Tv Guidance Counselor Podcast

February 20-26, 1993 This week Ken welcomes novelist, screen writer and all around cool human being Bridget Tyler to the show. Ken and Bridget discuss being safe at home, the boring Apocalypses, going on vacation with children, parenting in the age of streaming, the later seasons of sitcoms and how weird they get, if it's better or worse to be a parent now, telling time via TV, dopamine hits, object permanence, not caring about your parents' jobs, the greatness of Jane Seymour, awful visual puns, Hollywood's continued underestimation of Women, how much the job of critics has changed, cigarettes, what is sexy in 1993, the issues with period pieces, going to school in London, bombed out buildings, NYU, how having no rules can make things uninteresting, drinking a lot in the 1930s, Dr. Quinn, All Creatures Great and Small, Mad About You, having a good reason to do a sequel series, growing up in Orchard Country, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, getting cable, Berkeley CA, banned 1980s cartoons, Jonathan Frakes, D

I left the house! I talked to some people in person last weekend at North East Comic Con! Here's a great chat I had with John Wesley Shipp (Flash(s), Dawson's Creek) and Nicole Kang (Batwoman, You) Enjoy! 

This week Ken welcomes Twin Peaks actor Amy Shiels to the show. Ken and Amy discuss how Ken is hanging in there the best he can, how Ken and Amy like wearing masks, how the Irish dress inappropriately for weather, living in L.A., rain gear, people who wear shorts in the Winter, how Amy is old fashioned romantically, never watching Fair City despite all your friends being in it, how so many thing shoot in Ireland now, Scandy Noir, recognizing Stately Homes on TV, loving acting for the work itself, the National Treasure that is the Late Late Toy Show, scoring tickets to the Late Late Toy Show, living the Pretty Woman life, having three American breakfasts every day, how NY is a cruel place, going to the wrong kind of premiere, Father Ted, Air Lingus pilots, Pop Culture Black Holes, Friends, Dawson's Creek, forgetting your headshots, auditions, how Ken has good luck, absolutely loving Korean television, My Mr, Amy's dog Sonny Jim, Mexican Narcos dramas, The Dark Crystal, loving the Muppets, "Kermie", Fraggle Roc

March 30-April 5, 2002 This week Ken welcomes writer and host of the new Seventeen podcast Laura Leigh Abby to the show. Ken and Laura discuss The Hudson Valley, growing up just outside of a major city, Manhattan, before the CW Revolution, the weird early '00s gross out teen sexy comedy film cycle, Reality TV, growing out of the Real World, Celine Dion, how Las Vegas isn't a family place, The Got Milk ads, Hanson, posters on your wall, Andre Agassi, the grossness of the Olson Twins "countdown", how former child stars with money always become "fashion designers", low rise and beige, the awful fashion and design of the early '00s, when Ken was too cool for Varsity Blues, The Program, how horribly embarrassing being a teenager is, carrying cards with numbers, awful catch phrases, The Weakest Link, The Osbournes, Jack Osbourne, Paris HIlton, sex tapes, The World's Greatest Tortellini, Ken eating whole pies, The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston, That '70s Show, the UK version of That '70s Show, 9/11 movies, ripped from

December 15-21, 1984 Ken and Justin discuss his nerves, the Catskills, Yarnel Nicholas, tape trading, worth ethic, TellyHell, before the pandemic, working from home, commuting by bus to NYC, watching Netflix on your tablet during a commute, Apple TV, Big Mouth, the best made for TV swear replacements, Mellon Farmers, The Sopranos on A&E, Mr. Show, working in radio, CW/WB, Channel 11, WPIX, Channel 9, the loss of indie TV stations, how ratings have changed, the insane people who work in radio, The Ten Most Beautiful Women in Television, Dallas, Morgan Fairchild, The Muppets, Mike Hammer, men out of time, George Bush vs. The Simpsons, remembering the year you were born, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis the Christmas Dream, The Equalizer, A Christmas Carol, the original Lifetime "Television for Women" concept, when pop becomes oldies, A&E, Remember WENN, 1984, sad Christmas, Three's a Crowd, Perfect Strangers, slapstick and physical comedy, being against reboots, E.R vs ER, The Organic Theater Group, Re-Animator

This week Ken welcomes old friend and current host of the Nodcast, "White trash" Rob Lind (Blood for Blood, Ramallah, Sinners & Saints) to the show. Ken and Rob discuss how long it has been since they've been able to sit down and chat, getting sober, needing to anesthetize yourself to deal with 90% of the people you used to deal with, Rob's memory of Ken's "Dilemma", Nebraska, the regional variations of TV Guide, WWF/WWE, if certain businessmen have ever murdered anyone, Harlan Ellison, The Gods Hate, boxing, the mafia, Gorgeous George, Brando, Muhammad Ali, Valerie Bertinelli, Van Halen, MTV's Lost Weekend with Van Halen, One Day at a Time, Mackenzie Phillips, David Lee Roth, Mike Tyson, Hurricane Peter McNeeley, V, Amerika, The Incredible Hulk, The Day After, Threads, Discharge, When the Wind Blows, David Bowie, Mutually Assured Destruction, Romero vs. Argento, Dawn of the Dead, The The, the wish fulfillment of apocalypses/zombie media in the 21st Century, The Twilight Zone, how the Lucky People die fir

To celebrate 8 long, strange years of TV Guidance Counselor Ken welcomes back the VERY first guest to ever record an episode of TV Guidance Counselor, the now very successful and beloved Josh Gondelman. Ken and Josh catch up and look at THIS week (February 14, 2022)'s edition of TV Guide.

This week Ken welcomes back to the show comedian, and haver of new album "Beach Trash", Valerie Tosi to the show. Ken and Val discuss the last time they recorded, the green room of Laugh Boston, Ken's Fried Fluffenutter Sundae, carbo loading, being in the marching band, pasta shapes, trashy American-Ethnic foods, UMASS Amherst, Friday Night Party, songs called "Valerie", Reel Big Fish, people who don't know you did comedy, The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, opening for Bob Saget, descramblers, The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, The Bachelor, The US remake of the UK rip off of the US show Friends "Coupling", how there will never ben a successful US remake of The Office, Missy Elliot, Veruca Salt getting bumped from their second SNL song by Sting, The Craft, Charmed, getting fingered at the movies, being one of those Hocus Pocus people, loving Las Vegas, Kidssongs, Ken's loud cat, why all videos should be on hayrides, strings in Toxic, Dwayne Barry on the X-Files, being WB Hot, feeling old, 8 Simple Rules, the

This week Ken welcomes actor Carly Pope to the show. Ken and Carly discuss The Great White North, chasing Winter, being in the wrong place at the right time, Vancouver, Canadian indie film, Toronto, Canadian Content, Dave Thomas in White Coats, 1980s Nickelodon's massive amount of Canadian content, Read All About It, Mr. Dressup, The Beachcombers, Danger Bay, Molly Parker, how Ken is nobody to take life advice from, Disturbing Behavior, shooting in Romania, David Nutter, Popular, how nobody walks in LA, Bob's Big Boy, cigarette ads telling you to avoid inhaling, Larry's barks, The Polka Dot Door, not coming from an acting background, How 1987 is an amazing year for movies, Harry and the Hendersons, The Lost Boys, ALF, puppets, thinking of it before ET, being spooned by the Yeti, loving genre movies but avoiding being in them, wondering if the addition of cell phones would kill the plot of a movie, Better Off Dead, Die Hard, crossword puzzles, being on Family Feud against the cast of Freaks & Geeks, Double

Ken continues his chat with UK writer, podcast host, TV presenter, radio personality and reformed stand up comedian Robin Ince. ...Robin and Ken discuss the amazing hair pieces in Poor Devil, Sammy Davis Jr, Christopher Lee's bragging, SCTV, Jackie Rogers Jr, grime, Dragnet, being transgressive, The Prisoner, Pink Flamingos, Lon Chaney Jr's alcohol problem, Elvira, Elvis, The Boys in the Band, the devastation of AIDS, Santa Claus, The Twilight Zone, Burgess Meredith, Rocky, boxing, The League of Gentlemen, The Monster Club, Blood on Satan's Claw, fandom, portmantos, good tributes, Vikings, Norsemen, Orgy of the Dead, Red Skelton, Frederick Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, stars coming out, Rob Halford, Iggy Pop, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, the power of the stage, Mavis Staples, Honey West, Monty Python, The Three Stooges, Lawrence Olivier, David Lynch's On the Air, the film Lucky, Harry Dean Stanton, Harlan Ellison, Inga Stevens, the power of watching things together alone, The Hitchhiker, Carnival o

This week Ken welcomes UK writer, podcast host, TV presenter, radio personality and reformed stand up comedian Robin Ince to the show. Ken and Robin discuss 1960, Richard Nixon's moral ethics, raiding your grandparents' houses for old magazines, Alan Moore, Robert Aikman, promo monster movie stills from Monster Magazines, Steptoe & Son, the post war booms in the US vs the UK, how people in the 20th Century looked so much older than you when they were younger than you, Harry & Tonto, Death Wish, shooting things in London set in New York, gritty crime drama, great NYC stage actors appearing in TV dramas, UK Radio vs US Radio, panel shows, Bela Lugosi, Lenny Bruce's later years, stand up comedians' obsession with conspiracy theories, how Carlin and Pryor were made for television, vaudeville, Burlesque, how Friends is all about sex, Seinfeld, Bride of Frankenstein, Ernest Thesiger, Jerry Lewis, Poor Devil, Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams, Jackie Gleason, Rockford Files, Young Maverick, Spaghetti Westerns, 1940s

This week Ken welcomes guitar virtuosos and literal DOCTOR of music Molly Miller (https://www.mollymillermusic.com/) to the show. Ken and Molly discuss loving L.A. and being born and raised there, beach cities, LA punk, loving Seventh Heaven, Molly's tenth birthday, L.A. Industrial Waste, the nature of reality TV and LIVE! television events, Molly playing in a Bachelor spin off band, remembering "before", Ken's old man soapbox, listening to the radio, struggling to be inspired, vinyl, The WB, being one of five kids, Dawson's Creek, how weird it was to get two new networks in the 1990s, how Friends has become the Brady Bunch of the current generation, Will & Grace, how by 1999 prescription drug ads replaced cigarette ads, Lunchables, fighting with your siblings, The Wedding Singer vs. Billy Madison, loving Adam Sandler, The Real World, Alec Baldwin, hating shows where every character speaks the same, The Simpsons, Anna Nicole Smith, Howard Stern on E!, Ally McBeal, Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, go

This week Ken welcomes long time friend, current host of the UncleBoi Show on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSdtI-YDimtM3MJ2ew62ETA) and former Tommy Somerville, Tommy Hardy to the show. Ken and Tommy discuss the great Northern exodus of the 90s Boston Punk scene to Salem, MA, selling punk records, The Smiths, how everyone craves love and attention, Ken's informal war with Glen Danzig, seltzers, Amerika!, Sweeps Week, being a reformed Republican, WWF LJN Figures, cigarette ads, Kraft, Cheese just CHEESE, having a babysitter, having cable in your room, Headbangers' Ball, Sidekicks, the 80s Martial Arts boom, how odd having Animotion's Obsession as the theme song for Saturday Night's Main Event was, cheap wrestling magazines, Killer Kowalski, The Boston Garden, Roddy Piper's status as a favored nation, Ravishing Rick Rude, Young Blood, Blue Collar Boston, internet trolls, 1947, Candid Camera, porno drive-in theaters, Medford, mobbed up Boston, Cheers, how perfect Cliff Clavin is, The Wizard, David R

This week Ken welcomes writer, performer and reformed stand up comedian Hattie Hayes to the show. Ken and Hattie discuss John Stamos, Ken's odd reactions, George Clooney, ER, never wanting to lose a partner to any cast member of Stand By Me, Jerry O'Connell, The National, being very badly injured on stage, how George Clooney may be a real super hero, satellites, falling down the Clooney Pit(t), Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou, watching every episode of ER with your mom from birth, NO! A Wiley!, Noah Wiley, loving Burn Notice, the dangers of helicopters, twice, losing an arm, feeling bad for angry assholes, real life ER experiences, being traumatized by wrist trauma on ER, Dancing with the Stars, Hotmail Spoilers, Tom Bergeron, the wonders of live TV, Demolition Man, Happy Gilmore, being honest with yourself, The Royal Tenanbaums, America's Funniest Home Videos, House Hunters, avoiding dog death in media, ordering from old lady catalogs, how despite their age difference Ken and Hattie's frames of references are o

This week Ken welcomes writer/director/Box Mac co-host and Red Cow Entertainment Head Honcho Frankie Frain. Ken and Frankie discuss how much Ken loves everything Frankie does, the shock that Ken and Frankie don't already know each other, Emerson College, making niche content, The Angry Video Game Nerd/Cinemassacre controversy, making feature films, getting interest in the content you make, growing up with strict parents, the first R Rated movie Frankie every saw, how Frankie's dad experiences films differently, getting hid hard by F Bombs, quality films you never want to see again, the shift of sitcoms to reality TV, The American Underdog experience, wanting to see the rich and famous fail, Barney Miller, Car 54, Where Are You?, Kate & Alley, Mad About You, Boys Meets World, TV38, how M*A*S*H was old man TV, surviving under the smelliest conditions, TV tapings, Kelsey Grammer's return to television, Ken's early days at MMTV Melrose Mass cable access TV, how Ken is Forrest Gump, meeting Fred Willard, how a

This week Ken welcomes comedian and all around Hollywood player Chip Pope to the show. Ken and Chip discuss growing up in Texas, The Last Picture Show, taking out all the good looking people, fights at the Rodeo Grounds, taking your shirt off, weird Massachusetts city names, moving to LA, TV watching in coming of age autobiographical childhood tales, the love hate relationship with L.A., Bo Burnham's Nightmare on Elm St, Newhart, On Golden Pond, how long it takes a show to find itself, shows improving over time, TV ratings, your show getting canceled, Cheers, Taxi, Kent III, cigarettes, getting cast as a skateboarder in Man in the Moon and being cut out, CED RCA Selectadisc, betamax, HBO, Jeff Altman, having a black and white TV well into the 1980s, the weird peeing like a man in Personal Best, SCTV, David Letterman's "They Took My Show Away", Voyagers, gun accidents on set, OJ Simpson in Cocaine and Blue Eyes, Betty White in "Just Men", daytime gameshows, Square Pegs, Beau Bridges TV movie directorial debut,

This week Ken welcomes designer, host of Scotland's Home of the Year, former actor and all around one of the coolest people I've ever talked to, Anna Campbell-Jones to the show. Ken and Anna discuss Ken's plans to pull a heist and move to rural Scotland, First Love - Secrets, being a teen actor, Free Masons, The Word, Channel 4, The Young Ones, London in the 1970s, psychobilly, The Cramps, going to art school, negotiating viewing with siblings, how shows in the UK don't start on the 00s or 30s, The Radio Times vs. The TV Times, snooker, car racing, New Year's Day regret, police procedurals, Bergerac, Columbo, cute murders, The Wicker Man, Yul Brenner, loving musicals, South Pacific, Happy Talk, The Damned, Elvis, being recognized in public, nice comfortable TV, not applying your own tastes to everything, what home is about, The Repair Shop, un-PC TV, The Black and White Minstrel Show, James Bond, when Alternative Comedy became the mainstream, Teletext, Ceefax enthusiasts, Byker Grove, Ant and Dec, Grange Hill

8 Years and 500 (+) Episodes! In celebration we have a big announcement! We have a new theme song. Retiring "Television Addict" by the Hoodoo Gurus/The Victims, and replacing it with a song written and recorded JUST for the show by the great Josh Caterer (Smoking Popes), TV Guidance Counselor! Josh also has a new single out for the a Holidays, a great version of White Christmas. Also! Ken did his first face to face interviews since March 2020, and his first convention since November 2019. Here are two of the interviews from that con, NorthEast Comic Con. First up is Francois Clemmons who played Officer Clemmons on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Ken and Francois discuss how he became Officer Clemmons on the show, his trepidation about wearing a police uniform in 1969, being a helper, being a TV pioneer, the life philosophy of Fred Rogers, the importance of listening, not being Hollywood, how slow Fred was (in a good way), Won't You Be My Neighbor, why Tom Hanks was wrong in Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Spirit