TV Guidance Counselor

Latest Episodes:

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 490: John Sayles Sep 25, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes writer, director, actor, and one of Ken's most looked up to Renascence Men, John Sayles.

Ken and John discuss outer space, TV as babysitter, how 1960 was far before Ken was born, late night TV, inappropriate commercials, human remote controls, the lack of choice, 30 Westerns on TV, Have Gun Will Travel, signature guns, TV theme songs, how you set the tone and mood for a story, Wanted Dead or Alive, Steve McQueen, how some actors are just cool, Ernie Kovacs, sight gags, surreal TV, The Rebel, Nick Adams wannabe status, Johnny Cash singing the theme to The Rebel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, how The British actually really love Murder, Elmer Bernstein's theme to Johnny Staccato, John Cassavetes, west coast white jazz musicians, the Ed Sullivan Show, variety shows, Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Gang, SCTV, The Beatles, Jackie Mason flipping off America on live TV, Peter Gunn, lack of ambiguity in television, first seeing color on TV in a baseball game, learning story structure via watching TV, Sergio Leone, being and undercover western detective for Wells Fargo, Adventures in Paradise, Ricardo Montauban, Dobie Gillis, Bob Denver as Maynard J. Krebbs, Tuesday Weld acting on TV with Warren Beatty, Archie, making your own On the Road as Route 66 with very minor changes, The Riflemen, Chuck Connors, doing your chores, TV and movies being banned from shooting in Chicago for years, The Untouchables, Crime Story, M Squad, Lee Marvin, Police Squad being influenced by M Squad's theme song, Joe Dante directing Police Squad, the best sight gags on the show, John Ford, Andy Devine's Hollywood status after Ward Bond's death, The Millionaire, dueling Bat Mastersons, being a super fan of mafia succession, how Ring Lardner in 8 Men Out was Robert Stack's voice, Robert Stack's jokes, Walter Winchell, Neville Brand, Al Capone, Friday Night Fights, The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, how boxing was the perfect subject to air on television, Emile Griffith killing Benny Paret in the ring live on TV, The Twilight Zone, Lee Marvin in the Twilight Zone Episode Steel, Hemingway's story "50 Grand", and the oddness of TV sign offs.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 489: Charlie Higson Sep 20, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes former Higsons' frontman, novelist, actor, comedian and all around UK comedy royalty Charlie Higson to the show.

Ken and Charlie discuss being built for lockdown, writing books for adults again after a 25 year hiatus, the BREAKING NEWS of Charlie's new huge fantasy series for the Middle East on MBC, Randall and Hopkirk Decease, Saturday Night Live (UK), Stand up on TV, Harry Enfield, The Fast Show, catch phrases, Paul Whitehouse, the difficulty of exporting comedy, never seeing Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, the biggest and best American sitcoms, the US tradition of late night talk shows, Craig Ferguson, Vic Reeve's Big Night Out, Vic and Bob, The Prisoner, The Avengers, the UK tradition of fantasy series, how fantasy series aren't all for kids, Doctor Who, needing to use humor for characters, translating humor to a foreign language, the beauty of working with restrictions, liking stupid comedy, classic American sitcoms, Swiss Tony, how the US likes to see people good at their job and the UK likes to see people bad at their job, Cheers, Early Doors, Peter Richardson, remaking UK shows in the US, how The Royle Family became The Kennedys, how cool characters aren't funny, all the US remakes of Fawlty Towers, how difficult it is for UK comedians to make it in the US, Ricky Gervais, English acts bombing at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Vic and Bob confusing a Canadian audience, The Larry Sanders' Show, how The Muppets is the anti-Larry Sanders, The Higsons, opening for The Ramones in Chicago, touring America, and how modern tv and movie scores have abandoned "themes" and why that is a shame, Batman Theme and Robison Crusoe from Germany.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 488: Jackie Michele Johnson Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes host of the Natch Beaut podcast, and fellow Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend pre-Apocalypse guest, Jackie Michele Johnson to the show.

Ken and Jackie discuss good closets, personal space in a marriage, Sex and the City, converting to Judaism, Ken's blank spot that is 2004, the Reality TV Boom, how full hair and make up is a Texas thing, how who shot JR was technically a dream, Grey's Anatomy, multiple helicopter crashes, the tragic life and death of Anna Nicole Smith, Trim Spa Baby, being ok with spoilers if they are sad, do people in NYC dress cooler?, Dean Cain, Scott Peterson, Dean Cain's terrible facial hair disguise, central time, The Ring, horror flicks and pizza, Ernest Goes to School, MTV Cribs, finding Pimp My Ride Cars in 2021, everyone's Jaime Kennedy story, how Jennifer Love Hewett is too good for him, watching basketball, Average Joe Hawaii, LA's hot chick + mediocre guy phenomenon, Fear Factor, twins, Scare Tactics, Las Vegas, being a background actor, method background actors, Punk'd, The Terminator, Tracy Morgan: Crazy Person, 30 Rock, Ed, Gary Oldman, Sid & Nancy, How The Prisoner is the only show Alex Cox likes, The Hills, Laguna Beach, The O.C., how Blondie isn't The GoGos, debating if watching more or less of The Apprentice may have saved America, Friends, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, visiting the set of Dawson's Creek, Joshua Jackson's hot wife and how he's a good dude, the secrets of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The 100 Hottest Hotties of 2004, Jack Osbourne replacing Sharon, the big deal of reality show marriages, and Barry Bostwick on Scrubs.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 487: George Pasles Sep 06, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes VCR Party Live's resident gal Friday, and the lord of Overlord, George Pasles to the show.

Ken and George discuss armpit hair, Philly, on set romances, Phantasm, cigarettes, storm chasers, original art, dirt bikes, pearls and oysters, Simon & Simon, Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, commandeering televisions after being dumped by your parents in a store, knowing things from Simpsons parodies, Joanna Kerns' Olympiad sister, Janet Jackson's Lethal Enforcers arcade cab, It's Your Move, blackface on Gimme a Break, Hardcore, Murder She Wrote and sports, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, John Carpenter, getting cable post high school, Bloopers vs Boners, sexual movies, Chip on Kate & Allie, bad paste ups, Jane Badler, Covenant of Evil, Dueling Danzas, Telma Hopkins world, Hiroshima Remembered, The Wall on network TV, Riptide, writing letters to Tom Bray, having a Commodore 64, Steel Collar Man, Charles Rocket, Rock N Roll Summer Action, NBC's Thursday Night Powerhouse Lineup, Skippy and Malorie trapped in a basement, Coach's learning songs on Cheers, the connection between Webster and The Golden Child, the beauty of Buckaroo Banzai, Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, The A-Team, shows re-using clips, Arsenio Hall, racist former game show hosts blocking Ken on Twitter, and the WONDER of Still the Beaver.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 486: Clint Conley Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes bassist and singer from Mission of Burma, long time Chronicle producer and personal hero Clint Conley to the show.

Ken and Clint discuss the nexus of punk rock and television, finding interesting things in New England, growing up just outside NYC, having a father "in the business", grad school at BU, the interaction of the high brow and lowbrow, the arty and the boneheaded, weirdo bands, Cousin Brucie, Ed Sullivan, rock bands on TV, the importance of 1966 for Youth Culture, Batman, Gallant Men, copycat shows, Combat!, Secret Agent, The Rifleman, Man from U.N.C.L.E., plat spinning, vaudeville acts, Hollywood Palace, Boris Karlof, seeking out all the horror movies, Channel 9 and 11, Alan King, Ed Sullivan giving extra time to Sly Stone, The Rascals, Raymond Burr, fearing iron lungs and quicksand, the worthless nature of Tucker Carlson, Candid Camera, Prank Shows, Hulabaloo, Richard Pryor and George Carlin on young rock n roller John Davidson's show, My Mother the Car, Vic Morrow, the Twilight Zone disaster and E! Network's re-enactments, Eric Burden and the Animals, Gidget, band names, Night of Whirling Death, Wild Wild West, Car 54, Where Are You?, having a VCR in the 1970s, hating Lost in Space, being scared of Billy Mumy, taping Iggy Pop on Dinah Shore, the greatness of Green Acres, meeting Mary Tyler Moore, W.C. Fields tribute by his own son, The Smothers Brothers, The Amazing Randi, Johnny Carson: GOTCHA!, The 100 Foot Wave, and the greatness of Barry Jenkin's The Underground Railroad.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 485: Stanley Livingston Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes writer, producer, director and actor, Chip from My Three Sons himself, Mr. Stanley Livingston.

Ken and Stanley discuss Ozzy and Harriet, hanging out with Mr. Ed, swimming, being a stunt kid, Paul Newman, his brother getting recast, Doris Day, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, the family burlesque business, Baltimore, vaudeville, mom and pop dirty businesses, the hunt for TV content, My Three Sons, Nick at Nite, Fred McMurray, the strange production of My Three Sons, movie stars on TV, the Skippy pilot, having not seen your big break for 50 years, reconnecting with your co-stars, not being Huck Finn, The Actor's Journey, learning all the ropes, starting your own production company as a teenager, writing The Aftermath, the technical advances of editing software, being made up by Jack Pierce, Famous Monsters, Forry Ackerman, being a Monster Kid, and Paul Bartel's strange Private Parts.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 484: Tanya Donelly Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes musician (Belly, Throwing Muses, The Breeders), singer, song writer, and all around gem Tanya Donelly to the show.

Ken and Tayna discuss the rain, prissy poodles, 1977, Alan Alda, More Cigarettes, smoking to be thin, Mary Tyler Moore, actually enjoying lack of choice, Kate Bush on SNL, getting starstruck, having no chill, defending your viewing choices in TV Court, very heavy things in sitcoms, 1977 The Coolest Year in Hell, divorce, drug addiction, Love and Rockets, Tanya's rage at Ken, Wonder Woman, Justice League Unlimited, The Superfriends, everybody's grounded friend, Bob Newhart, National Geographic, Ted Knight, Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey, not traveling out of New England, Rhode Island, Rhoda, Phillis, the greatness of Valerie Harper, the power of low concept, Broadway, Circus of the Stars, Bernadette Peters, free range kids, The Queen's Jubilee, The Sex Pistols, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, the greatness of Milwaukee, The Rockford Files them, Julee Cruise, Twin Peaks, being good at Pandemic, cooking shows, M*A*S*H, Paul Lynde, Billy Barty, Donnie and Marie, Charlie's Angels, What's Happening and the bootleg concert, Love Boat, Hawaii 5-0, between Karl Marx and Jack Lord, Socialist Dance, Red Foxx, Steptoe and Son, The Age of Uncertainty, Quahog Talk, Dateline Rhode Island and the long criminal history of Rhode Island politics.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 483: Brandie Posey Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes podcaster and fellow comedian Brandie Posey to the show.

Ken and Brandie discuss L.A. traffic's return, Jim Carrey, Once Bitten, The Cable Guy, In Living Color, growing up with spies outside DC, Accountants, The Grinch, Nick Cage, Celebrity Thanksgiving recipes, Paul Sorvino's Shrimp, Phillips Seymour Hoffman, Twister, storm hunters, America's Most Wanted, Dennis Farina, Sheena, shows on at 1am, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, MaXimum Exposure, Santa Who?, '90s Wrestling, the horror of Andy Dick, The Michael Richards Show, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Norm, Why Doctors Make Mistakes, Unsolved Mysteries, John Goodman, Me and the Boys, Bridgette Wilson, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Ask Jeeves balloon, non-holiday movies that are Holiday traditions, a post TGIF world, The Year of the Razor Scooter, the weakest Vacation film, writing letters about Eminem's Stan, and the bitchy freedom of Cheers and Jeers.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 482: Anna Rubanova & Adam Bozarth Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes writer, performer, improvers and the people behind Left Handed Radio Anna Rubanova and Adam Bozarth to the show.

Ken, Ann and Adam discuss helicopters, L.A., palm trees, going full tar pits, NY Shaped cages, growing up in the mid-west, growing up outside of Manhattan, visiting backlots, being an extra, the horrors of being non-Union, Norma Rae, Highlander the Series, awful editing, having three headed dogs, televised blood drives, the novelty of being on camera, cigarette empowerment, Star Trek, stealing organ, Captain Mrs. Columbo, deep fakes, Fred Sassy, Total Recall, Running Man, Robocop, reusing sets, being eaten by Dracula, Hammer Horror, WKRP in Cincinnati, The NEW shows, being out for revenge, USA Network, Saturday Nightmares, Baywatch Nights, adding "nights", FBI Mash Ups, shared universes, Bloopers, America's Funniest People, the legacy of The Grimace, censorship, true crime, deprogramming, shock humor, dealing with sensationalist trauma, newsrooms, the angle, werewolf phases, Christopher Lee, living life before you're an actor, The Monster Club, A Return to Salem's Lot, Danse Macabre, being offended, irony, reflecting your comedic style, The George Carlin Show, Ken being a violent jerk, dirty ugly gross animation, Liquid Television, and working towards Part II.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 481: Anna LaMadrid Jul 26, 2021

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes actor, writer Anna La Madrid.

Ken and Anna discuss climate change, growing up in Venezuela, the East Coast and all over the place, picking up regional slang, being a latchkey kid, learning English from TV, luxury items, Short Circuit, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, rewatching your childhood favorites, the afterschool/before dinner watchin sweet spot, New Jersey, Murder One: The Best New Show of the Year, Tea Leoni, product placement, marketing to kids, the legend of Sabado Gigante, Tales from the Crypt, Howard the Duck, ESL, America's Most Wanted, Kids' shows in Venezuela, Married...with Children, Fox Weekend Television, Airheads, Brendan Fraser, Two Something, slackers, Gen X, how Henry Winkler is the best dude, Misery Loves Company, Fresh Prince, Will Smith, telenovelas, Melrose Place, The Golden Girls, Who's Line Is it Anyway?, Roseanne, over saturation of choice, Universal backlot, The 'burbs, sexy camera poses, TV reunions, One Day at a Time, how weird Party of Five was, Wolves and Foxes, Living Single, Heavy D, Seinfeld, how much Ken loves Bonnie Hunt, Joey Lawrence, Prince for a Day, Picket Fences, Jack Black on The X-Files, why Ken can't remember Gary Cole's name, American Gothic, and when cigarettes were freedom torches.

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