Episode 139: "Ernie in Kovacsland" Josh Mills, Ben Model & Pat Thomas (Bonus Episode)

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07/18/23 • 68 min

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Today on the Rarified Hair Podcast we are sending you across the orthicon tube with a special edition bonus episode in celebration of the upcoming Fantagraphics book, “Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings and Photographs from Television’s Original Genius”. Our host today is co-author Pat Thomas (although left to Pat, you’d never know that as you will soon hear), co-author Ben Model and our Rarified Heir Podcast host & co-author Joshua Mills is talking about the in’s and out’s of creating this new book, coming July 25.

It's a deep dive today with details about the genesis of the book, why the book was even created and some great stories about how this book came to be. We talk Ernie. We talk Edie Adams. We talk Mia Kovacs and we talk about Josh’s dad, photographer Marty Mills. This time the child of a celebrity is interviewed not by the child of a celebrity but co-authors Pat Thomas and Ben Model. Everyone has a story. Here’s one about Ernie in Kovacsland. Take a listen.

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Episode #138 : Precious Chong (Tommy Chong)

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Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Precious Chong, daughter of Tommy Chong, aka The Man, aka THE Chong in the comedy team Cheech and Chong. It was a real thrill to talk to Precious as she is someone Josh had never met before but was part of his peripheral circle as she was friends with a few of his childhood friends while we were growing up. Oh and Josh’s mom, Edie Adams, co-starred in Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke as Chong’s mother, Mrs. Stoner. Talk about connections!

We spoke to Precious about her very lean years growing up as Tommy Chong’s daughter which suddenly became very different with the success of the Cheech & Chong comedy albums, live shows and films in the mid 1970s and ballooned into superstardom in the 1980s. We also spoke to Precious about her years as an assistant in Hollywood (listen for the Val Kilmer story), her own career in comedy as well as her directing debut which was quite the buzzworthy indie film.

Along the way, we talk about long lost shooting scripts, lost LA restaurants, the comedy scene in Toronto, her dads incarceration on debatable charges, his status as a the elder statesmen of pot and much more. Precious had such a viv and verve talking to us that it was a real pleasure to have that energy at the other end of North America. So sit back and take a listen, to this episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast with Precious Chong. Another child of a celebrity interviewed by the child of a celebrity.

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Episode #140: Kristi Callan (K Callan)

Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we are talking to Kristi Callan, daughter of actress and author K Callen. That’s K as in the letter, no period.

We talk to Kristi about her mother’s 50+ year career in stage, film, television and commercials in everything from an iconic All in The Family episode to the recent Knives Outbuzzed about film. Along the way we talk about Sanka commercials, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Carnivale, American Gigolo, Deep Space Nine, A Touch of Class, The Onion Field and much more. We even discuss a long lost Benson & Hedges cigarette commercial. You remember the ‘healthy’ cigarette!

We also take time to discuss Kristi’s musical career in bands like Wednesday Week, The Roswell Sisters, Goat Deity, Dime Box Band and even aCheap Trick cover band, Cheap Chick. We hit upon everything from Hootenanny’s, several cross country moves, a great Norman Lear story, the LA punk rock scene of the late seventies, early eighties, The Ramones recognizing her mother on a flight, seeing Eddie Van Halen on the set of One Day at a Time, meeting The Brady Bunch’s Christopher Knight, long lost LA venues like The Starwood and the Music Machine and much more.

It's evident from this interview just how much Kristi loves her mother who is going strong and sill acting at age 87. So much so, Kristi barely wanted to talk about her own career and wanted to focus almost exclusively on her mother alone. But we persevered and got her to talk about it all on this brand new episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Everyone has a story.