A remote control is a device used to operate something at a distance.

Remote Control was a TV game show that ran on MTV for three seasons from 1987 until 1990. New episodes were made for first-run syndication in 1989. It was hosted by Ken Ober and featured Colin Quinn, Jon Ten Eyck and Adam Sandler. Steve Treccase provided music; Kari Wuhrer and Marisol Massey provided cheesecake.

The show's premise was that Ober desperately wanted to be a game show host and set up his basement (at 72 Whooping Cough Lane) as a television studio. Contestants sitting in lounge chairs would select one of up to nine channels, each of which represented some topic. Sample channels used on the show were "The Jon Bon Jovi Network", "Brady Physics", and "Dead or Canadian". Contestants answer questions to get points. Occasionally, Quinn would have to spin the "Wheel of Torture" (with sections labeled "Noogie", "Wet willie", and "Purple Nurple ") and administer the torture to the contestants. There were some "boring" channels such as "Home Shopping Zone" that penalized players by taking points away from them.

Off The Air

However, there was a downside to this show that people sometimes find funny. During the game, a siren would go off and the lights would go red. That meant the lowest-scoring player went "Off The Air", or in other words, be eliminated from further play. The way the contestants would exit was quite funny, ranging from being pulled back in your recliner to being lifted up and out of the room and even to being turned around backwards just to get off stage! When a person exited backwards, the audience would sing a song about leaving. In case of a tie, the person with the highest score would win the entire game while the other two would be yanked off the stage. This rarely happened in the show's history. Also, if a contestant with the lowest score in round 1 went Off The Air, he/she would be annoyed by various annoyances behind the contestant whilst they were screaming. The "Off The Air" scenes was probably one of the reasons this show was popular.

Lightning Round

On the MTV version, you and your opponent had 30 seconds to rack up as many points as you can. The host says the wrong title of a movie, and you have to come up with the correction. The winner goes to the Grand Prize Round while the loser, as explained in "Off The Air" above, exits the same way. On the syndicated version, you had to bet earned points on a math problem.

Grand Prize Round

MTV Version: You're strapped to a Craftmatic Adjustable bed. Identify the artists performing in 9 separate music videos to win the grand prize (which was usually a car).

Syndicated: You're strapped to the "Wheel Of Jeopardy". To win the prize, answer all the questions right before the wheel stops.