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!

This week, Dean and Phil discuss a limited television series about the making of “The Godfather”, Season 3 of Amazon’s “The Boys”, the new AMC series “Dark Winds”, and whether Dean was ever in an episode of “Lonesome Dove”. Phil’s travels to Turlock get talked about, as do lava rocks, the recent planetary alignment, Lily’s final week as president of The Los Angeles Breakfast Club, safety (or “warning”) art, and Braille Institute’s Braille Challenge. Your friends also respond to emails, tweets and texts from loyal listeners like you (yes, you!), pertaining to such topics as Kim Novak, the oft-discussed Skidoo, Jean Harlow, whether last week’s episode was a paid advertisement, and “Celebrity Deaths”.

Dean and Phil get the ball rolling by discussing the most “fun” (?) cities in California. Then they discuss the role film critics play as we emerge from a pandemic. The quality and box office fortunes of The French Dispatch, The Eternals, Last Night in Soho, Dune, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and No Time to Die get analyzed and discussed. Phil sings the praises of a great Japanese film, a legendary Japanese actor, and a charismatic Japanese pop star. Dean sings the praises of Benedict Cumberbatch and his new film about a famous artist. Phil sings the praises of Mike White’s satirical “The White Lotus” and tackles the controversy surround Dave Chappelle’s “The Closer” from a much different angle. Finally, Dean intrigues Phil with his description of Channing Tatum’s Amazon Prime series “Comrade Detective”.

The USA celebrated its independence this weekend, but the fireworks continue on this brand new installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Dean shares a hysterical story about the making of a film he did many years back. Then he and Phil discuss in detail a wide array of movies, including a silent classic from Hitchcock, a current horror sequel, a masterpiece of surrealism from a Swedish filmmaker who has emerged as a titan of world cinema, and a low-budget sci-fi film from last year that was among 2020’s best. Plus, Phil wants to talk about a new TCM neo-noir series and a classic from 1967 starring Lee Marvin, but even more than that, he wants to talk about a conversation he had with longtime TCM host Ben Mankiewicz at a memorial for 106 year old legend Norman Lloyd. Phil also shares anecdotes involving many of the notables in attendance, including an Oscar-winning director, and the great grandson of one the most famous artists of all time, and Elliot Gould! All that, plus Dean is doing a show about haunted houses?!

Frequent contributor and good friend to the show Marc Hershon takes time out of his birthday celebrations to join Phil Leirness for a conversation about several current and recent television series, including “Fargo” Season 4 and “Lovecraft Country”. They also discuss HBO’s “The Watchmen” and Amazon’s “The Boys” in light of recent comments by creator of the original “The Watchmen” graphic novel, Alan Moore, who called superheroes and superhero movies “blights” on our culture. Finally, Marc hits us with a sitcom suggestion from Apple TV+ starring Jason Sudeikis.

Phil shares some of his Los Angeles adventures from the past week. Dean shares his latest adventures in painting. Phil celebrates the daily joy of David Lynch reading the weather report. Dean and Phil update on the latest in the battle between two different actors’ union, and on the battle between the Writers Guild and the most powerful agencies in Hollywood. They discuss season 4 of “Fargo” and the work of “X-Files” veteran Daniel Sackheim on “Lovecraft Country”. Phil questions Dean about the comments from comic book legend Alan Moore on the cultural blight that superheroes, superhero comics and superhero movies have become. Several performers and writers get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean and Phil bring back “What We’re Reading” and celebrate their all-time favorite bookstores!

A lot of post-production work went into making this one of our best shows of the year! Dean regales with stories of drinking and jury duty, Phil remembers dear friend and true iconoclast Konrad Monti. Dean and Phil discuss Amazon’s “The Boys” (a show Dean might have actually influenced!) and the dire future of movie-going in the wake of James Bond and “Black Widow” being pushed again, which led to the 2nd largest U.S. theater chain closing, while the first largest still hasn’t fully re-opened! A terrific, and highly musical “Celebrity Deaths” involves celebrations of a great jazz musician (and subject of an awesome Netflix documentary), songwriter-singer-turned-actor Mac Davis, and 70’s-pop-queen-turned-therapist Helen Reddy! Finally, we transport you back to a certain rooftop in the historic L.A. neighborhood of Los Feliz for the conclusion of Dean and Phil’s ruminations on what filmmakers might make the list of their all-time favorites.

Dean may be in the Motor City, and Phil may be conveniently located “between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge”, but they definitely still put the “Hollywood” into YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Of course, first they will share their latest thoughts on the social unrest and social evolution taking place, including what Phil terms his “7 percent solution” and Dean describes as “Quantum Life”. From there, and in the wake of some truly disturbing deaths and disappearances in California’s San Bernardino county, Dean and Phil will offer a “Black Lives Matter” edition of “Celebrity Deaths”, remembering the lives of a trailblazing screenwriter, a chart-topping singer, an award-winning dancer and choreographer, and an Olympic bobsledder who once helped inspire a Hollywood box office hit. Then the show becomes all about movies … And car culture! Drive-in theaters are having a moment. Will that moment continue? What will happen to theater chains, especially AMC which is close to going out of business? This year’s The Invisible Man, about which Dean has a compelling theory, will get discussed, as will the 1920 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Thoughtful, elevated discourse on the evolution of society, insightful analysis on two movies 100 years apart and irreverent banter from your friends in podcasting – Who could ask for more?

Following up on one of their best episodes ever, your friends in podcasting return with the latest installment of Dean’s Down Under Bucket List (before he moves to Detroit)! Then, after a discussion of the visual symbolism of watching Aretha Franklin and John McCain memorialized in back-to-back days, Dean and Phil tackle the current season of “Better Call Saul”, the upcoming season of “Man in the High Castle”, the new movie from Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) and the Spike Lee joint Do The Right Thing (at almost 30!). Then, an actress with a once-promising, high-profile career who was shot and killed by police and the writer with the most ever combined Tony and Oscar nominations are remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.