Mr. Media Interviews by Bob Andelman

From 2009: Will success spoil standup comedy queen Lisa Lampanelli? That’s what Howard Stern asked her in January 2009. A word of warning for the fainthearted Mr. Media listener: There are no censors on this show. Nobody will be bleeping Lisa, who is known to thrown around four and 12-letter words. She is free to let it rip here. So if you’re easily offended, switch shows now.

From 2008: If you think Fox TV is edgy and kooky now, you should’ve seen it back in the early ‘90s when Stephen Chao was a programmer and eventually its President. He commissioned “COPS,” created “America’s Most Wanted,” and earned a reputation for creating commercial success by pushing boundaries and questioning the conventional wisdom. Today, if you want to see videos such as “Increase Boob Size on Pictures with Photoshop” -- yes, I did like that one myself -- check out wonderhowto.com.

I guess I thought I knew Kip Addotta. Now that I am reading his autobiography, Kip Addotta: Confessions of a Comedian, I realize I don’t know him at all. My guest today was a staple of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s comedy scene as he found it: comedy clubs in Los Angeles, nightclubs in Miami and Las Vegas, and an endless series of guest appearances on the talk shows that could make a comic’s career in those days – “The Mike Douglas Show,” “The Merv Griffin Show” and “The Tonight Show with John

The first thing I need to tell you about Forrest Galante is that I will never go out on an adventure with a man who is comfortable carrying a live Burmese Python around his neck.

But that’s just me.

Watching him do stuff like that from the comfort of my living room, however, as the wildlife biologist and tracker does in his new Animal Planet TV series, “Extinct or Alive,” is totally cool.

The show airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern or Pacific.

As host of the new Wondry podcast series, “Business Wars,” every week, he breaks down some of the world’s greatest us vs. them company conflicts and gives them new life through narrative commentary and conversational recreations. To date, “Business Wars” has compellingly examined Nike vs. Adidas, Netflix vs. Blockbuster, Beats vs. Monster Cable, and Marvel vs. DC Comics. You might recognize David’s voice, if not his face, as the former host of “Marketplace” on NPR.

My guest today is actress Sheree J. Wilson, who played opposite Chuck Norris as assistant district attorney Alix Cahill on “Walker, Texas Ranger,” the long-running TV series that debuted 25 years ago. The show is back once more, this time on getTV. I’m hoping Sheree might have a favorite Chuck Norris joke of her own – or knows whether Chuck Norris enjoys Chuck Norris jokes.

Stephen Rosenfield is the founding director of the American Comedy Institute and his alumni are as diverse as Jim Gaffigan and Lena Dunham – talk about opposite ends of the spectrum! In his book, he writes about the different types of comedy and comedians, and breaks down the techniques and behind-the-scenes details that can make or break a modern comedian. I’m not interested in jumping onstage, but I’m fascinated by stand-ups and their careers. I found "Mastering Stand-Up" to be compelling.

FROM 2008: No matter what role he’s in, Bob Balaban always makes an impression, from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind to playing the President of NBC on “Seinfeld.” And the same is was true of his work as a director, which you can discover in Bernard and Doris, starring Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes. (Currently, he is appearing in "Condor" on the Audience Network.)

If you’re a comic book fan and you’ve never seen Ross Pearsall’s “Super-Team Family” work, put Mr. Media on pause while you look up BraveAndBoldLost.Blogspot.com – we’ll wait. Cool, right? Want to see the Fantastic Four cross paths with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca? Pearsall made it happen. Marvel’s Iron Fist and TV’s “Kung Fu” Caine, as played by David Carradine? Done! How about the Black Panther meets Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther? Yup, been there, did that.

From 2008: No one ever did undercover police work better or with more distinction than Joe Pistone, who you probably know better as “Donnie Brasco.” Brasco became a household name in the 1980s as the undercover character played by Pistone, perhaps the ballsiest FBI agent ever. His testimony ultimately sent more than 200 mobsters to jail and – indirectly, several to their deaths. Pistone was famously portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 1997 movie, Donnie Brasco, which co-starred Al Pacino.