Seems unnecessary surly just plug in a raspberry pi into the HDMI port and never connect the TV to internet u can probably flash some version of android TV onto the pi and all set.

Am I missing something here? Why in the hell would I try to jam this into a TV, something that's not trivial btw and more than likely not compatible vs just not connecting the blasted thing to the network? Do they come with cellular data you can't turn off or something?

If there's a TV repair / electronics repair shop in your area -- someone who works with contemporary flatscreens -- I wonder if you could reach out and make the ask? They probably have a sense of which generic controllers they would use.