With story after story in this series, I have to wonder how Stephen Spielberg ever got involved with the overall project; they were certainly not indicative of his later movie work. He was actually the writer of this story, and I guess the concept was a good one, but it gets way too zany and farcical in the telling. I won't bother the reader with the details on this one as a handful of other reviewers have already done so. Just commenting on some of the players, I took a liking to Sidney Lassick after seeing him as the character Cheswick in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", one of my favorite films. He's the besieged husband and father in this story, who finds temporary relief from his family by virtue of a magic remote control that comes with a new TV set. Other long time faves included Barbara Billingsley from 'Leave it to Beaver' and Johnny Carson's perennial sidekick from the 'Tonight Show' Ed McMahon. One character who's not identified in the credits from that melee near the end of the story was Professor Toru Tanaka, the beefy wrestler from the old World Wide Wrestling Federation. If my entry is approved for that addition to the cast list, you may find his name the next time you check the picture's credits.
Review of Remote Control Man
