TV Trivia by `Remote Control'
By David Friedman

RATHER THAN HIGH art, "Remote Control" (7 p.m., MTV) aims for high
schlock. it hits the target, too, which is no small accomplishment in
TV-land. Most shows don't even know where they're going, let alone how
to get there.
"Remote Control" is a game show. But not just any game show. As its
title suggests, the subject matter is television. Actually, TV trivia.
Boob tube topics. Insignificania from the idiot box.
The setting is host Ken Ober's "basement," where there's a Wall of
Fame covered with photos of Monte Hall, Bob Barker, Bill Cullen and Bert
Convy. Look to the left and there's a giant Pez dispenser with Bob
Eubanks' mug on top of it. (Believe me, it's even uglier than youthink.)
Rather than in real furniture, Ober's guests sit in a homemade
game-show set. Rather than behind curtains numbered one, two and three,
Ober stashes his prizes inside refrigerators. We're talking serious
Couch Potato stuff here, folks. Ober may not be a stud, but he's
definitely a spud.
Ober's got company in his basement. Like any self-respecting
game-show host, he's got an announcer (Colin Quinn) and a lovely co-host
named Marisol, whose job description reads, "Be skinny. Be sexy. Smile a
lot. Look like you're having tons o' fun." (It worked for Vanna, didn'tit?)
Of course, no game show is complete without contestants. On "Remote
Control, three perky/ quirky college kids vie for control of Ober's
giant TV screen. Instead of topics, there are channels. The Brady
Channel, for example, where all the questions are about "The Brady
Bunch." The MTV Channel, where all the questions are about skinny rock
stars or the fabulous babes clinging to them. The Home Shopping Zone,
where an unlucky contestant is forced to "buy" valuable merchandise like
wooden tongue depressors. You get the idea.
It would be difficult, indeed, to find a topic more suitable for
satire than television. And, to be sure, there are times when "Remote
Control" is really on the mark. My own favorite flourish is the bonus
round, when the contestant with the most points is strapped into a
Craftmatic adjustable bed, where he or she gets 20 seconds to identify
nine MTV videos playing on TV monitors about 10 feet away.
Yet, despite touches like this, "Remote Control" just isn't as much
fun as it wants to be. One problem, I think, is Ken Ober. Maybe he'll
get more animated in subsequent shows, but at present he's too subdued.
Come on, Ken ol' spud, get crazy on us. Loosen up. Have some fun. When
we want to get serious, we'll watch "Jeopardy!"

Copyright 1987, Newsday Inc.

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