TV Guidance Counselor

August 23-29, 1986 This week Ken welcomes writer, comedian Julie Kitayama. Ken and Julie discuss the ever changing face of Reid Manor, Valerie Harper vs. The Hogan Family, Sandy Duncan's eye, The Facts of Life and who is your favorite girl, boycotting Scooby Doo, Benson, Golden Girls, swing dancing, Bess Armstrong, One Day at at Time, TV shows with characters that have your name, Ken's love of surfing, Alice vs. Flo, catch phrases, Roots vs. The Empire Strikes Back, send your Dad to his room, Ken's first movie review, Fight Back! with David Horowitz, The Lottery, the saddest New Year's Eve of all time, how The Warped Tour ruined a man's dreams, Clams and Jai Alai, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, single moms, Kate & Allie, Lesbians on TV, Cagney and Lacy, Who's the Boss, Bob Uker, MTV Video Music Awards, Growing Pains, Charles in Charge, Zapped!, Moonlighting, Ulcers, Perfect Strangers as the New I Love Lucy, Under the Rainbow, home sick with game shows, Chronicle, loving Evening Magazine's Sara Edwards, Gimme a Break, Blackie from General Hospital vs. The Dreams, Jamie Gertz, You Again, Cosby Show, Bill Gunn's Ganja and Hess, playing cards, Family Ties vs. the USSR, a rare Three-Parter, Deaths on Night Court, loving magicians, being freaked out by Webster, the movie Fuzz, the horror of Yule Brenner, Mr. Belvedere, Love Boat, Lorenzo Lamas, Adrian Barbeau's bust, and Jeering Magnum PI.

January 7-13, 1978 Today Ken welcomes musician Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, Folk Implosion) to the show. Ken and Lou discuss being not from Detroit, Iggy Pop, being terrified of murderous hippies, becoming what you fear, torturing younger sisters, Saturday Morning religious programming, Sunrise Semester, SCTV, man's place in nature, late night English TV, German Steam Rooms, Warner Bros, Looney Tunes, dark suicides in cartoons, cats fearing "Happy Birthday", questioning the intelligence of Jimmy Durante impressions, Hair Bear Bunch, hating cheap TV Cartoons, Scooby Doo and it's relation to high fevers, lying geniuses, Jay Ward's store, Superchicken, education through Fractured Fairy Tales, Sid & Marty Kroft, the dark seedy underbelly of underground Claw Machine rings, Caldor Colors, how decades are more than 10 years, the magic of late 70s/early 80s music, New Wave, the eclectic pop charts, Discharge, college radio, Top 40, AM Radio Maps, narrow casting ruining stumbling on things, not hating modern times, Night Flight, Drive-In Theaters, depressing 70s Crime Drama, Three for the Road, Isis (the super hero), Filmation, Rocket Robin Hood, Hulk Theme Song, Canadian Content, Little House on the Prairie, Rape on TV, The White Shadow, James at 15 (16), fear of brain aneurysms, Sweeds, sound checking with the Greatest American Hero, Family Ties, UK songs in commercials. Folk Implosion "Natural One", ending with a "sha-la-la-la", hearing yourself in a Liqueur Store, making it with Casey Kasem, early days of MTV, The Cutting Edge, always having time for Hair Metal, 120 Minutes, SSD, why The Freeze are the most uncool of all the Boston Hardcore bands, Dinosaur Jr, Lou's first TV Credit at age 10, Scrambled Eggs, The Young Ones, High School Quiz shows, Massholes, the culture clash of moving to MA, being on the wrong side of Red Sox history, losing to ringers, the perils of school busing, being confused by The Bad News Bears, Mass beating the love of sports out of you, roaming gangs of street soccer hooligans, UMass Radio's DaDa Vision, "Why Do You Cut off Your Sleeves", the Western MA accent, teachers thinking you are on drugs or "retahded", making it to your High School Guidance Counselor's Wall of Fame, not doing anything, literally anything, in high school, Negative Approach, Somerville, MA, Boston's North End, the video shoot for "Ocean", the worst thing Lou ever did in his life, TT The Bear's Place, Morton Downey Jr., the bloated mess that was the video for "Willing to Wait", Adventure Time, Alan Partridge, UK Comedy, The Mighty Boosh, Donnie and Marie, being absent from the language of pop culture, Star Wars, seeing things again through children's eyes, The Princess Pride, Andre the Giant, introducing the next generation to professional wrestling, Reading Rainbow and why "The Bindery" may be the best worst song ever on television.

May 9-15, 1998 This week welcomes comedian, television personality and man about town Jeff Dye to the show. Ken and Jeff discuss the nature of being a collector, baseball cards, Wrestling toys, siblings questioning your reality, Hulk Hogan's Rock N' Wrestlin', the long strange tale of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Jerry Seinfeld the Cartoon, how adults deal with caricatures, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, growing up in a house of ladies, why old people don't count, The Fushigi Magic Gravity Ball, growing up poor, buying things "As Seen on TV", Cops, the rumor mill, Profiler, The "Boston Lunch Break", sleeping at work, real life Fight Clubs, undercover white guys, Ken's misspent punk rock youth, The World's Greatest Commercials, the UK TV system, MTV, attending awards shows, wondering who the hell Jeff is, The Kurt Loder of Comedy, being an undercover nerd, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "slabbing" baseball cards, replacing a gay character with Paulie Shore, fighting with Church, The Simpsons, teaching your Dad a lesson about taking risks, Touched by an Angel, Skeet Ulrich in Miracles, "poor face", stealing Ken's opinion, 7th Heaven, Ed, living in Quantum Leap with your own person Ziggy, Early Edition, encounters with professional athletes; world's biggest jerks, Wade Boggs, Hobo nicknames, Billy Ripkin's Fuck Face, making money on Ebay, grading collectibles, 90s Comics worth nothing, Marvel cards, Ken's childhood business of buying and flipping comic collections, having your own person arcade, watching a documentary every day, the comfort and escape of reality TV, Victoria's Kitchen Almond Water, Shark Tank, The downfall of the original George Bush, taking your wardrobe home, how Rich people spend money, having a cache of Giant Sized X-Men #1, TGIF, Small Wonder, hanging out with Ben Savage in a bar against your will, Billie Piper, Sinestro, Seinfeld, real life Midnight Societies, SNL, All That, Mad Magazine vs. Mad TV, and the one thing that makes Jeff's friends the most jealous of his life.

In this episode recorded before their recent tour stop in Boston, Ken welcomes Ben Weasel and Joe Queer to the show. First up Ken speaks with Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel and Weasel Radio about the nature of green rooms, the two hour power block of Fantasy Island and Love Boat, sleepovers, 70s lack of child supervision, the Doberman phenomenon, having never seen Suburbia, Class of 1984, Teenage Head, Alice Cooper's "punk period", Van Patton's as the future, Michael J. Fox, dating on Eight is Enough, confusion around the Partridge Family, Family, Kristy McNichol, getting really into 7th Heaven, how sincerity goes a long way, the NEW Fantasy Island, the 70s vs. the 90s, the strange relationship with Tattoo, hookers on TV, knowing what a "swinger" is while not knowing exactly what a swinger is, being careful what you wish for, Genie wish loopholes, Little House on the Prairie, M*A*S*H, WKRP, Rock N Roll on TV, being a rock fan as social stand, Steve Dahl Chicago disc jockey, Disco Sucks, Freaks & Geeks, Newsradio, work place sitcoms, putting your own spin on classic formats, Tim Reid, The Jeffersons, Good Times in Cabrini-Green, the dream of the 70s death in the 80s, building a city on Rock N Roll, the punk rock reaction, the value of mainstream media attention to the underground, The Big Bang Theory, 3-Camera Sitcom format, the horror of specific choices in the 21st Century, TV Actors vs Film Actors, Salem's Lot, Made-for-TV Movies, James at 15 becoming James at 16, The Midnight Special, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, Welcome to My Nightmare, LP marketing, the dirty secret of radio station interview LPs, New Wave on TV, 21st Century rebellion, Vietnam in popular culture, Maude's abortion episode, The Baby Boomers being wrong about everything, Go Set a Watchman, the education system, growing up in a world of consequences, Social Conscious of the 70s, Free to be You and Me, the predictive nature of science fiction, moralizing vs. morality, Black Flag's "Damaged", SLC Punk, The Wonder Years, Fawlty Towers, The Dick Van Dyke Show, loving General Hospital, loving the Soap Opera format, and realizing that format is not quality. Ken then speak with Joe Queer (aka Joe "Citizen" King) of the Queers. Ken and Joe discuss Chico and the Man, the lonesome death of Freddy Prinz, Welcome Back Kotter, growing up in New Hampshire, Boston stations vs. NH Stations, UHF education, TV38, WLVI TV56, Late Nite Creature Features, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, Elvira, WBCN, seeing The Police at the Rat, why Sting won't smoke pot with you, Newbury Comics, The Ramones, Arena Rock, Jethro Tull's baby carriage one foot hopping, V66, Surf Culture, 60s music, Frampton coming alive in Boston, being a big reader vs a TV watcher, loving fine English literature, O. Henry, Felix the Cat, Rock N' Roll High School, The Meatmen, Black Flag, being physically large enough to actually be in a punk band, Rollins, Fear on SNL, Joan Jett, seeing Madness at a clothing store, Rodney on the ROQ, Just Want to Live Like Yogi Bear, Sid Griffin, favorite TV Theme songs, Beverly Hillbillies, Flintstones, Betwitched, Brady Bunch, and the shared experience of seeing certain movies and TV shows being a vehicle for friendships.

In this VERY special Very Special Episode Ken celebrates a milestone in TV Guidance Counselor History, Episode 100 (although in reality it's more something like episode 125). Ken discusses a short history of the show, Sean Sullivan, the significance of "Episode 100" in television, the definition of strip shows, a poorly researched history and justification of "The Clip Show" phenomenon, syndication, apologizing to gypsies, the two types of clip shows, Growing Pains two part clip show, Ken's doubts in doing the show in the future as a catalyst for a clip show, Pete's voice, discussions of cave living with Michael Ian Black, calling Paul Rudd, discussing strange baby names with Laura Kightlinger, Jeering Jelly Bread with James Adomian, Amy Sedaris: Paralyzed Detective, Amy's lack of knowledge on microwave cleaning techniques, Danny Tamberelli aka "Little Pete" from The Adventures of Pete and Pete's unpleasant interactions with George C. Scott, discussing the aspirations of NYC corpses and bread knowledge with Adam Resnick, Emmanuel Lewis' studio backlot playground, the subtle character traits of Stephanie on Newhart with Julia Duffy, Battle of the Network Stars with JoAnn Willette, Myq Kaplan's secret connection with Full House, gauging re-run requests, talking about TV horror with Dave Vanian of The Damned, Melanie Chartoff's experience with Go-Go Dancing for Phil Spectre and dunking Tom Selleck, good times with Christian Finnegan, more clip show talk justification and the announcement of a big contest.

November 10-16, 1984 This week Ken welcomes actor, comedian, and friend Nate Johnson to the show. Ken and Nate discuss the relative insanity of Ken's home, being a network guy, Joan Collins, Dynasty, drunken eye doctors, Diff'rent Strokes, who the Gooch is, Danny Cooksey, TJ Hooker, Puttin' On the Hits, Nell Carter's sass, hating Joey Lawrence, blackface, Love Boat, getting a jewel thief to retire, Mike Hammer, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Morgan Fairchild, Nautilus, Silver Spoons, Erin Grey, The Bermuda Triangle, Knight Rider, Vegas, "I Married a Centerfold", Star 80, Kate Jackson, Charlie's Angels, White Slavery, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Remington Steele, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, "Assaulted Nutz", Kate & Allie, Newhart, The A-Team, Vehicles for breasts, Riptide, Paper Dolls, John Waite, The Fall Guy, Michael J. Pollard, Angels, Charles in Charge, pre-teen girls' obsession with horses, Ha! + The Comedy Channel= Comedy Central, Rich Hall, Facts of Life, "Nightmares", The Bishop of Battle, horror anthology series, Ellis Island Mini-Series, It's Your Move, C. Thomas Howell, the Hitcher, the cinematic career of Eric Red, The Cosby Show, Lisa Bonet's role in Angel Heart, The Bradbury Building, Jim J. Bullock, the horror of sexual assault on Too Close for Comfort, people who can't use Q-Tips right, Cheers, Shelly Long crushes, Night Court, John Larroquette, Benson, V: The Series, The infamous Hulk Out List, paper mache driven programming choices, Webster's Thanksgiving, Ben Vereen, Dallas, the hateful violence of Fred Dyer's Hunter, Tracey Walter, and Jeering Gimme a Break for being too timid to embrace breakdancing.

July 17-23, 1993 This week Ken welcomes comedian Dan St. Germain to the show. Ken and Dan discuss Mutegeon Man, the Ninja Tutrles, Lyle Lovett, musicians vs. comedians, sexy hunks and pampered pets, going into NYC for Broadway and Hockey Games, Guiliani's busing of the homeless on Disney's behalf, looking into Camden New Jersey, banning ferrets, Old Indiana Jones, Eerie Indiana, Troy Duffy, what gets overlooked in WWII, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, the death of Dick Clark, how no black music existed before The Notorious B.I.G., coming to MTV late, Soul Asylum, the magic of gift coins, Bon Jovi, George Bush's vomit, Sarah Michelle Gellar vs. Kirsty Swanson, having your burned hand crushed by Donald Sutherland, Lost Boys vs. Near Dark, love of horror, Ed Wood's sad decline, Shocktober, the terrifying nature of "The Exorcist", Ken's grandfather smashing the Exorcist VHS tape story (again), the early days of VHS, the rules of watching TV, the dog and cop movie sub genre, K-9, Turner & Hooch vs. Tango & Cash, Silk Stalkings, Wayne's World, the best SNL movies, Mere-cat Manor, Tina Turner, Tim Capello, America's Funniest Home Videos, Monkey's on the Edge, Animals attacking, building a Grizzly Bear proof suit, MTV's Week in Rock, Kurt Loder, the horrors of Nu-Metal, Limp Bizkit, Evening Shade, Sex Ed, Fresh Prince, Monday Night Raw, WWF, KAYFabe, Biography:James Cagney, The Gate II, the horrors of Project X, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, TV sequels, Coach, Poetic Justice, Ken's love of Janet Jackson, The Wonder Years, Unsolved Mysteries, Family Dog, John Sayles and City of Hope, The Simpsons, Wings, Cheers, Seinfeld, TGIF, the silliness of Family Matters, Dinosaurs, "Club Buff", Male Strip Joints, and ending it all with Silkwood.

February 22-28, 1997 This week Ken welcomes comedian Phoebe Angle. Ken and Phoebe discuss Chuck Norris, great birthday gifts, butts, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, white Indians, Albinos, Cops, Private Detectives as Moms, Highlander, Murder Houses, Avid Editing, SNICK, lack of cable, Maine, UPN, Moesha, Homeboys in Outerspace, Early Edition, Burning Zone, The Simpsons, Touched by an Angel, King of the Hill, working in the corpse of The Rat, X-Files, Monster of the Week, Cosby, Jenny Jones, ambush shows, LL Bean, Maine, Manic Panic hair dye, how lies can get you on Ricki Lake, hating Home Improvement, Valerie Bertonelli's Night Sins, Spin City, The Grammys, award shows, Babyface, The Stunt Man, Antiques Roadshow, Sister Sister, Murder She Wrote, short guy syndrome, Haley Joel Osmett: Boy with AIDS, Rescue 911, Must See TV, Rosie O'Donnell, AJ Langer, The Naked Truth, Tea Leoni, Mad Max, dubbing English for English, The 13th Annual Soap Opera Awards, TGIF, Sliders, Family Matters, altering your genes to get on Supermarket Sweep, Boy Meets World, Teen Pregnancies, Boarding School, Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Party, MTV, Millennium, Night Court, and celebrating an ALL Cheer week.

September 23 - 28, 1978 This week Ken welcomes actress, comedian, writer and all around comedy hero Janeane Garofalo to the show. Ken and Janeane discuss their pitch for "Lost in Portland", nibs, birthday weeks, circling TV, testing HBO, Madison NJ, seeing Lipstick when you shouldn't have seen it, the popularity of rape movies in the 70s, the popularity of rape TV in the 10s, Jeff Goldblum in Death Wish, Chained Heat, Rape/Revenge, procedural shows ruining juries, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Forest Whitaker, Matt Ryan, UK actors making the mistake of American Television, Mandy Patinkin, Mr. Show, Stand-Up, being totally absent from social media, the objective nature of comedy, the Simpsons, SNL, Michael Nesmith as Ken and Janeane's favorite person ever, Jay Leno, alienating people, wanting to be liked, Providence College in RI, Allston MA, open mics in Rhode Island, Midnight Movies as social mecca, only saying things to people you feel you can physically "take", Entertainers right to have political opinions, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, seeing your parents laugh, Laughs per day, camera mugging, the dinosaur networks, making quality television despite everything, James L. Brooks, art about art, The Famous Teddy Z, taking notes, business getting in the way of creativity, Bonnie Hunt, the internal struggle of telling someone who is doing awful work that they are doing awful work, rallying your co-workers, the misery of blind obedience, getting stuck as an actor, being aware of flukes, the 90s, being Hollywood poor, The Larry Sanders Show, The MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour, The Young Comedian Special, The Ben Stiller Show, hating the stand up you did at 19, falling into acting, being typecast as a human being based on roles, Q Ratings vs. Twitter followers, indie films, The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, "Difficult Men", Stone Pillow, Adam West, Lookwell, Heat Vision and Jack, The Professionals, UK TV, The Young Ones, "Bambi", US Remakes of UK shows, Steve Coogan, Janeane's work on "Ideal", Alan Partridge, Johnny Vegas, Saxondale, the sadness of unlikable characters, Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, Graham Duff, turning 14, regimented television, passion for shows that surprise you, Grey's Anatomy, killing off beloved characters, the meaning of death on TV, Carvel, Cookie Puss, bullying, Gary Marshall's television empire vs his acting, the transition of Happy Days, The Waltons, Nuns Everywhere, Project UFO, Family, Family as an ahead of its time unhappy, realistic show, bonding with your mother with television, sensing your parent's sadness through television, the loss of a parent, Barnaby Jones, sneaking TV, The Twilight Zone, Johnny Carson, the power of a sleeping bag, SCTV, and Ken and Janeane's favorite SCTV sketches.

In this special bonus mini-episode of the show, Ken welcomes Louise Post and Nina Gordon of the band Veruca Salt to the show. Ken chats with Louise and Nina on their tour bus before their Boston gig about the heaven of 70s TV, growing up on East Coast vs. The Mid-West, the dark ages of cable proliferation, Happy Days, M.A.S.H., depressing theme songs, The 1973 Made-for-TV movie "Sunshine", the dark content of 70s TV aimed at children, the mystery of Beverly Archer, Halloween is Grinch Night, Jonathan Winters' pumpkin head, Sha-Na-Na, the birth of Nostalgia, 20 year cycles, Terri Nunn: Teen Actress with a bad rep on James at 15, the importance of The Bionic Woman, questioning Lindsay Wagner's well read status, TV negotiations with siblings, Star Trek vs. The Brady Bunch, living in a Brady Bunch genius den, being bumped from SNL by Sting, the sexy factor of Lee Majors and Gordon Sumner, The Monkees, crushing on Davy Jones, Cybill Shepherd :stunner, TV theme songs as your first favorite song, The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family's fall from grace, Eight is Enough and the mystery of its theme song, seeing you father in the face of Bob Newhart, rules around TV watching for children, getting your children to watch black and white shows, I Love Lucy, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Daniel Tiger, how one obtains old TV movies, Dolly Parton's speaking voice, turning down your own variety show, wanting to make a Playboy After Dark for the 90s, Hoarders, boycotting TV in the 80s and 90s, offending Justine Bateman, Nina's confusion around The Sausage The Mouse Clever Elsie The Golden Goose and Tom Tit Tat, and finding comfort in All in the Family and Sanford and Son during the "Heinous Hiatus".