TV Guidance Counselor

May 11 - 17, 1985 Today Ken welcomes comedian, producer Michelle Barbera (Women in Comedy Festival) to the show. Ken and Michelle discuss Worcester, seasonal colds, dirty pictures at work, working in the mall, being the TV fan in an academic household, dirty wallpaper, drinking tobacco spit, Papa Gino's, Steven Wright, being a comedy nerd, Monty Python, Love Boat, Network, Computer Dating, Made for TV Movies, being a flipper, love triangles, Letting Go of the romance between John Ritter and Sharon Gless, Moscow on the Hudson, Gimme A Break!, Jonathan Silverman as Jonathan, Hallmark pictures mob inspired marketing Vomit Bags for Mark of the Devil, Elvira, V66, The Cure, WFNX, drinking games, George Michael's Sports Machine, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dallas, political cartoons, The Far Side, outdated dating, The Great Santini, Merchant Ivory, UMASS Amherst's awful music taste, Miss America vs. Miss USA, Charlie Brown, sweeps week, Florida: Mystique or Mistake?, Satanic Panic, The Rats of Nym, Don Bleuth's underrated Disney Run, Z for Zachariah, almost dying, Ralph Baksi, Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell, WCVB's Chronicle, being a goth kid, the opening credits of Mystery, Highway to Heaven, Bill Cosby: Monster, Family Ties, It's Your Move, Michelle's crush on Jonathan Ward, why funerals might be a rip off, loving the McNeil Lerra report, Garfield's 9 Lives, Heavy Metal, and the move to re-rebrand illustrators as commercial artists.

Today Ken welcomes writer/producer Anne Beatts (SNL, Square Pegs, A Different World) Ken and Anne discuss the sadness of rain soaked inaugurations, golden showers, writing TV ads in London, Canada, National Lampoon, Freddy the Pig, The New Yorker, being suspended from the McGill Daily, Queen for a Day, Quiz Shows, aluminium extrusions, Michael O'Donohue, Mad Men, how cigarettes funded National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live, "no flies around the head..", Walter Crankcase, The Californians, when Lorne Michaels left SNL, SCTV, Martin Short, Nathan Thurme, Dobie Gillis, Square Pegs, The Waitresses, dealing with network notes, Tracy Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Devo, getting killed by Little House on the Prairie, beverage signals, Trojan Horses, Mainway Industries Unsafe Christmas Toys, Ken's favorite SNL sketch, A Different World, creating Dwayne Wayne and Whitley, Peter Bonerz, The Elvira Show, Julie Brown, appreciating tween media, Bill Murray, Al Franken, why people on TV can't smoke pot, The Keith Moon deposit, staging a "piss in", network censors, why you can't say tits on TV, Square Pegs in the TV Guide Fall Preview of 82, and being robbed of the Rolling Stone cover photo due to your own boasting.

October 17-23, 1987 Today Ken welcomes comedian Jon Fisch to the show. Ken and Jon discuss the rivalries of Newton, MA, Dolly Parton's sexy western Mrs Claus outfit, when Christmas isn't Christmas, exposes on undercover TV news programs, dirty bookstores, $14.22 slacks, The World Series, the 1986 Red Sox loss to the Mets, getting peed on at Fenway Park, Fever Pitch, The New Adventures of Beans Baxter, Golden Girls, Star Search, Duet, Family Ties, At This Moment by Billy Vera and the Beaters, My Two Dads, Eight is Enough, WLVI TV56, watching your parents laugh. Late Night with David Letterman, Murphy Brown, Barney Miller, insulting Boston cops, Kate & Allie, Newhart, Made for-TV movies, Nancy McKeon, The Day My Kid Went Punk. Streets of Fire, hatred of Southern shows, Crime Story, growing up in the wrong family, growing up Jewish, Highway to Heaven, Growing Pains, It's Gary Shandling's Show, Ferris Buhler's Day Off, editing, The Cosby Show, A Different World, Cheers, Night Court, Sinbad, being enraged by pre-preemption, Baby Jessica, Jon's first television appearance, Keith David, Community, Thursdays at 9pm, $50 fine and time served, Miami Vice, The Flamingo Kid, Rags to Riches, fearing 20/20, and the wonder of an all Cheers week.

March 10 - 16, 1979 Today Ken welcomes singer/songwriter Juliana Hatfield to the show. Ken and Juliana discuss suburban potholes, garbage collection, the TV room, Six Million Dollar Cliff Hangers, James at 15, market research, Lance Kerwin, After School Specials, Dukes of Hazard, "Southern" TV, Love Boat, Mary Tyler Moore, The Comforting ritual of television, the revelation of the sexy librarian, Vietnam, Law and Order, Iraq War vets, loving Donny & Marie, Coma, The Rockford Files, Father/Son relationships, different actors playing the same character, soap opera understudies, Dirk Benedict, Battlestar Gallactica, dreamy Richard Hatch, In Search Of, Starsky & Hutch, goofy pimps, why the Six Million Dollar man is infinitely boring, The Bionic Woman's superiority, revisiting your childhood, McMillan and Wife, Rock Hudson, real couples on camera, the Night Stalker, why TV is better when pretty people aren't on it, Miami Vice, store brand generic music on TV, Bugsy Malone, Foxes, Over the Edge, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, One Day at a Time, the wonders of television hair, Eight is Enough, the Facts of Life theme, The Jeffersons, Farah Fawcett, Charlie's Angels, Mork & Mindy, Jonathan Winters, Quincy M.E., mustache free Dads, Magnum P.I., The Day My Kid Went Punk, Donna Reed, The Incredible Hulk, shredded indestructible pants, Dallas, aspirational television, and the ritual of Dr. Phil.

Today Ken welcomes model, actress, author and ex-wife of Rock N Roll Bobbie Brown to the show. Ken and Bobbie discuss always thinking it's Friday, drug problem induced lateness, Miss Teen USA, Miss Louisiana, always wearing the sash, The Jeffersons, modeling, High School popularity, Saturday Night Live, Three's Company, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Yuck Mouth Public Service Announcements, Soul Train, Kids Inc, Night Flight, Dance Party USA, Star Search, falling into acting, Married...with Children, self sabotage, In Living Color, seeing Jim Carrey Live on the Sunset Strip, Physical Comedy, people doing stand up but not calling it stand up, Henry Rollins, why comedians are depressed, Baywatch Nights, Mike Hammer, meeting Bo Derek in one of the most unnatural ways possible, Kevin McDonald, The Kids in the Hall, Dom Delouise, Kel, Newsradio, Warrant's Cherry Pie video, Fraggle Rock, Motley Crue, having posters on your wall as a teen of people you would later be engaged to, being bad with money, how the internet emboldens people to say the worst things, writing fan letters, Ex-Wives of Rock, and remembering Phil Hartman.

Today Ken welcomes former MTV News Anchor, journalist and current photographer Tabitha Soren to the show. Ken and Tabitha discuss growing up in a Military family, living in Germany, reading American Children's books from the Philippines, living in an Olivia Newton John world, the culture shock of the Florida panhandle, learning the social rules of America, musical folders through the mail, Bewitched, Charlie's Angels, The Brady Bunch, being obsessed with Farrah Fawcett, Gary Marshall, modern children's aversion to the olden days, hating Land of the Lost, the horrors of HR Puffnstuff, Donny & Marie in Las Vegas, NYU, Saturday Night Fever, working in radio, the Beastie Boys' Fight For Your Right to Party video, working at CNN, the CNN "End of the World" video, Diane Sawyer, developing an emotional callus as a reporter, being a news anchor in Vermont, New England directions, the Today Show, Dateline, Kurt Loder, Tupac, starting "Choose or Lose", the '92 Presidential Election, MTV News, Stevie Nicks, The Joe Perry Project, loving Aerosmith, interview Guns N Roses in the early days, loving John Oliver, interviewing Bill Clinton, and enjoying the new Golden Age of Television.

November 14-20, 1998 Today in an episode recorded in the basement of ImprovBoston Ken welcomes comedian Liz Miele to the show. Ken and Liz discuss beer and trophies, stand ups on TV, Titus, mental illness, Robin Williams, Friends, The Simpsons, Kazaam, Shaq's career, loving cartoons, ProStars,Cops, True Crime, growing up with Veterinarian parents, banned TV, being one of five children, Cartoon Network, Dexter's Lab, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, growing up in New Jersey, Aargh! Real Monsters, Invader Zim!, being Goth, Angry Beavers, Dinosaurs, Alex Trebek on Baywatch, Mad About You, Emergency Vets, All Cat Clinics, ring worm, Chinchilla's leg amputations, Twister, Pizza & Movies, being banned from Pizza Hut, the horrors of comedy clubs, Ally McBeal, Mariah Carey Videos, Bill Cosby is a monster, Yo! MTV Raps, R&B, hating Boy Bands, TLC, Creepin Karaoke, RUN DMC, 1977 The Coolest Year in Hell, Janet Jackson's janet., Kegels, David Spade, hating offices, Stephen King's Different Seasons, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Chris Morris' Blue Jam, Roseanne, the turn on of male protection, roommates, The Brave Little Toaster, Thanksgiving TV, not enjoying Veronica's Closet, World's Wildest Police Videos, and avoiding "Pee" Soup.

February 24 - March 2, 1990 Today Ken welcomes Actor/Writer Brice Beckham to the show. Ken and Brice discuss Ken annoying Brice, The Challenger disaster, TV Movies, "Too soon", Rob Stone, hosting Saturday Morning Preview Specials, The Gummy Bears, Disney TV, Pound Puppies, starting as a radio ad man, Daws Butler, Dave Coulier as Richard Pryor, guesting starring on Alice, how small a TV studio seems when you first see it in person, Mr. Belvedere, growing up in Long Beach, staying out of the "teen actor" cliche game, mid-season replacements, S.O.S. (Save Our Shows), The "Manny" subgenre, Barney Miller, Bob Ueker, tone shifts, "Very Special Episodes", AIDS, The Hogan Family, the cruel Valerie producers, "Wesley's Friend", gallows humor, Network Upfronts, learning the ins and outs of the odd Network Affiliate system, ABC-TV, the Camp Counselor episode, Family Matters, Just the Ten of Us, having a crush on the Lubbock Babes, Growing Pains, 20th Century Fox, Sunset Gower Studios, It's Gary Shandling Show, Sister Kate, I Married Dora, 4th Wall Breaking mind blowers, The Charmings, Family Ties, Michael J. Fox, American Dreamer, Robert Urich, Boston's lies, Spencer for Hire, Dolly, the Dolly Parton Variety show from 1987, stage work, Charles in Charge, Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, I Hate My 30s, Animal Crack-Ups, Teen Win, Lose or Draw!, Hollywood Squares, Ken's favorite episode of Burn Notice, Mike Horowitz, Edinburgh Festival's Carnal Desire, Soft-Core TV, writing for Richard Roundtree, being a movie buff, being a loner, switchblade combs, endorsement deals from Nike, Two Teens and a Baby, gangs dance fighting, Maureen Flannigan, Kirk, Jodie Sweetin, Casey Ellison the hardest working kid in showbiz, Twin Peaks, The Outsiders, loving B-Horror, Up All Night, TCM, AMC, Paranormal Activity, Terrorvision, Nick at Nite, and an education from cable tv.

In the first (and maybe only) mini-episode of TV Guidance Counselor Investigates, Ken explores the strange case of Mr. Rogers vs. The KKK

Today Ken welcomes Don Stratley and Phil Hopkins of The Film Detective to the show. Ken, Don and Phil discuss the wonders of stumbling on things, regional television, The Combat Zone, the case for curation, Horror Hosts, Simon's Sanctorum, Dana Hersey, The Movie Loft, TV38, Ask the Manager, shared experience, Cult Classics, Three Stooges, Creature Double Features, taking photos off your TV set, archiving long lost television, the future of media, Something Weird Video, Punk rock and grindhouse, Collector Culture, saving Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, Carnival Magic, Mr. Big's Toyland, Ultraman, It's a Wonderful Life, The Twilight Zone, Dan Curtis, Made for TV Movies, The Cabot Theater, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Midnight Movies, Poor Devil, movie buff, Ed Wood Jr., Dana Gould, the wonders of context, the importance of sincerity, Mystery Science Theater 3000, the life and death of Irony, Rondo Hatton, streaming services, fetishistic Beta, The Giant Spider Invasion and a typical Saturday.