TV Guidance Counselor Episode 436: Merrill Markoe

June 22-28, 1963

It's a TWOFER week as Ken welcomes genius level funny, author of the new memoir "We Saw Scenery" Merrill Markoe to the show.

Ken and Merrill discuss needing to get back to dark and gloomy weather, being shocked at how much TV you watched as a kid, We Saw Scenery, being in love with sitcom sons, being boy crazy, being on the wrong side of variety TV, The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Newhart, Burns and Allen, breaking the 4th wall, surrealism on TV, being the first generation of people making TV who grew up on TV, Saturday Night Live, The New Laugh In, The Late Show with David Letterman, Vaudeville, cigarette ads, the war between TV and movies, The Donna Reed Show, unlikable male characters, the inherent sexism of Hollywood green lights, pitching shows, watching the networks fall, coverage of JFK's travel, the dissolution of Equal Time, Crazy Guggenheim, Jackie Gleason, how big is small and small is big on TV, cute casting, the Rifleman, loving beans being eaten in a tin, Ed Sullivan, Kliph Nesteroff's The Comedians, child stars, Car 54 Where Are You?, Not Necessarily The News, The Smothers Brothers, seeing everything live, reviewing the Beatles, diaries, Doctor Shows, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, writers getting credit, James Baldwin, Perspectives, what the hell happened to Myna Birds?, Mel Blanc, hypochondria, The Beverly Hillbillies, learning from TV, Mad Magazine, space and a band, My Three Sons, roasts, the Rat Pack, the existential depression of the same scenery in The Flintstones, Route 66, Dobie Gillis, the horrors of Bob Hope in a Beatle Wig, Chris Elliot, being scared of Alfred Hitchcock, Pen15, how 8th grade is always 8th grade, Nazi flirting, and graphic novels