"Amazing Stories" Remote Control Man (1985)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Bob Clark

Writers:

Steven Spielberg (developer) &
Joshua Brand (developer) ...

TV Series:

"Amazing Stories" (1985)

Original Air Date:

8 December 1985 (Season 1, Episode 10)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

An unhappy and frustrated husband with a nagging wife and an incorrigible son, finally finds solace...

Plot Keywords:

Anthology

Cast

Sydney Lassick	...	Walter Poindexter
Nancy Parsons	...	Grendel
Philip Bruns
Jeff Cohen	...	Ralph (as Jeff B. Cohen)
David Stone
Shawn Weatherly
Kristian Alfonso
Lyle Alzado	...	Himself
Dirk Benedict	...	Face
Barbara Billingsley	...	June Cleaver
Gary Coleman	...	Arnold Jackson
Leann Hunley
Jim Lange
Ed McMahon	...	Himself
LaWanda Page

Runtime:

25 min

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

The wife's name (Grendel) is the name of the monster in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem 'Beowulf'.

Movie Connections:

References "Knight Rider" (1982)

Soundtrack:

Ride of the Valkyries

The Wildest Episode Of The Season

The outrageously-exaggerated characters in the Poindexter family in this episode are a real hoot to watch - extremely funny. Sydney Lassick was "Walter Poindexter" is a great character, someone whose face you'll instantly recognize but you don't know his name. He plays a brutally-henpecked guy, whose wife "Grendel" is like the woman in "Throw Momma Off The Train." His two kids are also characterizations: the spoiled, evil brat little fat kid and his older brother, the hare Krishna. Then there are all the viscous dogs Walter has to contend with every time he comes home. All of this is very funny material.

Walter's only escape from this Family From Hell is his television set and when his wife sells that to buy a hooker's outfit, he goes looking for a new set. What he gets is unbelievable - a modern "space age" set in which he remote turns his life in TV chaos. The story just goes insane with a ton of cameo appearances by television stars well-known when this program aired in 1984.

Lassick really gives it his all in this episode, which turns bizarre but fun for TV trivia fans. You see everybody from Barbara Billingsley of "Leave It To Beaver" to exercise guru Richard Simmons. A wild, insane episode.