Dean is back from his birthday break and reveals just how he celebrated. Phil went to Montecito to prepare for a big show and has tales of a spectacular venue on the water. Have Dean and Phil been watching the Olympics? We find out. Last week, one special guest, Marc Hershon spoke about all that is excellent in television right now and Phil follows up on that by singing the praises of Season 3 of HBO’s “Hacks”. The other guest last week was archivist and global cinema expert Jeff Briggs, and Phil follows up on their discussion of the legendary “Queen of Swords”, Cheng Pei-Pei, by describing two films of hers that he really wants to see. Dean reveals the film HAS seen, the current horror thriller Longlegs, while revealing all his thoughts about the top ten films at the box office. Phil discusses the new documentary starring Martin Scorsese about the greatest filmmaking team of all time, while also singing the praises of one of that team’s most romantic works. The show Phil hosted this past week serves as the “Live Event of the Week” and Dean and Phil end the show by remembering a French movie star, a brilliant sketch comedy and sitcom performer, and a British blues legend in “Celebrity Deaths”. And if you want to check out Phil’s “other” podcast – “The Voice of Los Feliz” – we hope you will! It’s part of his new free Substack that you can find HERE!

Birthday boy Dean Haglund has the week off, so Phil Leirness welcomes Marc Hershon to discuss the recent Emmy Awards nominations and all that is excellent right now in what we used to call “television”. Marc is a screenwriter, author, improv professor, comedy impresario, columnist, editorial cartoonist, and corporate branding expert. He is also responsible for Dean and Phil seeing many of the shows they have discussed over the past several years. Phil also welcomes Jeff Briggs to discuss China’s first female action star, “The Queen of Swords”, Cheng Pei-Pei, who died recently at the age of 78. Jeff is a lifelong archivist, a former magazine writer, and an expert on Asian Cinema. He is also Phil’s former college roommate! All in all, this week’s show is a globetrotting 73-minute epic!

This week’s show begins with a round of Dean and Phil’s vintage movie ad game before becoming a preview of April events to which Dean and Phil are looking forward. From there, the show seques into a discussion of the latest news surrounding the Rust on-set shooting trial as well as the latest news involving the ever-expanding on-screen universes of John Wick and Blade Runner, during which Phil questions whether the USA can ever rid itself of gun violence when we so profoundly enjoy fictional depictions of such violence. Two cinematic classics by the great French director René Clément get discussed (one a 1960 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley and the other a 1970 Lewis Carroll and Alfred Hitchcock-inspired film that turned Charles Bronson into the biggest global box office draw), and a circus film from Carol Reed gets celebrated, along with the body of work by its star, Burt Lancaster. In “Celebrity Deaths”, the original Wednesday Addams, the co-creator of “Sesame Street”, and the star of “James at 15” and “Salem’s Lot” all get remembered. Finally, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting commemorate the 12th anniversary of THE “comedy soundcast soundcast” Succotash!

The bulk of this week’s show is comprised of two pre-recorded interviews with special guests. The first was a conversation between Phil and Eric Kurland, the pre-eminent authority on the art, science and history of 3-D. The second was recorded last weekend on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood outside the Broadwater Plunge (with a live audience of one, who ends up playing a supporting role), as Dean and Phil hoped to catch up with their friend Eric Mark about his recent trip to the Sundance Film Festival, the successful sci-fi podcast he produces, his many game show appearances and the harrowing health travails he has endured. Only the last of these really gets much coverage in a freewheeling, head-spinning, hilarious conversation on the mean streets of Hollywood.

The first half of this week’s show is all about the art and craft and future of podcasting! Storyteller Dave Pickering joins us from his home in Lancaster in the north of England to talk about his brilliant podcasts (“Getting Better Acquainted”, “Down to a Sunless Sea”, “The Family Tree” and more), about college lectures he gives about podcasting, about where he sees the art form at present, and what he thinks the future might hold. Actress Lily Holleman drops by in the second half of the show to reveal her Screen Actors Guild Awards ballot and to discuss what she looks for in performances. A whole bunch of great movies and performers get discussed. Great podcasts and great movies – truly two of our favorite things!

The heartfelt and the hilarious are both in abundant supply this week. For Phil Leirness and Dean Haglund, one of the best things about co-hosting YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour these past (almost) 14 years has been the friendships they have enjoyed because of the show. And these friendships are very much on their minds. Sure, there is the latest show biz-related Covid-19 news, a great joke about people’s reaction this past week to Dr. Seuss books, reviews of movies both recent and classic, fun with movie ads from the year 1986, “Celebrity Deaths” featuring two great reggae artists, and the return of “What We’re Reading”, but there will also be special birthday wishes, the celebration of a good friend’s new music, tales from a friend’s memoir, lessons learned from a friend’s work as a podcaster, and more. Dean will also discuss the show he did this past week with his good friend Gary Jones, and Phil will preview the two new podcast series he will be producing!

How much longer will your friends in podcasting keep doing YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour? Climb into the backseat as Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness drive from Los Angeles International Airport to a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” to find out the answer to this question as well as to learn about Polar Vortexes, Chief Financial Officers, Phil’s bachelor party plans, the Garry Shandling Learning Studio, the Time’s Up “4 percent challenge” and more!

According to Harold Camping, Saturday 21 May was Judgment Day, so all of us who are still here must be damned! Which only seems appropriate as your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness had one HELL of a good time at the US premiere of their film The Truth Is Out There at the Retro Dome in San Jose. After the screening was completed, Dean and Phil took the stage for this LIVE installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour … Hilarity, special guests, audience questions, Phil’s tears … It’s the end of the world as we know it!

Is Phil the love child of Patrick McGoohan and Remington Steele? Is Dean the love child of Kirk Douglas and Glenn Close? Probably, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg this week. Dean talks about the Podcast and New Media Expo in Ontario (California, not Canada). Some new releases are debated. Then Phil makes a shocking revelation about this crazy town. It’s a stinking pool of what? What’s that Phil? No, it can’t be true!