Premise: Elwood is a veritable Van Wilder in his 9th or 10th year of college and rents a house to host his boisterous parties. Little does he know that he's renting from former host Ken Ober, whose career is now washed up and has since let the house fall into disrepair. Ober lets a desperate Elwood rent out the house at an affordable rate on the condition that he refurbish the basement and host games of RC, drawing an income for Ober. The storyline would probably be dropped after the first season, and Ober himself would possibly appear on the first episode only to provide continuity to the series.

Format: The entire show would remain virtually identical to the original series, with slight updates done only to modernize the show and enhance the game's random, unpredictable, and smart-aleck mood. A toss-up question would start the game (and lead to the first commercial), the first Off the Air at the end of the second round, and the second after Think Real Fast.

As the show jump-started the careers of several Saturday Night Live performers, the revival would naturally draw from SNL or its former castmembers; RC and SNL veterans Colin Quinn and Adam Sandler would make (very limited) appearances, for example. The show would regularly feature Doug Dale from SNL's TV Funhouse segment and subsequent spinoff show (who in the opinion of the author has a strong physical resemblance to Elwood), usually as one or more of Elwood's demented family members who drop by the house on occasion to present questions and/or terrorize Graham, the cast, and the contestants. Channels such as The Triumph Network (featuring Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a TVFH mainstay) would be featured as well.

Graham Elwood, Doug Dale ("Graham's Twisted Cousin"?)

Channels: As many from the original run as possible, with the addition of channels from shows and movies popular since that time. Game show spoofs such as "Survey Says" and "Celebrity Square" would return. Penalty channels, such as "Ranger Bob" and "Home Shopping Zone", would return largely untouched. Celebrities with cult followings, such as Ben Stein and Christopher Walken, would be featured, and others would be themed around personalities such as Chuck Norris, etc. Categories similar to those on Trashed would also be used, such as "Where in the hell is Hakeem Olajuwan?".

Bonus round: The original "9 music videos in 30 seconds" format, except now the contestant is given only a $10 bill for winning the game. For the first eight videos guessed correctly, the money is doubled. This would add insult to injury for poor-performing players, who would walk away with practically nothing, but would award skilled players with up to $2,560 (non-rounded, in the random tradition of the show). The ninth question would double the money again (to $5,120) and award a grand prize (a trip or a car).

An alternate bonus round would feature the original syndicated version's "Wheel of Jeopardy", with the contestant being spotted a five for winning, doubling with each correct answer (out of a possible 10); this would make the total possible amount $5,120, with the contestant winning the grand prize if his head landed on a "lit" monitor or automatically for getting all ten.

Set: Again, very similar to the original version, with modern updates and even more "random" objects and layout. The title card, while remaining similar to the original, would be updated to a more stylized font. The game TV would be a flatscreen housed in a badly beat-up old console sitting on two kegs (with the ends of the flatscreen covered up by the console and the game graphics adjusted accordingly). In addition to (or instead of) the autographed pictures of game show hosts, old pictures of the original RC cast would be strewn throughout the set. The bar/cast area would be expanded and more resemble an actual bar, with "Ober's" lit up in the background.

Contestants would again be seated in recliners that could be pulled behind the wall during an "Off the Air". The left player would be pulled through a brick wall (with actual false bricks collapsing as the chair plowed through them); the middle player would be pulled through a naugahyde-covered zigzag trap door slightly reminiscent of Pee-Wee's Playhouse; while the player to the viewer's right would be seated in the famous "flip chair". Random ceiling fixtures (from 70s to bizarre IKEA fare) would serve as the "buzz-in lights" over the contestants (with the light bar over the player also possibly changing color), while small lights behind the contestants would indicate control. The buzzers would either be handheld or on the right arm of each recliner.

A stage would be set off to one side, with a graffiti-covered brick wall and a neon bar-like rendition of the title as the backdrop. The nine video screens for the bonus round (now flatscreens) would be attached to a similar brick wall; as in the original, some of their orientations would be turned to trick the contestants (who would again be put in a Craftmatic, or simply be thrown on an old couch turned perpendicular to the wall).

Thoughts: The show didn't go downhill originally until things were tinkered with, such as the format, the theme, etc. The revival would reinstate many of the original rules and much of the overall feel of the show. Graham Elwood has proven to be one of the prominent "smart-aleck hosts" in the comedy game show world with his work on Strip Poker and Cram, and in my opinion would be a perfect fit for RC. Integration of SNL personalities would pay homage to the show's responsibility for giving Quinn, Sandler, etc. jumpstarts to their careers; in fact, with enough involvement the show could feasibly be given the title SNL's Remote Control, especially if it were to air on Comedy Central. This version would have enough references to the old shRC and/or original cast appearances to provide continuity, while being careful to avoid overkill and granting it room to develop as a series in its own right.

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