Father of the Remote Control

Actually, my dad was the father of the TV remote control. He'd say, "Change it to channel 4," and a kid would have to get up and change it. And if the new channel was one that required you to stand there with a hand on the rabbit ears, well, tough, "Raise your right arm a little; there's still snow."

Anyway, the real inventor has passed on:

BOISE, Idaho - Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote, Robert Adler, has died.

Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made the couch potato possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.

The funeral was delayed somewhat because the remains had inadvertently fallen from the couch and had somehow ended up under an armchair. Progress was made, finally, when everyone quit asking who had the coffin last and got down to look under the furniture and behind the cushions.