TV Guidance Counselor Episode 530: Anne-Marie Johnson

This week Ken welcomes actor, producer, director and form VP of the Screen Actors Guild, Anne-Marie Johnson to the show.

Ken and Anne-Marie discuss L.A. rain, droughts, growing up in L.A., being a second generation Angelino, landlines, covenants, helping others, how things are better now, Boston's weird racism and unfriendlyness, Spenser for Hire, Roots, teamster shake downs, A Man Called Hawk, In the Heat of the Night, having supportive parents, Carol Burnett, I Love Lucy, musical theater, sitcoms, Diff'rent Strokes, Double Trouble, first encounters with Scientology, High School USA, movie actors vs TV actors, social media, Robert Townsend, Hollywood Shuffle, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, What's Happening Now?, The Decline of the American Empire, representation, NBC, the era of true broadcasting, cross over stars, The Fresh Prince of Bell Air, the horror of "paint down", diversity, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Room 222, the magic of multi-cam sitcoms in front of live audiences, dating a comic, seeing yourself on TCM, watching them film Knight Rider, lying so you can interview Carol Burnett in high school, going to John Marshall High School the high school from EVERYTHING, the difficulty of being a background actor, stand ins, Dream Date, the other side of the Potsie/Paul Shore incident, being called by your character name, enjoying the anonymity of wearing masks, The Comedy Act Theater, Shriley Hemphill's advice, standing up for yourself, being a Sparkle Girl, getting fired as a tour guide at Universal Studios, Tommy Davidson, In Living Color, loving working with Jim Carrey, the brutality of the SNL model, not supporting meanness, how the problems of America are not new, access to information, being particularly proud of T.E.A.R.S: The Event Against Racism and Stereotyping, exploring the relationship between the African American Community and the LAPD as the daughter of an LAPD officer, the quality of network TV and the pathetic amounts on residual checks.