What is "remote control"

n. A device used to operate an appliance (such as a television), vehicle or mechanical toy from a short distance away.

n. a device that can be used to control a machine or apparatus from a distance; "he lost the remote for his TV" [syn: remote]

Remote Control is a TV game show that ran on MTV for five seasons from 1987 until 1990. It was MTV's first original non-musical program. New episodes were made for first-run syndication from 1989 until 1990 which were distributed by Viacom. Three contestants answered trivia questions on movies, music, and television, many of which were presented in skit format. The series was developed by producers Joe Davola and Michael Duggan, and directed by Dana Calderwood.

"Remote Control" is a song by The Clash, featured on their debut album, and is written against oppression and conformity.

The song was written by Mick Jones after the disastrous Anarchy Tour and contains pointed observations about the civic hall bureaucrats who had cancelled concerts, the police, big business and especially record companies. The song mentions a 'meeting in Mayfair' which probably refers to one held by EMI's shareholders on 7 December 1976, which effectively withdrew all support for the Anarchy Tour. Also alluded to in the song are the 'old-boy' peerage networks and hapless politicians.

The band virtually disowned the song, following their record label CBS's decision to release the song as a single without consulting the band. The band had already told Melody Maker magazine that their next single would be " Janie Jones", and were irate that CBS had undermined them and made a decision to release "Remote Control" instead without the band's permission. To the band, the song became a symbol of everything they were fighting against. The incident was referred to in the first lines of a later song, " Complete Control", which is on the 1979 US release of the album:

The B-side is a mono live version of " London's Burning".

The band re-recorded the song in early summer 1979 during rehearsals at Vanilla Studios in Vauxhall for London Calling. In liner notes for "The Vanilla Tapes", released in 2004, which includes the song, Mick Jones is quoted as saying:

A remote control is any device used to control a remote operation.

Remote control may also refer to:

Remote Control ( Icelandic: Sódóma Reykjavík in Icelandic) is an Icelandic film from 1992 directed by Óskar Jónasson. The plot is a farce, revolving around the young car mechanic Axel and his adventure in the Reykjavík underworld which starts when his mother insists that he must recover the remote control to her TV. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

The film stars Björn Jörundur Friðbjörnsson as Axel, and features the Icelandic metal band HAM.

"Remote Control" is a 1980, debut single by The Reddings. The song was written by Nick Mann, Bill Beard and Chet Fortune and appeared on their album, The Awakening. It was the group's most successful hit on the soul chart peaking at number six and one of two entries on the Hot 100 peaking at number eighty-nine. "Remote Control" was the group's most successful entry on the dance charts where the song peaked at number twenty-two.

Remote Control is a 1988 comedy horror film starring Kevin Dillon. It was produced by Scott Rosenfelt and Mark Levinson and was released by The Vista Organization. The film has developed a small cult following since its home video release.

Remote Control is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Nick Grinde, Edward Sedgwick and Malcolm St. Clair and written by Frank Butler, Albert C. Fuller, F. Hugh Herbert, Robert E. Hopkins, Jack Nelson, Clyde North and Sylvia Thalberg.

The film stars William Haines, Charles King, John Miljan, Polly Moran and J. C. Nugent. The film was released on November 15, 1930, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Remote Control is the fifth album released by The Tubes. This was their first to be produced by the studio "wizard" Todd Rundgren (the other being 1985's Love Bomb). It is a concept album about a television-addicted idiot savant based on the book Being There by Jerzy Kosinski.

Although Rolling Stone panned the album upon its release in 1979, calling it "drearily obvious" and "stale", two years later the same magazine loved it, limiting its praise of the subsequent album, The Completion Backward Principle, by saying, good as it was, "topping Remote Control will be difficult." Allmusic gives it four stars. Crawdaddy called it "a pop/rock masterpiece."

The track Prime Time made #34 in the UK singles chart.

The cover of Remote Control depicts a baby watching The Hollywood Squares in a specially made "Vidi-Trainer". The back cover is a close-up photo of the show's game board with eight members of the Tubes each sitting in different squares. The lower right corner square remained unoccupied with the band's name on the front. (Three members of the band- Waybill, Spooner and Steen- later appeared as panelists on the actual game show in the late 70s.)