Ken Ober, the comedian best known as the host of MTV’s “Remote Control” from 1987 to 1991, died this week of unknown causes. He was 52.
Mr. Ober was last heard from on Saturday night, when he spoke to a friend and complained of a headache and flu-like symptoms. Mr. Ober told the friend that he was going to take something and would see a doctor as soon as possible…
That show, which was the network’s first original series to focus on non-musical content, tested participants on their knowledge of television, music-video and pop-culture trivia. The show… drew much of its sarcastic, self-mocking spirit from the culturally obsessive Mr. Ober, who ran the program like a late-night talk show (or frat party) and gleefully teased players who gave wrong answers. [NYT]
As you can see from the clip above, the show was also the first big gig for Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn, and it also featured a young Kari Wuhrer, who was delightfully naked on Cinemax for most of the ’90s. Between the careers it launched and the era it began (the end of music on MTV), that’s a pretty damn influential game show. The only thing “Jeopardy” ever gave us was Ken Jennings and anal bum covers.
Perhaps recognizing that “True Life: Jersey Shore Time Share” was the greatest thing on MTV since Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” video, MTV has added another series in my case for an aggressive euthanasia program with its new docu-soap “Jersey Shore.” It basically looks like “The Real World: Guido Beach,” which might make it just preposterous, disgusting, and cringe-worthy enough to be watchable. Kind of like “Rock of Love” in that regard.
I have some non-guido friends from New Jersey who vigorously defend their home state, and they’re right to do so. There are places like Morristown and Princeton that are perfectly nice. But they’re using thimbles to stop the flood of douche that populates the Jersey shore in the summer. There might be some nice leafy suburban enclaves, but you can’t fight the stereotypes embraced and perpetuated in this TV show. Or this. Or this. These people are the turds of humanity flushed out of New York and Philadelphia, and New Jersey’s the septic tank.
(thanks to foreignspell)
Since MTV’s malodorous decision to continue “The Hills” with Kristin Cavallari in Lauren Conrad’s place (or should I say, “malodorous decision to continue the show at all”), I’m delighted to see that ratings for “The Hills” have declined by 33%.
“We don’t need [Lauren]. We’ll miss her. I just don’t know if we need her,” Heidi [Montag/Pratt] previously told MTV News… [But] According to Media Life Magazine, the audience for the September 29 season premiere… was down 30 percent compared to the prior season’s debut..
The Season 5, Part 2 premiere netted just 2.36 million total viewers and three weeks later the number of people tuning in had slipped even further to 1.72 million. And among 18-34-year-olds, current episodes are getting less than half of the 2.3 million fans that tuned in each weak two seasons ago. [Access Hollywood]
Oohhhhh, that’s delicious. Fail, fail, fail! Satisfy my lust for your failure!
Listen, my dislike “The Hills” is well-informed. My last girlfriend would make me watch it, and then yell at me about how bad it was. “Oh my God, this is so fake!” she’d say, angry at the horrendous excuse for dialogue. DAMMIT WOMAN, THEN WHY THE HELL ARE WE WATCHING?
But I did learn this much during those brutally slow half-hours: Lauren Conrad was the only person on that show with an ounce of sincerity trapped somewhere inside her, and she lacked the reptilian quality of the rest of the cast. She’s probably the only person from that show who shouldn’t be thrown off a rocky cliff into a giant pit of bear traps. And maybe Audrina. I’d spare Audrina if I could chain her to my radiator.
The “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” has long been a bastion of quiet dignity in the realm of reality TV competitions, a legacy it continued this week when Shauvon suffered from an exploded fake titty after she belly-flopped into the water from a considerable height. “Like, I’m not kidding. It’s, like, burning. Like, I think I popped my f-cking implant,” the classic beauty remarked, displaying the wit that conjures memories of Dorothy Parker. O Shauvon! Get well soon, my dulcet love. I fear the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” may slip into lowbrow trash-talking and idiotic, catty, pointless conversations without your gentle spirit to guide the others.
[Jezebel]
In one of the more brazen loads of horse feces you’ll read this week, Kristin Cavallari compared MTV’s polished turd “The Hills” to Larry David’s edgy HBO comedy series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” (Kanye West is just here for the facepalm.)
The ["Hills"] producers write to [Cavallari] with the storylines they have in mind. She shows up to the pre-selected locations for the episodes, which are shot Wednesday through Friday each week. And then she improvises, often going for the jugular on hot-button issues she knows will stir up controversy.
“They tell us what to talk about,” she said, shrugging. “Listen, I have fun with it. They film ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ the same way.” [Show Tracker]
Sighhhhhh…
Yup, that’s right: we’ve got no shortage of facepalms today, kids. Because that rigorous three-days-a-week work schedule pays Cavallari $90,000 an episode. Thirty thousand dollars a day to wear makeup, go to a restaurant, and chew through awkward silences. I sure hope the editors can find the right Jason Mraz song to play over that.
God bless the Internet. Within hours of Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMAs, someone had already mashed it up with video of Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst during President Obama’s address on health care reform. In case you can’t watch the clip:
Obama: The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
Kanye: I’d let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of ALL TIME!
[booing, disorder]
Obama: That’s not true.
Simple, brilliant, and perfectly cut. Bravo, Internet. This almost makes up for the headache of having to address the existence of the VMAs. My only question is… WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS?
