November 18, 2009

Death of a quizmaster


I was a little blindsided by the news, just the other day, that Ken Ober has died. Not that I particularly cared about the well-being of Ken Ober—I'm often perturbed about how much people mourn for celebrities with whom they have no personal connection. Rather, what blasted me with a tsunami of nostalgia was the simple memory of Ober's greatest claim to fame, the late-'80s MTV game show Remote Control. Watch below:



Wow. I hadn't seen any of that show in probably 20 years, but nearly every element of it is intensely familiar—that opening sequence occupied a lot of space in my junior-high mind, somewhere in between wondering what breasts felt like and fantasizing I was Batman. Truly, when it premiered in 1987, Remote Control was the clearest reflection of my personal sensibility that I had ever seen on television. It still might be (although for a period in the '90s David Letterman seemed to be running a pipeline from out of my cerebral cortex). I loved games, I loved TV, I loved hanging out in the basement with my idiot friends: I longed to blend all of pop culture into a colorful goulash, and then serve that goulash to a large and appreciative audience.

This seemed to be what Ken Ober was doing, and it looked like so much damn fun. And here I am today, trying to do just that each and every fortnight with The Big Quiz Thing. And, of course, as we advance the concept of an actual BQT TV show, Remote Control becomes a useful reference point: We find ourselves comparing our concept to Win Ben Stein's Money, Jeopardy!, even The Price Is Right. But watching this clip, I am kind of amazed how eerily close it looks to what I imagine the Big Quiz Thing will be on the air. Yes, our format is significantly different, and there will be no Ray-Bans and legwarmers, but the vibe is remarkably close, the offhand atmosphere really familiar. We're looking to create the new geek-friendly game-show party, and Remote Control was unquestionably a pioneer in that field.

So maybe it's very appropriate for me to have an emotional reaction to Ken Ober's death, if he was indeed the 1980s analogue to myself. (And yes, that would make EDP a nouveau Colin Quinn.) Quizmasters are mortal too.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a terrible thing to say about Colin Quinn.

Katie Vagnino said...

I'm glad you no longer have to wonder what breasts feel like.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

louis vuitton outlet stores
toms shoes
michael kors handbags sale
cheap oakley sunglasses
ray ban sunglasses
longchamp handbags
tiffany jewelry
fitflops sale clearance
polo ralph lauren
louis vuitton
20170216lck

Unknown said...

asics running shoes
mlb jerseys
yeezy boost 350
off white x jordan 1
longchamp outlet
kyrie 3
adidas yeezy boost
nike air zoom
goyard bags
kobe sneakers

Unknown said...

nike air force 1
birkin bag
nike lebron 11
ultra boost 3.0
michael kors handbags
lebron soldier 10
nike air max
nike prestos
hyperdunks
golden goose sneakers

Unknown said...

ferragamo sale
nike mercurial vapor
caterpillar shoes
adidas eqt
ferragamo belt
nike air force 1 low
yeezy boost 350
ferragamo belt
hermes belts
cheap ray bans

jeje said...

C'est le composant le plus crucial pour un nike air max 90 independence day femme superbe briquet. Un ensemble incroyable pour augmenter les joueurs de golf désireux d'obtenir leur jeu à un niveau supplémentaire, mais pas très prêt à Dustin Johnson une lame de fer à trois 225 de la brute. nike air max 1 soldes L'aspect polyvalent et robuste de Loctite GO2 Glue pourrait le rendre résistant à l'impact, aux chocs, aux vibrations, aux températures extrêmes et à l'eau. Pendant tout l'ensemble, le milieu de gravité collection chaussures air jordan est en fait judicieusement placé pour générer de la distance et augmenter la trajectoire. Le swoosh Nike réel à travers l'aspect est en fait extrêmement exceptionnel, la asics gel lyte iii lc chaussures semelle intercalaire réelle désigné avec dispositif de l'atmosphère notable est en réalité extrêmement rembourrage. Eh bien, pour commencer, les deux nouveaux Kelty Child Carriers donnent toujours les mêmes caractéristiques qui ont fait que le porte-bébé asics tiger Baskets Kelty a été préféré.