TV Guidance Counselor

May 9-16, 1992 This week Ken welcomes co-founder of Mental Floss, co-founder of Kaleidoscope and host of the Part-Time Genius and Skyline Drive podcasts, Mangesh Hattikudur. Ken and Mangesh discuss downtown Brooklyn, going to college in North Carolina, spending your Summers in Idia, spending a year abroad in Atlanta, Brooklyn Manners, not being able to watch R rated movies, the book adaptation life hack, VHS terror, bootleg tapes, the hunt for nudity, The Carolinas, brown outs, shows the US exports, saying goodbye to Johnny Carson, Ken's day with John Cleese, Bob and Ray, the launch of Comedy Central as CTV/Comedy Channel/HA!, hunting down comedy lps, learning joke structure, Stephen Wright, Conan, talk shows, the death of John Candy, Jim Henson's death, Ed McMahon, what local news casters are paid, Vanna White's music career, the greatest picture of Richard Simmons ever, Jake Steinfeld, why Saturdays were tough, turning your house into a mini-golf course, the sries finale of Golden Girls, why Caddyshack II is better than Caddyshack, talk shows hosted by people playing a character, swear replacements, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, ripped from the headlines made for TV murder, how 70s vigilante revenge movies became 90s made for TV movies for women, Risky Business, the nostalgia lens, why you should always go back and revisit your childhood favorites, Police Academy, Revenge of the Nerds, movies that don't fly now, the evolution of R rated movie to children's cartoon, The Boston Celtics, Rescue 9-1-1, the theme song from Rescue 9-1-1, the 3.2.1 Contact Sex Special, Mental Floss, Davis Rules, the TV road not taken, network executives ruining shows, Night Court's final season before the reboot, when Harry Anderson would guest start on Cheers, how Park St Under was absolutely NOT ripped off to make Cheers, how one script became Beverly Hills Cop AND Cobra, Roald Dahl, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, loving Tom Arnold, 20/20, live exorcisms, and getting to the bottom of if the bush really burned. 

November 14-20th, 1992 This week Ken welcomes long time Ken Reid superfan, NASCAR expert and the co-host of the Meet Me at Applebees Podcast Brien Kielb. Ken and Brien discuss NASCAR video games in Chuck E Cheese, growing up in upstate NY, The Showcase Showdown, punk rock teens, Boston Punk, Motorsports, Albany, moving to Cleveland, Pittsburgh PA, local cuisine, watching old NASCAR races, meeting friends due to mutual interests, the politics of driving, racist redneck hicks, Formula One, 24 hour races, endurance, soiling yourself, bicycle repair, fake wakes, smoking slims, cigarettes for women, Monster Trucks, the real truck that turns into a fire breathing car eating monster, the TWO Big Foot Cartoons, searching for Stivy Posnanski, Video Power, the Power Team, satellite dishes, above ground pools, divorced Dads, how Baby Boomers have hoarded all the money, before the discovery of tweens, original works of art by internationally acclaimed artist Paul Kale, collector's plates, weird NASCAR merchandise, The Georgia Dome, NASCARman, YouTube, Alabama Salutes Richard Petty, Joe Diffie, 900 numbers based auctions, wondering what Tom Arnold donated, The Kids Choice Awards, Red & Stimpy, Primus, coming from a weigh lifting background, yelling at Emo bands, WWE, the drug addict to weight lifting to right wing grifter highway, USA Up All Night, Saturday Nightmares, Days of Thunder, the Days of Thunder Soundtrack, what the best NASCAR movie is, Ravishing Rick Rude lookalikes in prison riots, The Real World, GI Joe, Sgt. Slaughter, Refrigerator Perry, Married...with Children, stunt episodes, musical episodes, very sad made for TV movies, collecting and framing t-shirts, Ken's Just the Ten of Us autographed cast shirt, screen worn t shirts from The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Revenge of the Nerds, Rescue 9-1-1 in Ohio, Roseanne, the Lanford Loose Meat Lunchbox, TBS, WCW, Disney Studios, Street Stories, Sightings, Stephen Wright guest starring on Bob as a guy in charge of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloons, Frozen Assets sperm count contest, the Whoops! Christmas episode and fundamentally misrepresenting Ray Walston's career. 

October 18-25, 2018 This week Ken welcomes comedian behind the new comedy album Hobble D. Hoy, Ahmed Khalaf. Ken and Ahmed discuss moving to Minnesota, parental death, obvious Prince, So-Cal, reasons for the mid-west, hating the heat, just how big America is, world travel, having nothing else to do but watch 15 seasons of Supernatural, Supernatural cast members Ken has had on the show, superior Monster of the Week episodes, Supergirl, CW, how things Ken should love he doesn't, Dean, The Mark of Cain, Roseanne into The Connors, Scrubs, recasting shows, hating horror films, being scared by loud noises, polarizing issues, Marvel Super heroes, lazy nicknames, Jeff Dunham, freak pointing, Jared from Subway, Dinklidge, playing Tattoo, ska bands, H. John Benjamin, Bob's Burgers, Francis Ford Coppola, reality shows, loving Forged in Fire, Joker and Red Skull, how we should all hate racists and fascists, Ken's failed war crime forgiveness based on love of ethnic cuisines, X-Files, Halloween, lazy movie descriptions, winning a bet, Easy A, The Usual Suspects, not being a movie guy, MMA, boxing, WWF, the first Suicide Squad, buying  a ton of meat for a little bit of money, and loving video games. 

This week Ken welcomes writer, producer and all around superstart Chris Cluess to the show. Chris and Ken discuss being alive, New Jersey, SCTV, winning an Emmy, Sweeps Week, Moral Majority, the amazing wonderful world of John Candy, Toronto, being polite, forgetting names, stripping on bear rugs, supporting the arts, being beloved by the public, the guy with a snake on his face, the greatness of Juul Haalmeyer, Alan King, Alan King's Second Final Warning, working at National Lampoon, Cleveland, Blackstone, The Pretenders, Boomtown Rats, plugging 5,000 year old shows you get not royalties from, "...from Cleveland", Bob and Ray, Kurt Vonneget, how sometimes you can't completely your mission, writing a terrible Barney Miller spec script, the massive sketch book, trying to get hired to write for SNL, scaring John Belushi, chasing Garret Morris, the kindness of Dan Ackroyd, sketch comedy, Al Franken, Tom Davis, Michael O'Donoghue, getting a master class in sketch writing pro bono, John Candy, moving to LA in 1978, haunted houses, attending the Emmys in 1982, being Catherine O'Hara's date, working on Night Court and the running the final seasons of Night Court, tall people, winning over Marsha Warfield, Nothing but Trouble, Madman of the People, the mysterious ways of Bill Murray, getting offers you can't refuse, being uncanceled, Selma Dimond's funeral, writing for the Happiest Place on Earth, I Married Dora, breaking the 4th wall, and begging Chris to write a memoir. 

December 9-16, 2000 This week Ken welcomes pun loving comedian behind the comedy special "Hyperbolic", Matthew Broussard. Ken and Matthew discuss Pokemon, the repressed feelings from the turn of the century, giving up video games, enjoying arts and crafts, not being into sports, swimming, genius ads, homoerotic break in fantasies used to sell breath mints, Madden, sculpting, the genius of gang signs, economy of words, living in a sponsored society, SNL, the one t-shirt that offended Ken, being polite, miss opportunities with Tony Hawk, having your own rope, naked babies on Al Roker, Braveheart, the Discover E-Book, Cartoon Cartoon, Cow and Chicken, I am Weasel, how Adventure Time might just be the greatest show of the 21st Century, Emergency Vets handle vomiting monkeys, South Park, financial struggles, Sopranos, Malcolm in the Middle, Kirk Cameron hosting Santa's Funniest Moments, Brad Pitt's early days on Growing Pains, over the top acting, the heavy drama of Hey! Arnold!, Becker, Becker's 9/11 episode, silly accents, Uma Thurman for president, The Riddler, how Tom Waits influenced the Joker, the moneyball-ificiation of America, the mixed world of childhood play, limitless imagination, Looney Tunes, being shot in front of a live audience, puns, Tom Kenny, the Ice King, old school voice over talent, Sex and the City, Will and Grave, Tom and Jerry, writing for Sean Hayes, The Real World, how Puck is an a-hole, how Carrie is the Villain, how Ferris Buheler is the villain, and the man who is married to Claire Danes. 

This week Ken welcomes author, music fan, semi-pro plus one and cousin of the famous, David Klein (www.davidkleinauthor.org) to the show. Ken and David discuss his new book "The Plus-One: Getting by on Good Connections in the Analog Age", being Winona Ryder's cousin, growing up in suburban NJ, moving to North Carolina, mix tapes, personal memories tied to pop culture, David's brother's work with MTV, getting kicked out of a youth program resulting in riding in an airplane with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, going to the Night on Earth premiere, meeting Bono, having an ex-roomate who dated Marisa Tomei, MTV Europe, record shopping in London, cool older brother effect, Willie Alexander, a song for every number, the two 50s chord progressions, the highlight of a funeral, those people who not only light up a room but light up everyone in the room, trying to get your kids to like cool stuff, The Ramones, being ahead of your time, finding your thing, The Replacements, My Boyfriend's Back, finding your voice, becoming the author you always should have been, being fueled by rejection, how being bored by your work is the most offensive thing, suburban kids getting in trouble on a Friday night, Led Zepplin, Tenafly NJ, Tenafly Viper in Street Trash, the Pixies, how love is a jigsaw puzzle, Mermaids, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, how you only need to see the movie Hapiness once, reading underground Comix, Timothy Leary, the beauty of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Ken's advocacy for Adrian Borland's The Sound, still discovering new music as you get older, having your uncle ask Jerry Lee Lewis how he drove here tonight, Glen Miller, and how the Adventures of Pete and Pete is the greatest television show of all time. 

 July 12-18, 1997 This week Ken welcomes the drummer in the Ohio punk band Bandages, Andrew Chenault. Ken and Andrew discuss Ken's confusion about Ohio's position in the United States, Central Time, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, how Ken has had many of Andrew's favorite show stars on TVGC, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Used Cars, Garrett Graham, The Phantom of the Paradise, Horror flicks, watching Showgirls with your mom, Demi Moore, the US Cable TV premiere of Striptease, Duckman, Dr. Katz, Spicy City, King of the Hill, Daria, WWF vs WWE, the golden age of awful graphic design, bad favorite bands, Lord of Illusions, sexy Sheryl Crow videos, how a teenage boy cannot pass up watching Barb Wire, Canadian Bacon, Christmas in July except its Halloween, loving SNL, Molly Shannon's pre SNL career, Robert England's Phantom of the Opera, Mad TV, Kids in the Hall, Dolemite, Mr. Show, and Mandy Pantinkin's constantly questioning of what you put in the toilet. 

March 25-31, 1995 This week Ken welcomes old friend, favorite person, and TV Writer (Only Murders in the Building, Silicon Valley), Rob Turbovsky. Ken and Rob discuss Rob's time in Boston, moving to LA, Thai food, Ken catching Rob on his failing into retirement journey, getting to write for your heroes, Martin Short doing a Clifford impression JUST for you, The Oscars, David Letterman, Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, cigarettes to Rx drugs, Ask TV Guide, how you used to have to ask questions about pop culture before the internet, placing Greg Barnes, Geraldo's legal background, Martin Landeau, Ed Wood, shows set in Boston, people stalking TV members, Tracy Gold in Ladykiller, Made for TV movies, weird horny Tylnol ads, male fragility, Chicago Hunk: Peter Berg, the odd 90s trend of barefoot celebrity photos, Aspen Extreme, celebrith recipies, using a sword to chop lettuce, Dave Couler's Swordfish with tomato sauce, Alex Trebek's dangerous frying style, Charles Grodin's talk show, Rob's oral history of Clifford for Vulture, SCTV, how Ken insists the Martin Short role in Captain Ron was written for Steve Martin, The Bob Hope Young Comedian's Special vs. The HBO Young Comedians Special, the memory hole of Backdraft, the lost era of movies, Taxi reruns, MST3k, Lawmower Man, Oscar counter programming, Cabin Boy, Raising Caine, the lost full musical cut of "I'll Do Anything", Phantom of the Paradise, Dead Pilots Society, the greatness of Mark McKinney, Exit 57, The Vacant Lot, Twilight Zone: The Movie, American Inventors Corp, a Tribute to Andy Kaufman, Unsolved Mysteries, Stormy Justice, Crime Story, being pranked by Tony Clifton, how turning to stand up is the worst thing ever, Major League, Midnight Run, how Beverly Hills Cop II is the better movie than Beverly Hills Cop, and loving John Waters.

September 10-16, 1966  This week Ken welcomes singer/songwriter/Dramarama frontman and fellow TV addict John Easdale to the show. Ken and John discuss how weird it is to chat about normal and fun things in 2025, the introduction of color TV, the 1966 television season, being the envy of the block when your family has the first and only color TV, The Dramaram lp Color TV, being beneath the Zenith, how old TVs were massive pieces of furniture, how people always take convinience over quality, the new embrace of hi-fi audiophile culture, the all you can eat aspect of streaming, The Monkees, living with your band, when long haired rock groups were on every TV show, educating yourself on film, the inspiration of punk rock DIY spirit, dropping off paying attention to new media at a certain point, focusing on making things instead of consuming them, Nightmare on Elm St 4: The Dreamaster, "Anything, Anything", KROQ, Rodney on the ROQ's connection to The Monkees, WFNX, how Freddy Kruger unbroke up Dramarama, growing up in Wayne New Jersey, how Dramarama all went to high school together, relocating to L.A., Made-For-TV bands, the 80s Monkees reunion shows, Rhino Records, Lancelot Link Secret Chimp, knowing the horrors of animals on TV now, Canadian TV guide, Frankenstein Jr, The Impossibles, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, NY Metro TV, Davey Jones on Ed Sullivan, Ken forgetting that Lidsville was Butch Patrick, Jack Wild on HR Puffnstuff, Ken's theory of rock n roll popularity tied to visual media innovation, The Monkees Head, Mike Nesmith, Repoman, lost media, tape wiping, loving digital comics, living in the future, Batman '66, burning out quickly, Bruce Lee, The Green Hornet, wanting to be Mickey Dolenz, Lost in Space, how Adam West was a beautifully strange guy, Milton Berle, how cartoons went into space when they lost all inspiration, and how Ken and John's pop culture filled minds may save history in the appocalypse. 

This week Ken welcomes author of the absolutely life changing "Cult Movies" series of books, among lots of other great things, Danny Peary. Ken and Danny discuss the massive volume of guests Ken has had on the show, wanting to expose people to art they never would have known about otherwise, growing up in the 1950s, loving Westerns, Danny's brother Gerald and his film criticism, loving television, Abbot and Costello and Jack and the Bean Stalk, Lone Ranger, foreign cinema, college campus cinema clubs, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Rider, Baseball, Igmar Bergman, seeing subtitled movies as a small child, The Harder They Come, Midnight Movies, NYC, seeing movies alone in the theater, Rocky Horror, word of mouth, why The Wizard of Oz is a cult movie, the niche cults, John Waters, the classics, the weird, and the wonderful, why horror isn't always cult, not just writing about plots, real film criticism, analysis, how you can't have a wrong insight into a movie, giving people something to think about. Eraserhead, doing research in the pre-internet days, Freaks, loving Val Lewton, how the flow of cult movies has damartically slowed in the 21st Century despite more movies than ever and more movies than ever trying to be cult movies, giving things time to build, how you can't make a cult movie on purpose, film festivals, The Substance, Basket Case, The Wasp Woman, The Alternative Oscars, Ken being baffled at how Speed Racer never developed a cult, Howard the Duck, Heaven's Gate, George Cukor, retiring, the lost Val Lewton movie, The Ghost Ship, making movies with zero heroic characters, I Walked with a Zombie, going to USC Film School, writing for Thundercats and Silverhawks, having a love of comedy, James Gray, the film Deep End, Phatom of the Paradise, and the early days of Brian DePalma.