TV Guidance Counselor

Today Ken welcomes author, comedian Mary Jo Pehl (Mystery Science Theater 3000) to the show. Ken and Mary Jo discuss being a TV Guide crossword puzzle answer, Jeopardy, Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Twin Cities, Minnesota, obsessions with Roddy McDowell, How Green was My Valley, planning your week around movies on TV, falling in love with men of questionable sexuality, Scott Baio, Happy Days, Lord Love a Duck, Laserblast, MST3K, panty hose freezing to your legs, coming from a big family, being a middle child, becoming an oracle of useless information in the pre-internet age, finally impressing your parents, the golden age of talk shows, loving guest stars, true broadcasting, Love Boat, The Twilight Zone, starting stand up in the boom, Mid-Western Comedy, A&E's Comedy on the Road, VH1 Stand Up, the life and death of Prince, not having a TV while you are on TV, understanding VCRs, the expense of consumer electronics, living in LA, staging the Bad Seed, the cruelty of the internet, not revisiting your past, Clonus: The Parts Horror, watching Better Call Saul, The Good Wife and Kickstarting RenFest.

September 9-15, 1978 FALL PREVIEW ALERT! Today Ken welcomes artist and former comedian Brian Gordon to the show. Ken and Brian discuss how long its been since they've seen each other, pneumatic tubes, temp jobs, ADHD, Brockton, Baseball, how crowd work skills can help communicate with people with autism, Ted Williams' frozen head, Ed Gein, The Cutting Edge, collecting artifacts, Maura Kelly replacing Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks, forgetting your superhero name, it's ok to mean well if things don't go well, Mork & Mindy, the death of Robin Williams, Three's Company, horny Don Knotts, Makin' It, parenting mistakes, athletic competitions among the world's biggest stars, Lavarr Burton: Non-American, Saugus, CHiPs, Barney Miller's theme song, "a black", Roots, Boston racism, Test Tube Babies, a Mad Magazine education, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H, Dragnet, One Day at a Time, teenage crushes, Marvel Comics on TV in the 1970s, Spider-Man, running scams at school, comic book collections, surf music, The K-9 Hall of Fame, the premier of Taxi, fascination with conjoined twins, Disco Popeye, why Thursday is the most important night of the week, and an emotional surprise from Brian.

August 26 - September 1, 1995 Today Ken welcomes comedian Jordan Handren-Seavey. Ken and Jordan discuss how to properly pronounce Jordan's last names, Maine, Saturday Night Life, doing impressions, adult humor, French, Potatoes, your first encounter with an African American, not having cable, MTV fishing, bootlegs, 100 episode strip shows, serialization, HBO, the golden age of TV bowling, being homeschooled, dyslexia, the new season, Dr. Quinn, The Olson Twins, Full House, Sabado Gigante, being beholden to the antenna, turning on the X-Men, bad comic adaptations, David Copperfield, radio on TV, The Beach Boys, Freddy Kruger, Windows 95, Alien Autopsy, Fraiser, John Larroquette Show, personally knowing Dave Barry, the phantom Must See TV Show, TV Nation, Picket Fences, and Geraldo's OJ addiction.

FALL PREVIEW ALERT! September 18-24, 1993 Today Ken welcomes comedian Matt Donaher to the show. Ken and Matt discuss how long it's been since he moved out of Boston, living in New Hampshire, Fall Previews, "The Blossom Question", George Foreman, The Mommies, Lois and Clark, Ripley's Believe it or Not, Stephanie Beacham, adopting nuns, Living Single, Boku', Juice Boxes, backpack slammin', The Bahama Beach Club, 16 and over dance venues, Nashua, NH, Ken's underage punk rock teenage years, The Palace, Male Encounter, Chippendale's vs. Chip & Dale, finding the male Hooters, strip clubs, bachelor parties, the lies men tell, bikini girls, stealing, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Who's the Boss, 1993: Year of Transition, The John Larroquette Show, The Trouble with Larry, SNICK, Clarissa Explains It All, working at Walmart as a teenager, Miss America, Many Moore, V, Cops, hateful In Living Color, All That, collecting things, Martin, The Emmys, It Had to Be You, Robert Urich, the depression of Nick News, Sunday night anxiety, RKO Studios vs. WRKO, the horrors of Howie Carr, Married...with Children, military families, German Desserts and the Fresh Prince, alter-egos, from sitcoms to movies, Murphy Brown, Evening Shade, Dave's World, The Chevy Chase Show, MTV, committing mail fraud with Columbia House, blankity blanking, Full House, Mr. Rhodes, documentaries about teachers, Roseanne, Castrati's, Soul Asylum, Unsolved Mysteries, Shame on You!, stealing change at carwashes, Amanda Donohoe as the Substitute, Home Improvement, Grace Under Fire, Mad About You, Sinbad vs. Wings, Seinfeld's Puffy shirt, James Carey as "Snow", Herman's Head, The Single Guy, made-for-TV Blossom movies, Boy Meets World, and why Ken will NEVER be "a Cody".

Today Ken welcomes actress Teresa Ganzel (The Toy, The Tonight Show, The Duck Factory) to the show. Ken and Teresa discuss Air BnB, The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson, Teachers Only, Jean Smart, TV dating etiquette, a Mid-West Youth, calling your shots, Filthy Rich, being roommates with Delta Burke, The Toy, Jackie Gleason, Richard Pryor, Aliens among us, working with Milton Berle, The Duck Factory, Jay Ward, Jim Carey, the TV vs. Film divide, Roxy, Andrea Martin, Kate & Allie, Godspell, SCTV, Mark Ganzel, Barry Kemp, The Popcorn Kid, Fresno, The Monkees vs. Gidget, falling in love with California, taking classes from Lucille Ball, Taylor Negron, game shows, $10,000 Pyramid, when Dick Cavett is too smart to win, Press Your Luck, being the "dice girl" on TV Yatzee, the backstage dirt on The Dating Game chaperons, The $1.98 Beauty Pageant, John Ritter, Three's Company, Bob Newhart, not watching yourself, Richard Mulligan, Empty Nest, the voice over world, the power of face to face communication, Viagra Falls, The Hollywood Christmas Parade, The Grinder, wishing for Seinfeld and celebrating a new golden age of weirdness.

October 31st - November 6, 1987 Today Ken welcomes long time Boston comedy friend and fellow comedian Tommy Rico to the show. Ken and Tommy discuss Stoneham, Mario Cantone, Nancy Kerrigan, Killer Kowalski, SNL, childhood chaos, anti-ethnic racism in the Boston area, insomnia, horror movies, marital compromise, bring up Chuck, Latinos, local sports, Boston Stand Up, media knowledge, fandom, Burn Notice, young people's lack of historical knowledge, Halloween, TV38 vs. WLVI TV 56, The Legend of Dana Hersey, Force Five, Starblazers, Japanese shows, "Japanamation", living in all three time zones, living with a murderer, The Midnight Hour, Women in Prison, Amen, Joe Piscapo, Dabney Coleman hosting SNL with the Cars and Elvira, The Exorcist, Werewolf, Spenser for Hire, Family Ties, Married...with Children, hormonal viewing choices, classic movie theaters, Hiding Out with John Cryer, 'Night Mother, Raptors, Made for TV Movies, the evils of big Oil, primetime Alyssa Milano, Video Gallery, Petey's hatred of Tommy, Moonlighting, Telemarketers, Hooperman vs. Slap Maxwell, Magnum PI, Sledge Hammer, Cheers, Beverly Hills Buntz, James Bond, WWF, and the magic of I Married Dora.

September 14-20, 1985 Today Ken welcomes magician par excellence voice over actress Misty Lee and writer, husband of Misty Lee, Paul Dini to the show. Ken, Paul and Misty discuss Catholic mediation, online ordination, Maker's Mark, keeping the tip, TV 1985, working on the Eworks and Droids Show, Filmation's Lou Scheimer, crushing Chris Rock's dreams, "nyeah neah" characters, Detroit, It's Punky Brewster, Ann Jillian, Jennifer Slept Here, Baby Space Bands, Muppet Babies, Comic Book Talk, the constant need to re-origin, speaking the geek, Hee Haw, Schmoo, Children of the Corn as comedy sketch show, Dolly Parton, Sears WishBooks, pneumatic tubes, Hot tub white castle super bowl sunday, old racist complaints, Airwolf, Golden Girls, Spielberg's obsession with fat shaming children, The Garbage Pail Kids, the secret origins of Aladdin, the changing face of entertainment, owning your own work, The Famous Teddy Z, Ken's "Elvis List", The Ramones, Batman the Animated Series, Clint Howard, Jungle Book, made for tv swears, Melon Farmer, chuckle heads, donut drunk, Love Boat, Fall Previews, C.C. Deville, the power of Greg Proops, misdirection, practicing, magic, complaining about millennials, terrible comedy, and earning your pop culture loves.

April 11-17, 1998 Today Ken welcomes actress and educator Elaine Loh to the show. Ken and Elaine discuss LA vs. Boston, getting a manager, being too old, getting into the Union from Boston, already having an Asian girl, racial stereotypes, diversity in Hollywood, The Mickey Mouse Club, Kids Incorporated, Chuck, annoying celebrities, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Christial Bale, Newsies, bite sized viewing, growing up in Asia, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, casting yourself in network TV Shows, crime nurses, meeting Betty White, your grandparents encouraging lack of understanding, Martin Short, Suddenly Susan, the death of the family sitcom, The Love Boat redux, acting on Passions, Soaps, Everybody Loves Raymond, having lunch with Xander, Soul Man, action Priests, working with Bob Saget, meeting Tim "The Toolman" Taylor, Newsradio, Golden Girls, being from Boston not Canton, Cybill, Ken's crush on Alicia Witt, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Wonder Years, body switching, and a unexplained love of Sex Crimes.

Today Ken welcomes actress Joanna Going (Dark Shadows, House of Cards, Kingdom) to the show. Ken and Joanna discuss growing up in Newport, RI, moving to New York to act in Soap Operas, Dark Shadows, shooting Outpost in Pinewood Studios in Slough UK, disparaging Jazz, moving toward comedy from heavy drama, growing up in a big family, breaking your life into color and B&W, loving Shirley Temple movies, Little House on the Prairie, books vs. television series, a childhood desire to live in "olden time", Micky Mouse Club, Brady Bunch, playing Partridge Family, Love American Style, Room 222, Julia, Nurse by day Go-Go Dancer by Night, Fat Albert, scary sailor tattoo parlors, Providence, Family Guy, being ahead of the times, The 1991 Dark Shadows, Dan Curtis, The Wizard of Oz, watching movies annually as a ritual, the golden age of the mini-series, Kingdom on Direct TV, trying to get a 12 year old to experience communal TV watching, Disney taking up the three camera sitcom mantle, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Mad Men, House of Cards, auditioning blind, going through the looking glass, the divide of TV Actors and Movie actors, the death of the traditional season, telling your parents your an actor, work ethic, understated New England, your first autograph request, special forces Soap Opera training, Orphan Black, Aziz Ansari, loving television with heart, Twin Peaks, and My So-Called life going on.

February 3-9, 1990 Today Ken welcomes old friend, comedian and broadcaster Brian Moote to the show. Ken and Brian discuss Brian's S-Town confusion, Nancy Kerrigan, Wonky Roundabouts, Seattle, stand up booking you an apartment, TV Guide collages, Whidbey Island, not having cable, "the other side", Grunge, Canadian sports, Seattle Seahawks, The BOZ, The Real World slap heard round the world, living through morning radio, a love of Basketball, being all the way Irish, 227, COPS, Golden Girls, America's Funniest Home Videos, prank shows, prakin' Stevie Wonder, Money from Strangers with Jeff Dye, What Would You Do?, The Simpsons, banning Married...with Children and In Living Color, Friday the 13th The Series, catching chickens, Woods Pornography, buying things meant for 18 year olds, MacGuyver, loggin' lumberjacks, ALF, Valerie, Aliens, The Wonder Years, giving comedians tags, loving Roseanne but hating DJ, Star Trek, Elvis, Ken's unnatural love of Growing Pains, the youngest being conscripted into antenna duty, Unsolved Mysteries, Ogo-Pogo, Drexel's Class, Doogie Howser, being an undiscovered child genius, buying condoms, Spaceballs, sudden loss of power, Cosby Show, Step by Step, TGIF, loving Family Matters, the debut of The Bradys, race-car drivers, Animal House, and Ken's undying love of Just the Ten of Us.