TV Guidance Counselor Episode 624: Katya Apekina

February 1-7, 1997

This week Ken welcomes author of the excellent new novel Mother Doll (signed copies can be purchased here: https://www.skylightbooks.com/pre-order-signed-copies-mother-doll-katya-apekina), Katya Apekina.

Ken and Katya discuss living in LA, raining in LA, snow in New England, the nature of our stories, how technology can make us more isolated, displacement, Russia, speaking your native tongue, raising your kids bi-lingual, translating literature, having a strong Moscow accent, only knowing 70s slang,  Cheburashka, accordion playing crocodiles, not being allowed to watch TV, Party of Five, reading War and Peace as a kid, WBCN, cool music, being cool by middle school, only watching one show a week, dating shows, Elimidate, Viy, going to Russian video stores in Allston, not wanting things up your nose, Singled Out, Jenny McCarthy, the death of the Maytag Repairman, Star Trek Voyager, Basketball Wizard Dennis Rodman, The Magic Castle, The Amazing Randi, Groundhog Day, North by Northwest, photography, making your own 8mm films, The Coolidge Corner Cinema, Early Edition, 3rd Rock from the Sun, being a comedy snob, The Simpsons, Mad About You, reboots, hate watching Melrose Place and 7th Heaven, Mystery, Into the Arms of Danger, Roseanne, watching the Presidential Debates for School, Burning Zone, burying your wife alive, the greatness of Ally Sheedy, The Nanny, Covid driven Nanny, office work, Drew Carrey, comforting murder, Murder She Wrote, Sister Sister, always wanting to be a twin, fooling people, TGIF, magical shows, psychics, Unsolved Mysteries, the death of Kurt Cobain, how strange it is to the young that over the air TV exists, the horrors of Disney kids sitcoms, offending religions to sell Snickers, cleavage cams, risqué tones, and learning the truth about Santa Claus from Jamie Lee Curtis.

December 7-13, 1985

This week Ken welcomes writer, producer, professor, director and all around good guy Allan Arkush to the show.

Ken and Allan discuss Allan's cool office, Allan's record collection, Roger Corman, Emmy Nominations, directing or directing and producing over 400 episodes of TV, the path from 70s exploitation to 80s mainstream TV, having a high batting average of sold TV pilots. Fame, Summer pilot, Rock N Roll High School, telling stories through music, how popular Fame was in Israel, residuals, 80s NYC, directing videos for Elvis Costello, Bette Midler and Fleetwood Mac, the ones you turn down, why 1985 was a huge TV year for Allan, St. Elsewhere, Moonlighting, being able to be a style chameleon, being a cinema fan, having Scorsese teach you film, growing up in NJ, making whatever movie you want as long as it's the movie Roger wants, how hard it is to make good TV, coverage and lighting, how execs are not funny or creative, how bad studio notes are, King Kong, Micky Mouse Club, serialized stories, loving the theme songs from Westerns, Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Loan Ranger, Circus Boy, Abby Singer, The Twilight Zone, Soupy Sales, using rock music in movies, Get Crazy, Zacherly introducing the Grateful Dead at the Filmore East, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners bump, being a nerd, how some things don't hold up, The Dick Van Dyke Show, working with Ron Howard, Doris Day movies, Family Affair, Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, the importance of empathy, the transitional time of the 70s and 80s, East Side West Side, The Bronx Zoo, Hill St. Blues, the importance of casting, working for Bruce Paltrow, Crossing Jordan, ER, police procedurals, the time Ken ruined a shot in the pilot of Crossing Jordan, having to rush home and watch Saturday Night Live, SCTV, Catherine O'Hara's total character commitment, film noir, the zeitgeist of relationships between men and women, the dancing baby on Ally McBeal, Heroes, Duck Soup, The Shining, Lemony Snicket, showing The TAMI Show to young people, and how the future is female.

June 13-19, 1970

This week Ken welcomes legendary bass-man, and all around punk rock royalty, Mr. Mike Watt to the show.

Ken and Mike discuss San Pedro, first meeting D. Boon, moving to San Pedro in 1967 from Navy Housing, living in the projects, saying no to Alameda, George being from Brocton, strong accents, how all the Minutemen were transplants to San Pedro, D. Boon's mom, how trippy the Summer of 1970 was, Blue Oyster Cult, UHF stations, Wild Wild West, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, not having a color TV, how The Prisoner is Mike's favorite show, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, D. Boon's love of Johnny Carson because his dad was from Nebraska, WWII movies, T. Rex, local horror hosts, the origin of "D." in D. Boom, Steve McQueen, The Sand Pebbles, B-Movies, Svenghouli, Elvira, The Stooges, Vampira, local kid shows, LA's Seymour, Fright Night, opening for The Butthole Surfers, how Gibby Haynes' father was a children's TV Show host called Mr. Peppermint, the JFK assassination, Gumby, Alan Watts, Alex Cox's book about The Prisoner, Ice Station Zebra, Patrick McGoohan, The Honeymooners, Green Acres, stupid characters, My Favorite Martian, Non coms, The Phil Silvers Show, F Troop, punk rock, Ed Sullivan, Robert Mitchem, The Space Race, Mad Magazine, Star Trek The Motion Picture, subscriptions to Scientific America, the importance of learning, serious topics, drunks, Johnny Cash, variety shows, Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Two Weeks in Another Town, Carol Kaye's Wild Wild West bass line, Mission Impossible, Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Director's control, Kubrick, watching YouTube, The Outer Limits, Soldier, Demon with a Glass Hand, and loving Offbeat Cinema. 

March 17-23, 1990

This week Ken welcomes old friend, comedian Esther Ku.

Ken and Ku discuss how long it has been since they've talked to each other, starting comedy in Boston, moving to NYC, how we all have a different path, working in marketing, growing up in Chicago, Last Comic Standing, how dues are different, hosting the AVN Porn Awards, working blue, dirty jokes, not taking advice, how what you talk about on stage is way racier than how you live your life, playing piano, growing up in an evangelical home, Sharpie, The Simpsons, Simpsons stuffed animals, St. Patrick's Day, The Franklin Mint, bootleg Jesus, manipulation, Foxy Boxing, Readers Digest and Time magazine, Loveline, The Real World, The Jamie Foxx Show, Once Bitten, being an extra, not talking to Jim Carrey, improv lessons, Micah Sherman, interviewing writers from the Simpsons, loving Lisa Simpson's feminism, pitching an animated show, writing dirty songs on your ukulele, Religious outrage of big budget movies, Titanic, Love & Lies, Ken's tape trading year, Rock Em Sock Em Robots, Hungry Hungry Hippos, The Rock a Fire Explosion, Roller Blades vs Quads, Ken's time on Sex Life, Real Sex, America's Funniest Home Videos, 90 Day Fiancé', and way too much about K-Y Jelly. 

Somehow it's been ten years! Ken goes solo on this one and does a year in review, for 2014. How has it been ten years??

June 19 - 25, 1953

This week Ken welcomes professor, writer, producer and director Jack Solder (Nightmare on Elm St. 2, By Dawn's Early Light, The Hidden, 12:01, Alone in the Dark) to the show.

Ken and Jack discuss growing up in Philly, growing up playing trumpet, being a classical musician, realizing you're good but not GREAT at something, becoming an editor, the rhythm of cuts, working at New Line Cinema, Caroline Biggerstaff, poses vs pauses, editing The Burning, learning by doing, creating suspense, revival art house cinema, the genius of Buster Keaton, exploitation films, Ed Sullivan, Uncle Milty, 1950s music shows, the cultural scene of the 1950s, Uncle Pete Boyle, Chief Halftown, kids shows, Life of Reilly, Magnavox, The DuMont Network, newspapermen, The Big Story, The Big Picture, the strangeness of modern day network TV, the personal nature of TV, working with Harvey Keitel, swapping India for Eastern Europe, the fake Indian word for "Roll 'em" Easta Sasusaway, never being Mr. Wizard, Big Top with Jack Sterling, Wrestling, boxing, You Asked for It, Fearless Ed, Variety Shows, New York Socialites and Intellectuals, Dinah Shore, representations of gay people on TV, Ernie Kovacs, Red necks, Farmers, how your car key fob is more powerful than the computer that sent men to the moon, the world after cell phones, Alan Funt, Candid Camera, Kids Say the Darndest Things, UHF stations, Dragnet, American Bandstand, 12:01, The Hidden, the gayest Nightmare on Elm St film, Robocop, working with Jake the Dog, and the strangeness of The Omen The Series pilot. 

All the way from the UK, this week Ken welcomes writer, poet, and television producer Henry Normal to the show.

Ken and Henry discuss his tea just arriving, what builders drink, Baby Cow, how being a poet was essentially the same as being a stand up in the UK, The UK's alt comedy revolution, Craig Charles, selling merch, punk rock, American stand up comedy, class based society, character comedy, Jack Benny, vaudeville, The Max Brothers, Mort Saul, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Working Men's Clubs, bad blue collar, racism, Dave Allen, Monty Python, Spike Milligan, not punching down, The Comedy Store, Manchester, nightmare gigs, The Black and White Minstrel Show, competing with slot machines, touring with Pulp, The Mock Turtles, Steve Coogan, The Young Ones, Nigel Planer, The Comic Strip, putting all your friends on TV, The North South Divide, being the reigning Daily Mail Young Comic of the Year, Packet of Three, Bamboozled, US v. UK TV, The Royle Family, US Remake of UK shows, Red Dwarf, working class people, The Rockford Files, Sgt. Bilko, Frank Skinner, the trauma that leads to comedy, deaths in the family, Caroline Ahern, Graham Duff, Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, Marion and Geoff, Human Remains, Ideal, Julia Davis, Rob Brydon, Jonathan Ross, Alan Partridge, why you should always wear a suit, BBC3, Fat Boy Slim, Brain Candy, Alan Car, Robin Ince, Nighty Night, unlikable main characters, The Might Boosh, The Banana Splits, I Am Not An Animal, Peter Baynham, Canadian football fans, making ugly television, making good stuff, things that nobody will ever seen on television, Jessica Hynes, Lizzie and Sarah, Mr. Inbetween, hired killers, and how weird stand up comics are. 

May 16-22, 1987

This week Ken welcomes actor, magician, host of the new show "Head of the Senior Class" and all around solid dude Dan Frischman to the show.

Ken and Dan discuss growing up as magic nerds, Fred Kolb, being a magician at an early age, asking how the tricks are done, Ken's mastering of mediocrity, buying magic at Macy's in New York, magic on TV, Doug Henning, Mark Wilson, Harry Blackstone Jr., Ricky Jay, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Head of the Class, pitching to Henry Winkler, fake biohazards, doing stand up in NYC, growing up in New Jersey, Sea Monkeys in the tub, Dennis Miller's prop comedy days, driving out to LA, living on Sunset Blvd, Jimmy Brogan, guest spots on Facts of Life, being a returning character on Its a Living, living with seven other comedians in the Crest Hill House behind the Comedy Store, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Wacko, being Carl "Pizzaface" Price, George Kennedy as a Chocolatier, Howard Hesseman's displeasure, Sledge Hammer, not wanting to play a nerd, when Head of the Class shifted from Mr. Moore to the kids, filming in Soviet Russia, Head of the Class's musicals, Little Shop of Horrors, getting the seal of approval from Rick Moranis, watching your own shows, being confused for the OTHER Dan Frischman who is a little person, getting beaten in tennis by Billy Jean King, Harry Anderson, Circus of the Stars, Warm Up Comics, Billy Connolly, performing as Steve Martin, performing FOR Steve Martin, reusing the hallway set from Head of the Class, the time Ken had to wear borrowed pants at The Magic Castle, Seinfeld, loving Madmen, the Sopranos, and I, Claudius, stealing Bob Newhart's newspaper, Kenan & Kel and the practical joke circle of life.

This week Ken welcomes esteemed, accomplished director and author of the field guide/memoir "Adventures in the B-Movie Trade", Brian Trenchard-Smith to the show.

Ken and Brian discuss the weather in Portland, Brian's travels around the world, his appreciation for everything he's gotten to do, visiting Soviet Russian in 1968, falling in love with cinema after seeing a Hitchcock film, how you should see a local movie in the native language in every country you visit, developing your taste in film, how the world is smaller, but not as substantive in many ways, forgetting your Italian accent, strange double features, taking acting classes with Barry Manilow, being only able to play a British Army Officer, knowing from age 13 you want to make movies, the closed show that was the British Film Industry, Australian television, editing Hammer Horror films, working for the ABC, editing sex and violence filled TV promos, sort of forging a recommendation letter, Raymond Burr, Ironsides, Number 96, Prisoner in Cell Block H, learning how cinema production worked, Beauty pageants for girls AND cars, Concourse Del Ellgance', stunts, making documentaries, Bruce Lee, Man from Hong King, Stunt Rock, why every young filmmaker needs a calling card, Hong Kong Cinema, cannibalizing your own films, World of Kung Fu (which no longer exists), Kung Fu Killers, editing news film and the pressure of it going down to the wire, news directors wanting to kill you, Japanese Cinema, Seven Samurai, Rashomon, being OBSESSED with trailers growing up, The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, visiting the set of Shatter, Roy Ward Baker, finding financing, hopping on a trend too late, the Bruce Lee clones, being bored by love scenes in films, parody, being subversive, hang gliders, Dead End Drive In, having to watch three hours of Once Upon a Time in the West so you can cut the trailer, Leprechaun in Space, enjoying the days when you physically handled film, enjoying your films with an audience, the 1988 Mission Impossible, Sahara with Jim Belushi, directing Flipper, being proud of different films for different reasons, Seconds to Spare, diehard on a train, replacing Dolph Lundgren with Antonio Sabato Jr, Happy Face Murders with Ann-Margaret, and the awe of making and watching Omega Code 2. 

February 16-22, 1980

This week Ken welcomes musician, author and man behind the new lp "Ghosts of Vroom III", Mike Doughty.

Ken and Mike discuss how 1980 was a good poignant television year in Mike's life, being a military kid, how a year of no Mork & Mindy leads to a year of no TV at all, The American Forces Network, the outro credit song on WKRP in Cincinnati, finding out what music you like from Sitcoms, Angel Witch, the consistency of television, moving a lot, how we'd all be better off as accountants, the exciting and elusive world of commercials, Zapping your Zinger, living in Germany, specific PSAs made for AFN by the original cast of SNL, how TV reporters made the world worse by trying to sign off impressively, The Superbowl, learning about American culture via Commercials, Norman Fell, six ways to cry, dramas spun off from comedies, Lou Grant, Cop Rock, Quincy M.E., Skag with Karl Malden, Last Resort, CHiPs, dripping in Orchestral disco, how analog synth lasers make everything better, theme songs that chart, Starsky and Hutch, Mr. Smith, the prevalence of Orangutans and apes in television and movies, CB Radios, BJ and the Bear, Citizen's Band, pretending to be a doctor, how comedy never works on live music shows, how music often DOES work on comedy shows, avoiding OJ Simpson's acting work, Alice, Linda Lavin, the 70s shows that went well into the 80s, the horror of the word "booger", being Dr. Johnny Fever, Barney Miller, seeing TV sitcom actors on Broadway, coded gay characters, The White Shadow, Goldie and Liza Together, Bob Newhart's sketch comedy special, Real People, how the death of disco lead to mud wrestling and wet t-shirt contents, being confused for a real people person when you're a Real People person, when political debates became roast battles, Dragnet, The Rockford Files, young Powers Booth, old fashioned typewriters, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, The Hulk Out List, doing Bill Moyers, dueling Merv Griffins, the made for-TV movie Detour to Terror, buses, photos of Lorenzo Lamas, and recommending Blacke's Magic.