« BYOB For A Fresh Week Of Vampires | Main | DP/30 - The Messenger »
November 16, 2009
Kenny Ober Dies At 52
The thing that none of the obits I have read seem to recall is that the Ober-hosted MTV's Remote Control was a real melting pot for NY-based comedy talent at a time when a lot of rising stars were coming up. Adam Sandler and Denis Leary turned up on the show often. Ben Stiller was floating around those hallways. MTV was just trying out the idea of series, the network still dominated by music videos, so there was all kinds of experimentation.
The show was unwatchable as a game show. Kari Wuhrer was, pre-implants, the girl every straight geeky guy in Manhattan wanted to run into at a Duane-Reade and talk into bed... the Olivia Munn of her generation. Colin Quinn played the lazy stooge, but was one of the smartest (and laziest) comics in NY.
But the thing that was great was watching some of the best and silliest NY comics stream from comedy club stages to the show as guest categories.
Ken Ober was sometimes a good guy... sometimes a very angry guy. In some ways, he preceded Jon Stewart, though Ober never had the quality of writing - by the writers or himself - that Stewart has. But he was the sane center of the madness. And that show was madness.
It's sad and scary for those of us who are over 40 to see someone go so "young." Fame is fleeting. Life too. Those were good days... at least until everyone started feeling like they had something to lose and acting like the angry children they often were. Long time ago...
Posted by dpoland at November 16, 2009 05:13 PM
Comments
I really loved Remote Control when it was first on - it was actually appointment television for a dorky suburban teenager raised on MTV. Ober will be missed, for sure.
I know I saw him in some commercials over the years - did he ever do any movies?
Posted by: Geoff ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 16, 2009 06:35 PM
Don't know if anyone else remembers, but they took RC on the road on a college tour at the zenith of its popularity and it came to my smallish campus and I got to be a contestant on the stage show. Got to meet them man, etc. Pretty cool and he seemed down-to-earth, as they say.
Talk about a blast from the past.
Posted by: EOTW at November 16, 2009 06:43 PM
Astute write-up, Dave. I've always felt Remote Control will be seen eventually seen as the precursor for GenX programming which is mainly self-referential, Kevin Smith humor, but I think your Stewart reference is more apt. Almost anything from Comedy Central is an offshoot, especially Kimmel. I always assumed the nod to Remote would come with some large piece on Sandler as the SNL force of the 90's and how his time on RT brought MTV'ers to SNL, but maybe with Ober's passing it will get the credit it deserved.
Posted by: Martin S at November 16, 2009 08:19 PM
It's one of those things - you may not have thought of the guy in years, and yet it feels like a loss. If, like me, you're in your 30s, you watched that show a lot.
Posted by: Josh Massey at November 16, 2009 08:51 PM
Shit, great analysis on Remote Control, Poland. You're absolutely right about it's impact, of course, and I'm shocked I've never given it that consideration.
I remember listening to Ober and Cindy from The Brady Bunch on their KLSX afternoon show when I first moved to L.A. Their chemistry wasn't bad. One day they were having people call in and give their picks for a death pool. I was going to call in with John Popper, just to piss off Ober. Who knew at that time that Popper would outlive Kenny?
Posted by: Wrecktum at November 16, 2009 08:53 PM
one of my oldest friends was a winner on rc and his pic was featured on the cover box art of the video game...ober was aces while doing the show....does anyone know what he died of?...i'm not seeing any refs......
Posted by: scooterzz at November 16, 2009 10:31 PM
Ken Ober would have been a huge star. If people would have watched the original Parenthood series. Seriously, he kicked ass on that show, and it should have taken him to another level. Why no one watched that show but me. Still pisses me fucking off.
Three cheers to you Ken. Three cheers.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at November 16, 2009 11:47 PM
Ken was apparently reporting flu-like symptoms before he died. That's all I've heard.
Posted by: LYT at November 17, 2009 01:16 AM
Loved him on RC! Agree, haven't thought of him in years, but it feels like a loss. Hmmm. Flu-like symptoms + sudden death could mean walking pneumonia-induced heart failure...5th leading cause of death, I know from personal experience. :(
Posted by: jennab at November 17, 2009 09:33 AM
What, Poland -- no love for Marisol Massey? Kari was middle of the run... but Marisol started it all!
Oh, that '80s hair...
Posted by: Mr. F. at November 17, 2009 06:45 PM
Edward Woodward died today too. It kind of sucks that in spite of The Equalizer, Breaker Morant, The Wicker Man, etc., he never really got a great third act comeback role to cap his career. One last hurrah to remind the world how awesome he was. Damn.
Posted by: Hallick at November 17, 2009 09:29 PM
At one point or another after Remote Control went off the air -- sometime in the 1990's -- I saw Ken as a correspondent for an ABC News piece. I don't remember what the content of the piece was or where he was "reporting" from, but I do remember "Ken Ober" being how he was presented.
Posted by: John F. at November 22, 2009 07:56 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)