TV Guidance Counselor

This week Ken welcomes writer/director/Box Mac co-host and Red Cow Entertainment Head Honcho Frankie Frain. Ken and Frankie discuss how much Ken loves everything Frankie does, the shock that Ken and Frankie don't already know each other, Emerson College, making niche content, The Angry Video Game Nerd/Cinemassacre controversy, making feature films, getting interest in the content you make, growing up with strict parents, the first R Rated movie Frankie every saw, how Frankie's dad experiences films differently, getting hid hard by F Bombs, quality films you never want to see again, the shift of sitcoms to reality TV, The American Underdog experience, wanting to see the rich and famous fail, Barney Miller, Car 54, Where Are You?, Kate & Alley, Mad About You, Boys Meets World, TV38, how M*A*S*H was old man TV, surviving under the smelliest conditions, TV tapings, Kelsey Grammer's return to television, Ken's early days at MMTV Melrose Mass cable access TV, how Ken is Forrest Gump, meeting Fred Willard, how awful having viral Tweets is, Ricky Gervais, the power of not giving a damn, the weird pivot of the famous and infamous to try stand up comedy, how Children put your life in tatters, body horror, Box Mac Holiday parodies, MST3K, the power of the right font, how the identification of Tweens as a consumer group ruined multi-cam sitcoms, Children's TV, Bluey, dogs, the infamous AIDS episode of Mr. Belvedere "Wesley's Friend", the long strange fascinating journey of Alvin and Chipmonks, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Adventure Time, Frankie's daughter throwing up in his face, encouraging children's interests, asking questions about production, how people react to being filmed now vs in the 1980s, All in the Family, younger generations lack of historical knowledge of TV, why Friends is the Brady Bunch of Millennials/Gen Z, how great Molly Hagan is, the greatness of Frankie's muse John Hunt, the importance of sincerity, trying too hard, and the comfort we can provide with the content we make.

This week Ken welcomes comedian and all around Hollywood player Chip Pope to the show. Ken and Chip discuss growing up in Texas, The Last Picture Show, taking out all the good looking people, fights at the Rodeo Grounds, taking your shirt off, weird Massachusetts city names, moving to LA, TV watching in coming of age autobiographical childhood tales, the love hate relationship with L.A., Bo Burnham's Nightmare on Elm St, Newhart, On Golden Pond, how long it takes a show to find itself, shows improving over time, TV ratings, your show getting canceled, Cheers, Taxi, Kent III, cigarettes, getting cast as a skateboarder in Man in the Moon and being cut out, CED RCA Selectadisc, betamax, HBO, Jeff Altman, having a black and white TV well into the 1980s, the weird peeing like a man in Personal Best, SCTV, David Letterman's "They Took My Show Away", Voyagers, gun accidents on set, OJ Simpson in Cocaine and Blue Eyes, Betty White in "Just Men", daytime gameshows, Square Pegs, Beau Bridges TV movie directorial debut, playing John Ritter, knowing you won't get a part, The Greatest American Hero, Ed Koch: Confirmed Gay, mixing disparate half hour comedies, comedians being series in films, Dane Cook: Serial Killer, Dukes of Hazard, and the insanity of show biz.

This week Ken welcomes designer, host of Scotland's Home of the Year, former actor and all around one of the coolest people I've ever talked to, Anna Campbell-Jones to the show. Ken and Anna discuss Ken's plans to pull a heist and move to rural Scotland, First Love - Secrets, being a teen actor, Free Masons, The Word, Channel 4, The Young Ones, London in the 1970s, psychobilly, The Cramps, going to art school, negotiating viewing with siblings, how shows in the UK don't start on the 00s or 30s, The Radio Times vs. The TV Times, snooker, car racing, New Year's Day regret, police procedurals, Bergerac, Columbo, cute murders, The Wicker Man, Yul Brenner, loving musicals, South Pacific, Happy Talk, The Damned, Elvis, being recognized in public, nice comfortable TV, not applying your own tastes to everything, what home is about, The Repair Shop, un-PC TV, The Black and White Minstrel Show, James Bond, when Alternative Comedy became the mainstream, Teletext, Ceefax enthusiasts, Byker Grove, Ant and Dec, Grange Hill, Ant and Dec, what Dexter Fletcher wasn't in, Bugsy Malone, Paul Williams, Teen Disco Dance Championship, mid-century stuff, Doctor Who, Tom Baker, The Doctor Who Restoration Team, Tomorrow's World, Look Around You, when the future is the past, when TV was designed to just air once, The A-Team, the American World on Television, Cheers, The Sweeney, and the wonders of Christmas Specials.

8 Years and 500 (+) Episodes! In celebration we have a big announcement! We have a new theme song. Retiring "Television Addict" by the Hoodoo Gurus/The Victims, and replacing it with a song written and recorded JUST for the show by the great Josh Caterer (Smoking Popes), TV Guidance Counselor! Josh also has a new single out for the a Holidays, a great version of White Christmas. Also! Ken did his first face to face interviews since March 2020, and his first convention since November 2019. Here are two of the interviews from that con, NorthEast Comic Con. First up is Francois Clemmons who played Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Ken and Francois discuss how he became Officer Clemmons on the show, his trepidation about wearing a police uniform in 1969, being a helper, being a TV pioneer, the life philosophy of Fred Rogers, the importance of listening, not being Hollywood, how slow Fred was (in a good way), Won't You Be My Neighbor, why Tom Hanks was wrong in Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Spirituals, the benefit of recording in Pittsburgh, singing Opera, finding your light, integrated pools, being a teacher, and the Land of Make Believe Puppets. Next Ken talks to writer, actor, comedian Robert Wuhl. Ken and Robert discuss writing for Police Squad, auditioning for airplane, how quickly Police Squad was canceled, writing for Rodney Dangerfield, Leslie Neilson's fart machine, wanting to work with good people, The Hollywood Knights, why Tonight Show jokes from the 80s wouldn't fly today, Mary Lambert casing him in Madonna's Material Girl video, having one line in Flashdance, wanting your work to be seen, writing for the Oscars, auditioning for Barry Levinson, Casablanca Pictures, Bull Durham, Batman '89, table reads with Sean Young, how Michele Pfeifer was cast and fired from Batman '89, how Kim Basinger became "The Creature" and had the most leverage in Batman, how the worst audition ever still got Robert a job, Good Morning Vietnam, how John Glover was the original joker in Batman '89, how Warner Bros wanted to go full Batman '66 camp and cast Chevy Chase or Bill Murray as Batman, shooting in London at Pinewood Studios, how a trip to see Phantom of the Opera lead to Jack Nicholson having the entire ending of Batman changed, Robert's cameo on Supergirl, how hard it is to keep spoilers under wraps these days, rating all the Batman films, the band The New Bomb Turks, loving movies that are fun, the best Baseball movie ever, Robert's problems with Field of Dreams and the Natural, and the future of "Assume the Position".

This week Ken welcomes writer and film critic Erik Childress to the show. Ken and Erik discuss Chicago, basically growing up in Shermer, Crime Story, John Hughes, Harry Caray, the curse of the Cubs, Dawson's Creek, the loudest voices today who are right wing careerless jerks, The Clinton Era and disgraced politicians, Kevin Williamson, Patrick Stewart in Old West King Lear "King of Texas", Scotland PA, the early 00s late 90s obsession with modern takes on Shakespeare, Wish Men, Ken being totally stumped by a show Erik remembers, Lethal Weapon 2, Popeye, anthologies, "from the producers of...", The Screen Actors' Guild Awards, UPN trying to be irreverent, Everybody Loves Raymond, laughing through The Great Depression, avoiding Mario Cuomo, My So-Called Life on MTV, the tragic Dawson's Creek finale, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Quick and the Dead, Vampires, Horror Directors' non-horror work, Spin City, Michael J Fox, Newsradio, Ryan Reynolds, Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place, Friends, falling asleep to Bound, Sarah Brightman, The Real World Boston, bowling night, Seinfeld, ER, Sterling K Brown, Christopher Darden: Actor, Heavy Tobin Bell, March Madness, Patton, sleeping to Hardcore, Millennium, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, tiny actors, being a film critic, Siskel & Ebert, and the very odd star rating system of TV Guide.

This week Ken welcomes artist, novelist and listener Luke Geddes. Ken and Luke discuss central time, growing up in Wisconsin, Mountain Time, High Altitude baking instructions, Appleton, Caroline in the City, The Canada of America, the first Halloween after 911, the post VCR pre-web video era of lost media, how movies on the cover of TV Guide is cheating, Harry Potter, when Ken attended the premiere of Harry Potter in London, Nuns on the Run, nudity in PG-13 movies, Phil Donahue, how Bill O'Reiley has always been a dickhead, Static Shock, Justice League, Jeri Ryan in Boston Public, the legal class action suit against Blockbuster Video, being a video store outlaw, napping through the Jacobites, surely Susan Stewart, Nova, James Cromwell, Touched by an Angel, Saturday night Jesus, Halloween movies after Halloween, THE BRANIACS DOT COM, serialized movies, the downside of streaming, The Blair Witch Project, Freaks, dusting off old spec scripts as new content, how Ken ruined Crossing Jordan, Christopher Lloyd in TV movies, Freaks and Geeks on Fox Family, the fascinating mystery of Christopher Lowell, iOffer, bootlegs, unsold pilots on YouTube, Fraiser, Malcolm in the Middle, wacky sound FX instead of laugh tracks, holiday episodes being ABOUT the Holiday vs taking place during the Holiday, Scrubs, Ed, why Luke's wife's birthday is the worst day of the year for him, Nightmare on Elm St, According to Jim, Fright Night, The USA Network Daytime Line up GOLD, Boston Common, Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place, the long slow fall of NBC's Thursday Night, Inside Schwartz, Dark Angel, Dana Delaney, Wild Palms, Pasadena, Bob Saget, Mark Valley, pre-2000s "Prestige" TV, loving Sela Ward, Twin Peaks: The Return, being careful what you wish for, the horrors of Jay Leno, not having the Emmys after 911, Hollywood narcissism, and JJ Abrams hiring a REAL felon hacker for Alias.

October 3-9, 1992 This week Ken welcomes filmmaker, and all around talent, Shaina Feinberg to the show. Ken and Shaina discuss newly borns, how 1992 is a good year for Ken, Joan Rivers, The Real World, MTV, growing up in Manhattan, how big a difference a few years seems when you are younger, how people with a different style than you can seem way older, Bob Newhart, pitching a show for a 95 year old, home shopping network, the many phases of a creative career, directing a play, finding your direction in life later in life, having a ton of different jobs, favorite female directors, being a woman in a industry seen as a man's industry, Penelope Spheeris, shooting things in a pandemic, getting into directing via acting, Amy Heckerling, Martha Coolidge, My So-Called Life, Kate & Allie, Fringe, This Way Up, UK Shows, showing your kids positive role models, showcasing women, making Cheers now, doing staged readings of sitcom scripts, travel shows, food shows, Somebody Feed Phil, Anthony Bordain, Nailed It!, making documentaries about Shaina's mom, how people end up in Manhattan, how stand up comedy is like being a chef, wanting your kids to have a better life than you did, having a love of making stuff, having a lot of pans in the fire, wanting to write for Work in Progress, blue sky shows, not making shows with incredibly unlikable characters and introducing the youngest guest in the history of TV Guidance Counselor.

August 24-30, 1974 Another long time coming guest, this week Ken welcomes comedian Blaine Capatch to the show. Ken and Blaine discuss throwing to a clip, classic cars, 1974, growing up in PA, weird square back cars, music instruction schools, Godsmack, Stryper, bad metal bands, working in music stores, guitars, speculation without Googleation, Susie Blakley, 70s pantsuits, neighbors having cable, Blaine's Dad's barber shop, calling Sandy Frank, Battle of the Planets, Starblazers, MST3k, werewolves, monkey phases, Christopher Lee, Jimmy Walker, Funky Phantom, Inch High Private Eye, Mission Magic, Archie Bunker, figuring out which shows get long descriptions, sending away for out of business comic book ads, The Bob Newhart Show, Lorenzo Music, Julie Newmar, It Takes a Theif, Tonight from Harvard Square, the music of Hee Haw, insane Marlon Brando, starting comedy in Baltimore, John Waters, the slog of The Clash's Sandinista, Dom Delouise, The End, above ground pools, Marcus Welby, Roller Derby, Rock N Rollergames, Rod Hull and Emu, Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionics Action Club, jackets, Patton Oswalt, LQ Jones, Harlan Ellison, A Boy and His Dog, fresh made stories, Hollywood Squares, meeting Paul Williams, @midnight, The Brady Bunch house, Beat the Geeks, Dana Gould, Bobcat Goldthwait, Steve Martin, how Billy Crystal is nobody's favorite stand up comedian, SCTV, Martin Short, all blues shows, rock n roll revivals, and lemon flavored cigarettes.

This week Ken welcomes comedian and 2021 Montreal Comedy Festival New Face Jaye McBride to the show. Ken and Jaye discuss Brooklyn, Ken's Halloween looks and lifestyle, food based nicknames as dual purpose insult/compliment, growing up in rural upstate NY, The "Good" Mall, Maine, Vermont, Friday the 13th Park VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, going to Canada pre-911, kids hating technology, The House of Frankenstein Wax Museum, The Boston Strangler, Alex Karras's Wimps and Real Men, how actors are their character, hating Cagney and Lacey, TV Trivia and Easter Eggs, The Great St. Elsewhere delusion, cigarettes, Airwolf, Mama's Family, Sharon Stone, back door pilots, looking up to Benson, Isaac's bum deal, The Love Boat, Superman, classic Ned Beatty, Herve Vilichaize on Hee Haw, Liberace, Kate and Allie, Newhart, A-Team, Riptide, evil developers, Brooke Shields, Jaime Farr, Circus of the Stars, Alex Trebeck Human Bomb, I Had Three Wives, Sledge Hammer, Cheers, Night Court, Cosby, how everyone needs to have their own John Oates, Stacey Keach, stealing Lincoln's woman, Blue and the Grey, loving Civil War stuff, killing drug dealers, National Geographic, Free solo climbers, and Mark Harmon's incredibly unconvincing love of Coors beer.