TV Guidance Counselor

This week Ken welcomes writer, director John D. Hancock to the show. Ken and John discuss the end of the world, extreme weather, John's Dad being in the NBC Radio Orchestra in Chicago, the transition from radio to TV and how it effected musicians, going to Harvard in the 1950s, Dr. Timothy Leary, Gus Van Zandt, pretending to know what actors are talking about, The Berliner Ensemble, running the Actor's Theater in San Francisco in the 1960s, directing Off Broadway plays, being in East Berlin, Bertolt Brecht, getting a grant from the AFI to do a short, businessmen who play touch football in central park, Let's Scare Jessica to Death, Bang the Drum Slowly, Robert DeNiro, William Wyler, Michael Moriarty, how only names sell tickets these days, platforming movies, optioning Regiment of Women, Warren Beatty, California Dreaming, having an awful experience on Jaws 2, Jan Michael Vincent, never having directed multi cam television, learning new skillsets directing on television, Hillstreet Blues, Cover Up, theater vs film, being sold a bill of goods by AIP, editing, running previews, why it's not always best to go with your gut, Weeds, trying to get Weeds re-released, Dino DeLaurentis losing the negative, Wolfen, Prancer, what films you show students, teaching at Second City, Wild Tales, and how young people will not do love scenes these days.

July 14-20, 1990 This week Ken welcomes comedian and writer Lew Schneider to the show. Ken and Lew discuss growing up in Brookline, MA, Boston accents, Michael Dukakis, picking up garbage, the Pope of Brookline, Lew's concerns for Ken, Ken's misspent youth and wasted potential, being in a Summer replacement series, Sinbad, giving Grape Nuts a try, hosting Nickelodeon's Make the Grade, TV starts with unpronounceable names, doing improv in Chicago with Bob Odenkirk, the blue collar job that is being an actor, realizing being a writer is a smarter move, how Winter takes years off your life, the benefit of Vitamin D, how TV is a writer's medium, Ray Ramano's dramatic acting career, Men of a Certain Age, The Goldbergs, Phil Rosenthal, 1-900-925-KELLY, Bob Denver: Phone creep, The Geo Metro, who the hottest women on TV are circa 1990, Kadeem Hardison is a Doctor, how Ken is a jew who isn't a jew, Hester St, Ken's crush on Alyssa Milano, Comic Strip Live!, doing a show just for a cool jacket, Emma Thompson, Star Trek The Next Generation, befriending Brent Spiner, original TV Guide art, Wish You Were Here, auditioning for Northern Exposure, how weird Loren Michaels is, The Wonder Years, what ifs related to The Gambler, having a deal at Disney, The George Wendt Show, the golf hazards at the US Open, Richard Lewis, Anything But Love, Later with Bob Costas, getting a Hungarian work visa, Down the Shore, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Ben Stiller Show, The Edge, getting paid badly to be on a CBS TV show, being too early for Netflix, loving Succession, Love on the Spectrum, Evil, The Good Fight, The Good Wife, and 101 Fun Things to do in Melbourne with Children.

What has become an annual tradition, at least for the last four years, it's our 2022 Year In Review. In which Ken goes solo to go through 2022 almost day by day to talk about the show, his life, what he's been doing, what he's been watching, your questions, and whatever else comes to mind. As mentioned, here are all Ken's social media links: https://linktr.ee/kenreid And a link to the TV Guidance Counselor YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/kenreidcomedy and our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/tvguidancecounselor Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and let's all have a better 2023.

This week Ken welcomes comedian, actor, and writer Marc Sheffler to the show. Ken and Marc discuss Columbia, Daylight Savings Time, going to New York first so you can learn things before going to California, doing stand up in the late '60s, London Lee, going from driver to opener, Last House on the Left, the Borscht Belt, just wanting to do it once, being the start of the aluminum siding world, Pittsburgh, hiring the Three Stooges for your 10th Birthday party, being anointed into show biz by Moe, Curly Joe Diritta, Roger Ebert's review of Last House on the Left, David Hess, picking up girls, lying about being a script writer, being in ads, snakes on a bus, moving to LA with money in the bank, and apartment and a car, Being There, Tim Thomerson, getting up at the Comedy Store, Mitzy Shore, David Letterman, Robin Williams, Marc Summers, Jimmy Walker, How Bugs Bunny Won the West, why Warner Bros stopped having live action wrap arounds on recycled Looney Tunes specials, Co-Ed Fever, how amazing Heather Thomas is, Du-beat-e-o, Joan Jett, Marsha Warfield, smoking pot, Richard Pryor, Johnny Dark, Steve Ladesberg, opening for Tower of Power in 1977, Charles in Charge, Harry and the Hendersons, producing Everything Is Relative, the 1988 Writer's Strike, doing an impression of Brett Goldstein, living in England, Ted Lasso, Lee Lacey, the wonder of improv, and the weird weird world of stand up comedy.

October 19-25, 1968 This week Ken welcomes author of The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia and host of the Podcast "Steven Jay Rubin's Saturday Night at the Movies", Steven Jay Rubin. Ken and Steve discuss being in space, seeing the Twilight Zone for the first time, how 1968 is the sweet spot, not talking for a year, Night Gallery, the lack of product placement in the Twilight Zone, Combat, color TV, The Wild Wild West, writing for Cinefantastique, being a feature film publicist, working on Weekend at Bernie's II, working for Showtime, not knowing director's credits, Clark Gable films, being a contestant on The Joker's Wild, later writing for the Joker's Wild, being on Sale of the Century, taping old movies audio only on reel to reel, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, growing up in LA, being a baseball fan, Get Smart!, the darkness of today's film, having never seen The Prisoner, Assault on a Queen, Fall Previews, Peyton Place, Laugh-In, Lancer, porpoise vs dolphin, actors in WWII, Russ Meyer being a still photographer on the Twilight Zone, Green Acres, The Olympics, competition shows, reality TV, Star Trek the original series, visiting film sets, Logan's Run, The Wonderful World of Disney, being on the Sony lot when Spielberg was directing Hook, The Entity, ghost hunting, Twilight Zone: The Movie, how The Twilight Zone doesn't work in color, Anne Frank's cat, and the amazing Sam Fuller.

March 16-22, 1991 This week Ken welcomes writer, YouTuber and fellow Baywatch Nights fan Allison Pregler to the show. Ken and Allison discuss how she's a requested guest, Baywatch, It's a Wrap, growing up in Central Time, memorabilia, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barbara Walters, Fish Police, Family Dog, Capital Critters, Amazing Stories, cartoons for adults, The Simpsons, feeling old, Mann and Machine, America's Funniest People, Golden Girls, America's Funniest Home Videos, Tarzan in Manhattan, drunken Lon Chaney Jr, Ricky Schroeder: Human Garbage, Wilfred Brimley's firing squad, MacGuyver, when shows get weird, The Wizard, Quantum Leap, Frog Girl, dissecting animals, What A Dummy!, Wizard of Oz, Ken meeting Meinhart Raabe the Munchkin Coroner, Unsolved Mysteries, Beyond Belief, turning into a doll, Doogie Howser, bad early 90s stand up, Michael Floorwax, LA Law, falling down an elevator shaft, Dr. Giggles, talking baby movies, replacing George Clooney with Scott Baio, The Doghouse, Poochinski, talking dogs, Return of the Jedi, signing development deals about your trauma, Amy Fischer TV Movies, John Wayne Bobbitt, Uncle Buck, loving John Candy, Weird Science, remaking Peter Gunn, and Little Richard on the greatest episode ever of Baywatch.

December 22-28, 1984 In this VERY SPECIAL XMAS EDITION of TV Guidance Counselor Ken welcomes the Kevin of Kevin Geeks Out and author of the new book Santa Doesn't Need Your Help, Kevin Maher. Ken and Kevin discuss living on a cul de sac, moving to the suburbs, decorating for Holidays, Ministers being turned on by Vampira, how TV is a force of good, being wrong about guns, Webster, Alex Karras, an oddly placed National Lampoon style piece in TV Guide, how athletes used to be, the origin of Yuppies, have a December Birthday, Projection televisions, how being able to watch things at any time seems not as fun, Double Trouble, Ken's love of the Segal Twins, The Funny Boys, The Smurfs, Spenser vs Spencer, PIGS, Willard, the strangeness of Ben, Murder She Wrote, the great model search, how Star Wars became associated with Christmas due to toys, Superman, The Wizard of Oz, Assaulted Nuts, Not Necessarily The News, Stuart Pankin, Conan O'Brien, Ha! vs. The Comedy Channel, TV Version, It Happened One Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Here Comes the Tigers, Darkside of the Moon and Wizard of Oz is the same as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a mystery album, Mr. Kruger's Christmas, Willy Whistle, Major Mudd, Captain Bob, how every single Rich Little impression is Nixon, when you open your presents, Tor Johnson as Santa Claus, Jaberwocky, Park St Under vs. Cheers, Feep, Holiday Depression, Charles in Charge, the connection between Charles and Mr. MaGoo, The Beastmaster, Kojack, Ken's hatred of modern film criticism, the best Santa Clauses, OC and Stiggs, Popeye, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Santa Claus, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, The Adventures of Candy Claus, Santa's Village, Dolly's Down Home Christmas from 1990, and how terrifying Burl Ives could be.

February 6-12, 1999 This week Ken welcomes comedian and old friend Dave Ross to the show. Ken and Dave talk about changing NYC's nickname, apples, Jersey City, how amazingly great George Clooney is, Middletown and Newburgh NY, bands in North and Central NJ, 90s and 00s punk, hating masculinity, rage, angry dudes, watching bands, tour dates, Toad's Place, punching people, awful hardcore bands, 1999, realizing you remember way more TV than you thought, the amazing movies of the 90s, George Carlin, Mulan, Cops in Palm Beach, stand up on Comedy Central, Premium Blend with the US Bombs, Jeff Foxworthy, Brett Butler, Backstreet Boys on pay per view, Mad TV over SNL, The Simpsons, LA Confidential, Newsradio, loving 90s sitcoms, being obsessive, regional stores, fast food, Tom Green, Big Brother, Survivor, The Real World, Road Rules, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Spin City, Hannity and Combs, Michael Chiklis, Wired, theater nerds, tough guys, Mad About You, Kids in the Hall, Stephen Root, King of the Hill, The Drew Carey Show, Beverly Hills 90210, Party of Five, William Ragsdale, Veronica's Closet, Just Shoot Me, The Powers that Be, dark humor, suicide jokes, making jokes about tough things, loving John Leguizamo, Boy Meets World, WGN, Wayne's Brothers, Jaime Foxx, how great Steve Harvey is, Richard Karn, Larry Sanders, Nash Bridges, vampires, Talk Soup, wondering where John Henson went, Behind the Music, shows starting at weird times, Bruce Willis, Ally McBeal, Tracy Ulman, Providence, being mad about too many dogs, and the beauty of catching up.

This week Ken welcomes actor, comedian, writer and professional "That Guy", Larry Hankin. Ken and Larry discuss COVID, flying, quitting the world, growing up in Long Island, Breaking Bad, Barry, going out on top, stand up, Lenny Bruce, opening for Woody Allen, opening for Miles Davis, forgetting what you've done, having a career by accident, Janet Jackson's What Have you Done for me Lately video, making short films, Escape from Alcatraz, Clint Eastwood protection, endearing yourself to others, taking the boat to Alcatraz, getting royalties from streaming after you turn 65, how cool checks from Disney were, opening for The Loving Spoonful, Second City, George Carlin, getting attacked by the audience, getting arrested for doing stand up, Richard Pryor, The Kingston Trio, being homeless in San Francisco, when being homeless is a full time job, being in The Committee, Patrick McGoohan's issues, functional alcoholics, Highway Patrol, Broderick Crawford, having cue cards, Brando, ear pieces, being dyslexic, how hard it is to memorize lines, Doctor Dracula, Al Adamson, being in dirty movies as comic relief, how one movie can be edited into five different movies, Ratboy, and Larry's writing and thereallarryhankin.com.

October 25 - November 11, 2010 This week Ken welcomes old friend, amazing writer and comedian Eliza Skinner back to the show. Ken and Eliza discuss the end times, still having to go to work, dystopian literature, the free time of socialism, Ken's hatred of Las Vegas, The Atomic Testing Museum, being pro-A Bomb, hand crank TVs, Station 11, wondering of the British are fascinated by American culture, retitling, Jem, Britta Phillips, freestyle rapping over Jem instrumentals, the gap in understanding and awareness, Children of the Dust, Z for Zachariah, sci-fi, surviving, capitalize burnout, Romero's Zombie movies, The Architects of Fear, The Shadowmen on the New Twilight Zone, Wordplay, romance, True Blood, hot funny Twilight, sexy vampires, horny vampires, messy vampires, Millennials and magic, the passion of toxicity, begging you to be awesome, true crime, murder, sexy blood showers, fantasies of being eaten by a shark, how seeing a band live can make you love them, Jamiroquai, how boring and blah Puff Daddy is, seeing the Pixies and skipping U2, complaining for free stuff, punk rock kids, Watchamles, being cools, watching TV at work, marathoning Intervention, moving to LA, having no money for cable, doing Edinburgh, Vampire Diaries, Ernest, Kevin Williamson, creeping people out by fanning out, Daddying people, Skeet, asking about furniture, being a bad interviewer, when conventions go wrong, Sean Gunn hating you, the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, and how comedians are all different kinds of monsters.