TV Guidance Counselor

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TV Guidance Counselor Episode 322: Megan Duffy Oct 22, 2018

Show notes

FALL PREVIEW EDITION October 1-7, 1988

Today Ken welcomes the multi-talented podcaster, actor, producer Megan Duffy to the show.

Ken and Megan discuss the Hollywood Hills, what it takes to give an Uber drive one star, Midnight Caller, Almost Grown, Roseanne, Paradise, Murphy Brown, Boston Common, Boston Public, growing up in Springfield MA, the boring homogeneity of Suburbia, Two Guys A Girl and a Pzza Place, Red Sox vs Dodger, the wonders of Judith Light, the weirdness of Nightmare on Elm St Freddy Kruger toys, the Blumhouse Halloween party, Isabelle Adjani in Possession, best Halloween costumes, cheerleaders, dancing, The Patty Duke Show, Nick at Nite, music and wine for cats, cooking, the magic of potatoes, Liberace, the weirdness of actors, being a producer, Alf, It's Gary Shandling Show, Tracy Ullman, Skeeter vs. Scooter on the Muppets, American Top 40 Long Distance Dedications, Flowers in the Attic, Ken's high school quest to perfect a Sugar Cookie recipe, the pure sex of Billy Idol's Rebel Yell, Samantha Fox's Now I Lay Me Down, Columbo, John Cassavettes acting career, the evil of Cosby, being scalded to death in the shower, 48 Hours, why there are no genius serial killers, The Spader Tapes, loving trapeze artists, and what we would do in the circus.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 321: Erin Gibson Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

October 7-13, 1989

This week Ken welcomes co-host of Throwing Shade and author of Feminasty Erin Gibson to the show.

Ken and Erin discuss fancy hotel entitlement, hospitality industry jobs, why you should always rob criminals, Hollywoods One Chubby Girl at a time rule, Delta Burke, Gerald McRaney, the quest for judgement, how women are treated in Hollywood, Eating Disorders, why it's important to talk about stuff, Linda Bloodworth Thomeson, Les Moonves, sticking to your guns, sticking up for yourself, Just the Ten of Us, sexist D.C., Mr. Belvedere, the "manny" subgenre, learning from Sitcoms, I Married Dora, growing up poor, if it's better or worse to know your show is being canceled while you are still shooting it, being not pretty enough, Hollywood being brutally honest for no reason, watching Ladyhawke as Sex Ed, Mystic Pizza, entertainment industry restaurants, playing a mom at 30, The Monster Squad, the other f-word, not supporting monsters, Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, aspirational television, changing demographics, hidden secret sitcoms, ALF, Cats, Cats The Musical, Hill St. Blues, Night Court, Hard Copy, 20/20, not trusting people with beards, Peter Horton's look, This Old House, WGBH, PBS, missing your opportunity to call someone out, and how Steve Urkel ruined Family Matters.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 320: Agnes Obel Oct 08, 2018

Show notes

This week Ken welcomes musician Agnes Obel to the show.

Ken and Agnes discuss the proper pronunciation of "Agnes", Danish, having a satellite dish, the life change that was MTV, being on the cutting edge of technology, Yo! MTV Raps, 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation, Tori Amos, Daniel Johnston, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, YouTube, being exposed to new things, the interaction between sound and vision, national television stations, pop culture, living in Berlin, the strange comforting displacement of Berlin, Copenhagen, punk poets, Scandinavian minimalism, the liberation of failure, Eurovision Song Contest, Twin Peaks, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Stephen King, New England, experiences America through pop culture, the meaning of art, the evil lurking under the surface, American Suburbia, dubbing, Fraggle Rock, homelessness in America, the double edged sword of the American Dream, the rust belt, a basic living wage, hierarchy of needs, wondering if we need oppression in order to react, the best environment to create art in, constant distraction, and taking the time to actually live life while you're trying to survive.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 319: TVGC Investigates MTV's Lost Weekend with Van Halen Oct 02, 2018

Show notes

In this special TV Guidance Counselor Investigates edition of the show Ken explores the 1984 MTV contest "The Lost Weekend with Van Halen" by going right to the source, the man who would know best, the winner, Kurt Jefferis.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 318: Ben Blacker II Sep 30, 2018

Show notes

October 16 - 22, 199

Today Ken welcomes TV writer and creator of the new Vertigo comic "Hex Wives", Ben Blacker BACK to the show.

Ken and Ben discuss the bizarre and insane level of Ken's guests, the Computer museum, weird AirBnBs, taking the bus to New York, being treated first class, San Diego Comic Con, the con formerly known as Boston Comic Con, Boston being unrecognizable, the rise of UPN and the WB, Felicy, Ben or Noel?, Ken's Dad, The 50 Greatest Characters in Television, Savannah, Dawson's Creek, Urban nights, Homeboys from Outerspace, Nowhere Man, Netflix, USA Network, Knight Rider, Kramer, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Taxi, Louie Depalma, Phil Silvers, Behind the Music, E! True Hollywood Stories, Mr. T, Bill Macy, Ladies' Man, "It's an all new Ladies Man", breakfast with Phil Rosenthal, Just Shoot Me, Suddenly Susan, Veronica's Closet, Angelica Huston in The Witches, Spaced Invaders, Halloween specials, The Halloween that Almost Wasn't, Judd Hersh as Dracula, voice actors, Swamp Thing, Len Wein, Night Force, Ghost Rider, comic books, Hex Wives, Vertigo Comics, westerns, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, The Worst Witch and why Millennial love magic.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 317: Anna Drezen Sep 24, 2018

Show notes

March 15-21, 1986

Today Ken welcomes writer, comedian, Anna Drezen to the show.

Ken and Anna discuss Anna's dog's a-hole, duvet covers, fires, hand me downs, saucy buns, vomiting bright pink, the cultural bankruptcy of the second Reagan term, Madeline Stowe, If Tomorrow's Comes, having a "wig face", Saturday Night Live, CNN End of the world tape, John Wesley Ship, aerobics, titular lines in Broadway shows, Cats, Angels in America, cat AIDS, Ghosts, blackface on Gimme a Break, orangutans, Any Which Way You Can But Loose, Jeffrey Lewis, thinking God really cares about you, when your family thinks things are jokes that aren't, Mr. Wizard's World, dead Moms, the left hand of the Devil, Amazing Stories, Desatin, Astronaut Ice Cream, wondering if somebody peed in this, the horror of docking dogs tails, amputees, Tarantula Ranches, being bad at maintaining things, not being a finisher, playing horn in a ska band, and having friends who will pretend to be your landlord so you can adopt a dog.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 316: Alex Edelman II Sep 17, 2018

Show notes

May 31 - June 6, 1997

Today Ken welcomes returning guest Alex Edelman to the show.

Ken and Alex discuss shows at Laugh Boston, Alex's status as an international super star, Edinburgh, The Perrier Award, Steve Coogan, Eddie Izzard, Jimmy Carr, MSG, Alan Carr, Steward Lee, the day Mary Tyler Moore passed away, The Great Indoors, Ken's visit to Alex's job, NHL, Lois and Clark, The Dana Carvey Show, how writers' rooms work, The Simpsons, stand up instincts, Young Comedians, Anthony Clarke, Jack Lemon, post-modern culture vs post-apocalyptic culture, Futurama, King of the Hill, the nature of parody, SCTV, the humor or recognition, references for the sake of references, Jimmy Fallon, Barney Miller, multi-cam shows, how hard it is to tell a story in 20 minutes, Seinfeld, The Tony Awards, musical theater, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Odd Couple on Ice, reboots, Caddyshack, us vs. them, Fawlty Towers, spec scripts, Fraiser, Newsradio, the rap industry, the soup nazi, Men Behaving Badly, Sarah Silverman, the Friday Shabbat, Steve Martin, The Boston Pops, appreciating Tears in Heaven, M*A*S*H, never being into TGIF, and an all Jeers week.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 315: Bob McLeod Sep 10, 2018

Show notes

Today Ken welcomes artist, writer and comic book legend Bob McLeod to the show.

Ken and Bob discuss Comic Conventions, sketches, satirizing Westworld for Crazy magazine, parody,growing up in Florida, Westerns, Flipper, Mad Magazine, starting as an Inker, the Bronze age of marvel comics, pasting page numbers, Joe Orlando telling you you need to go back to school to learn how to draw, cartoons, cartooning, funny animals, being terrified of Manhattan, Kojack, Streets of San Francisco, Dragnet, not talking down to kids, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jack Kirby, trying to learn storytelling, the Marvel Method, The New Mutants, the original concept of Sunspot, when characters lose their uniqueness, drawing people who look like yourself, superhero cartoons, high volume and low visibility, Conan, Barry Windsor Smith, when your kids aren't interested in your job, Howard the Duck, Gene Colon, Harvey Comics, the new New Mutants movie, The Superhero ABCs, Mort Drucker, Marlon Brando as Tarzan, keeping your own artwork, why The Incredibles is the perfect super hero movie, and the current state of big screen comics.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 314: Dessa Sep 02, 2018

Show notes

June 1-7, 1991

Today Ken welcomes writer and musician Dessa to the show.

Ken and Dessa discuss Jasmine Guy's seductive nonsense, sexy Ice Tea, people from Boston, not knowing who Molly Ringwald is, living in a pop culture desert, the blur of childhood, Minneapolis Minnesota, Darkwing Duck, Duck, Inspector Gadget, being a latch key kid, The Misfits, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, building your own plane, is Inspector Gadget a zombie?, Jeopardy, Twin Peaks, the ether of our culture, second hand pop culture, The Simpsons, Tracy Chapman, Sade, slam poetry, Def Poetry Jam, Real Genius, the Cosby Show, tarnished art, Northern Exposure, Who's the Boss, Full House, M*A*S*H, Raising Arizona, Oreo hacks, children's home alone food experiments, Virtual Reality, Steel Magnolias, The Princess Bride, Andre The Giant, wasting away your life, being very aware of mortality, stories, synesthesia, the doorways of perception, Wheel of Fortune, blizzards, Hard Copy, news magazines, and America's Most Wanted.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 313: "Big" Jim Murray Aug 27, 2018

Show notes

March 28 - April 3, 1987

Today Ken welcomes Boston radio personality, long time friend and former WFNX co-worker "Big" Jim Murray to the show.

Ken and Jim discuss the nostalgia overload of Ken's house, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, working in radio, podcasts that are too long, Ken's on air argument with Dane Cook, graduating from Melrose High, G4, Madden Challenge, e-sports, gamers, YouTube stars, Kirk Cameron, Growing Pains cocaine episode, the birth of FOX, Facts of Life, terrorizing the Spanish Teacher, 227, Spenser for Hire, WSBK TV38 and The Movie Loft, Ken's weird Tee Public site, Ask the Manager, Dana Hersey, Barney Miller, the store Stairway to Heaven, Rt 1 in Saugus, The Palace, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Wonderful World of Disney, Michael McKeon in Double Agent, Rags to Riches, Baby Jessica, ALF, Jerry Stahl, The Oscars, the afterschool special "What If I'm Gay?", Gimme a Break, Loni Anderson in Easy Street, Moonlighting, Night Court, Cousin Larry Appleton, Perfect Strangers, The John Larroquette Show, Cheers, Ricky Gervais, The Popcorn Kid, and the most disagreed with Cheers and Jeers in the history of the show.

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