{"id":1143,"date":"2017-05-04T11:41:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T11:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2021-07-02T11:45:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T11:45:44","slug":"episode-58-the-remote-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?p=1143","title":{"rendered":"Episode 61: The Remote Control"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This week join Jonathan as he discusses the origin of the television remote control, how it worked and works, and humorously, how it was advertised.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Woodford&#8217;s wonderful article on how remote controls work: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.explainthatstuff.com\/remotecontrol.html\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Daniel Engber&#8217;s history of the remote from Slate.com: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/life\/design\/2012\/06\/the_history_of_the_remote_control_why_are_they_so_awful_.html\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Steven Beschloss&#8217;s article from The New Yorker: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/tech\/elements\/object-of-interest-remote-control\">link<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Zenith Space Command 1972 TV commercial\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PlgSuaIHYsY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1143 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1153'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Phils_old_radios-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1153\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1153'>\n\t\t\t\tPhilco Mystery Control for Radio\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1147'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1e253f66355ad45945444641f1c2f0d0-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1147\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1147'>\n\t\t\t\t&#8220;Lazy Bones&#8221; Remote Control\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1149'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1950_-_first_remote_control-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1149\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1149'>\n\t\t\t\t1950 Wired TV Remote Control\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1151'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1956_Zenith_Remote_Ad-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1151\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1151'>\n\t\t\t\t1956 Zenith Flash-Matic print ad\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1150'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1955_Zenith_Flash-Matic_Controller-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1150\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1150'>\n\t\t\t\tFlash-Matic Light Gun\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1155'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1957_Zentih_Ad-Remote1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1155\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1155'>\n\t\t\t\tGeorge Burns and Grace Allen help sell Zenith Remotes.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1154'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/tumblr_n387212BJS1ruu90ro8_r1_1280-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1154\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1154'>\n\t\t\t\ta collection of old-school remotes\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1148'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/7c233bddb767c220a9d088bb6c1ca8b4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1148\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1148'>\n\t\t\t\tMotorola TV Remote\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/?attachment_id=1152'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/I2HY0-1447781573-embed-remote_jerrold_universal-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-1152\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-1152'>\n\t\t\t\tearly 70s  large remote\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week join Jonathan as he discusses the origin of the television remote control, how it worked and works, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[232,325,323,322,324],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/1955_Zenith_Flash-Matic_Controller.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1143"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tvhistorypod.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}