Greetings From the Idiot Box

Joel Thurm joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about his career casting classic television shows and movies, such as Taxi and Grease.

TV Historian Allison Lips and Johnny Mac from Daily Comedy News explore all the reasons Jay Leno is terrible, such as taking care of his sick wife. Leno's comedy legacy may be murky, but he's not a monster and simply misunderstood.

Mark Malkoff joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about The Carson Podcast and his upcoming book Love Johnny Carson.

Mary Alice joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about The Biggest Loser and Netflix's documentary on the show, Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser. We explore society's role in media depictions of obesity and the impact watching the show had on us.

Steve Winer, who wrote for Late Night with David Letterman, Robert Klein, and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, has a wide-ranging conversation with TV Historian Allison Lips about his career and more.

Adam Nedeff, author of Gong this Book, joins TV Historian Allison Lips to discuss Chuck Barris' bizarre and complicated legacy. If you want to learn more about the man behind The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, Treasure Hunt, and more, you'll enjoy this Greetings From the Idiot Box episode.

TV Historian Allison Lips and Steve Newvine discuss Jim Burrows' long career in television. Burrows directed episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show," "Taxi", "Frasier," "Friends," "Will & Grace," and "3rd Rock from the Sun" and co-created "Cheers."

TV Historian Allison Lips and Rob Kates discuss Richard Zoglin's book Comedy at the Edge, which covers the stand up revolution in the United States during the 1970s. We talk about George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein, Jerry Seinfeld, and more!

TV Historian Allison Lips and Chris D'Angelo discuss HBO's Barry.

Mike Chisholm joins TV Historian Allison Lips to chat about late night's future and whether that includes John Mulaney. We also discuss Mulaney's standup specials.