This week’s installment takes its cues from last week’s show and starts with several “Celebrity Deaths” involving music industry notables. Beloved comedian-turned-actor Richard Lewis will also get remembered, as will an incredible Japanese-American dancer-turned-teacher who was just a few months shy of her 105th birthday when she died! The “Live Event of the Week” involves a church in Malibu, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Phil’s dear friend June Aochi Berk, fascism, and Nisei Week! The return of “What We’re Reading” covers Caravaggio, art, the plague, violence, MGM, Hollywood and the most important movie of the 20th Century that you probably haven’t seen (or perhaps even heard of). Finally, Phil hops back on his soapbox in an effort to help save Siren Radio (read all about this effort and help by signing the petition at https://www.change.org/p/support-our-siren-saving-siren-radio-lincoln-s-first-community-radio-station). All that and … Oh, yeah! Happy 70th Birthday to longtime listener and friend of the show, Maurice Terenzio!

Next Monday, your friends in broadcasting and podcasting will return with a brand new “live” show that will catch you up on all the news of the season. This week, it’s part two of the road trip adventure Dean and Phil recorded on Friday December 9 when they drove from downtown Los Angeles to Montecito and back. The Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films ever made, the #16 film on that poll, surrealism, dream logic, and the works of Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali are the topics that open the proceedings. Then, after a shift to the (very loud) Summerland Beach Café, Phil tackles two films making a lot of Top Ten Lists this year: the donkey adventure tale EO and the latest from auteur Robert Eggers, The Northman. Please bare with the difficult audio, for soon Dean and Phil will be back in the car, riding alongside the sparkling blue Pacific and discussing the Netflix series “1899”, the improv collaborations of Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams, and whole lot of casting “what-ifs”. There is also analysis of a law-change benefiting sexual assault survivors, and a fascinating “trash talk” interaction in the National Basketball Association. Hop in and buckle up!

After a week away, Phil is back in Turlock, and reports on the air quality. Meanwhile, Dean Haglund is in Detroit where his power went out. Fires? Power outages? These things can’t stop your friends in podcasting from bringing you their latest installment of free weekly entertainment! On this week’s show, Chadwick Boseman, a groundbreaking jazz trombonist, a screen star of the 1950s and 1960s, a World War II hero and computer pioneer who fathered a legendary filmmaker, and a beloved figure from TV animation all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, Phil runs Dean through the eight shows nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series, and Dean shares his thoughts.

12 years ago this week, your friends in podcasting were recording their first show in stereo (rather than the two channel mono that was absolutely bonkers) and were discussing Gary Oldman’s sex appeal and The Last Mimzy. A clip from that discussion opens week’s show before Phil provides an update on his recovery from AND preparation for eye surgery, and Dean provides an update on some very interesting live comedy shows he is doing. One is his improv episode of “The X-Files” and you can see it this month in Detroit! Then, the gents move this week’s episode into the Chillpak morgue, where a maverick U.S. Presidential candidate, an all-star pitcher who became a controversial author and a successful actor, one of the greatest character actors of all time, a legend of Italian cinema, and a star of the original “Willy Wonka” all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. A couple more thoughts related to last week’s discussion of what approach will most likely lead to creating great television get shared. Then, Dean and Phil discuss the controversy surrounding the American Cinematheque and the landmark Egyptian Theatre. Finally, they compare notes on Alfred Hitchcock’s fascinating Rope and the recent releases Us from Jordan Poole and Under the Silver Lake from David Robert Mitchell.  

Your friends in podcasting get 2019 underway with this epic 69 minute installment. As you loyal listeners know, last week, Dean and Phil only got through the first nine months of 2018 as they examined how and when the 52 best films (according to critics) and some of the biggest hits were released. This week, Dean and Phil tackle the final three months of the year, discussing no less than 20 awesome movies. Then, they switch gears to briefly discuss episodic binge-watching, tackling several television shows, including “The Man in the High Castle”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “Norm Macdonald Has a Show” and more! Finally, Dean and Phil wrap things up by celebrating the lives of a brilliant comedic actor, the male half of one of the most iconic recording duos of the 1970’s, and a nun who became a television star. Happy New Year from YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!