Fires and heat waves have returned to California, Snow has returned to Colorado and the Dakotas, Covid-19 has returned to Detroit, and movies (and movie-goers) have returned to theaters! Dean and Phil cover it all, as well as Queen Elizabeth turning one of her homes into a drive-in theater, and Prince Harry and Megan Markle signing a production deal with Netflix. Never before have your friends in podcasting discussed as many musical acts as they do in this week’s “Celebrity Deaths” where members of Malo, Fleetwood Mac, Molly Hatchet, Primal Scream, New Order, and The Roots get remembered. The life of a Mexican comedy legend gets celebrated as well before Dean and Phil turn their attention to television and movies. The latest installment of “The Trip” series gets reviewed. Netflix’s “Dead to Me” gets analyzed. Two animated series are foremost on Dean’s mind: “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “X-Files: Albuquerque”. Finally, Phil wraps things up with some hopeful, helpful advice in “What We’re Reading”.

Phil was out late imbibing. Dean has been battling a bad late summer cold. Yet, somehow, they both come out guns blazing! This week’s show begins with several “Live Events of the Week”, ranging from immersive theatre to a Halloween X-Files improv show, from Leif Erikson Day to the first mixed cocktail! Then, it’s time for “Celebrity Deaths” wherein legendary journalists Cokie Roberts and Sander Vanocur, and performers Suzanne Whang, Aron Eisenberg and Sid Haig are remembered. From there, it’s on to the silver screen, where one of the all-time greats gets discussed in relationship to how we consume movies now, and a legendary “failure” gets re-appraised. In fact, the importance of “failuring” (Dean’s term) gets championed! Finally, the Emmy Awards were this weekend, and your friends in podcasting discuss “Fleabag”, Kirsten Dunst, “On Becoming a God in Central Florida”, and season 2 of “Big Little Lies” and the behind-the-scenes chicanery that may have been responsible for the season’s lack of focus.