TV Guidance Counselor

March 24- April 1, 1984  This week Ken welcomes Philly comic Chip Chantry BACK to the show.  

Ken and Chip discuss uninspired TV landscape of 1984, significant TV weddings, his last visit and the evolution of virtual podcasting since then, the fascinating world of VR and hologram technology, take a historical detour into the "Pepper's Ghost" illusion—a magician's trick from the 18th century now revived in modern performances, pranks, writing for a local radio station, psychic mediums like John Edwards, Hill Street Blues, a poignant reading of Lana Wood's poem "Sleep," the Mr. T action figure, Voltron, Dennis the Menace, the bizarre ABC weekend special "The Amazing Bungie Venture," a unique documentary-style episode of "Kate & Allie," and the CBS Schoolbreak Special "Welcome Home, Jellybean."  

AND don't miss Chip's comedy special "Move Closer" streaming now for free on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_QKarKuuTdU?si=keNN0nQqM1dq0tLY

June 19-26, 1976

This week Ken welcomes Professor of Russian & Slavic Studies and Senior Academic Convenor for the Global Network at New York University and author of Marvel Comics in the 1970s: The World Inside Your Head (Cornell, 2022), Meanwhile, in Russia…: Russian Internet Memes and Viral Video (Bloomsbury, 2022),  Soviet-Self-Hatred: The Secret Identities of Postsocialism (Cornell, 2023), Elliot Borenstein.

Ken and Elliot discuss Russian Pop Culture and Propaganda as a day job, The Cold War, anti-Soviet TV, Pussy Riot, Marvel Comics, the innovation of narrative present in 70s Marvel Comics, Howard the Duck, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, getting paid to watch TV, redeemable trash, terrible awful garbage TV, Barney Miller, the weird state of mid-70s American TV, believing in your audience, Jimmy Carter's American Malaise, post-Watergate, the productive exploration of cynicism, CB Radio, when Columbus OH was the test market of the world, market research, mutli tasking, MTM, Rhoda, Phyllis, The Defenders, Planet of the Apes, spin offs, the horror of Eight is Enough, Maude, Love American Style, variable bed times, Martin Mull, Disco, Fernwood2Nite, Good Times, Jimmy Walker, the famous Heidi Dress, swingers, Barney Miller, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, premise creep, Phil Silvers, One Day at a Time, Goodnight Beantown, The Incredible Hulk, Misfits of Science, Blue Knight, Monty Python, Grease, being offended by Nostalgia, Hawaii Five-O, tumors, and Russian genre cinema. 

January 3-9, 1998

This week Ken welcomes comedian, filmmaker and all around good dude Jeff Cerulli to the show.

Ken and Jeff discuss documentary films, hot dog eating contests, TV Eating Contests, The Simpsons, Senior Year of High School, The Spin Doctors, mail order CDs, TV Guide appearing in movies, The Ice Storm, The Postman, Equal, smoking bans, beepers, the top 12 Simpsons episodes (circa 1998), winning the REAL Simpsons house, Ice-T, Marky Mark, having no concept of modern country and Christian music, The Wiz, Comics Come Home, Road Rules, The Real World, Star Wars Special Edition, Jackie Mason, Caddyshack II, how Vaudeville could be alt com, Pacific Blue, Baywatch, the extended Baywatch Universe, The Black Out Effect vs. The Trigger Effect, Demi Moore in Striptease, horny viewing, Mannequin being a three star movie, Beavis and Butthead, VH1 Pop Up Video, The Brothers McMullan, Poison Ivy series, Boy Meets World, voice over, Richard Lewis, bOkU, Drew Carey Show, the horrors of White Grape, Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie, The Cronenberg Dynasty, Scanners II, MTV as a home channel, when we all hand to witness Anthony Michael Hall break out of being a nerd, Johnny B Goode, Bill Paxton, Weird Science, Seinfeld's final season, the return of Larry David, Bulls, Michael Jordan, Oliver Stone vs. Oliver North, Celebrity Jeopardy, and a particularly angry Cheers and Jeers.

May 18, 2018

This week Ken welcomes comedian Caitlin Peluffo.

Ken and Caitlin discuss chipper hellos, being pumped, Caitlin's partner's love of Alice Cooper, Chubby Checker, Alice Cooper's Elvis story, growing up in the Bay Area, moving to NYC, depicting cities for the wealthy, Golden Retrievers, The Property Brothers, twins, the not twin sibling, home renovations, Jonathan Knight's farm house fix ups, black and mild cigars, the Royal family, pancakes for the table, Ken's food love, Grandma's TV Guide, having a "home" channel, Forever Home, HGTV, Canadian home buying, Love it or List It, Flip it, hate watching renovations, Paige Davis,  loving the Napiers, Rock the Block, This Old House, The Sassy Cat Wine Glass Collection, respectful murder mysteries, Elementary, Ken's famous coat, crazy Victoria's Chicago make overs, freezing your d off, getting made to cry, Reality TV, Storage Wars, Guy's Grocery Games, American Ninja Warrior, Flip or Flop, divorce, Family Feud, Bob the Drag Queen, my Super Sized Life, Skin Tight, touring with Madonna, My 600 lb Life, when pals get hunted by a blind man, Frasier, and why Niles Crane is the best character ever on TV. 

February 26 - March 3, 1972

RETURNING guests to the show comedians Irene Bremis (watch her special Sweetie) and TV's Frank Conniff join Ken this week.

Ken, Irene and Frank discuss growing up in New York, the horrors of Staten Island, good pizza, racism, Mary Tyler Moore, Sherlock Holmes cigarettes, Doral Cigarettes, True Cigarettes, killing women, Rain Barrell, questionable protein stains, fabric softener, The Old Man Who Cried Wolf, movies vs tv series, where Irene and Frank met, Brian Denehy, the map of Ireland on Frank's face, Maureen O'Hara, psychic detectives, Saturday night death slots, MTM productions, strong women, Maude, how awful Bill Cosby is, dying on stage, Bob Hope, Dana Gould, Bing Crosby and Friends, women's lib, Ear Stoppies, wigs, Rowan & Martin, Gene Hackman, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, comic comradery, Sid & Marty Kroft, Hart to Hart, the show with the woman, James Garner, Left Behind, Kirk, Christians, losing your mind, cycle cell anemia, Greeks, Cannon, William Conrad, MeTV, It Takes a Thief, Carson, Serling, meeting Dick Cavet, Adam 12, Dick Clark, Hellzapoppin the TV series, Dom DeLuise, George Wallace, working on Sabrina, That Girl, Cannonball Run, Eddie Murphy, Red Foxx, Sandford and Son, Soap, Room 222, and watching MeTV at 2am. 

March 31 - April 6, 1990

This week Ken welcomes SF based comic behind the new special "They are Gonna Know", Richard Sarvate.

Ken and Richard discuss nostalgia, doing your research, experiencing emotions, Bob Saget, America's Funniest Home Videos, how kids today wouldn't know what a VHS Camcorder is, growing up in Freemont CA, the great comedy scene in SF, the most disturbing heckle Jerry Seinfeld ever got, Boston heckles, The Cosby Show, unimaginable fame, being oblivious to current long running shows, all the new cable networks launched in 1990, The Comedy Channel and HA! becoming Comedy Central, The Comedy Boom, how easy it was to get a TV spot in the 80s, Ken's defense of The Unknown Comic, Maron's hacky hacky sack bit, Albert Brooks, maturing, A Family for Joe, Ken's love of Robert Mitchum, 70s crime films, confusing Ben and Fred Savage and Wonder Years and Boy Meets World, Second City, the Carol Burnett 1990 show, high profile experiments, Carol and Company, Amy Sedaris, Exit 57, horrible racist people thinking you're ok with it, heavy metal, Bill Burr, being in a band, not missing unloading gear, Friday the 13th The Series, Married...with Children, evil pens, Twin Peaks, good ads, King of Comedy, The Clash, The Wonder Years, crying, Lakers Cheerleaders, Paula Abdul, George Forman and his children, athletes who are showy, 1985 SNL, Randy Quaid, Robert Downey Jr, Normal Life, the Zappas, not being smart enough to get the joke, Van Halen, Equal Justice, Duck Soup, loving old comedy, renting old comedy, mid-season replacements, Full House, body switching, Chances Are, positive pranks, being really really old, helping plays become TV shows. 

August 1-7, 2004

This week Ken welcomes Maine's own Ricky from the Old Sorts of Words YouTube Channel.

Ken and Ricky discuss hey girl hey, Judge Dredd, Millie the Model, how impressed Ken is by Patsy Walker, Tank Girl, UK Comics, pre MCU Comic Book Movies, Addams Family, the Addams Family movies, Krypto, being terrified of wrestling promos, Edward Gorey, going by nicknames of our given name, Charles vs Chaz, comics trying to appeal to people who didn't read comics, Cousin It, Spider-Woman, copyright wars, Helen Slater as Supergirl, horny George Jetson and how big he is a fan of Seven of Nine, Con photos, Coneheads, It's Pat, 90s movie soundtracks, RHCP, Gomez, The Michael Jordan of Gameshows, Press Your Luck, Michael Jordan of Michael Jordans, Anna Nicole Smith, how sad it is when the entertainment industry destroys somebody, Highlander, X-Files, The Invaders, The Prisoner, Ultraman, the horrors of anime, Bubblegum Crisis, Vampire Hunter D, Legend of the Overfiend, Star Trek the Next Generation, what you'd cosplay as at a comic con, leather jump suits, Deep Space Nine, Comic Cons After Dark, Munsters sculptures, Halloweentown, Stallone, Demolition Man, Cliffhanger, Batman the Animated Series, why Kevin Conroy is the best Batman, Ben Affleck, Adventure Comics, loving dogs, Superman, Superman the Animated Series, the last digest issue of TV Guide, Maury, Corn Pops, Lucky Charms, spending a lot of time on the toilet, Reese's Puffs, lose and blue, Fresh Prince, Law and Order, surf culture, Step Into the Liquid, Endless Summer, Falling Down, the death of Raoul Julia, having never seen a single minute of a Fast and the Furious film, Vin Diesel's resurrection, The Simpsons, the "I Love The..." shows, ultimate top 20 Party Blondes, "After Dark", cigarettes in NH, Big Joe's Smokeshop by mail, Lord of Rings Too, all the Wayneses, Tiger Cruise, Man in the Mirror, confusing Michael Jackson for The Crow, how the Saudis own The Apprentice, gross Billy Bush, gross Fox News personalities, bloviating, Spy vs Spy and Cheering Mountain Dew. 

May 3-9, 1997

This week Ken welcomes comedian and man behind the comedy special "Harangue" (watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9qlvlgkiJs), Kevin Casey White.

Ken and Kevin discuss being live in Mexico City, international waters, loving John Carpenter, Big Trouble in Little China, smokers coughs, homaging the Thing title car, growing up in St. Louis, Xena, loving Lucy Lawless, The Evil Dead, growing up without cable, The Nanny, twist endings, why TV Guide writers should avoid writing comedy, Rob Schneider, Men Behaving Badly, terrible US remakes of UK shows, Jack Parr, Conan O'Brien, Johnny Carson being a dick, YouTube Rabbit Holes, Ernie Kovacs, The Simpsons, the wonder of Saturday Morning cartoons, the rarity of demographic TV Blocks, comic books, X-Men '97, Batman, wanting video games that look like actual cartoons, The Mask, how cartoons can feel timeless, Waynehead, Freakazoid, Ricardo Montalban, what your favorite Ninja Turtle says about you, Tales from the Crypt, the Cryptkeeper hosting a kid's game show, revealing the existence of the "dirty" edits of TFTC, the history of HBO's original programming, Rosie O'Donnell's stand up, people coming out of the closet, SNICK, staying at your grandma's because she has cable, the turning point in Simpsons' history that IS "Homer's Enemy" the Frank Grimes episode, downbeat endings, smart writing, COPS, America's Most Wanted, the novelty of consumers having VHS Cameras, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, iconic child actors and confusing the world of Cuba Gooding Jr. 

March, 11 - 1995

This week Ken welcomes comedian, and man behind the new special "Jew Verses the Volcano", Adam Newman.

Ken and Adam discuss their mutual obsession with guitars, Sam Kinison, getting into magic, being awkward, learning card tricks out of spite, Dealt, Penn & Teller Fool Us, The X-Files, Dorfin', If I Did It, the OJ Simpson Trial, final meals, commemorative plates, American Gladiators rip offs, final meals, Roller Blades, figure skating, Blue Chips, sports movies, Shaq, Nick Nolte, Slapshot, Valerie Harper's version of "The Office", The Higgins Boys and Gruber, Joan Rivers Live in London, Comics Unleashed, taping an episode that airs TEN YEARS later, Dolph Lundgren's Punisher, Masters of the Universe, The Cosmic Key, John Tesh live at Red Rocks, Tim Robinson, Tim Busfield, Dabney Coleman, how we watch TV in hotel rooms, Death on the Job, Newbury Comics, Fanuel Hall, Mottley's, Erin Judge's Dress Up Show,J Jeff Foxworthy, The Beavis and Butthead Do America Soundtrack, Cartoons and real people getting together, Fox New Spring Season, Medicine Ball, Donal Logue, comics in cover bands, Primus, Black Hole Sun, Guitar Center riffs, Richard Grieco spending the night with a centerfold, religious cults, Peter Jennings, Sov Citizens, "First Amendment Auditors", YouTube recommendations, Rescue 9-11, Boy Meets World, Jonathan Gries, non-Gillian Anderson episodes of The X-Files, wanting to sit in your hotel room and play guitar, Dwayne Barry, loving Bonnie Hunt, compilations of depressing things, loving to see bad guys get theirs and Ken HIGHLY recommending the Equalizer films. 

June 30 - July 1, 2001

This week Ken welcomes comedian behind the album "America's Uncle Dad", Sean Keane to the show.

Ken and Sean discuss the Bay Area, Oakland, Jawbreaker, doing stand up at video stores, how stand up comedy is the hobo of the performing arts world, Nash Bridges, Midnight Caller, everybody's one acting credit, the world right before 9/11, launching a comedy show on 9/11, Everybody Loves Raymond, confusing Brad Garret and Ray Romano, Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling, Jay Leno's never happening dramatic turn third act, sexy M&Ms, Big Brother, soft vinyl Vanna White Dolls for $150, loving Lucy too much, The Franklin Mint, backyard wrestling, MaxX, The Real World, America's Most Wanted, BET Music Awards, The Chris Isaak Show, playing emulators, the weird lost to time TV show era of the early 00s, The Family Channel, Night of the Twisters, E! True Hollywood Story, Baywatch, Hotel Iguana, Pentathlon, Dolph Lundgren, West Coast unauthorized car shows, fireworks, Fear Factor, eating worms, when THE BAG is an unwed father, how THE BAG is really JTT, Snoop Dog, Loose and Control, David from Real World Seattle, PAX TV, never having heard of the show "Doc" even though it went on forever, Billy Ray Cyrus, Resurrection Blvd, when Carlos lands a boot, You Don't Know Jack, E!'s Top Ten Wild Party Spots, the mind blowing world of 4th of July spectaculars, dramatic readings, stealing space valor, forgetting you just played somebody in the military in a movie and weren't actually in the military, breaking your own rules, Sub Fest 94, Avery Brooks, athletes who have bands, ESPN, 5 for 5 vs 30 for 30, The Sleepwalker Killing, The San Diego Chicken, Making the Band, Runaway Train, and tasteful coverage of being being given the death penalty.