If a man is in his own home, sitting on his own couch, with the remote for his own TV in his hand, never ever ever ask him for the remote. It doesn't matter if you are his wife, his first born son, his best friend who was born in the same hospital and raised in the same town and been friends with him all his life, or even his dog... Never asked for the remote.
If a man's home is his castle, the TV remote is the scepter of power. He will not relinquish it and it is just bad form to ask.