Let's Talk Ten

Dan has a fun and fascinating conversation with Ron Friedman who, since 1965, has written over 700 houurs of broadcast television -- starting with The Danny Kaye show, then going on to write for pretty much every show you watched growing up: The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, Bewitched, The Partridge Family, All in the Family, The Odd Couple, Charlie’s Angels, Chico and the Man, Starsky and Hutch,...

Author THOM SHUBILLA joins Dan for a wide-ranging discussion of the James Bond series -- from Connery to Craig -- and its many spin-offs, knock-offs, and children's toys it inspired, focusing especially on the 1960's and Bond's influence on popular culture (and possibly U.S. foreign policy). Support the show

A change-of-pace episode, Dan talks with comedy historian Jeff Abraham and writer-filmmaker Burt Kearns about their book THE SHOW WON'T GO ON, which chronicles the unfortunate final moments of actors, singers, comedians, circus performers, and more -- as they expired in front of their audiences, mid-performance.   From the famous (Dick Shawn, Tiny Tim, Karl Wallenda) to the talented but lesse...

Who doesn't love the classic songs of Motown?  Dan sure does, and he found the perfect guest to talk about favorites. Andy Skurow is a recording industry producer who has overseen the reissues of over 150 classic albums, compilations, and box sets -- mostly on the legendary Motown label.  In 2015, he received the prestigious Heroes and Legends "Cornerstone" award for his life's...

The first-ever guest on "Let's Talk Ten", H.E. (HELENE) FISHER returns for a discussion of favorite COUPLES IN MOVIES AND TV, with her husband, LT10 host Dan Fisher. Though they've been married for over 30 years, Helene's and Dan's tastes can be quite  different -- which only adds to the fun when they talk about movies and television.  Dan tends to like older, classic...

Career character actor CHRIS MCGINN and Dan got together to talk about their favorite CHARACTER ACTORS in movies and television.   From those who seem to specialize in very specific roles like Romcom Best Friend or Intractable Authority Figure...to the masters of versatility...we salute actors and the onscreen characters we've come to love. Support the show

COME ON DOWN to join Dan and his guest Adam Nedeff -- as they talk about their all-time favorite television game shows. Adam's not just a fan -- game shows have been his lifetime's obsession.  Currently an archivist and researcher for the National Archives of Game Show History -- and a published author of eleven books on the subject – his  encyclopedic command of their histories, strateg...

Dan is joined by some auld acquaintances --  Terry Beatty, Michele Mantynen, Mat Lefler-Schulman, Robyn Kincaid, Kevin Ladson, Adam Long, Phoebe Fisher, Josh Chambers, David Komerofsky, H.E. Fisher,  Sam Pancake, and George Schlatter -- to reminisce about our pop cultural FIRSTS -- First movie in a theater? First records purchased with our own money? First Saturday morning cartoons?   First movie...

For this "mini" dropping on Christmas morning -- though suitable for year-round listening -- Dan talks about the history of "TOYS!" and toy commercials...plus the toys he grew up loving and the ones his kids loved -- as well as the importance of playing.  It's a sweet, fun little episode, crammed with lots of trivia, fond memories, and interesting clips from all eras.  It...

Just in time for Christmas! It’s the “LET’S TALK TEN HOLIDAY SPECIAL!”, with special guest WILL HARRIS – pop culture journalist (AVClub, Entertainment Weekly) and interviewer for the current best-seller “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of ‘Airplane!’”. All they want for Christmas is you…to listen to them talk about their Top Ten Christmas-centered movies, TV show and specials, songs, c...

RABBI DAVID KOMEROFSKY (from Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Podcast) is Dan's special guest for a celebration and discussion of HANUKKAH, the Festival of Lights -- from a pop cultural as well as rabbinical perspective.   Topics include:  Adam Sandler’s perennial “Hanukkah Song”, Neil Diamond’s flop film version of The Jazz Singer, very special episodes of “The Golden Girls” and “Friends”, the Ra...

Dan welcomes two very special guests -- his twenty-something children APRIL FISHER and PHOEBE FISHER to compare musical notes on SONGS THAT MAKE ME WANNA DANCE. Though there are some inevitable Boomer/Gen X versus Gen Z/Millenial comparisons,  many of their choices just might surprise you.  Let's just say that Dan wasn't the one who picked a Kool and the Gang song.  He went with Bruno Ma...

Show-business legend GEORGE SCHLATTER – multiple-Emmy-winning creator of “Laugh-In” and “Real People” -- and producer of memorable TV shows and specials for everybody from Judy Garland to Smokey Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Frank, Dean, and Sammy…  …Joined Dan for an exclusive and absolutely delightful conversation about some of the stories from George’s newly-published memoirs, “STILL LAUGHING: A...

JOSH CHAMBERS is not only a key member of the social media team for Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast and a full-time high school English and Communications teacher -- he's also something of a car fanatic.   He joined Dan to talk about their favorite motor vehicles from motion pictures and television shows.  Cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles -- anything with wheels and a motor q...

It's second part of our mini-episode on THE MUPPETS! Muppets historian and author CRAIG SHEMIN, with pop culture fanatic/huge Muppets fan ANDREW LAPOSHA, join Dan Fisher for a panel discussion on the history and enduring legacy of Jim Henson’s innovative and revolutionary little creations. For PART TWO, we go in-depth and behind-the-scenes with THE MUPPET SHOW -- including memorable moments f...

 The first of a TWO-PART mini-episode on THE MUPPETS! Muppets historian and author CRAIG SHEMIN plus pop culture fanatic/huge Muppets fan ANDREW LAPOSHA join Dan Fisher for a panel discussion on the history and legacy of Jim Henson’s fuzzy ping-pong-eyed creations and why love ‘em.   PART ONE starts from the very beginning -- from the five-minute local “Sam and Friends” spots through the guest spo...

Writer FELICE NEALS joins Dan to talk about their favorite spooky cinematic fare.  From old black-and-white classics to some of the current "art-house horror", from gory slasher flicks to tense thrillers, Dan and Felice can't help but ponder: * Why are we compelled to watch stuff that's probably going to scare the crap out of us? * Why does Felice love The Blair Witch Project w...

Dan is joined by SAM PANCAKE – veteran actor (“A Million Little Things”, “Samboyant! A Gay Hollywood Memoir”), podcast host ("Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie"), and master raconteur -- for a hilarious, Me-Decade-tastic conversation about their favorite “MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES OF THE 1970'S”.   Everybody remembers “Trilogy of Terror” – especially that psychotic little Zun...

In 1966, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and many other musical greats released albums that would define the 1960's and inspire listeners for decades to come. So who'd the Recording Academy choose to award its  Album of the Year Grammy?    For the third time (!) that decade, Frank Sinatra -- for a warmed-over "greatest hits" package -- where Ol' Blue Eyes spent nea...

Once again, host Dan Fisher looks back on the Oscars -- and whether or not the Academy got things "right" in their choices.  This time, the year is 1982. The Academy would give Best Picture that evening to the three-and-a-half-hour epic biopic Gandhi -- but was that really the best motion picture in a year that brought us E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Tootsie, The Verdict, Sophie's Cho...

Film writer/critic and podcaster ADAM LONG joins Dan Fisher for a free-wheeling conversation about their favorite "CULT MOVIES" -- films that were overlooked, or sometimes outright flops, on their initial releases but that found their (sometimes fanatical) audiences eventually.   No spoilers, but some of their favorites might be familiar,  others a bit more obscure -- but if you're...

Another "mini" episode that's not particularly mini -- there's just too much great stuff to edit out. Renowned cartoonists MIMI POND (National Lampoon, The Village Voice) and TERRY BEATTY (Batman & Robin Adventures, Rex Morgan M.D.) join Dan Fisher for a panel discussion on their shared love of MAD magazine -- its history, their favorite features and artists, and the influe...

A great debut album won't just change the lives of the musicians who made it.  It can change yours too, just by hearing it for that first time. Dan Fisher and Baltimore-based producer/mixer/sound mixer Mat Leffler-Schulman talk about the debut albums -- some well-known, others not so much -- that made  differences in their lives, that changed their perceptions of what music was and what it co...

When is a "mini" not really a mini?  When you get three pop culture fanatics together to have them talk about one of the greatest TV shows of all time, "THE TWILIGHT ZONE".  The conversation was simply too much fun to limit to the usual "mini" length. MICHELE MANTYNEN and JOSH CHAMBERS, social media caretakers for "Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcas...

Like, ZOINKS! To talk about Top Ten favorite television shows for children, Dan Fisher reached out to an old pal and former star of kids TV himself -- Michael Maronna of  Nickelodeon's "The Adventures of Pete and Pete". Because Dan grew up in the 1970's while Michael was a 1980's/1990's kid, they have a lot of fun comparing the programs they each watched in their resp...