Three weeks shy of their 17th Anniversary show, your friends in broadcasting & podcasting bring you this action-packed installment. A Tony-winning playwright whose work revealed genuine comedy brilliance, a football player-turned movie star-turned (alleged) murderer, a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist, a groundbreaking drummer, an iconic news journalist, the director who helped launch many of the most beloved T.V. shows of all time, and the matriarch of a great filmmaking dynasty (an award-winning filmmaker herself), all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Then, the movie talk continues with two great, internationally hailed documentaries and two recent releases from (once) great filmmakers now available for streaming: Matthew Vaugn’s Argylle and Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls. Finally, Dean has thoughts about the current theatrical release Wicked Little Letters. All that, plus the return of “What We’re Reading”.

This week’s show begins with a mea culpa to those of you who actually listen to the show in podcast form. After that, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting follow up on last week’s “What We’re Reading” with amazing tales of the Knights of Malta and of the great artist Caravaggio’s time in Malta. Then the Hall & Oates “Lawsuit of the Week” gets revisited and clarified, before loyal listener Maurice Terenzio sets Dean straight on a lawsuit that involved puppetry giants Sid & Marty Krofft. In “Celebrity Deaths”, a groundbreaking pianist, a groundbreaking soap opera actress, a trailblazing television producer, an Oscar nominated French Actress, and a beloved American movie star all get remembered. And because awards season in Hollywood is now in full swing, two new television series get described and appraised.

This week marks the 4th anniversary of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour moving to live broadcasts, which you can find Monday night’s at 9 pm Eastern on Subspace Radio (http://subspace.radio) and the I Heart Radio app. Dean & Phil celebrate this milestone by bringing back the “Live Event of the Week” (involving Phil scaring children!), “Celebrity Deaths” (wherein an award-winning filmmaker, a legendary actress, a groundbreaking television creator, a Louisiana music treasure, and one of the all-time great cinematographers all get remembered), and “What We’re Reading” (including what Phil is most definitely NOT reading)! In addition to all that, the deaths of a retired supreme court justice and a former U.S. Secretary of State inspire a conversation about how things have changed, possibly for the worst, while a discussion about the just-started awards season leads to thoughts of how things have changed for the better! Phil has seen at least one film he loved (Cannes-winner Anatomy of a Fall), one film that did not work (Saltburn), and Dean saw The Marvels (which Phil will have none of!).

The night before Thanksgiving, Dean and Phil met high atop a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” for a very thoughtful conversation about gratitude, authenticity, a Japanese tea house, three restaurants in Malta, an American cemetery in Tuscany, Veterans Day, and yes, even Hall & Oates (in the return of “Lawsuit of the Week”). It’s heartfelt, its hilarious, it’s your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) at their best.

Phil is back from his continental adventures and he and Dean actually got together in person on the mean-streets (and rooftops) of Los Feliz to have lunch and record this week’s show! Hear all about Dean’s epic improv performance in San Jose, Popeye Village in Malta, the Blue Lagoon in Comino, jellyfish stings, the movies Showing Up and Five Nights at Freddy’s, and learn why Dean and Phil think the recently negotiated SAG-Aftra contract might not get ratified by the actors and what they think will happen if it doesn’t. All in all, it’s a truly hilarious, free-wheeling, globe-trotting installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

Phil is in Malta. Before he left, he sent Dean an itinerary of his trip. Dean was aghast. That itinerary was a jam-packed 7 pages of information about travel, accommodations, meals, beverages, sites and activities. On this week’s show, recorded prior to departure, Phil sat still long enough to answer Dean’s questions about the trip. 

This week’s Canadian Thanksgiving installment features follow-ups on several topics from past episodes: Are the most important pop culture figures of the last quarter of the 20th century all named “David”? Why is contemporary art so abundant with creativity and so full of joy? What are some of the most thrilling aspects of Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia? And speaking of Savannah, why is The Pirate House so darn haunting? In addition to those follow-ups, Phil has been researching “Trainee” programs offered by the Writer’s Guild in the wake of their (tentative) deal with the producers. And a loyal listener has thoughts about the best/worst actors to play Hercule Poirot on the big screen. This last leads into Dean’s thoughts about Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice before three films starring the great Dirk Bogarde, the soulfulness of Oliver Reed and a brilliant, unheralded masterpiece by the late William Friedkin all get discussed. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, a beloved star of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (and “NCIS”) gets remembered.

This week’s episode is quite the mélange and it begins with a cold open featuring a musical duet recorded late at night in Dean’s Motor City-adjacent home last week while Phil was visiting. Then, it is back to the “now” with Dean previewing his forthcoming trip to Minneapolis for a convention celebrating the 30th anniversary of “The X-Files” and Phil reveals the challenges he faced getting home from Detroit. Then, Phil reveals the latest show business strikes news and Dean offers up another vintage television series, this one an exemplar of Scandinavian Noir. In the return of “What We’re Reading”, Dean and Phil reveal the books that have garnered their attention, including a memoir, classic literature, historic fiction, poetry, music analysis and a guidebook. The phenomenon that is Oppenheimer gets discussed, as does large format film exhibition. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, Jimmy Buffett gets remembered (as do his cafes and hotels!).

This past week, your friends in podcasting & broadcasting were reunited in Michigan. You can hear all about the tour Dean gave Phil of some of his Detroit stomping grounds, and their neighboring environs. You can learn about the Mandela Effect. You can get your taste buds watering as you discover the joys of Detroit pizza and home-made ginger ale. You can recoil in horror at both the latest behavior by the AMPTP and the studio moguls in their ongoing conflict with the Writers Guild as well as the reasons Trader Joe’s had to remove some products from its shelves. All that, plus the number one song in the country, the most legendary pubs in the world and a very special guest pops in from time to time to lend her irrepressible spirit and joie de vivre!