Greetings From the Idiot Box

Joel Thurm joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about his career casting classic television shows and movies, such as Taxi and Grease.

TV Historian Allison Lips and Johnny Mac from Daily Comedy News explore all the reasons Jay Leno is terrible, such as taking care of his sick wife. Leno's comedy legacy may be murky, but he's not a monster and simply misunderstood.

Mark Malkoff joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about The Carson Podcast and his upcoming book Love Johnny Carson.

Mary Alice joins TV Historian Allison Lips to talk about The Biggest Loser and Netflix's documentary on the show, Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser. We explore society's role in media depictions of obesity and the impact watching the show had on us.

Steve Winer, who wrote for Late Night with David Letterman, Robert Klein, and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, has a wide-ranging conversation with TV Historian Allison Lips about his career and more.

Adam Nedeff, author of Gong this Book, joins TV Historian Allison Lips to discuss Chuck Barris' bizarre and complicated legacy. If you want to learn more about the man behind The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game, Treasure Hunt, and more, you'll enjoy this Greetings From the Idiot Box episode.

TV Historian Allison Lips and Steve Newvine discuss Jim Burrows' long career in television. Burrows directed episodes of "The Bob Newhart Show," "Taxi", "Frasier," "Friends," "Will & Grace," and "3rd Rock from the Sun" and co-created "Cheers."

TV Historian Allison Lips and Rob Kates discuss Richard Zoglin's book Comedy at the Edge, which covers the stand up revolution in the United States during the 1970s. We talk about George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein, Jerry Seinfeld, and more!

TV Historian Allison Lips and Chris D'Angelo discuss HBO's Barry.

Mike Chisholm joins TV Historian Allison Lips to chat about late night's future and whether that includes John Mulaney. We also discuss Mulaney's standup specials.

Alan Siegel, senior staff writer at The Ringer and author of Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television and America Forever, joins TV Historian Allison Lips to assess The Simpsons impact on pop culture with a focus on the first 10 years. Buy Alan's book at Bookshop.org or Amazon.

TV Historian Allison Lips breaks down the Stephen Colbert situation and what it means for the future of late night television.

Irritable Dad Syndrome is back on Greetings from the Idiot Box! Darin and Mike return to wreak havoc while discussing the HBO Max documentary Pee Wee as Himself. The approximately 4 hour documentary covers Paul Reubens' life and career, yet leaves you wanting more.

Steve Newvine returns to discuss the book You're Lucky You're Funny: How Life Becomes a Sitcom by Phil Rosenthal. In the book, Rosenthal writes about his career, the creation of Everybody Loves Raymond, and his relationship with Ray Romano. Steve and Allison share there thoughts on the book, which is less about Phil and more about what goes into the creation of a TV show.

Mary Alice and Pete from the Electric Grandmother return to discuss The Fresh Prince of Bel Air with TV Historian Allison Lips.

Steve Newvine joins TV Historian Allison Lips to discuss Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison. They evaluate Lorne Michael's legacy as well as the influence SNL has had on American comedy.

TV Historian Allison Lips is joined once again by her mom, Marci Kaplan-Lips. This time they look at how Clinton Kelly and Stacy London have changed their outlook on fashion since the the years of What Not to Wear. We also discuss Amazon Prime Video's Wear Whatever the F You Want, which visits the same territory with a much gentler and more modern take on the concept of personal style.

TV Historian Allison Lips and her classmate Chris D'Angelo look at Conan O'Brien's career, reflect on what he means to modern American comedy, and reminiscence about their earliest Conan memories as they discuss the Netflix special "Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor."

On this episode of Greetings From the Idiot Box, Rob Kates joins TV Historian Allison Lips for a look back at beloved comedian Bob Newhart's career. Newhart's career spanned decades from The Bob Newhart Show to his appearances as Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton on the Big Bang Theory. We also pay tribute to Bob's best friend Don Rickles.

Steve Allen planted the seeds for late night television as we know it. From 1954-1957, Allen hosted the Tonight Show. Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Ben Alba, author of Inventing Late Night: Steve Allen And the Original Tonight Show, for a conversation about Steve Allen's career and legacy. For more Steve Allen, check out Ben's page on Inventing Late Night at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057664665937.

Author Steve Newvine joins TV Historian Allison Lips to discuss the friendship between Jack Benny and Johnny Carson! He also talks about his book called Jack & Johnny: Benny, Carson & a Friendship Made for Television, which can be purchased at https://www.lulu.com/shop/steve-newvine/jack-johnny/paperback/product-7kqe2rk.html?q=johnny+and+jack&page=1&pageSize=4

The Irritable Dads from Irritable Dad Syndrome are back to irritate Allison! Join TV Historian Allison Lips and guests Darin and Mike as they discuss the Gilliverse (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie).

TV Game Show Historian Adam Nedeff joins Allison to discuss the new edition of his book Quizmaster: The Life & Times & Fun & Games of Bill Cullen.

Pete and Mary Alice from The Electric Grandmother join TV Historian Allison Lips for a discussion on Full House and Fuller House.

TV Historian Allison Lips and her mom, Marci Kaplan-Lips, discuss Hulu's new show Mid-Century Modern. The show stars Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham. It also features Linda Lavin in her last role.

Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Stacy Anastacia as they discuss the TV series Friends!

Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Rob Kates as they discuss the history of The Tonight Show from Steve Allen to Jack Paar to Johnny Carson!

Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Garrett Smith as they discuss The Sopranos!

Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Stacy Anastaciaas they discuss Just Shoot Me and all the reasons why it should've received more love from NBC!

Join TV Historian Allison Lips as she discusses Airwolf with Darin and Mike from Irritable Dad Syndrome!

Join TV Historian Allison Lips and Mike Chisholm for their take on the Saturday Night Live 50 live show! Mike Chisholm is the host of The Letterman Podcast and heCast.

Comedian Joe Coughlin joins TV Historian Allison Lips for Part 2 of a two-part episode on Saturday Night Live's 50 Anniversary. In this episode, they discuss the SNL50: Homecoming Concert and SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. If you would like to get in touch, GFIB can be reached at [email protected].

Comedian Joe Coughlin joins TV Historian Allison Lips for Part 1 of a two-part episode on Saturday Night Live's 50 Anniversary. In this episode, they discuss the SNL50: Homecoming Concert and SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.If you would like to get in touch, GFIB can be reached at [email protected].

In this episode of Greetings from the Idiot Box, TV Historian Allison Lips talks about the most watched television events in the United States. She breaks down why the Super Bowl consistently breaks records, why it is amazing that the finale of M*A*S*H remains on the list of most watched events, and the other non-Super Bowl events that make the list.

It's the first Greetings From the Idiot Box solo show! Our host Allison Lips talks about her background, her favorite shows, what she grew up watching, and what she is watching now. If you have any questions or suggestions for GFIB, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Rob Kates joins TV Historian Allison Lips for a discussion on Lookwell a failed pilot written by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. Rob is an admin of several Facebook groups, including David Letterman Fans and The Johnny Carson Fan Club. In this episode, we discuss why Lookwell doesn't work and why Conan is probably better off for it.