extra points for each one they ate before the end of the game.
58	* BoringBroadcaster: Referenced by the quiz show ''Series/RemoteControl'', which featured a "Public Television" category with difficult questions involving subjects such as science, rather than music and pop culture like the rest of the show. The host outright claims that nobody knew the answer to these questions because people rarely watch public television. However, there were moments when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPi2GMMbzTE a contestant correctly answered something from this category]] (of course, the contestant in the linked clip couldn't name the lead singer of Music/{{Queen}}: you win some, you lose some).
59	* TheBully: Colin Quinn, if you were unfortunate enough to select the "Wheel of Torture" channel. You could either lose 10 points or have a wheel spun which dictated what method of schoolyard mischief Quinn would deal to you ("Purple Nurple", "Noogies", and "The Tape Arm", to name a few) and gain 10 points.
60	* CameraAbuse: Employed for "Off the Air" during Season 1. The camera would shake and "snow" would appear on the screen as the contestant was being ejected.
61	* CatchPhrase: Many.
62	* ColdOpen: Used before some notable episodes.
63	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The contestants' recliners.
64	* CrowdSong: "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", "Hit the Road, Jack", or one of several others whenever someone went Off the Air.
65	* DeadpanSnarker: Both Ober and Quinn.
66	* DiscoSucks: In-universe; on multiple occasions, questions would mock the disco era and performers whose most popular hits were disco. Music/TheBeeGees were by far the most popular target of ridicule, with many "disco sucks"-type questions suggesting their careers were "dead," even though in the late 1980s/early 1990s (when this show aired) the Brothers Gibb were still among the most popular touring acts and their albums still sold well.
67	* DoubleEntendre: "Beat the Bishop", anyone?
68	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
69	** In the pilot episodes only, a penalty space marked "Off The Air" [[OneHitKill eliminated the contestant landing on that category from further play]]. From the first aired episode onward, all contestants played two standard rounds, with the lowest-performing contestant eliminated thereafter.
70	** The first season episodes in general were this: simpler set (including the Big Zenith being to Ken's right instead of his left), a slightly-different Off the Air (and all three chairs were simply pulled back into the wall), no SpeedRound, and often the category cards would be shown full-screen to the viewers, as opposed to just on the Big Zenith. The Big Zenith's indicator lights also didn't turn red to signify that channel was closed off.
71	** One early episode had all three contestants eliminated at the first commercial break due to "[[EpicFail being completely clueless]]." (Although it's not clear if the three contestants were actors or if they legitimately performed poorly.)
72	* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Kenny wasn't like the other kids... ''Remote Control''!"
73	* HalfHourComedy
74	* MsFanservice: Kari. The other hostesses, to an extent.
75	* PartsUnknown: 72 Woopingkof Lane (the spelling was indicated by a street sign laying around on the set).
76	* PointAndLaughShow
77	* PungeonMaster
78	** PlayedForLaughs with "Mr. Baggy Pants".
79	* ResetButton: Employed in an early episode in which all three contestants were completely clueless; at the end of Round 1, Ober and his "mother" had all three of them yanked Off the Air simultaneously, and they were replaced with new players picked from the audience after the commercial break.
80	** PlayedForLaughs several seasons later with the Christmas episode, where three joke contestants impersonating the "Wise Men" were kicked out and replaced with real contestants after Round 1.
81	* RuleOfThree: Three contestants; (usually) three questions per channel.
82	* ScareChord: Used in Season 1 (and shortly into the second), when at the beginning of Round 2 Ober said "The points are doubled...and so is the ''danger''!"
83	* ShoutOut:
84	** '''Constantly''', to {{Game Show Host}}s, other shows, etc. For example, The Bob Eubanks head PEZ Dispenser. Parodied on some episodes which were themed "salutes" to random objects.
85	** One of the recurring categories was Brady Physics, which had questions based on simple physics situations, but all involving the cast of ''Series/TheBradyBunch''.
86	* SignatureSoundEffect: The "come and get it" signaling the Snack Break, and the bizarre air raid sirens signaling Off the Air.
87	* SpecialGuest: ''Series/TheNewlywedGame'' and ''Series/CardSharks'' host Bob Eubanks paid a visit to the show in Season 2, ostensibly to give Ken some pointers on how to host. The episode is especially hilarious for when one of the contestants began heckling Bob ("You got your own show - let Ken do his business here!"), and [[WhatTheHellPlayer Bob responds in kind]] ("Don't let your mouth write a check your butt can't cash!") The SpeedRound then consisted of one word from a TV show's title being replaced with "Whoopie", and the contestants having to supply the correct word.
88	* StylisticSuck: The entire show, arguably, as the premise was that it was thrown together in Ober's basement. Especially played for laughs with "Sing Along with Colin" and the aforementioned Mr. Baggy Pants.
89	* TakeThat: A skit during a "best of" marathon shown the weekend before Season 4 began featured the incoming hostess thinking, upon hearing the show's description, that she was coming onto ''Series/CouchPotatoes''. Ober proceeded to ''tear into'' said show, accusing them (perhaps rightly so) of ripping his show off.
90	* TakingYouWithMe: The TV does this to the losing contestant when it goes Off the Air. Ober explained it this way on more than one occasion.
91	* TimedMission: Here's a wall of nine TV sets, haphazardly oriented. Now identify the artists in the music videos. You have 30 seconds...
92	* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Had several foreign adaptations (including Britain and Australia), while Canada had the equivalent show ''Test Pattern'' which, as befitting Creator/MuchMusic content of the time was low-budget (yes, even lower-budget than this show was) but still tons of fun. (The most desired prize on ''Test Pattern''? A two-slice toaster.)
93	* UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer: Played with in the "Public Television" category. When a player actually answered one of these questions correctly, he got a high-five from Ken and a round of wild cheering from the audience.

Context Series / RemoteControl