TV Guidance Counselor Podcast
Ken Reid and his guests explore the tough television watching decisions of our past.
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 507: Dr. Molly Miller
01/24/2022
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 507: Dr. Molly Miller
This week Ken welcomes guitar virtuosos and literal DOCTOR of music Molly Miller (https://www.mollymillermusic.com/) to the show. Ken and Molly discuss loving L.A. and being born and raised there, beach cities, LA punk, loving Seventh Heaven, Molly's tenth birthday, L.A. Industrial Waste, the nature of reality TV and LIVE! television events, Molly playing in a Bachelor spin off band, remembering "before", Ken's old man soapbox, listening to the radio, struggling to be inspired, vinyl, The WB, being one of five kids, Dawson's Creek, how weird it was to get two new networks in the 1990s, how Friends has become the Brady Bunch of the current generation, Will & Grace, how by 1999 prescription drug ads replaced cigarette ads, Lunchables, fighting with your siblings, The Wedding Singer vs. Billy Madison, loving Adam Sandler, The Real World, Alec Baldwin, hating shows where every character speaks the same, The Simpsons, Anna Nicole Smith, Howard Stern on E!, Ally McBeal, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, going back and not revisiting shows, Seth Green, werewolves, the theme to Dawson's Creek, apologizing too much, The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, how great John Stewart is, Hebrew School, playing guitar since you were 7, video rental stores, how Friday was Movie and Pizza Night, Ken and Molly going on a pizza tour of L.A. when the world stops ending, snow days, and exploding cars.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21479792
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 506: Tommy Hardy
01/17/2022
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 506: Tommy Hardy
This week Ken welcomes long time friend, current host of the UncleBoi Show on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSdtI-YDimtM3MJ2ew62ETA) and former Tommy Somerville, Tommy Hardy to the show. Ken and Tommy discuss the great Northern exodus of the 90s Boston Punk scene to Salem, MA, selling punk records, The Smiths, how everyone craves love and attention, Ken's informal war with Glen Danzig, seltzers, Amerika!, Sweeps Week, being a reformed Republican, WWF LJN Figures, cigarette ads, Kraft, Cheese just CHEESE, having a babysitter, having cable in your room, Headbangers' Ball, Sidekicks, the 80s Martial Arts boom, how odd having Animotion's Obsession as the theme song for Saturday Night's Main Event was, cheap wrestling magazines, Killer Kowalski, The Boston Garden, Roddy Piper's status as a favored nation, Ravishing Rick Rude, Young Blood, Blue Collar Boston, internet trolls, 1947, Candid Camera, porno drive-in theaters, Medford, mobbed up Boston, Cheers, how perfect Cliff Clavin is, The Wizard, David Rapaport, Ken's dream of 1970s set Ghost Rider, how the fact that The Incredible Hulk TV series somehow worked gave us awful Marvel media for decades, Dr. Strange, Captain America, Reb Brown's Captain America, Wizard Magazine, Vertigo, Dark Horse Comics, the alternative universe where David Lynch makes Return of the Jedi and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dr. Fate, Mike Nesmith's television parts, DC Cab, TV56, Swamp Thing, It's Gary Shandling's Show, Alex Rocco, and the terrible way Johnny Carson treated the great Joan Rivers.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21409538
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 505: Hattie Hayes
01/10/2022
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 505: Hattie Hayes
This week Ken welcomes writer, performer and reformed stand up comedian Hattie Hayes to the show. Ken and Hattie discuss John Stamos, Ken's odd reactions, George Clooney, ER, never wanting to lose a partner to any cast member of Stand By Me, Jerry O'Connell, The National, being very badly injured on stage, how George Clooney may be a real super hero, satellites, falling down the Clooney Pit(t), Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou, watching every episode of ER with your mom from birth, NO! A Wiley!, Noah Wiley, loving Burn Notice, the dangers of helicopters, twice, losing an arm, feeling bad for angry assholes, real life ER experiences, being traumatized by wrist trauma on ER, Dancing with the Stars, Hotmail Spoilers, Tom Bergeron, the wonders of live TV, Demolition Man, Happy Gilmore, being honest with yourself, The Royal Tenanbaums, America's Funniest Home Videos, House Hunters, avoiding dog death in media, ordering from old lady catalogs, how despite their age difference Ken and Hattie's frames of references are oddly similar, avoiding late night shows, Colbert, Ken's love of Strangers with Candy, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, having a medical emergency in the middle of a New York City Whole Foods, Supernatural, extra Hell for gays, Batman, Young Frankenstein, spin offs, Happy Days, Nanny 911/Supernanny, giving Dads their life back, butt pies, iCarly, the creepy factor of Nickelodeon, Dollhouse, the creepy factor of Joss Whedon, memory wipes, The Kids Choice Awards, TCM, why a younger sibling is a great excuse to watch stuff you'd be embarrassed by otherwise, how Hattie needs to go to TCM fest, The Rock hosting SNL, Nikki Taylor, being confused by Treme and Ken's hatred of Rescue Me for personal reasons.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21271691
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 504: Frankie Frain
01/03/2022
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 504: Frankie Frain
This week Ken welcomes writer/director/Box Mac co-host and Red Cow Entertainment Head Honcho Frankie Frain. Ken and Frankie discuss how much Ken loves everything Frankie does, the shock that Ken and Frankie don't already know each other, Emerson College, making niche content, The Angry Video Game Nerd/Cinemassacre controversy, making feature films, getting interest in the content you make, growing up with strict parents, the first R Rated movie Frankie every saw, how Frankie's dad experiences films differently, getting hid hard by F Bombs, quality films you never want to see again, the shift of sitcoms to reality TV, The American Underdog experience, wanting to see the rich and famous fail, Barney Miller, Car 54, Where Are You?, Kate & Alley, Mad About You, Boys Meets World, TV38, how M*A*S*H was old man TV, surviving under the smelliest conditions, TV tapings, Kelsey Grammer's return to television, Ken's early days at MMTV Melrose Mass cable access TV, how Ken is Forrest Gump, meeting Fred Willard, how awful having viral Tweets is, Ricky Gervais, the power of not giving a damn, the weird pivot of the famous and infamous to try stand up comedy, how Children put your life in tatters, body horror, Box Mac Holiday parodies, MST3K, the power of the right font, how the identification of Tweens as a consumer group ruined multi-cam sitcoms, Children's TV, Bluey, dogs, the infamous AIDS episode of Mr. Belvedere "Wesley's Friend", the long strange fascinating journey of Alvin and Chipmonks, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Adventure Time, Frankie's daughter throwing up in his face, encouraging children's interests, asking questions about production, how people react to being filmed now vs in the 1980s, All in the Family, younger generations lack of historical knowledge of TV, why Friends is the Brady Bunch of Millennials/Gen Z, how great Molly Hagan is, the greatness of Frankie's muse John Hunt, the importance of sincerity, trying too hard, and the comfort we can provide with the content we make.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21271664
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 503: 2021 Year In Review
12/27/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 503: 2021 Year In Review
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21520676
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 502: Chip Pope
12/20/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 502: Chip Pope
This week Ken welcomes comedian and all around Hollywood player Chip Pope to the show. Ken and Chip discuss growing up in Texas, The Last Picture Show, taking out all the good looking people, fights at the Rodeo Grounds, taking your shirt off, weird Massachusetts city names, moving to LA, TV watching in coming of age autobiographical childhood tales, the love hate relationship with L.A., Bo Burnham's Nightmare on Elm St, Newhart, On Golden Pond, how long it takes a show to find itself, shows improving over time, TV ratings, your show getting canceled, Cheers, Taxi, Kent III, cigarettes, getting cast as a skateboarder in Man in the Moon and being cut out, CED RCA Selectadisc, betamax, HBO, Jeff Altman, having a black and white TV well into the 1980s, the weird peeing like a man in Personal Best, SCTV, David Letterman's "They Took My Show Away", Voyagers, gun accidents on set, OJ Simpson in Cocaine and Blue Eyes, Betty White in "Just Men", daytime gameshows, Square Pegs, Beau Bridges TV movie directorial debut, playing John Ritter, knowing you won't get a part, The Greatest American Hero, Ed Koch: Confirmed Gay, mixing disparate half hour comedies, comedians being series in films, Dane Cook: Serial Killer, Dukes of Hazard, and the insanity of show biz.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21181166
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 501: Anna Campbell-Jones
12/13/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 501: Anna Campbell-Jones
This week Ken welcomes designer, host of Scotland's Home of the Year, former actor and all around one of the coolest people I've ever talked to, Anna Campbell-Jones to the show. Ken and Anna discuss Ken's plans to pull a heist and move to rural Scotland, First Love - Secrets, being a teen actor, Free Masons, The Word, Channel 4, The Young Ones, London in the 1970s, psychobilly, The Cramps, going to art school, negotiating viewing with siblings, how shows in the UK don't start on the 00s or 30s, The Radio Times vs. The TV Times, snooker, car racing, New Year's Day regret, police procedurals, Bergerac, Columbo, cute murders, The Wicker Man, Yul Brenner, loving musicals, South Pacific, Happy Talk, The Damned, Elvis, being recognized in public, nice comfortable TV, not applying your own tastes to everything, what home is about, The Repair Shop, un-PC TV, The Black and White Minstrel Show, James Bond, when Alternative Comedy became the mainstream, Teletext, Ceefax enthusiasts, Byker Grove, Ant and Dec, Grange Hill, Ant and Dec, what Dexter Fletcher wasn't in, Bugsy Malone, Paul Williams, Teen Disco Dance Championship, mid-century stuff, Doctor Who, Tom Baker, The Doctor Who Restoration Team, Tomorrow's World, Look Around You, when the future is the past, when TV was designed to just air once, The A-Team, the American World on Television, Cheers, The Sweeney, and the wonders of Christmas Specials.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21024239
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 500!
12/06/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 500!
8 Years and 500 (+) Episodes! In celebration we have a big announcement! We have a new theme song. Retiring "Television Addict" by the Hoodoo Gurus/The Victims, and replacing it with a song written and recorded JUST for the show by the great Josh Caterer (Smoking Popes), TV Guidance Counselor! Josh also has a new single out for the a Holidays, a great version of White Christmas. Also! Ken did his first face to face interviews since March 2020, and his first convention since November 2019. Here are two of the interviews from that con, NorthEast Comic Con. First up is Francois Clemmons who played Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Ken and Francois discuss how he became Officer Clemmons on the show, his trepidation about wearing a police uniform in 1969, being a helper, being a TV pioneer, the life philosophy of Fred Rogers, the importance of listening, not being Hollywood, how slow Fred was (in a good way), Won't You Be My Neighbor, why Tom Hanks was wrong in Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Spirituals, the benefit of recording in Pittsburgh, singing Opera, finding your light, integrated pools, being a teacher, and the Land of Make Believe Puppets. Next Ken talks to writer, actor, comedian Robert Wuhl. Ken and Robert discuss writing for Police Squad, auditioning for airplane, how quickly Police Squad was canceled, writing for Rodney Dangerfield, Leslie Neilson's fart machine, wanting to work with good people, The Hollywood Knights, why Tonight Show jokes from the 80s wouldn't fly today, Mary Lambert casing him in Madonna's Material Girl video, having one line in Flashdance, wanting your work to be seen, writing for the Oscars, auditioning for Barry Levinson, Casablanca Pictures, Bull Durham, Batman '89, table reads with Sean Young, how Michele Pfeifer was cast and fired from Batman '89, how Kim Basinger became "The Creature" and had the most leverage in Batman, how the worst audition ever still got Robert a job, Good Morning Vietnam, how John Glover was the original joker in Batman '89, how Warner Bros wanted to go full Batman '66 camp and cast Chevy Chase or Bill Murray as Batman, shooting in London at Pinewood Studios, how a trip to see Phantom of the Opera lead to Jack Nicholson having the entire ending of Batman changed, Robert's cameo on Supergirl, how hard it is to keep spoilers under wraps these days, rating all the Batman films, the band The New Bomb Turks, loving movies that are fun, the best Baseball movie ever, Robert's problems with Field of Dreams and the Natural, and the future of "Assume the Position".
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21330266
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 499: Erik Childress
11/29/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 499: Erik Childress
This week Ken welcomes writer and film critic Erik Childress to the show. Ken and Erik discuss Chicago, basically growing up in Shermer, Crime Story, John Hughes, Harry Caray, the curse of the Cubs, Dawson's Creek, the loudest voices today who are right wing careerless jerks, The Clinton Era and disgraced politicians, Kevin Williamson, Patrick Stewart in Old West King Lear "King of Texas", Scotland PA, the early 00s late 90s obsession with modern takes on Shakespeare, Wish Men, Ken being totally stumped by a show Erik remembers, Lethal Weapon 2, Popeye, anthologies, "from the producers of...", The Screen Actors' Guild Awards, UPN trying to be irreverent, Everybody Loves Raymond, laughing through The Great Depression, avoiding Mario Cuomo, My So-Called Life on MTV, the tragic Dawson's Creek finale, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Quick and the Dead, Vampires, Horror Directors' non-horror work, Spin City, Michael J Fox, Newsradio, Ryan Reynolds, Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place, Friends, falling asleep to Bound, Sarah Brightman, The Real World Boston, bowling night, Seinfeld, ER, Sterling K Brown, Christopher Darden: Actor, Heavy Tobin Bell, March Madness, Patton, sleeping to Hardcore, Millennium, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, tiny actors, being a film critic, Siskel & Ebert, and the very odd star rating system of TV Guide.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20904146
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 498: Luke Geddes
11/22/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 498: Luke Geddes
This week Ken welcomes artist, novelist and listener Luke Geddes. Ken and Luke discuss central time, growing up in Wisconsin, Mountain Time, High Altitude baking instructions, Appleton, Caroline in the City, The Canada of America, the first Halloween after 911, the post VCR pre-web video era of lost media, how movies on the cover of TV Guide is cheating, Harry Potter, when Ken attended the premiere of Harry Potter in London, Nuns on the Run, nudity in PG-13 movies, Phil Donahue, how Bill O'Reiley has always been a dickhead, Static Shock, Justice League, Jeri Ryan in Boston Public, the legal class action suit against Blockbuster Video, being a video store outlaw, napping through the Jacobites, surely Susan Stewart, Nova, James Cromwell, Touched by an Angel, Saturday night Jesus, Halloween movies after Halloween, THE BRANIACS DOT COM, serialized movies, the downside of streaming, The Blair Witch Project, Freaks, dusting off old spec scripts as new content, how Ken ruined Crossing Jordan, Christopher Lloyd in TV movies, Freaks and Geeks on Fox Family, the fascinating mystery of Christopher Lowell, iOffer, bootlegs, unsold pilots on YouTube, Fraiser, Malcolm in the Middle, wacky sound FX instead of laugh tracks, holiday episodes being ABOUT the Holiday vs taking place during the Holiday, Scrubs, Ed, why Luke's wife's birthday is the worst day of the year for him, Nightmare on Elm St, According to Jim, Fright Night, The USA Network Daytime Line up GOLD, Boston Common, Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place, the long slow fall of NBC's Thursday Night, Inside Schwartz, Dark Angel, Dana Delaney, Wild Palms, Pasadena, Bob Saget, Mark Valley, pre-2000s "Prestige" TV, loving Sela Ward, Twin Peaks: The Return, being careful what you wish for, the horrors of Jay Leno, not having the Emmys after 911, Hollywood narcissism, and JJ Abrams hiring a REAL felon hacker for Alias.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20782772
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 497: Shaina Feinberg
11/15/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 497: Shaina Feinberg
October 3-9, 1992 This week Ken welcomes filmmaker, and all around talent, Shaina Feinberg to the show. Ken and Shaina discuss newly borns, how 1992 is a good year for Ken, Joan Rivers, The Real World, MTV, growing up in Manhattan, how big a difference a few years seems when you are younger, how people with a different style than you can seem way older, Bob Newhart, pitching a show for a 95 year old, home shopping network, the many phases of a creative career, directing a play, finding your direction in life later in life, having a ton of different jobs, favorite female directors, being a woman in a industry seen as a man's industry, Penelope Spheeris, shooting things in a pandemic, getting into directing via acting, Amy Heckerling, Martha Coolidge, My So-Called Life, Kate & Allie, Fringe, This Way Up, UK Shows, showing your kids positive role models, showcasing women, making Cheers now, doing staged readings of sitcom scripts, travel shows, food shows, Somebody Feed Phil, Anthony Bordain, Nailed It!, making documentaries about Shaina's mom, how people end up in Manhattan, how stand up comedy is like being a chef, wanting your kids to have a better life than you did, having a love of making stuff, having a lot of pans in the fire, wanting to write for Work in Progress, blue sky shows, not making shows with incredibly unlikable characters and introducing the youngest guest in the history of TV Guidance Counselor.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/21024212
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 496: Blaine Capatch
11/08/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 496: Blaine Capatch
August 24-30, 1974 Another long time coming guest, this week Ken welcomes comedian Blaine Capatch to the show. Ken and Blaine discuss throwing to a clip, classic cars, 1974, growing up in PA, weird square back cars, music instruction schools, Godsmack, Stryper, bad metal bands, working in music stores, guitars, speculation without Googleation, Susie Blakley, 70s pantsuits, neighbors having cable, Blaine's Dad's barber shop, calling Sandy Frank, Battle of the Planets, Starblazers, MST3k, werewolves, monkey phases, Christopher Lee, Jimmy Walker, Funky Phantom, Inch High Private Eye, Mission Magic, Archie Bunker, figuring out which shows get long descriptions, sending away for out of business comic book ads, The Bob Newhart Show, Lorenzo Music, Julie Newmar, It Takes a Theif, Tonight from Harvard Square, the music of Hee Haw, insane Marlon Brando, starting comedy in Baltimore, John Waters, the slog of The Clash's Sandinista, Dom Delouise, The End, above ground pools, Marcus Welby, Roller Derby, Rock N Rollergames, Rod Hull and Emu, Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionics Action Club, jackets, Patton Oswalt, LQ Jones, Harlan Ellison, A Boy and His Dog, fresh made stories, Hollywood Squares, meeting Paul Williams, @midnight, The Brady Bunch house, Beat the Geeks, Dana Gould, Bobcat Goldthwait, Steve Martin, how Billy Crystal is nobody's favorite stand up comedian, SCTV, Martin Short, all blues shows, rock n roll revivals, and lemon flavored cigarettes.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20790878
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 495: Jaye McBride
11/01/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 495: Jaye McBride
This week Ken welcomes comedian and 2021 Montreal Comedy Festival New Face Jaye McBride to the show. Ken and Jaye discuss Brooklyn, Ken's Halloween looks and lifestyle, food based nicknames as dual purpose insult/compliment, growing up in rural upstate NY, The "Good" Mall, Maine, Vermont, Friday the 13th Park VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, going to Canada pre-911, kids hating technology, The House of Frankenstein Wax Museum, The Boston Strangler, Alex Karras's Wimps and Real Men, how actors are their character, hating Cagney and Lacey, TV Trivia and Easter Eggs, The Great St. Elsewhere delusion, cigarettes, Airwolf, Mama's Family, Sharon Stone, back door pilots, looking up to Benson, Isaac's bum deal, The Love Boat, Superman, classic Ned Beatty, Herve Vilichaize on Hee Haw, Liberace, Kate and Allie, Newhart, A-Team, Riptide, evil developers, Brooke Shields, Jaime Farr, Circus of the Stars, Alex Trebeck Human Bomb, I Had Three Wives, Sledge Hammer, Cheers, Night Court, Cosby, how everyone needs to have their own John Oates, Stacey Keach, stealing Lincoln's woman, Blue and the Grey, loving Civil War stuff, killing drug dealers, National Geographic, Free solo climbers, and Mark Harmon's incredibly unconvincing love of Coors beer.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20727329
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 494: Jeff Lieberman
10/25/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 494: Jeff Lieberman
Happy Halloween! This week Ken welcomes writer, producer, director and author of the new autobiography "Day of the Living Me" Jeff Lieberman! jeffliebermandirector.com Ken and Jeff discuss floods, the end of the world, car boats, tapping into the Zeitgeist, Squirm, Remote Control, labels, 70s horror, race in horror, talent, being an advocate for the dead, having a unique body of work (but hating that term), Keith Richards, having a voice, Phil Silvers, New York, overacting, being an editor, Janus Films, Westerns, Gayle Storm, being funny, Jeff's short film The Ringer, Who Killed Mary Westling, Red Buttons, advertising, loving 50s sci-fi, being a talented artist, drawing, cartoons, being efficient at dating girls, living in Mad Men, Streets of San Francisco, Have Gun Will Travel, Don Knotts, Steve Allen, noticing everything, being a TV kid, Popular Mechanics, meeting Pinky Lee, Jane Mansfield and her friends, Pall Mall, cigarettes, chocolate trainer cigarettes, The Danny Thomas Show, Wells Fargo, Route 66, Bus Stop, the cold reality of life, the amazing work and influence of Jean Shepard, Donald Fagan, John Lennon, Bob Newhart, loving stand up, But...Seriously, King Kong, George Burns, the incredible footage of Richard Pryor singing, Zorro, and wearing Antonio Banderas' clothes with Tippi Hedren's permission.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20394011
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Halloween 2021 Special
10/20/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Halloween 2021 Special
After a one year Apocalypses induced hiatus, TV Guidance Counselor's annual Halloween special is back! This year we welcome back, because YOU demanded it, TVGC All-Star Lamont Price (of the ) and Walter Sickert (of the daily streaming show)! Ken, Lamont and Walter discuss their favorite Halloween episodes and some underseen or under loved specials and viewing choices for Halloween 2021. These include Martin, Father Ted, Starsky and Hutch, Hunter, Clueless, Dawson's Creek, Ewoks & Droids, Benson, Growing Pains, The Simpsons and an over all love of Freddy Krueger. To hear the conversation continue check out Part 2 on and Part 3 on
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20782688
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor 493: TJ Connelly
10/18/2021
TV Guidance Counselor 493: TJ Connelly
Today Ken welcomes shadow Ken, for Red Sox Fenway park DJ, and current all other sports DJ TJ Connelly to the show. Ken and TJ discuss neighbors trying to break in and steal your home, Miss America, Brooke Shields, Wolf Blitzer, TV news and Israel, the anti-Playboy, Virginia Slims, tar, how Nirvana killed Miami Vice, Brian Dennehy: Cult Leader, TJ's understanding of Ken's TV Guide obsession, the "& Son" craze of Cartoon reboots, CBS Saturday Morning, Muppet Babies, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Once a Hero, Pee Wee Herman on 227, The Last Starfighter, Jake and the Fatman, Mamma's Boy, the studio system, TV networks all star specials, shooting She's the Sherriff, The New Monkees, The New Gidget, Our House, George Michael's songs about Wilfred Brimley, earthquakes, Duck Tales, the almost death of Disney animation, The Emmys, removing the ridged time limit on acceptance speeches, playing the Hogan's Heroes theme, the difficultly of obtaining starting line up information, kids watching TV filmed live, Spenser for Hire, The Highwaymen, Jocko, TVT Records TV theme song compilations, ending the night with The Golden Girls theme, ALF wish fulfillment, how Sandy Duncan made ALF sexy, If It's Tuesday It STILL Must be Belgium (no relation to If It's Tuesday it Must Be Belgium), party lines, Knight Rider, water rights, the premiere of Full House, Out of Control, I Married Dora, Crime Story, Las Vegas, Cinemax, Back to School, ripping out your heart with Foster Dogs, Gary Shandling, Head of the Class, Tom Atkins in The Equalizer, the premier of A Different World, Tour of Duty, Night Court, Max Headroom, Ken being forbidden to watch 20/20, stealing talent from the playwrite world, and the mystery of how Ken and TJ never have physically crossed paths.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20350232
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 492: Pete Holmes
10/11/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 492: Pete Holmes
This week Ken welcomes, writer, director, producer, comedian and actor Pete Holmes to the show. Ken and Pete get RIGHT into it and discuss The Want Ads, the nature of AV Nerds, wanting to be the go to expert to fight monsters among your peer group, managing bands, wanting to be in the limelight but being shy, playing the bass, being a punk rock kid, how creepy dudes like comedy, Weird Al, letting Ken host his own show, loving activities that give you time away from your family, Townies, Boston trash, Cha Cha, the joke that got Pete on Conan, how pride shifts from your work to your children, the pay bump you get with a Golden Globe, being funny for free, making your talent a career, The Devil, the pain you have to go through to gain skills, how Prince was a nerd, practice, radioactive spiders, obsessiveness, hating Boston, the horror of a Red Sox hat, the Hard F Word, suffering, feeling out of place, The Unseen, needing to cleanse your brain with angry punk rock after seeing your parents, not liking The Showcase Showdown, Doc Hopper, writing letters, energy not derived from cocaine, Rancid at Avalon, remembering Waterdog, fights, being the tall guy, enjoying the scary parts of life, Harvard Square, Green Day Riot, Bad Brains, fights, front men, how jocks ruin everything, white hats, Ken stealing crowd surfers shoes, playing a song you wrote with Tim Armstrong, Pete's band Nude, the way we made friends, self help, knowing you are in control of your life, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Newbury Comics, Tower Records, making game show based prank phone calls, trick questions based on The Wizard of Oz, being ridiculed by hooligans and riff raff at the Burlington movie theater and having your brother betray you. THEN Ken gets Tripp Underwood of The Unseen on the phone to discuss Pete's love of the band, his letter writing, and to make an offer to answer all of Pete's unanswered Unseen questions.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20368034
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 491: Cat Baab-Muguira
10/04/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 491: Cat Baab-Muguira
This week Ken welcomes writer, and author of the new book Poe for your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History's Least Likely Self-Help Guru, Catherine Baab-Muguira. Ken and Cat discuss Richmond, VA, Avail, the psychic prison of High School, Edgar Allan Poe, laying claim to Poe, the Mid-Atlantic, HP Lovecraft, how Poe set the structure for horror, mystery and detective stories, why it's always an orangutan, Halloween 1996, not seeing Flashdance until you were 32, growing up in a conservative Catholic household, very strict parents, RL Stein, Christopher Pike, the loophole of novelizations, the best kids shows for 1996, Superman The Animated Series, your older sister having cool taste, going to rock shows with your Catholic priest brother, Firefighting vampires, Backdraft, MTV's Baywatch Beach House, My Bloody Valentine, The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, the weirdness of Rhode Island, pizza strips, how the songs of Sting can turn the tide on an uncomfortable made for TV movie, living in LA, Melrose Place, not visiting DC, Ken's "environmental camp" experience, skunk cabbage, the adult acting choices of The B.A.G., sleeping with teachers, ripped from the headlines, the bad season of Roseanne, AbFab, evil nannies, sexy women who are actually a tree, how children are terrifying, A Return to Salem's Lot, Sam Fuller, Townies, Molly Ringwald, explaining Gumby, taking railway journeys, full sized bars on Halloween, riding the rails with Buck Henry, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Hammer films, the Halloween ER, how "Maniac" inspired the song Maniac from Flashdance, offensive Halloween costumes due to lack of funds, GI Joes and Barbies in cars, disjointed high camp vanity productions, Johnny Carson's quiet acts of kindness, how Star Wars is over, re-watching the Office, and singing the praises of Zootopia.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20312141
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 490: John Sayles
09/25/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 490: John Sayles
This week Ken welcomes writer, director, actor, and one of Ken's most looked up to Renascence Men, John Sayles. Ken and John discuss outer space, TV as babysitter, how 1960 was far before Ken was born, late night TV, inappropriate commercials, human remote controls, the lack of choice, 30 Westerns on TV, Have Gun Will Travel, signature guns, TV theme songs, how you set the tone and mood for a story, Wanted Dead or Alive, Steve McQueen, how some actors are just cool, Ernie Kovacs, sight gags, surreal TV, The Rebel, Nick Adams wannabe status, Johnny Cash singing the theme to The Rebel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, how The British actually really love Murder, Elmer Bernstein's theme to Johnny Staccato, John Cassavetes, west coast white jazz musicians, the Ed Sullivan Show, variety shows, Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Gang, SCTV, The Beatles, Jackie Mason flipping off America on live TV, Peter Gunn, lack of ambiguity in television, first seeing color on TV in a baseball game, learning story structure via watching TV, Sergio Leone, being and undercover western detective for Wells Fargo, Adventures in Paradise, Ricardo Montauban, Dobie Gillis, Bob Denver as Maynard J. Krebbs, Tuesday Weld acting on TV with Warren Beatty, Archie, making your own On the Road as Route 66 with very minor changes, The Riflemen, Chuck Connors, doing your chores, TV and movies being banned from shooting in Chicago for years, The Untouchables, Crime Story, M Squad, Lee Marvin, Police Squad being influenced by M Squad's theme song, Joe Dante directing Police Squad, the best sight gags on the show, John Ford, Andy Devine's Hollywood status after Ward Bond's death, The Millionaire, dueling Bat Mastersons, being a super fan of mafia succession, how Ring Lardner in 8 Men Out was Robert Stack's voice, Robert Stack's jokes, Walter Winchell, Neville Brand, Al Capone, Friday Night Fights, The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, how boxing was the perfect subject to air on television, Emile Griffith killing Benny Paret in the ring live on TV, The Twilight Zone, Lee Marvin in the Twilight Zone Episode Steel, Hemingway's story "50 Grand", and the oddness of TV sign offs.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20247884
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 489: Charlie Higson
09/20/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 489: Charlie Higson
This week Ken welcomes former Higsons' frontman, novelist, actor, comedian and all around UK comedy royalty Charlie Higson to the show. Ken and Charlie discuss being built for lockdown, writing books for adults again after a 25 year hiatus, the BREAKING NEWS of Charlie's new huge fantasy series for the Middle East on MBC, Randall and Hopkirk Decease, Saturday Night Live (UK), Stand up on TV, Harry Enfield, The Fast Show, catch phrases, Paul Whitehouse, the difficulty of exporting comedy, never seeing Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, the biggest and best American sitcoms, the US tradition of late night talk shows, Craig Ferguson, Vic Reeve's Big Night Out, Vic and Bob, The Prisoner, The Avengers, the UK tradition of fantasy series, how fantasy series aren't all for kids, Doctor Who, needing to use humor for characters, translating humor to a foreign language, the beauty of working with restrictions, liking stupid comedy, classic American sitcoms, Swiss Tony, how the US likes to see people good at their job and the UK likes to see people bad at their job, Cheers, Early Doors, Peter Richardson, remaking UK shows in the US, how The Royle Family became The Kennedys, how cool characters aren't funny, all the US remakes of Fawlty Towers, how difficult it is for UK comedians to make it in the US, Ricky Gervais, English acts bombing at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Vic and Bob confusing a Canadian audience, The Larry Sanders' Show, how The Muppets is the anti-Larry Sanders, The Higsons, opening for The Ramones in Chicago, touring America, and how modern tv and movie scores have abandoned "themes" and why that is a shame, Batman Theme and Robison Crusoe from Germany.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20159873
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 488: Jackie Michele Johnson
09/13/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 488: Jackie Michele Johnson
This week Ken welcomes host of the Natch Beaut podcast, and fellow Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend pre-Apocalypse guest, Jackie Michele Johnson to the show. Ken and Jackie discuss good closets, personal space in a marriage, Sex and the City, converting to Judaism, Ken's blank spot that is 2004, the Reality TV Boom, how full hair and make up is a Texas thing, how who shot JR was technically a dream, Grey's Anatomy, multiple helicopter crashes, the tragic life and death of Anna Nicole Smith, Trim Spa Baby, being ok with spoilers if they are sad, do people in NYC dress cooler?, Dean Cain, Scott Peterson, Dean Cain's terrible facial hair disguise, central time, The Ring, horror flicks and pizza, Ernest Goes to School, MTV Cribs, finding Pimp My Ride Cars in 2021, everyone's Jaime Kennedy story, how Jennifer Love Hewett is too good for him, watching basketball, Average Joe Hawaii, LA's hot chick + mediocre guy phenomenon, Fear Factor, twins, Scare Tactics, Las Vegas, being a background actor, method background actors, Punk'd, The Terminator, Tracy Morgan: Crazy Person, 30 Rock, Ed, Gary Oldman, Sid & Nancy, How The Prisoner is the only show Alex Cox likes, The Hills, Laguna Beach, The O.C., how Blondie isn't The GoGos, debating if watching more or less of The Apprentice may have saved America, Friends, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, visiting the set of Dawson's Creek, Joshua Jackson's hot wife and how he's a good dude, the secrets of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The 100 Hottest Hotties of 2004, Jack Osbourne replacing Sharon, the big deal of reality show marriages, and Barry Bostwick on Scrubs.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20122490
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 487: George Pasles
09/06/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 487: George Pasles
This week Ken welcomes VCR Party Live's resident gal Friday, and the lord of Overlord, George Pasles to the show. Ken and George discuss armpit hair, Philly, on set romances, Phantasm, cigarettes, storm chasers, original art, dirt bikes, pearls and oysters, Simon & Simon, Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, commandeering televisions after being dumped by your parents in a store, knowing things from Simpsons parodies, Joanna Kerns' Olympiad sister, Janet Jackson's Lethal Enforcers arcade cab, It's Your Move, blackface on Gimme a Break, Hardcore, Murder She Wrote and sports, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, John Carpenter, getting cable post high school, Bloopers vs Boners, sexual movies, Chip on Kate & Allie, bad paste ups, Jane Badler, Covenant of Evil, Dueling Danzas, Telma Hopkins world, Hiroshima Remembered, The Wall on network TV, Riptide, writing letters to Tom Bray, having a Commodore 64, Steel Collar Man, Charles Rocket, Rock N Roll Summer Action, NBC's Thursday Night Powerhouse Lineup, Skippy and Malorie trapped in a basement, Coach's learning songs on Cheers, the connection between Webster and The Golden Child, the beauty of Buckaroo Banzai, Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, The A-Team, shows re-using clips, Arsenio Hall, racist former game show hosts blocking Ken on Twitter, and the WONDER of Still the Beaver.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20004476
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 486: Clint Conley
08/30/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 486: Clint Conley
This week Ken welcomes bassist and singer from Mission of Burma, long time Chronicle producer and personal hero Clint Conley to the show. Ken and Clint discuss the nexus of punk rock and television, finding interesting things in New England, growing up just outside NYC, having a father "in the business", grad school at BU, the interaction of the high brow and lowbrow, the arty and the boneheaded, weirdo bands, Cousin Brucie, Ed Sullivan, rock bands on TV, the importance of 1966 for Youth Culture, Batman, Gallant Men, copycat shows, Combat!, Secret Agent, The Rifleman, Man from U.N.C.L.E., plat spinning, vaudeville acts, Hollywood Palace, Boris Karlof, seeking out all the horror movies, Channel 9 and 11, Alan King, Ed Sullivan giving extra time to Sly Stone, The Rascals, Raymond Burr, fearing iron lungs and quicksand, the worthless nature of Tucker Carlson, Candid Camera, Prank Shows, Hulabaloo, Richard Pryor and George Carlin on young rock n roller John Davidson's show, My Mother the Car, Vic Morrow, the Twilight Zone disaster and E! Network's re-enactments, Eric Burden and the Animals, Gidget, band names, Night of Whirling Death, Wild Wild West, Car 54, Where Are You?, having a VCR in the 1970s, hating Lost in Space, being scared of Billy Mumy, taping Iggy Pop on Dinah Shore, the greatness of Green Acres, meeting Mary Tyler Moore, W.C. Fields tribute by his own son, The Smothers Brothers, The Amazing Randi, Johnny Carson: GOTCHA!, The 100 Foot Wave, and the greatness of Barry Jenkin's The Underground Railroad.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/20004470
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 485: Stanley Livingston
08/23/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 485: Stanley Livingston
This week Ken welcomes writer, producer, director and actor, Chip from My Three Sons himself, Mr. Stanley Livingston. Ken and Stanley discuss Ozzy and Harriet, hanging out with Mr. Ed, swimming, being a stunt kid, Paul Newman, his brother getting recast, Doris Day, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, the family burlesque business, Baltimore, vaudeville, mom and pop dirty businesses, the hunt for TV content, My Three Sons, Nick at Nite, Fred McMurray, the strange production of My Three Sons, movie stars on TV, the Skippy pilot, having not seen your big break for 50 years, reconnecting with your co-stars, not being Huck Finn, The Actor's Journey, learning all the ropes, starting your own production company as a teenager, writing The Aftermath, the technical advances of editing software, being made up by Jack Pierce, Famous Monsters, Forry Ackerman, being a Monster Kid, and Paul Bartel's strange Private Parts.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19896821
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 484: Tanya Donelly
08/16/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 484: Tanya Donelly
This week Ken welcomes musician (Belly, Throwing Muses, The Breeders), singer, song writer, and all around gem Tanya Donelly to the show. Ken and Tayna discuss the rain, prissy poodles, 1977, Alan Alda, More Cigarettes, smoking to be thin, Mary Tyler Moore, actually enjoying lack of choice, Kate Bush on SNL, getting starstruck, having no chill, defending your viewing choices in TV Court, very heavy things in sitcoms, 1977 The Coolest Year in Hell, divorce, drug addiction, Love and Rockets, Tanya's rage at Ken, Wonder Woman, Justice League Unlimited, The Superfriends, everybody's grounded friend, Bob Newhart, National Geographic, Ted Knight, Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey, not traveling out of New England, Rhode Island, Rhoda, Phillis, the greatness of Valerie Harper, the power of low concept, Broadway, Circus of the Stars, Bernadette Peters, free range kids, The Queen's Jubilee, The Sex Pistols, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, the greatness of Milwaukee, The Rockford Files them, Julee Cruise, Twin Peaks, being good at Pandemic, cooking shows, M*A*S*H, Paul Lynde, Billy Barty, Donnie and Marie, Charlie's Angels, What's Happening and the bootleg concert, Love Boat, Hawaii 5-0, between Karl Marx and Jack Lord, Socialist Dance, Red Foxx, Steptoe and Son, The Age of Uncertainty, Quahog Talk, Dateline Rhode Island and the long criminal history of Rhode Island politics.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19867952
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 483: Brandie Posey
08/09/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 483: Brandie Posey
This week Ken welcomes podcaster and fellow comedian Brandie Posey to the show. Ken and Brandie discuss L.A. traffic's return, Jim Carrey, Once Bitten, The Cable Guy, In Living Color, growing up with spies outside DC, Accountants, The Grinch, Nick Cage, Celebrity Thanksgiving recipes, Paul Sorvino's Shrimp, Phillips Seymour Hoffman, Twister, storm hunters, America's Most Wanted, Dennis Farina, Sheena, shows on at 1am, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, MaXimum Exposure, Santa Who?, '90s Wrestling, the horror of Andy Dick, The Michael Richards Show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Norm, Why Doctors Make Mistakes, Unsolved Mysteries, John Goodman, Me and the Boys, Bridgette Wilson, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Ask Jeeves balloon, non-holiday movies that are Holiday traditions, a post TGIF world, The Year of the Razor Scooter, the weakest Vacation film, writing letters about Eminem's Stan, and the bitchy freedom of Cheers and Jeers.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19822412
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 482: Anna Rubanova & Adam Bozarth
08/02/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 482: Anna Rubanova & Adam Bozarth
This week Ken welcomes writer, performer, improvers and the people behind Left Handed Radio Anna Rubanova and Adam Bozarth to the show. Ken, Ann and Adam discuss helicopters, L.A., palm trees, going full tar pits, NY Shaped cages, growing up in the mid-west, growing up outside of Manhattan, visiting backlots, being an extra, the horrors of being non-Union, Norma Rae, Highlander the Series, awful editing, having three headed dogs, televised blood drives, the novelty of being on camera, cigarette empowerment, Star Trek, stealing organ, Captain Mrs. Columbo, deep fakes, Fred Sassy, Total Recall, Running Man, Robocop, reusing sets, being eaten by Dracula, Hammer Horror, WKRP in Cincinnati, The NEW shows, being out for revenge, USA Network, Saturday Nightmares, Baywatch Nights, adding "nights", FBI Mash Ups, shared universes, Bloopers, America's Funniest People, the legacy of The Grimace, censorship, true crime, deprogramming, shock humor, dealing with sensationalist trauma, newsrooms, the angle, werewolf phases, Christopher Lee, living life before you're an actor, The Monster Club, A Return to Salem's Lot, Danse Macabre, being offended, irony, reflecting your comedic style, The George Carlin Show, Ken being a violent jerk, dirty ugly gross animation, Liquid Television, and working towards Part II.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19819406
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 481: Anna LaMadrid
07/26/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 481: Anna LaMadrid
This week Ken welcomes actor, writer Anna La Madrid. Ken and Anna discuss climate change, growing up in Venezuela, the East Coast and all over the place, picking up regional slang, being a latchkey kid, learning English from TV, luxury items, Short Circuit, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, rewatching your childhood favorites, the afterschool/before dinner watchin sweet spot, New Jersey, Murder One: The Best New Show of the Year, Tea Leoni, product placement, marketing to kids, the legend of Sabado Gigante, Tales from the Crypt, Howard the Duck, ESL, America's Most Wanted, Kids' shows in Venezuela, Married...with Children, Fox Weekend Television, Airheads, Brendan Fraser, Two Something, slackers, Gen X, how Henry Winkler is the best dude, Misery Loves Company, Fresh Prince, Will Smith, telenovelas, Melrose Place, The Golden Girls, Who's Line Is it Anyway?, Roseanne, over saturation of choice, Universal backlot, The 'burbs, sexy camera poses, TV reunions, One Day at a Time, how weird Party of Five was, Wolves and Foxes, Living Single, Heavy D, Seinfeld, how much Ken loves Bonnie Hunt, Joey Lawrence, Prince for a Day, Picket Fences, Jack Black on The X-Files, why Ken can't remember Gary Cole's name, American Gothic, and when cigarettes were freedom torches.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19757945
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 480: Brian Volk-Weiss
07/21/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 480: Brian Volk-Weiss
This week Ken welcomes the producer/director/host and all around jack of all trades behind The Toys That Made Us, The Movies That Made Us and A Toy Store Near You, Brian Volk-Weiss. Ken and Brian discuss Boston, Newbury Comics, Toy Stores, the intention behind A Toy Store Near You, COVID, being inspired, life being too short, nostalgia, growing up in Queens, making people happy, reaching 100% toys, people buying things in lock down, Magnolia Park in Burbank, Black Cat Collectibles, Toys That Never Should Have Been Made, KayBee Toys clearance bin, A-Team mini vans, TV Toys, the confidence behind releasing toys, having an unpopular lunchbox, always wanting the COBRA Hydrofoil, Mego's Star Trek Bridge, Automan, Quantum Leap toys, how all toys are for adults now, the pre-internet age, bootleg toys, Mr. Big's Toyland, how interviewing lawyers is the secret to getting the scoop, wanting people to feel happy, how stand up comedians are good people to hire behind the scenes for documentaries, Behind the Attraction on Disney +, the definitive documentary about Star Trek The Center Seat, and the future of toys.
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19819157
info_outline
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 479: Peppermint
07/19/2021
TV Guidance Counselor Episode 479: Peppermint
This week Ken welcomes singer, performer, all around personality and force of nature Peppermint to the show. Ken and Peppermint discuss remote controls, the single most 1992 image ever, how the 80s didn't end in 1990, pop culture delays, the rise of cable TV, MTV, breaking the Summer barrier, getting ready for OJ Simpson, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Universal remotes, Real World Homecoming, how Kevin was right, Rodney King, same accent, different place, MTV's House of Style, Nickelodeon, the invention of 'tweens, SNICK, Roundhouse, New York TV, Star Trek TNG, Highway to Heaven, I Was a Middle Aged Werewolf, Quantum Leap, how slow older shows can be, The X-Files, horror movies, Marcia Cross, Traci Lords, Heather Locklear, Siver, rock and pop, hip hop, ska, compilation soundtracks, MTV Spring Break, Salt N Peppa, En Vogue, Eternal: The En Vogue of the UK's song Stay, strange mixes of genres, being inspired by the Spice Girls 2 Become 1 to move to Manhattan, allies, Pedro Zimora, how amazing Norm is, Chocolate Bunny Paintings, collecting art, KayBee Toys clearance bin, The Real World New York, the evolving discussions of race, NEEDING a Real World LA reunion, Tammy, WHERE IS DAVID??, going straight to YouTube, desperately needing Becky back in the house, how cool Mohammad is, and renting the Real World houses on Air BnB. Be sure not to miss Peppermint’s new single Here for It which has a PERFECT vibe for a 1992 discussion https://youtu.be/xcUvJ-STKM8
/episode/index/show/tvguidancecounselor/id/19524170