MTV’s Host of ‘Remote Control’ Ken Ober dies at ther age of 52…I liked that show.

Ken Ober on MTV's 'Remote Control'

Today the host of an MTV series that I was a favorite pastime of mine in the 80’s,Ken Ober of ‘Remote Control’, has passed away at the young age of 52.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Lee Kernis, a manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners who represented Mr. Ober for more than 20 years, said that Mr. Ober was found dead on Sunday.

 He said that 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.

Here is a quote on the story from the New York Times…

‘Remote Control’ 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, which also provided a launching pad for the careers of comedians like Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn, 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…

Ober left “Remote Control” in 1989 to audition for acting jobs, but reruns of the show featuring Ober and other series regulars Colin Quinn and Denis Leary continued to air.

After acting in TV series such as “Parenthood,” “Who’s the Boss?” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” Ober shifted his focus to writing and producing for the series “Mind of Mencia” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

Ober, who was single, is survived by his mother, Claire Freeman of West Hartford, Conn.; his father, Burton, and stepmother, Iris, of Palm Beach, Fla., and a brother, Andrew of Old Greenwich, Conn.

I always enjoy shows or games about trivia, and Ken Ober’s show was a cool and hip trivia game, that was as entertaining as it was challenging.

I hope Mr. Ober realized how many fans he had out here, and how much we all appreciated his brand of entertainment.

Van Toffler, the president of MTV Networks, said on Monday, “Ken was a great guy. His personality really brought ‘Remote Control’ to life, as well as a new style of programming for MTV. We were really flying by the seat of our pants then, and Ken was the reason it worked.”

Here is a link to the full story on MTV.com…

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1626397/20091116/story.jhtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Ober