TV Guidance Counselor Episode 80: Greg Proops

February 15-21, 1969 (sort of)

This week Ken welcomes comedian, actor, author and smartest man in the world Greg Proops to the show.

Ken and Greg discuss Fantasy on Television, The Avengers, The Adams Family, The Wild Wild West, Kids television, exactly when England got black people, The Black and White Minstrel Show, Star Trek, The psychedelic 60s, San Francisco, Star Trek, Dad movies, War, Zulu, speaking German, learning that sometimes there are no good guys, Chuck Connors, Branded, breaking a sword over your knee, The Prisoner: the original mindfuck, James Bond, questioning your government, Who's Line is it Anyway?, Punk, The Double Deckers, dystopia, the song that goes with every neighborhood in London, The 60s dream of peace love and nonviolence, Night Flight, the golden age of FM radio, KSAN, The UK vs US Top 40, The Intruder, Charles Beaumont, The Twilight Zone, realizing the rest of the United States is terrifying and different, buying into the media lie, hatred of memes, having the sum total of human knowledge in your pocket, the DIY ethos of punk reflected in podcasts, The Outer Limits, learning a moral compass from television, Davey and Goliath, The Banana Splits, Rankin Bass, bad people as main characters, the best of times the worst of times, local television, when cameramen all became robots, Vietnam: the first TV war, the horrors of combat footage, real reporters, why Dick Chaney is the world's most evil heartless cyborg, never believing what you hear, why there is no news anymore, conspiracy theories, when Hidden Camera Prank shows became reporting, throwing your hat at the white flag, Hilary Clinton, why there is no truth or final word anymore, conservatives re-branding as the Party party, Laugh In, The Smothers Brothers, the legacy of Nixon, Pepsi vs. Coke, when everyone smokes, the sleaze of Maxim magazine, Family Ties, Full House as history's greatest representation of San Francisco, Occupy vs. real criminals, Good Day LA, Romney's evil bowels, why celebrities are not allowed to have opinions, Iran Contra, Ronald Reagan's journey from joke to Jesus, The Dead Kennedys, Midnight Caller, Greg's essaying the role of Cab Drive, Gary Cole, Nash Bridges, Vigilante Talk Radio DJs, American Gothic, Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me, Sam Fuller, The Model Cafe, The Brady Bunch Movie, "I don't if you remember me...", Charlton Heston, The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, I Am Legend, Richard Matheson, Zombie movies, why the current love of zombies gets it totally wrong, Return of the Living Dead, millennials' obsession with magic and monsters, the rules driven horror trend, Forbidden Planet, The Tempest, Star Wars turning sci-fi into a genre for everyone, Minority Report, Phillip K. Dick, Hollywood's abandonment of character studies, comic book movies, Pacific Rim, Ultraman, Ken's dislike of Quentin Tarantino, The Skin Game, Jackie Brown, living in a Sci-Fi story, advertising ruining everything, 1984, Orwell, Greg's book, navel officers writing sci-fi, Robert Heinlein, "Room 101", Paul Merton, CCTV Cameras in London, Big Brother's journey from terrifying idea to hot tub sex, the evils of technology, the dehumanization of Uber, the cost of convenience, mini cabs, "The Knowledge", Africa, never having been to the center of London, Billy Ocean, navigating without technology, pop culture advocates, Record Store clerks, teenage girls loving AM pop, Greg's wife's impeccable music taste, The Underground, Russ Meyer, Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, The Strand in San Francisco, The Stuff, communal experience, Mike Meyer's Tarantino-ing Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Our Man Flint, money men financing the creative while being the enemy of art, Big Talent Agencies missing the point, The Army Show, The Jamie Foxx Show, fruit bags, schlub comedians, Louis CK, getting out of the way of good art, the fraternity of comedians, pulp fiction vs Pulp Fiction, learning your craft, and panning for the Golden Age.