Very sad and shocking news this morning. Ken Ober, the host of the popular and influential MTV game show Remote Control as well as the incredibly fun short lived word game Smush (in addition to many others) died at the age of 52. As of this scheduled publication at midnight his death is unknown. Ken’s manager Lee Kernis said he was found dead on Sunday after complaining of a headache and flu-like symptoms the previous day.
As we said Ken hosted the incredibly popular MTV game show Remote Control which ran for five seasons. I don’t fully remember the show beyond a few clips but it’s clear he was incredibly good at hosting. His other show I really remember was the USA game show Smush. I know him more for his comedy, though, which he showed brilliantly in both of these shows and everything else he did. Recently he was a supervising producer on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn (in addition to appearing on it), and he was also a producer on the hit CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.
It’s always sad to see anyone go, let alone in our genre. We wish our best to all his friends and family, and anyone else affected by his sudden death. Here are a few clips of his shows that we could find to showcase his talent. Thanks to James Craven and Doug Morris for first tipping me on this.
25 Responses
Oh dear! This is sas : ( Remote Control was right up my TV trivia alley so to speak. It's ashamed he never got more camera time than that show. Even Colin Quin & Adam Saddler get better billing now. Oh well, 72 Whooping Couhj Lane will never be the same now. He was a true legend in his own time. I guess I'll find time to watch an episode on YouTube as a tribute sometime this week.
RIP Ken Ober(1957-2009).
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Oh dear! This is sas : ( Remote Control was right up my TV trivia alley so to speak. It's ashamed he never got more camera time than that show. Even Colin Quin & Adam Saddler get better billing now. Oh well, 72 Whooping Couhj Lane will never be the same now. He was a true legend in his own time. I guess I'll find time to watch an episode on YouTube as a tribute sometime this week.
RIP Ken Ober(1957-2009).
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 10:15 am
He was one of the greatest game show host a small majority of the country never heard of (mainly because they didn’t have cable). Remote Control was one of my favorite game shows back in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
To clarify some things, yes he did host a game show on ESPN called Perfect Match, which was similar to Concentration, back in 1994. He also hosted Make Me Laugh back in 1998 Smush, which was USA’s last game show, aired in 2001.
RIP, Ken. You will be missed in the game show community.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
You know, it's ironic that he died because I was just thinking about him the other day. And how perfect he would be to host a game show for GSN or Hasbro/Discovery's new GSN. I also got to remembering when my mom's boyfriend gave me some matches advertising Smush in the spring of 2002. I will miss Ken and all his talents.
Another thing that is ironic was I was thinking about Peter Tomarken the day he died and how good he would have been as host of Whammy! and it would have marked his return to GSN.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
RIP. Look at the game show hosting icons hanging on the wall behind him on Remote Control. The show was done with a nod to the rest of the genre. I had never seen Smush before, and now wonder why I hadn't. Seems to be somewhat like the old You Don't Say. Anyway, Ken was the consummate professional and straight man, and introduced Colin Quinn to a broader audience. Gone too soon.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
RIP. Look at the game show hosting icons hanging on the wall behind him on Remote Control. The show was done with a nod to the rest of the genre. I had never seen Smush before, and now wonder why I hadn't. Seems to be somewhat like the old You Don't Say. Anyway, Ken was the consummate professional and straight man, and introduced Colin Quinn to a broader audience. Gone too soon.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Does anyone recall the show he was on a year or so before Smush? It was if I recall a really low rent looking trivia show, I want to say a sports trivia show, but, the only real thing I remember from it is that him and his female cohost both looked like rail thin meth addicts. I thought he looked near death then, so, glad to see he thrived after that.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
He also hosted the revival of Make Me Laugh for Comedy Central.
Ken, thanks for giving the world Denis Leary and Adam Sandler. We forgive you for Colin Quinn. ;-)
RIP.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
According to Wikipedia, "Perfect Match" was done on ESPN in 1994, so maybe that, although that, obviously, wasn't a year before "Smush", so Idk. Maybe that though???
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
According to Wikipedia, "Perfect Match" was done on ESPN in 1994, so maybe that, although that, obviously, wasn't a year before "Smush", so Idk. Maybe that though???
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I can't even find the words to express my feelings right now. I'm just in a state of shock. The same kind of shock a contestant had when they were yanked off the air. I will never look at a pez dispenser or a craftmatic adjustable bed the same way again. RIP Ken Ober. You were taken from us way too soon.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I can't even find the words to express my feelings right now. I'm just in a state of shock. The same kind of shock a contestant had when they were yanked off the air. I will never look at a pez dispenser or a craftmatic adjustable bed the same way again. RIP Ken Ober. You were taken from us way too soon.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Ken should also be remembered for his success as a stand-up comic, as well as a familiar voice on radio, both as a talk show host and commercial pitchman (he was "the voice" for a successful series of ads for the Mid-Atlantic based Jerry's Subs and Pizza for several years).
It's a shame that Ken never got a chance to showcase his hosting skills on a broadcast network level. Obviously, he specialized in games with a comedic flair, but it would have been interesting to see him take on one of the network efforts of the last decade.
But "Remote Control" was definitely the show he will best be remembered for. I was just waxing nostalgic with a friend about a quizbowl tournament our team ran 15 years ago – the finals were done as a tribute to Remote Control, complete with remotes, free snacks and cheap furniture for the teams to play on. We even did our own version of "Sing Along With Colin" — albeit it was a spoken word performance of famous works of poetry (it was an academic tourney, after all).
RIP, Ken
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Ken should also be remembered for his success as a stand-up comic, as well as a familiar voice on radio, both as a talk show host and commercial pitchman (he was "the voice" for a successful series of ads for the Mid-Atlantic based Jerry's Subs and Pizza for several years).
It's a shame that Ken never got a chance to showcase his hosting skills on a broadcast network level. Obviously, he specialized in games with a comedic flair, but it would have been interesting to see him take on one of the network efforts of the last decade.
But "Remote Control" was definitely the show he will best be remembered for. I was just waxing nostalgic with a friend about a quizbowl tournament our team ran 15 years ago – the finals were done as a tribute to Remote Control, complete with remotes, free snacks and cheap furniture for the teams to play on. We even did our own version of "Sing Along With Colin" — albeit it was a spoken word performance of famous works of poetry (it was an academic tourney, after all).
RIP, Ken
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
You know, it's ironic that he died because I was just thinking about him the other day. And how perfect he would be to host a game show for GSN or Hasbro/Discovery's new GSN. I also got to remembering when my mom's boyfriend gave me some matches advertising Smush in the spring of 2002. I will miss Ken and all his talents.
Another thing that is ironic was I was thinking about Peter Tomarken the day he died and how good he would have been as host of Whammy! and it would have marked his return to GSN.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
You know, it's ironic that he died because I was just thinking about him the other day. And how perfect he would be to host a game show for GSN or Hasbro/Discovery's new GSN. I also got to remembering when my mom's boyfriend gave me some matches advertising Smush in the spring of 2002. I will miss Ken and all his talents.
Another thing that is ironic was I was thinking about Peter Tomarken the day he died and how good he would have been as host of Whammy! and it would have marked his return to GSN.
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
This is indeed sad. My good friend D.C Lundberg is a big fan of Remote Contril being that ot was one of the shows in which he has a good chuck of a collection. I also think that it was sad to see that he had died too young. I will also see that his other show Make Me Laugh was also a great show he hoste don Comedy Central since I watched that as well after I came home from school. ____RIP Ken Ober__19957-2009
Posted on November 17th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
We got 2 episodes on MTV2 tonight (one from 1987, another from 1990)…these will show up on the main MTV channel in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday (2-3am ET)
Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 3:10 am
I can't find it anywhere on my Tivo.
Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I just not thought about this: He hosted Comedy Central’s revival of Make Me Laugh, which was hosted in 1979 by Bobby Van, who, ironically, also died young. But, anyway, my thoughts and prayers goes out to his family.
Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
YouTube user Chris Iller has a great collection of behind the scenes footage of "Remote Control". He notes he held cue cards for the on air talent when the show taped a season in Florida. Just search "Remote Control" and "behind the scenes" and you'll be able to find it all. Definitely worth a look.
Thanks for the memories, Ken.
Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
YouTube user Chris Iller has a great collection of behind the scenes footage of "Remote Control". He notes he held cue cards for the on air talent when the show taped a season in Florida. Just search "Remote Control" and "behind the scenes" and you'll be able to find it all. Definitely worth a look.
Thanks for the memories, Ken.
Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Wasn't Smush made by Jellyvision, the company that made the short-lived You Don't Know Jack, and the CD-Rom game series on which it's based?
Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Wasn't Smush made by Jellyvision, the company that made the short-lived You Don't Know Jack, and the CD-Rom game series on which it's based?
Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 2:01 am
when were these episodes shown? what time?
Posted on November 23rd, 2009 at 11:23 pm
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