TV Guidance Counselor

UK TV Times August 23-29, 1986 August 23-29, 1986 UK TV Times The international virtual travel continues during lockdown as this week Ken welcomes the fabulous Scottish TV Presenter/Stand Up Comedian and radio personality Julia Sutherland to the show. Ken and Julia discuss old timey radio, the conspiracy theory of the government's spying, panel shows, UK TV and Radio Times, doing stand up on U.K.'s Got Talent, missing some UK TV because you were teaching snowboarding in Vale, CO, Ant and Dec, Biker Grove, London Palladium, age ain't nothing but a number, TV licenses, Julia's father's collection or Radio and TV times, being a STV continuity presenter, Ken's dogs, The Wide Awake Club, Julia's first joke on TV, Timmy Mallett, Neighbors, Home and Away, crime series, serial killers, Jim Thompson, Poirot, The Salem Witch Trials, wanting to be a Crime Profiler, Taggart, Glasgow, Broadchurch, "Dallasty", ads for awful products, fashion, Joan Collins, The Doomsday Project, Gaz Top, sketch shows, Absolutely, Morwenna Banks, meeting your heroes, learning by doing, Role playing games, the wasteland of TV that is Sundays in the UK, why there are so many Scots in Canada, The Highland Clearances, The Campbells and being on it as a child, Spitting Image, Red Dwarf, Jimmy Tarbuck, quiz shows, The Good The Band and the Unexpected, Stop the Press, Dylan Moran, Bullseye, the greatest ad in the history of the world, Sure Deodorant, What's My Line?, Eamonn Andrews, This Is Your Life, Blockbusters, Take the High Road, Let's Face It, what a face actually is, The Sullivans, Electronic Program Guides, The Yellow Pages, J.R. Hartley, SuperMarionation, Gerry Anderson, Terrahawks, The Stand UK Club, why Thursdays are the best night to do stand up, The Golden Girls, not "getting" Bruce Forsyth, Cosby Show, and all the great stand up comedian who are not sex pests.

August 15-21, 1998 CANADIAN EDITION The lockdown sessions continue as Ken welcomes another international guest, the incredible vlogger, magician and Canadian YouTube sensation Joseph DeBenedictis. Ken and Joseph discuss the differences between Canadian and American TV Guide, Durgy Spade, David Blaine, making your own videos pre-YouTube, stage magic vs. street magic, being the oldest sibling, passing around VHS tapes, Canadian magazine pride, Canadian Content laws, SCTV, Toronto, Twitch City, Don McKellar, David Cronenberg, Last Night, being an unstructured mess, Hockey Night in Canada, comedy sketches, always wanting to do video production, The Comedy Network, America's Funniest Home Videos, YTV, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, SNICK, having a 1 and 1/2 year old, being unproductive in lockdown, The Simpsons, LBJ's Presidency, PBS vs. CBC, Read All About It, Comedy Now, Canadian Stand Up, Dr. Katz, Last Comic Standing, Who's Child is This?, Baby Jessica, OnTV, Channel 11, This Hour has 22 Minutes, Mike Wilmont, Everybody Loves Raymond, Miss Teen USA, Buffalo NY, Much Music, Pearl Jam, having a go to "home" channel, The Truman Show, reality TV, Jim Carrey movies, Liar Liar, The Joe Schmo Show, Kristen Wiig, Breaking the Magician's Code, Penn and Teller, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Doug Henning, The Mike Bullard Show, doing stand up, Gerry Dee, Mr. D, Just for Laughs, Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show, Who's Line is it Anyway?, The Amazing Richard Turner, Dealt, Ricky Jay, The Beaches Jazz Festival, YouTube, Candid Camera, not revealing the joke, and the CFL (Canadian Football League) and how it changed Joseph's life.

August 31 - September 6, 1968 The remote sessions chug along as Ken welcomes longtime Ken Reid hero, original MST3k space castaway Joel Hodgson. Ken and Joel discuss drinks, the free newspaper TV Guide, blue collar butlers, major appliances, Isaac Asimov writing about The Prisoner, PBS, Python, The Rover, local TV Guide art and ads, golf tournaments, how impressive the speed and accuracy of TV Guide was, Philly, local TV, watching school, the farm report, Bozo, Wisconsin, SCTV Celebrity Blow Up, using TV to learn how to be an adult, the stand up boom, late night DJs, broadcasting into the ether, wondering how TV got made, local horror hosts, Green Bay's Horror Host Alexander on WFRV's Eerie Street, Alexander's parking space, Ken's Dad on Bozo, Carol Spinney, dancing with a robot to a swing song called Chicken Curry, High School USA, auditioning for Woody on Cheers, being alone together, when singles turned to albums, AOR radio, The Omega Man, being a big fish in a small pond, public domain monster movies, writing for Jerry Seinfeld, knowing your place in showbiz, appearing on SNL, profound advice from Joe Piscopo, getting to write your own stuff, using an indie rock model to make television, why stress is the enemy of creativity, The Mike Douglas Show, and TV produced outside of New York and L.A.

September 21-27, 1985 In our first international remote episode Ken welcomes writer, director, VR innovator and all around new BFF Anna Lee to the show. Ken and Anna discuss Canadian lockdown, YouTube, Tik Tok, being an editor, Highlander the Series, The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, Canadian Tax Shelter Horror Films, Vancouver, Toronto, David Cronenberg, mo-cap, digital animation, Pin: A Plastic Nightmare, Scanners, Cube, Karate, Martial Arts, opening for Bruce Lee, stoicism, Jamaica, focus and discipline, 2049 Entertainment, learning by doing, other people paying for your mistakes, selling papers, Degrassi, Golden Girls, The Facts of Life, moving to Toronto in 1984, seeing snow for the first time, seeing Superman and having it change your life, breaking the fourth wall, Harder They Come, Popcorn, Midnight Movies, Ken's wish to do a red carpet event, the reality of a red carpet event, starting as a child actor, efficiency, editing in camera, VR pornography, innovation due to lack of resources, feeling vs. plot, the importance of soundtracks, Blade Runner, being in a reality show, Bruce Campbell, the importance of putting in time and committing to finding something, the original version of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, meeting Seka, befriending your heroes, the generation who won't pay for things, the future of entertainment, Nocturna, Vamp, Fright Night, Grace Jones documentary Bloodlight and Bami, loving Katheryn Bigelow, Point Break, living through multiple financial crises, running a phone sex company, freaking out, not knowing how to unplug, balls, Who's The Boss?, Growing Pains, Gimme a Break, Small Wonder, Remington Steele, Pierce Brosnon, Highway to Heaven, growing up Catholic, Quantum Leap, working with the same people over and over again, Epix Sex Life, Night Court, the tallest cast in TV, Bruce Willis, Knight Rider, Twilight Zone, Webster, being a car person, Audi 5000, Dodge Challenger, To Live and Die in LA, visiting Los Angeles, Sidekicks, watching ANY martial arts media, Brandon Lee, Martial Law with Sammo Hung, and being BFFs now.

March 21 - 27, 1970 This week Ken welcomes Go-Go, and author of the great new memoir "All I Ever Wanted", Kathy Valentine. Ken and Kathy talk about how ubiquitous TV Guide used to be, stumbling upon Suzie Quatro on Top of the Pops as a kid and having your life changed, how television helped The Go-Gos get big, radio vs. tv, procrastination, watching your old clips, playing on SNL, sexist ads, cartoons, George of the Jungle, TV theme songs, Mission Impossible, ad jingles, I Dream of Jeanie, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, serial killers, how TV would stop some times, Davey and Goliath and LSD, The Archies, not liking the Monkees, Kurt Russell's teenage singing career, meeting Burt Ward, Westerns, Austin Texas, the 1987 Writer's Strike, why Monday is the greatest TV night, Hollywood Squares, Paul Lynde, how the Munsters helped Kathy's sobriety, It Takes a Thief, doing something nice for someone, Dick Cavett, Day of the Triffids, Art Linkletter, knowing Johnny Cash, pipe organ enthusiasts, Joel Grey singing the hot hits of the day for the kids, Agnes Moorehead, wanting to be an ad exec, supportive mothers, Here Come the Brides, Where the Boys Are, snarky TV Guide descriptions, Buffy St. Marie, cigarettes, hating Hee Haw, re-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, Better Call Saul, and realizing how your time on Earth is limited and feeling a need to get things done.

October 7-13, 1978 The remote sessions continue as this week Ken welcomes super listener, and creator of "TV Guidance Counselor Bingo", Eric Fusco, for some talk about being alone together. Ken and Eric discuss how to pronounce Fusco, Italians, birthday weeks, when baseball ruins everything, Richard Dreyfuss dramadies, Rhoda, working with people younger than you who don't know anything, shows that represent NYC, The Warriors, hardcore shows, the 1970s obsession with aliens, knowing what cars are going to get wrecked, CHiPs, Love Boat, Battlestar Gallactica, Archie Bunker, Sam the Butcher's Drinking Problem, The Gumball Rally, pimple popping, WKRP, punk rock episodes, Ray Boulger, fighting M*A*S*H with M*A*S*H, Doctor shows, surgery, SCTV, Sally Kirkland, modeling schools, Mercedes McCambridge, Vega$, U.F.O., Space 1999, Project UFO, In Search Of..., What's Happening parodies, Quincy M.E., The Muppet Show, Ken's interview with John Cleese, feeling incredibly old, horny Bernie Kopell, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, using Roddy McDowell's bathroom, the plague of tennis pros, Big John Hamilton, westernization of Chinese TV, Timeless, Time After Time, Match Game, and not always being able to relax by watching old TV.

This week Ken welcomes long time friend and author of the excellent new memoir, Let's Never Talk About This Again, Sara Faith Alterman. Ken and Sara discuss strict parents, Ken's mistaken memory of Sara being an only child, Larry, Sara's Three Categories of TV: Things she was allowed to watch, things her parents like so she could watch, and things she desperately wanted to watch but couldn't, The Thornebirds, being a drama and choir nerd, Growing Pains, Gimme a Break, loving Nell Carter, jazz cigarettes, Chuck Berry, Reefer Madness, Back to the Future, sneaking TV, pajamas, gender fluid children, loving dinosaurs, "all we are is what we're told and most of that is lies", feety vs footy, Ain't Misbehavin', It's Your Move, Married...with Children, Massive Boner Alert: MBA, sneaking sugar, forbidden cookies, being impulsive and obsessive, no longer having to keep knowledge, cliffhangers, over the top badness, teenager soaps, being never home alone, sadistic bakers, The Frugal Gourmet, murderous Julia Child, Star Search, Chicago, strip teases, writing Ben Vereen a letter, Zoobily Zoo, Shelly Duval's Faerie Tale Theater, and Swan's Crossing fueled sexual awakening.

April 11-17, 1981 This week Ken welcomes film critic, podcaster and good dude Scott Weinberg to the show. Ken and Scott discuss Philadelphia, Larry Fine, Billy West, Ed Asner, The Doom Patrol, Wilfred Brimley, how Jack Kirby is the Architect of 21st Century Pop Culture, how movies became big budget exploitation movies, Made For-TV movies, loving genre movies, Star Wars rip offs, Logan's Run, Battlestar Gallactica, Goliath Awaits, Barbara Eden, TV shows based on movies, the difficulty of telling an ongoing story on TV, Sledgehammer, Airplane!, Police Squad, the all time funniest joke in the history of the world, The Incredible Hulk, The Hulk Out List, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, bottle episodes, innovation, Square Pegs, Fast Times, laugh tracks, V, Ken Johnson, Alien Nation, Midnight Run sequels, Splash Too, 9 to 5, The Jerk Too, Revenge of the Nerds, WKRP, Fantasy Island, Love Boat, Happy Days, Mr. Mom, Ann Jillian, It's a Living vs Making a Living, first run syndication, Baywatch, Charles in Charge, Heaven on Earth, god shows, pilots, Real People, That's Incredible!, Those Amazing Animals, Working Stiffs, It's Your Move, Quincy, Little House knock offs, Three's Company, Laverne and Shirley, Too Close for Comfort, Dukes of Hazard, Greatest American Hero, loving John Ritter, John Candy, Phil Hartman, the mystery of "Enis", the wonder of Brooke Shields, loving when actors get better, the nature of criticism, Fangoria, parental disapproval, Mad Magazine, and figuring out why certain movies aren't for kids.

This week Ken continues the Global Pandemic Sessions with a belated chat with actor, writer, producer Stephanie Erb. Ken and Stephanie discuss being a jobbing actor, the unfriendly world of stand up comedy, improv, Therapy with Pami, playing a slutty babysitter on Unsolved Mysteries, being Spock's girlfriend, growing up loving Star Trek, appearing on Star Trek the Next Generation, being judged, taping Star Trek on audio tapes as a kid, crushing on Leonard Nimoy, kissing carpets, why Boston accents are Vulcan cannon, copying Patrick Stewart, making dreams come true, not being able to watch yourself, being humble, how hard it is to get a gig, blue collar acting, being a character actor, Peter Weir's Fearless, Jeff Bridges, theater, multi-cam sitcoms, creepy messages from Two and a Half Men, why Jon Cryer is great, the boring world of procedural dramas, making your own content, re-investing in yourself, the uncharted world of media in 2020, ABCD Roles (Anybody Can Do It), when theater goes away, working with Tom Hanks on The Naked Truth, wanting to marry David Tennant, wanting to play a glamorous badass, nerdy roles, why being pre-med makes you like playing Doctors, jargon, and keeping your bug stomping shoes from Starship Troopers.

September 19-25, 2004 This week Ken continues the remote sessions as he welcomes comedian, adult performer and vintage Care Bears collector Kate Kennedy to the show. Ken and Kate discuss temperatures, The Valley, growing up in Colorado, Artisinal Pornography in Portland Oregon, militant vegan strip clubs, pop up Pirate Restaurants, Colorado conservatism, OM, South Park, Denver Comic Con, the mile high can't breathe club, stopping the culture clock in the early 90s, growing up sheltered from modern times, pirating Skins onto your video iPod, being a teenage booze distributor, why nerdy teens love SNL, getting started in stand up because your first onscreen anal is canceled, loving Cheers and Jeers, growing up in a DirectTV Household, Weekend Update, depression, why you don't need to suffer to be funny, seeing the cracks in the world, being socially awkward, validation, moving apartments, when TV Guide switched from starting on Saturdays to starting on Sunday, team Netflix vs. team Blockbuster, Harry Potter, lego, Antiques Roadshow, Tote Bags, This Old House, Unwrapped, weird mannequins in Ireland, factory tours, Gilmore Girls, renovation on a budget, indie movies, The Patriot Act, the start of the TSA, why Ken and Kate don't think people should trust them, Hamtaro, What Not to Wear, cowlicks, dressing down exactly like the person you are dating, the big Candy Expo, Turkish Delight, going on the Jessica Fletcher walking tour, mom and pop dungeons, snacks and S&M, getting kicked out of the Christian Grey apartment, orgies, never becoming President, the germ warfare of open mics, blacklisting and being the Marc Summers of porn.