TV Guidance Counselor

December 15-21, 1984 Ken and Justin discuss his nerves, the Catskills, Yarnel Nicholas, tape trading, worth ethic, TellyHell, before the pandemic, working from home, commuting by bus to NYC, watching Netflix on your tablet during a commute, Apple TV, Big Mouth, the best made for TV swear replacements, Mellon Farmers, The Sopranos on A&E, Mr. Show, working in radio, CW/WB, Channel 11, WPIX, Channel 9, the loss of indie TV stations, how ratings have changed, the insane people who work in radio, The Ten Most Beautiful Women in Television, Dallas, Morgan Fairchild, The Muppets, Mike Hammer, men out of time, George Bush vs. The Simpsons, remembering the year you were born, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis the Christmas Dream, The Equalizer, A Christmas Carol, the original Lifetime "Television for Women" concept, when pop becomes oldies, A&E, Remember WENN, 1984, sad Christmas, Three's a Crowd, Perfect Strangers, slapstick and physical comedy, being against reboots, E.R vs ER, The Organic Theater Group, Re-Animator, Magnum PI, NBC's new line up, Battle of the Network Stars, Benson, It's a Wonderful Life, V: The Series, The Man with Two Brains, series finales, revisiting Dallas, tying up loose ends, how nostalgia can taint a show, and what premium cable channels are what fast food restaurants.

This week Ken welcomes old friend and current host of the Nodcast, "White trash" Rob Lind (Blood for Blood, Ramallah, Sinners & Saints) to the show. Ken and Rob discuss how long it has been since they've been able to sit down and chat, getting sober, needing to anesthetize yourself to deal with 90% of the people you used to deal with, Rob's memory of Ken's "Dilemma", Nebraska, the regional variations of TV Guide, WWF/WWE, if certain businessmen have ever murdered anyone, Harlan Ellison, The Gods Hate, boxing, the mafia, Gorgeous George, Brando, Muhammad Ali, Valerie Bertinelli, Van Halen, MTV's Lost Weekend with Van Halen, One Day at a Time, Mackenzie Phillips, David Lee Roth, Mike Tyson, Hurricane Peter McNeeley, V, Amerika, The Incredible Hulk, The Day After, Threads, Discharge, When the Wind Blows, David Bowie, Mutually Assured Destruction, Romero vs. Argento, Dawn of the Dead, The The, the wish fulfillment of apocalypses/zombie media in the 21st Century, The Twilight Zone, how the Lucky People die first, The Business, Ministry, Richard Chamberlain, Cassanova, The Thornebirds, being mid-century old, Shogun, Night Court's syndication history, Golden Girls, Hunter, Fred Dryer, sleaze, murder for hire, sickos, Robert Cray, SNL, George C. Scott and Don Amechie in Pals, Death Wish, Charles Bronson, Never Cry Wolf, Hong Kong stunts, martial arts, Hong Kong Opera, Spahn Ranch, Charles Manson getting slapped around by shorty, stunt guys, Jet Li, The One, Dungeons and Dragons, Donnie Yen, and previews of part 2.

To celebrate 8 long, strange years of TV Guidance Counselor Ken welcomes back the VERY first guest to ever record an episode of TV Guidance Counselor, the now very successful and beloved Josh Gondelman. Ken and Josh catch up and look at THIS week (February 14, 2022)'s edition of TV Guide.

This week Ken welcomes back to the show comedian, and haver of new album "Beach Trash", Valerie Tosi to the show. Ken and Val discuss the last time they recorded, the green room of Laugh Boston, Ken's Fried Fluffenutter Sundae, carbo loading, being in the marching band, pasta shapes, trashy American-Ethnic foods, UMASS Amherst, Friday Night Party, songs called "Valerie", Reel Big Fish, people who don't know you did comedy, The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, opening for Bob Saget, descramblers, The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, The Bachelor, The US remake of the UK rip off of the US show Friends "Coupling", how there will never ben a successful US remake of The Office, Missy Elliot, Veruca Salt getting bumped from their second SNL song by Sting, The Craft, Charmed, getting fingered at the movies, being one of those Hocus Pocus people, loving Las Vegas, Kidssongs, Ken's loud cat, why all videos should be on hayrides, strings in Toxic, Dwayne Barry on the X-Files, being WB Hot, feeling old, 8 Simple Rules, the old Queer Eye vs the new Queer Eye, Hoarders, cats that shit everywhere, not going to the third floor, carpet squares, King of Queens, Angel, being presented in a letterbox format, sexy Broadway, sexy ads, US Weekly, Tru Calling, Will and Grace, how great Eric McCormick is, Free Enterprise, time travel movies, lost Comedy Central presents stand up specials and killing Conan.

This week Ken welcomes actor Carly Pope to the show. Ken and Carly discuss The Great White North, chasing Winter, being in the wrong place at the right time, Vancouver, Canadian indie film, Toronto, Canadian Content, Dave Thomas in White Coats, 1980s Nickelodon's massive amount of Canadian content, Read All About It, Mr. Dressup, The Beachcombers, Danger Bay, Molly Parker, how Ken is nobody to take life advice from, Disturbing Behavior, shooting in Romania, David Nutter, Popular, how nobody walks in LA, Bob's Big Boy, cigarette ads telling you to avoid inhaling, Larry's barks, The Polka Dot Door, not coming from an acting background, How 1987 is an amazing year for movies, Harry and the Hendersons, The Lost Boys, ALF, puppets, thinking of it before ET, being spooned by the Yeti, loving genre movies but avoiding being in them, wondering if the addition of cell phones would kill the plot of a movie, Better Off Dead, Die Hard, crossword puzzles, being on Family Feud against the cast of Freaks & Geeks, Double Dare, Funhouse, I'm Telling, Finders Keepers, going to a TV taping of Kids' Street, winning a Cleo award, an actual funny commercial, The California Raisins, Johnny Harris in Still Standing, Friday Night Lights, rewatching Pulp Fiction for comfort, Return to Oz, Watcher in the Woods, how it's almost always The Peanut Butter Solution, and being emotionally scarred by The Hugga Bunch.

Ken continues his chat with UK writer, podcast host, TV presenter, radio personality and reformed stand up comedian Robin Ince. ...Robin and Ken discuss the amazing hair pieces in Poor Devil, Sammy Davis Jr, Christopher Lee's bragging, SCTV, Jackie Rogers Jr, grime, Dragnet, being transgressive, The Prisoner, Pink Flamingos, Lon Chaney Jr's alcohol problem, Elvira, Elvis, The Boys in the Band, the devastation of AIDS, Santa Claus, The Twilight Zone, Burgess Meredith, Rocky, boxing, The League of Gentlemen, The Monster Club, Blood on Satan's Claw, fandom, portmantos, good tributes, Vikings, Norsemen, Orgy of the Dead, Red Skelton, Frederick Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, stars coming out, Rob Halford, Iggy Pop, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, the power of the stage, Mavis Staples, Honey West, Monty Python, The Three Stooges, Lawrence Olivier, David Lynch's On the Air, the film Lucky, Harry Dean Stanton, Harlan Ellison, Inga Stevens, the power of watching things together alone, The Hitchhiker, Carnival of Souls, and Jacob's Ladder.

This week Ken welcomes UK writer, podcast host, TV presenter, radio personality and reformed stand up comedian Robin Ince to the show. Ken and Robin discuss 1960, Richard Nixon's moral ethics, raiding your grandparents' houses for old magazines, Alan Moore, Robert Aikman, promo monster movie stills from Monster Magazines, Steptoe & Son, the post war booms in the US vs the UK, how people in the 20th Century looked so much older than you when they were younger than you, Harry & Tonto, Death Wish, shooting things in London set in New York, gritty crime drama, great NYC stage actors appearing in TV dramas, UK Radio vs US Radio, panel shows, Bela Lugosi, Lenny Bruce's later years, stand up comedians' obsession with conspiracy theories, how Carlin and Pryor were made for television, vaudeville, Burlesque, how Friends is all about sex, Seinfeld, Bride of Frankenstein, Ernest Thesiger, Jerry Lewis, Poor Devil, Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams, Jackie Gleason, Rockford Files, Young Maverick, Spaghetti Westerns, 1940s British Movie stars you could never quite trust, Leslie Howard, Colonel March, Targets, evil magicians, WGBH, Arts, Johnny Staccato, Anthony Newley, Dark Shadows, Dan Curtis, Reece Shearsmith, Dana Gould, Birdie, Robert Mitchum, Vincent Price, Raymond Burr, John Carpenter, Something Wild, Jonathan Demme, John Waters, Pink Flamingos, and a Viking tease for Part II...

This week Ken welcomes guitar virtuosos and literal DOCTOR of music Molly Miller (https://www.mollymillermusic.com/) to the show. Ken and Molly discuss loving L.A. and being born and raised there, beach cities, LA punk, loving Seventh Heaven, Molly's tenth birthday, L.A. Industrial Waste, the nature of reality TV and LIVE! television events, Molly playing in a Bachelor spin off band, remembering "before", Ken's old man soapbox, listening to the radio, struggling to be inspired, vinyl, The WB, being one of five kids, Dawson's Creek, how weird it was to get two new networks in the 1990s, how Friends has become the Brady Bunch of the current generation, Will & Grace, how by 1999 prescription drug ads replaced cigarette ads, Lunchables, fighting with your siblings, The Wedding Singer vs. Billy Madison, loving Adam Sandler, The Real World, Alec Baldwin, hating shows where every character speaks the same, The Simpsons, Anna Nicole Smith, Howard Stern on E!, Ally McBeal, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, going back and not revisiting shows, Seth Green, werewolves, the theme to Dawson's Creek, apologizing too much, The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, how great John Stewart is, Hebrew School, playing guitar since you were 7, video rental stores, how Friday was Movie and Pizza Night, Ken and Molly going on a pizza tour of L.A. when the world stops ending, snow days, and exploding cars.

This week Ken welcomes long time friend, current host of the UncleBoi Show on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSdtI-YDimtM3MJ2ew62ETA) and former Tommy Somerville, Tommy Hardy to the show. Ken and Tommy discuss the great Northern exodus of the 90s Boston Punk scene to Salem, MA, selling punk records, The Smiths, how everyone craves love and attention, Ken's informal war with Glen Danzig, seltzers, Amerika!, Sweeps Week, being a reformed Republican, WWF LJN Figures, cigarette ads, Kraft, Cheese just CHEESE, having a babysitter, having cable in your room, Headbangers' Ball, Sidekicks, the 80s Martial Arts boom, how odd having Animotion's Obsession as the theme song for Saturday Night's Main Event was, cheap wrestling magazines, Killer Kowalski, The Boston Garden, Roddy Piper's status as a favored nation, Ravishing Rick Rude, Young Blood, Blue Collar Boston, internet trolls, 1947, Candid Camera, porno drive-in theaters, Medford, mobbed up Boston, Cheers, how perfect Cliff Clavin is, The Wizard, David Rapaport, Ken's dream of 1970s set Ghost Rider, how the fact that The Incredible Hulk TV series somehow worked gave us awful Marvel media for decades, Dr. Strange, Captain America, Reb Brown's Captain America, Wizard Magazine, Vertigo, Dark Horse Comics, the alternative universe where David Lynch makes Return of the Jedi and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dr. Fate, Mike Nesmith's television parts, DC Cab, TV56, Swamp Thing, It's Gary Shandling's Show, Alex Rocco, and the terrible way Johnny Carson treated the great Joan Rivers.

This week Ken welcomes writer, performer and reformed stand up comedian Hattie Hayes to the show. Ken and Hattie discuss John Stamos, Ken's odd reactions, George Clooney, ER, never wanting to lose a partner to any cast member of Stand By Me, Jerry O'Connell, The National, being very badly injured on stage, how George Clooney may be a real super hero, satellites, falling down the Clooney Pit(t), Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou, watching every episode of ER with your mom from birth, NO! A Wiley!, Noah Wiley, loving Burn Notice, the dangers of helicopters, twice, losing an arm, feeling bad for angry assholes, real life ER experiences, being traumatized by wrist trauma on ER, Dancing with the Stars, Hotmail Spoilers, Tom Bergeron, the wonders of live TV, Demolition Man, Happy Gilmore, being honest with yourself, The Royal Tenanbaums, America's Funniest Home Videos, House Hunters, avoiding dog death in media, ordering from old lady catalogs, how despite their age difference Ken and Hattie's frames of references are oddly similar, avoiding late night shows, Colbert, Ken's love of Strangers with Candy, One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, having a medical emergency in the middle of a New York City Whole Foods, Supernatural, extra Hell for gays, Batman, Young Frankenstein, spin offs, Happy Days, Nanny 911/Supernanny, giving Dads their life back, butt pies, iCarly, the creepy factor of Nickelodeon, Dollhouse, the creepy factor of Joss Whedon, memory wipes, The Kids Choice Awards, TCM, why a younger sibling is a great excuse to watch stuff you'd be embarrassed by otherwise, how Hattie needs to go to TCM fest, The Rock hosting SNL, Nikki Taylor, being confused by Treme and Ken's hatred of Rescue Me for personal reasons.