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/...

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.