Today Ken welcomes the director of the new documentary “United We Fan” Michael Sparaga, as well as the star of the doc, Dorothy Swanson.
Ken Michael and Dorothy talk about grass roots movements, the importance of television, saving “Crime Story”, Cagney and Lacey, hunting down TV contacts, watching things together alone, Niagara Falls Canada, The Story of Viewers For Quality Television, being a professional fan activist, Frank’s Place, the importance of representation, DVRing Law and Order and Blue Bloods, Designing Women, The Q Awards, Person of Interest, Chuck fans, Star Trek, The Famous Teddy Z, Hugh Wilson, forgetting about your monthly subscriptions, TV Guide, educating yourself on ratings, learning the business of the business, having too much access, Rob Thomas, turning yourself off from access, fans not knowing what is best for them, Linda Ellerbee, saving shows that don’t get saved, the changing world of niche audience, Netflix, losing the cast and crew if you wait too long, the lack of a true “TV Season”, never revisiting shows, re-watching Fraiser, how binging kills fandom in some days, wishing you didn’t save Beauty and the Beast, Ken’s disappointment with the never made season 2s of My So-Called Life and Freaks and Geeks, the wonders of SuperChannel, SCTV, interviewing Scott Bakula and how big stars are incredibly grateful for Dorothy’s work.
Be sure to watch it on VOD an streaming, here’s the trailer:
About Ken Reid
I’m Ken Reid, a stand up comedian from Boston, MA and a life long television fan. I’ve been twice nominated as the Best Stand up in Boston and I have been featured on Comedy Central, NPR, Nerdist, and MSN. I own every issue of TV Guide. Each week a guest chooses an issue at random, picks their viewing choices from that week and the show is our discussion of the tough viewing choices of our past. We get into stories about growing up, people’s relationship with television, some cultural/media studies dissection and I spit out a lot of trivia.
Note: The Ken Reid TV Guidance Counselor Podcast is rated PG-13 and may contain mild language.
