TV Guidance Counselor Episode 278: Matt Nix

February 14-20, 1981

Today Ken welcomes writer/showrunner Matt Nix to the show.

Ken and Matt discuss 1981, Palm Springs, being a latch key kid, making a case for your show, watching things you'd never have watched, The Brady Bunch, niche shared experiences, a 60 share, Cagney and Lacey, Knight Rider, laser seat belts, M*A*S*H, being devastated by a show's cancellation, never meeting your heroes, the wonder of Bruce Campbell, a passion for TV, being shocked at how much you watched, spec scripts for WKRP in Cincinnati, meeting Sid Caesar, Spenser for Hire, watching shows filmed, having hope, old school Hollywood Publicists, knowing someone will love the industry, wanting to write ALL the shows, creative compulsion, Starsky and Hutch, how action has changed, Burn Notice, The Gifted, The Comedians, hardcore sci-fi, tech, allegory, Black Mirror, eternal torture forever, wanting to be Tesla, The Arrival, executive personalities, being the smart kid who does everyone's chem homework, Easter Eggs for long time fans, comic books, how Lost salted the earth, why Espionage is not a genetic condition passed on to children, who Burned Michael?, what parts of classic TV promotion to blow up, how being a working actor is a blue collar, middle class hustle, Wonder Woman, Green Acres, Gilligan's Island, Barney Miller, Mad Magazine, the wonder of parody, cringe humor, people you don't like being mean to each other, The Waltons and why we need something like that now more than ever, Sanford & Son, aspirational vs. laugh at shows, The Famous Teddy Z, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, the politics of television, and why you can't put monster truck tires on a BMW.