TV Guidance Counselor

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TV Guidance Counselor Episode 225: Wendy Liebman May 09, 2017

Show notes

March 25 -31, 1978

Today Ken welcomes comedian Wendy Liebman to the show.

Ken and Wendy discuss L.A. rain, growing up in Long Island, low tolerance for New England snow, inventions, Walk-Muffs, Shark Tank, inventions, Steven Wright, appearing on Late Night TV, Ding Ho, Boston Comedy, seeing "Match Game '74" taped live, seeing Madonna at the Danceteria, The Midnight Special with Wolfman Jack, Maytag vs. Friends, Bob Newhart, Stitches, following the rules of stand up, "Ass Blank", To Tell the Truth, Let's Make a Deal, Plinko, Hollywood Squares, Tom Bergeron, Celebrity Feuds, Dick Van Dyke Show, Carl Reiner, Phyllis Diller, Kojak, Love Boat, Bud Friedman, The Improv, Bluefish, Mary Tyler Moore, Robert Blake's murderous intent, Banachek, Burn Notice, Milton Berle, Opening for Bob Hope, Dr. Theater, Marlo Thomas in That Girl, St. Jude, The Monkees, Mickey Dolenz, Austin City Limits, Norman Lear, Dick Cavett, CBS, All in the Family, opening for Jerry Seinfeld, Carol Burnett, the wonders of live to tape and horror stories about George C. Scott.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 224: Idalis DeLeon May 04, 2017

Show notes

Today Ken welcomes TV Coach, Actress, singer, and former MTV VJ, Idalis Deleon.

Ken and Idalis discuss being nerdy TV Guide Collecting Kids, growing up in the Bronx while it burned, movin on up to Brooklyn, Seduction, how it feels to have Madonna rip your pants off,New Media, the birth of Hip Hop, living The Get Down, having three top ten singles, Marky Mark, Papi with Hector Alejandro, wanting to be Aaron Spelling, Charlie's Angels, bartending, when MTV came around to Hip Hop, industrial revolutions, Ted Demme, NYC, Martha Wash, Milli Vanilli, appearing on Soul Train, Vanilla Ice, Showtime at the Apollo, Heartbeat, Mariah Carey, Brenda K. Starr, Living Single, Queen Latifa, Michael Bay, Dante Ross, training people to host TV, Entertainment Tonight, QVC, E!, ethics in media, Boston Swagger, Regional accents, New Kids in the Block, Marky Mark, MTV Beach House, sportscasting, cutting the cord, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Friends, Six Feet Under and not re-watching things.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 223: Petey Gibson May 03, 2017

Show notes

January 22-28, 1994

Today Ken welcomes actor and comedian Petey Gibson to the show.

Ken and Petey discuss the nature of excitement, anxiety, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Winter Previews, Mid-Season replacements, Ed Bagley Jr, Borne in Born, Cape Cod, Friendly's, flaming dice, hating Guy Fieri, hating change and surprises, Nanas, rituals, the darkness of the 90s, Saved By The Bell: The College Years, Empty Nest, Nurses, VO5 Hot Oil Treatments, Ben Vereen, Eve Plumb, Masterpiece Theater, falling in love with a murder suspect, Married...with Children, The George Carlin Show, Labyrinth, Henson Studios, strict parents banishing sexual content, growing up Catholic, Donovan Scott, being nicknames Mantis, Donna Mills, Danny Bonaduce, Full House, COPS, Rescue 911, Unsolved Mysteries, how sexy Angela Lansbury is in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Spring Break, This Old House, Home Improvement, why JTT is a safe lesbian crush, transcription services, Ken's touch typing super powers, Willie Nelson coming out of the ice, Seinfeld, Adam Ruins Everything, UCB Classes, taking the Fun Wah Bus, Rimmers, Mr. Show, appearing on and WINNING The Price is Right, and the wonders of Judith Light.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 222: Greg Fitzsimmons Apr 26, 2017

Show notes

October 25-31, 1980

Today Ken welcomes comedian Greg Fitzsimmons to the show.

Ken and Greg discuss Ken's puberty voice, slow dancing, the horrors of teenage girls, Boston University, the gentrification of Boston, John Waters, The Combat Zone, Patti Smith, how far away Boston is, Ken's nerdiness, McMob movies, Cheers, how social media ruins womanizing celebrities game, classic Boston lies, fighting Marky Mark, phone calls from Greg's wife, Boston Stand Up Comics cameoing in movies, Deli Haus, The Rat, having to get through a parental gatekeeper to talk to someone of the opposite sex, having only one TV in the house, a nice stabbing, Barney Miller, The Love Boat/Fantasy Island power two hours, being in jail, Tom Hanks, Bosom Buddies, D&D panic, the golden age of Guest Stars, one hour dramas with two cast members, Jacques Cousteau, watching TV on the floor, 60 Minutes, Kojak, golfing with OJ Simpson, "If I Did It", Clint Eastwood's stunt man, living a life before working in television, comedians who are secret rapists, The White Shadow, shell shocked Vietnam Vets, and a generation missing context and intent.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 221: Michelle Barbera Apr 20, 2017

Show notes

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.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 220: Anne Beatts Apr 19, 2017

Show notes

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.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 219: Jon Fisch Apr 12, 2017

Show notes

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.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 218: Juliana Hatfield Apr 07, 2017

Show notes

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.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 217: Bobbie Brown Apr 04, 2017

Show notes

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.

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 216: Tabitha Soren Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

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.

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