March 6-12, 2004

This week Ken welcomes podcaster, film critic and author of the new book "Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend", Jason Bailey.

Ken and Jason discuss living in The Bronx, moving from Kansas to NYC, wanting to leave your home town, the Sopranos phenomenon, HBO original programming, 1st and Ten, prestige TV, unlikeable protagonists, America Undercover, Tales from the Crypt, Mario Van Peebles, werewolves, Daybreak, failed pilots, Cast a Deadly Spell, working at video stores, dropping out of playing Sammy the Bull, being replaced by William Foresythe, the complicated history of James Gandolfini, standing out in the sea of books about the Sopranos, True Romance, IDing future stars, how Karen "Duff" Duffy is the greatest human being ever, Duff and Gandolfini's high school days together, New Jersey, Steve Buscemi, stealing behind the scenes people from Trees Lounge, Season 5 of the Sopranos, Larraine Braco, Goodfellas, avoiding the press, taking years long breaks between seasons, TV on DVD, the post 9-11 TV landscape, why it was a benefit to have a higher retail price, American Idol, William Hung, Jeffery Donovan, Touching Evil, Burn Notice, Ressurecting Judas, Easter programming, "Invasion of the Dumb Blondes", how reality TV killed Anna Nicole Smith, how the US remake of The Office will never work, TrimSpa, David Mamet plays, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, basic cable network identity, Six Feet Under, Paige Davis and Trading Spaces, writing a book about Die Hard, Die Hard rip offs, E! True Hollywood stories, sleaze, Gilmore Girls, Michael Chiklis, being told you'll never work in Hollywod again, The Shield, Nip/Tuck, bad investments, The Danbury Mint, Brian DePalma, Femme Fatale, TiVo, lost media, how awful The Apprentice was and how it ruined the world forever, mean spirited prank shows, Jaime Kennedy Show, why big budget movies are all now geared towards 12 year olds, seeing R rated movies with your parents, Playing it Straight, Wonderfalls, and Jason's fantastic podcasts.