TV Guidance Counselor

Latest Episodes:

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 284: Susan Eisenberg Mar 12, 2018

Show notes

Today Ken welcomes actor, fellow New Englander and Ken's favorite Wonder Woman Susan Eisenberg to the show.

Ken and Susan discuss growing up in Providence in the discount store business, doing radio ads, Walmart, Apex, growing up in a house with four sisters, Soap Operas, Soap Opera actors, John Wesley Ship, the unique fandom of soaps, major character recasts, Made for TV Movies, living in a television fantasy world, watching TVs with your mind, David Letterman, late night TV, The Tonight Show, Dick Cavett, Rhoda, Valerie Harper, Jewish characters on TV, the divorce of Rhoda on TV, receiving compliments, Lauren Bacall, The Kennedy Center Honors, voice over, stumbling on your favorite things, The Hollywood Hills, Wonder Woman, Class of 96, Lynda Carter, old show biz, Gal Gadot, Elizabeth Montgomery, hating the Darrens, Agnes Moorehead, Cher naturally flirting with Kermit the Frog, Brandon Tartikof, being a romantic, Family, A Year in the Life with Sarah Jessica Parker, Bridget Loves Bernie, hating being on camera, Fancy Feast, Lincoln Financial ads, St. Elsewhere and the weird loneliness of Los Angeles.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 283: Ryan Walsh II Mar 05, 2018

Show notes

Today Ken welcomes BACK to the show Hallelujah the Hills frontman and author of the new book "Astral Weeks: The Secret History of 1968", Ryan Walsh to the show.

Ken and Ryan discuss going with it, Van Morrison, mobbed up record execs, Astral Weeks, Cambridge MA, Boston, Charley, The Thomas Crown Affair, Zabriskie Point, Mark Frechette, cat impressions, iRobot, Tampon ads, cats who can do 11 tricks, Racial tensions, James Brown, Kevin White, WGBH, The Newlywed Game, in the butt, makin' Whoopie, Shane MacGowan's Nips, pay offs, The Boston Tea Party, Don Rickles, The Cryptkeeper, X The Man with X-Ray Eyes, Star Search, Hollywood Palace, Bluebird, the birth of the ACLU, Variety Shows, America's first Elephant, the death of America's first elephant, Folk Guitar, Rat Patrol, tough choices for Roddy McDowell fans, LSD, Chicago Festival, the sounds of '68, Bill Cosby, Celebrity Billiards, Scottish Games, sponges, Dom DeLuise, The Flying Nun, Brookline Tennis, the strange history of Salem, MA, problems for married women, That Girl, sound FX CDs, fart machines, Halloween Sound FX tapes, Mexico, BUTTS, screwing, qware, Up With People and the sandwich police.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 282: Steven Weber Feb 26, 2018

Show notes

February 16-22, 1974

Today Ken welcomes actor Steven Weber (Wings, Single White Female, The Shining) to the show.

Ken and Steven discuss growing up in Long Island City with all the Tonys, L.A. supermarkets, growing up around the Borscht Belt, Sinatra, The Love God, Car 54 Where Are You?, Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm, how Hollywood can sometimes make people a better person, Wings, dropping acid, the Hollywood hustle, combative stand up comedians, performing in Mama Mia at the Hollywood Bowl, Streets of San Francisco, Kirk and Michael Douglas, The Flamingo Kid, soap opera acting, serialized books, Stephen King, The Shining, Warren Magazines, Famous Monsters, Creepy, Eerie, Bernie Wrightson, playing JFK, being directed by Dario Argento, dubbing movies with Peter Fernandez, Q The Winged Serpent, Shampoo, Dragnet, old radio serials, the wonders of Roy on Wings, Jordan Marsh, Mick Garris, The Librarians, John Larroquette, The Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, thanking someone for their work, Beatrice Straight from Network, the curse of The Steven Weber Show, celebrity viruses, Deep Space Nine, Blackula, William Marshall, Watchmen, Banachek, why George Peppard isn't a nice man, remaking the Brady Bunch as a Western Heist movie and Steven's connection to Toma's Tony Musante.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 281: Amanda Wyss Feb 20, 2018

Show notes

Today Ken welcomes actor Amanda Wyss (Nightmare on Elm St., Better Off Dead, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) to the show.

Ken and Amanda discuss growing up in Manhattan (beach), sea side towns, a childhood of commercials, getting rides into Hollywood for auditions, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, working with Loni Anderson, Made for-TV movies, Better Off Dead, how great Curtis Armstrong's book is, being a film or a TV actor, Westerns, Silverado, watching old movies, The Brady Bunch, Shaun and David Cassidy, This House Possessed, Otherworld, Buck Rogers, Erin Gray, Star Trek, variety shows, watching a TV placed on top of a broken TV, Streets of San Francisco, Yvonne DeCarlo, John Wayne, Great Scott and Cathouse Thursday, the comprehensive credits in TV Guide, Planet of the Insects, the pace of television, playing Sharon Gless's niece of Cagney and Lacey, Eva Marie Saint, being a stage actor, the importance of rehearsal, the double edged sword of digital cinema, Wes Craven, Nightmare on Elm St, losing memorabilia when you sell a car, and the mystery of the "Beth" coat hangers from Better off Dead.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 280: Susannah Breslin Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

September 25 - October 1, 1976

Today Ken welcomes writer Susannah Breslin to the show.

Ken and Susannah discuss being tall, Berklee, the odd isolation of neighborhoods, being anti-establishment, intellectualism, Charlie's Angels, hair goals, Farrah Fawcett, Jaqueline Smith, The Shazam Isis Hour, the original Saturday Night Live Not Ready for Prime Time Players, Dolly Parton's sisters, brunette as protest, The Jeffersons, Holmes and Yo-Yo, having four Real Dolls, how empathy can motivate you to do odd things, sex contracts, 20 years of covering the adult entertainment business, big budget pornography on Entertainment Tonight, sex robots, being a latch key kid, The 3:30 Movie, made for TV horror flicks, being on panel shows, Politically Incorrect, stand up comedy, being a control freak, The Post Feminist Playground, Jenna Jameson, The Mitchell Brothers, Roberta Findley, the false safety of parody, Star Trek, being in love with William Shatner, racist nerds, the varied experience exposure of television, Black Mirror, old man talk, hating progress, virtual reality, eXistenz, Little House on the Prairie, the horrifying mime episode, Monroe's assault on Too Close for Comfort, Johnny Cash, Variety Shows, Cherry 2000, Happy Days, Lavern and Shirley, Jackie Brown, The Golden Age, the long slow death of physical media, sad warehouses, looking for humanity, obscenity trials, the hunt for the most extreme, the President and the Porn Star, Japanese weirdness, pee pee tapes, connections made to be broken vs lack of connection made to be made, why Ken would never have Donald Trump on the show, being fueled by spite, what the hell the point of TV Guidance Counselor is, being sad to find out how lonely you were as a kid, but feeling happy when you realize you were alone together with a lot of other kids.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 279: Obehi Janice Feb 06, 2018

Show notes

September 12-18, 1992 FALL PREVIEW ALERT!

Today Ken welcomes writer, actor and all around quality human being Obehi Janice to the show.

Ken and Obehi discuss Obehi's mic technique, Rugrats, Nigeria, Ken's love of Percey Rodriguez, how Jim and Pam can ruin insurance, Lowell, Jack Keroac's On the Road, going to boarding school in Greenfield, Brooklyn, Mill No. 5, Fanta, Nigerian Weddings, Nollywood, how comedy doesn't always translate, Haverhill, Riverdale, the weird nexus of pop culture that was 1992, having a real black night on a Saturday, Here and Now, Out All Night, Regina King, Malcom Jamal Warner's poetry, Boyz in the Hood, SNICK, Nevermind, Rober Urich, a cross country motorcycle trip, why there is always a God show, The Good Doctor, why autism shouldn't be used as magic, how the rise of nationally televised sports ruined America, niche programming, Mr. Rogers, Jim Henson, The Edge, In Living Color, Ken's love of Robert Townsend, SCTV, Spongebob, the early days of Reality TV, Great Scott, The Ben Stiller Show, Whoops!, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Mad About You, Townies, loving Jenna Elfman, early bed times, Rags to Riches, ruining your eyes by reading in the dark, how the Bernie Mac Show is truly family friendly, the politics of drag and...(the recorder cuts out sadly, so the final 10-20 minutes of Ken and Obehi's chat have been lost to time)

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 278: Matt Nix Jan 30, 2018

Show notes

February 14-20, 1981

Today Ken welcomes writer/showrunner Matt Nix to the show.

Ken and Matt discuss 1981, Palm Springs, being a latch key kid, making a case for your show, watching things you'd never have watched, The Brady Bunch, niche shared experiences, a 60 share, Cagney and Lacey, Knight Rider, laser seat belts, M*A*S*H, being devastated by a show's cancellation, never meeting your heroes, the wonder of Bruce Campbell, a passion for TV, being shocked at how much you watched, spec scripts for WKRP in Cincinnati, meeting Sid Caesar, Spenser for Hire, watching shows filmed, having hope, old school Hollywood Publicists, knowing someone will love the industry, wanting to write ALL the shows, creative compulsion, Starsky and Hutch, how action has changed, Burn Notice, The Gifted, The Comedians, hardcore sci-fi, tech, allegory, Black Mirror, eternal torture forever, wanting to be Tesla, The Arrival, executive personalities, being the smart kid who does everyone's chem homework, Easter Eggs for long time fans, comic books, how Lost salted the earth, why Espionage is not a genetic condition passed on to children, who Burned Michael?, what parts of classic TV promotion to blow up, how being a working actor is a blue collar, middle class hustle, Wonder Woman, Green Acres, Gilligan's Island, Barney Miller, Mad Magazine, the wonder of parody, cringe humor, people you don't like being mean to each other, The Waltons and why we need something like that now more than ever, Sanford & Son, aspirational vs. laugh at shows, The Famous Teddy Z, Picket Fences, Northern Exposure, the politics of television, and why you can't put monster truck tires on a BMW.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 277: Emily Ruskowski Jan 23, 2018

Show notes

June 30 - July 6, 1984

Today Ken welcomes comedian Emily Ruskowski to the show. Ken and Emily discuss how Ken's house isn't hoardery, Emily's fears of certain houses in her outreach social work day job, bed bugs, hotels, the year you were born, Phoebe Cates in Lace, the early days of High Definition Television, Living Single, being scarred by Blue Lagoon, Brandon Tartikof's rescue of NBC, The New Show, Joan Collins, period pieces, John Walsh in America's Most Wanted, hitchhiking, running a woman over with your car, Spags, finding out "which one of you bitches is my mother", Grease 2, the sad end of Jeff Conway, Michelle Pfeiffer, vocational schools, tweens, the 90s, official Michael Jackson gloves, Octopussy, Cagney and Lacey, Newhart, cocaine, Joan Rivers, women in comedy, recasting The Golden Girls, Ken's husky childhood, JD Roth, Fun House, Finders Keepers, MTV News, Real People vs. That's Incredible!, Vanessa Williams, Night Court, talking people off of ledges, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Roseanne, Cheers, being a big Ted Danson fan, The Dukes of Hazard, Webster, Ben Vareen confusion, and how Emily might be the world's biggest and most unlikely Boss Hog fan.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 276: Brett Johnson Jan 16, 2018

Show notes

July 6-12, 1996

Today Ken welcomes comedian Brett Johnson to the show.

Ken and Brett discuss Ken's stolen MIT Frat photo, all the strange stuff in Ken's house, the world's only just ok photo of Gillian Anderson, exclusive pull-outs, Dude Ranches, Lake George, growing up very religious, having your parents be in a cult, demonic roller coasters, spending High School in Kenya, Missionary tapes, McGee and Me, real life Mean Girls, D&D, Nu Metal CDs, The Gods Must be Crazy, being a TV Guide delivery boy, Zaboomafu, Wishbone, The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Indiana Jones knocking your teeth into your gums, Drew Carey Show, Who's Line is it Anyway?, The Bonnie Hunt Show, Monty Python, Mr. Bean, Coach, Unsolved Mysteries, Satanic Panic, Seinfeld, The Real World, Dream On, the nature of Documentary, Indonesia, Johnny Vegas: Who's Ready for Ice Cream?, TGIF, Step by Step, Family Matters, and the wonder of Don Johnson's Heartbeat.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 275: Valerie Tosi Jan 09, 2018

Show notes

January 6-12, 2001

Today Ken welcomes comedian and voice of the Google Home Mini Valerie Tosi to the show.

(note, there is an audio issue with Valerie's mic for the first two minutes, but is resolved after that) Ken and Valerie discuss Lobster #2, The Garment District, fashion faux pas, tanning, gold hand me down prom dresses, Lynn Mass, Salisbury Beach, fighting robbers, being covered in Blood, Ken breaking a heroin dealer's fingers, calling the F.B.I., Sophomore year of High School, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the WB, The X-Files, Roswell, SNICK, hanging chads, TV Guide snark, pre-9/11 2001 mindsets, Ralph Nader's sex appeal, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?, all inclusive Mexican resorts, not flying until you're 30, having a Boston Red Sox tattoo, Jim Gaffigan's sitcom "Welcome to New York", Richard Hatch, Catherine Zeta Jones, the Mini Driver of the year vs. the Minnie Driver of the year, Geena Davis' nipples, Al Gore, Heather Locklear, Kelsey Grammer as McBeth, Brad Renfro's grand theft incident, Survivor, Jizzled Jawed Greg, Temptation Island, Mark L. Wahlberg, the value of a Dr. Evil Doll, This Old House, nailin' boards, The Golden Girls house, visiting shooting locations, The Sports Page starring Bob Newhart, The People's Choice Awards, Bette Midler, loving Anna Torv, Fringe, blackmailing Dana Gould, and giving up on Supernatural.

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