March 19th, 1994

This week Ken welcomes TV producer, writer, and author of the new novel "The End of All Things", Sandra Chwialkowska to the show.

Ken and Sandra discuss moving from Canada to the US to work in television, growing up in Toronto, the US Canadian co-productions of the 90s, the beauty of telling stories on television vs in films, the complexity of character, the move to serialized storytelling in North America, how 1994 changed the way we see television and film, fan petitions, the monumental cultural shifts of 1994, the weird wild west of 90s TV, body positivity, My So-Called Life, toxic advertising, smoking to lose weight, Home Improvement, watching television with your parents, The Oscars, The Barbara Walters specials, the golden age of the high stakes action comedy, tentpole pressure, Jurassic Park, The Fugitive, Spielberg, how difficult it is to adapt a serialized television show into a three act film, The War Room, Philadelphia, The Remains of the Day, John Hughes, the sad death of John Candy, when your child brain evolves to liking complex narratives, The Bride in Black made for-TV movie, Susan Lucci, the strange job of trying to buy life writes of people to make television movies, LifeTime Movies, The USA Network's original comedy line up on Saturdays, Rain Man, Weird Science The Series, Duckman, The Jon Stewart Show, George Carlin's sitcom, ridiculous character names, Snake Pliskin, writing for Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily, The Lost Girl, Letterman's Top 10 Lists, Robin Williams, tonal bizarreness, In the Line of Fire, never seeing cultural touchstone shows, having never seen Mork & Mindy, missing Norman Lear's body of work, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, the ratings game, My So-Called Life Goes On, realizing somebody wrote what you love, blank slate idiots, Stepenwolf, Laury Metcalf, suburbia, visiting filming locations, South Pasadena, re-editing movies in your head while you watch them, re-booting Magnum, Hart to Hart, The Hardy Boys, NOVA, loving procedurals, Bono and Martin Lawrence's live tv potty mouths, and how innocent people are never in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This week Ken welcomes actor, writer, and all around great human Amy Stoch to the show.

Ken and Amy discuss fabled central time, growing up in Ohio, Love Boat, having a 9pm bedtime, the Clevland Browns, the artistic nature of Clevland, Clevland Playhouse, PhD studies, Mary Martin in Peter Pan, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, coming into the acting business as a model, Star Search, catalog work, having a sense of humor, how to stand out from the pack, A&P, Rosie O'Donnel, Sinbad, Rebecca Bush, the acting competition on Star Search, the power of a live audience, being discovered, moving to LA for the first time, going out on audictions, the good old days of Hollywood, seeing behind the scenes, walking Hollywood Blvd, The Hollywood Hills, Chicago, how the pros always fly into Burbank, how commercial work has changed, the power of unions, being paid for your work, Chicago productions, taking the time to look back and recognize all the cool things you've gotten to do, working with Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, how amazing James Arness is, being able to give back to your parents through your work, having a comedic apetitude, Summer School, working with Carl Reiner, the Bill &Ted series, Soul Man, Steve Miner, seeing Barbara Streisand, when they film in Boston, being killed off on Days of Our Lives, being allowed to improv, the new smart dumb genre ushered in in the late 80s, doing or not doing nudity on film, being credited as "girl in bed", keeping momentos from your work, getting your script signed by everyone you worked with, the difference between movie and TV acting, having women behind the scenes on your side as advocates, and how different the entertainment world is today.

Radio Times UK May 29 - June 4, 1993

This week Ken welcomes YouTuber, maker, do-er and fellow horror fan Dan Does to the show.

Be sure to follow Dan on YT https://www.youtube.com/@Dan_Does/

Ken and Dan discuss road tripin' in America, The Hitcher, driving, Roger Ebert's review of The Hitcher, royalty, The Queen, TV Times, Wales editions of the Radio Times, Jubilees, growing up in Essex in South East London, being a miserable teen, how Ken is so much older than everyone, punk rock, playing guitar, Robbie Williams, Take That, odd haircuts, Busted, The Fight for Market Basket, loving supermarkets, hating for profit businesses, making obscure horror creatures, Spookies, From Beyond, jiggle Mr. Barlow, The Brain, Funny Man, Gremlins, flame throwers, Little Devils: The Birth, Rawhead Rex, Ken's grandfather's non-verbal review of The Exorcist on VHS, Halloween in the UK, "Penny for the Guy", ghost stories, how Christmas in the UK is all about spooky ghosts, when horror films get shown, Killer Tongue, Ken's cut off point for Japanese Anime, Parenthood the TV series, no not that one, the first one, BBC Radio, FAST, Stroke jokes, carnies, Alton Towers, hating fun fairs and rinky dink rides, John Carpenter's Vampires, how James Woods can never replace Kurt Russell, but Kurt Russell could replace James Woods, Simpsons cameos, Deadwood, class distinction, Singers and Swingers, Birds of a Feather, "common" accents, racist comedians, Les Dawson, how absolutely amazing Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves are, Shooting Stars, Abel Ferrara, Driller Killer, Harvey Keite's schlong, The Good Sex Guide, dirty Teddy Ruxpin, US candy vs US candy, owning a sweet shop, how parents handle kids being bullied, did IT rip off The Perils of Punky from Punky Brewster?, horrifying PSAs, Red Dwarf, Kate Bush's Experiment IV, The Comic Strip, The Young Ones, US remakes of UK shows, and the strangeness of Today's Headlines.