One year ago: Ken Ober

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Ken Ober once said it took a trip to the supermarket to grasp how MTV had changed his career.

‘I was … reading TV Guide, and it said ‘Ken Ober, comma, TV game show host,’ ‘ he told the San Diego Union Tribune in 1989. ‘And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’m a game show host.’ ‘

Ober, a comic and actor, was host of an untraditional game show, ‘Remote Control,’ which started on MTV in the late 1980s. Ober died a year ago at age 52.

The show was a sendup of all things television, with the college-age contestants sitting in Ober’s basement answering questions while strapped into reclining lounge chairs. The show also featured some well-known comics early in their careers, such as Adam Sandler, Colin Quinn and Denis Leary.

Ober’s obituary appeared in The Times on Nov. 17, 2009.

-- Keith Thursby