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!

Last week, Dean and Phil got Season 4 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour underway with an hilarious and fascinating installment recorded in the nation’s capital. This week, Dean is back in Detroit, Phil is back in Los Angeles, and they have a ton to follow up on, as well a great deal of show biz to news to catch up on! Here is just some of what they have on their agenda: Dean’s thoughts about the need for all-encompassing cultural experiences, highlights (and lowlights) from his D.C. adventures with friend of show John Kay Steel, two inspiring live events Phil attended this week, the avalanche of movie and television award news, a juicy celebrity-laden “Lawsuit of the Week”, and several “Celebrity Deaths”.

Dean came back from PhileFest with a case of the Covid-19 and rumors about the forthcoming reboot of “The X-Files”. Phil questions him about both! Phil also asks about a potential guest on a forthcoming show, before sharing a story of how Ann Arbor, Michigan was named for a family member. Last week’s discussion of some great contemporary Japanese cinema leads to a follow-up about Japan’s entry into this year’s Academy Awards before another cinematic follow-up involves great films made in secrecy. A long overlooked, spooky classic from the 1970s gets celebrated and the latest, rather disturbing news from the Hollywood picket lines gets discussed. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, a game show legend, a multiple Emmy Award-winning actor, a chart-topping singer, and two stand-up comedians get remembered.

It’s Happy Birthday to Dean Haglund and boy has he been celebrating! On this week’s show, you will hear all about his celebrations. You will also hear about his road trip to upstate New York. And you will hear about a very bizarre social calendar for Phil! The latest news in the writers and actors strikes gets discussed, as does the controversy surrounding “waivers” being granted to certain productions. Dean offers up at least one more television series from the past you might want to avail yourself of while you wait for new seasons of your current favorites. Phil sings the praises of “Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 and Season 1of “Shrinking”. Last week, Dean revealed what he thinks of as Robert De Niro’s 5 greatest performances. Phil follows up with a couple of alternative picks this week. Finally, the surprising box office performance (failure?) of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One gets analyzed, and the film’s strengths get celebrated and missteps get dissected.

After three special theme shows celebrating their 16 years of changing the way people listen to the internet, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting are back doing whatever the heck it is they usually do! Dean and Phil discuss all the news coming out of the Cannes Film Festival and the latest in the ongoing labor turmoil in Hollywood. They discuss art, comedy, and Disneyland. They offer up reviews of three new or recent releases. They celebrate the lives and legacies of a chart-topping singer-turned-actor, the Queen of Rock ‘n Roll, a groundbreaking filmmaker, and an award-winning novelist.

Dean and Phil commiserate about power outages in Dean’s Michigan neighborhood and about snow in Los Angeles! More important than winter season weather, however, are which way the winds are blowing in Hollywood’s award season and they discuss the latest news and how it affects handicapping this year’s Best Picture Oscar race. Long before it was called “Best Picture”, the top Oscar was called “Best Production” and Phil analyzes one of its earliest recipients – Cimarron, one of the only westerns ever to win the top prize from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Another western also has Phil’s attention: Red Sun starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune and Alain Delon. Phil follows up on last week’s remembrance of Raquel Welch, by sharing thoughts on and stories about one of her earliest films, Lady in Cement starring Frank Sinatra. Finally, Phil saw a screening of the great Italian classic The Conformist and discussion of this leads to appreciations on the art of editing and some of its greatest practitioners, as well as an appreciation for the great production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti. Dean also saw a movie this week – the current (modest) box office hit 80 for Brady and Dean actually sings its praises! Dean also has two personal stories about the great stand-up comedian-turned-actor Richard Belzer (with whom he starred in and episode of “The X-Files” exploring the origin of the Lone Gunmen). Other notables remembered in “Celebrity Deaths” include a big screen star of the 60s and 70s, and a 6 time Emmy-nominated television actress of the 80’s and 90s.

After a brief cold open about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Dean and Phil switch gears from the Holiday Season to “Awards Season” as they tackle a handful of this year’s award hopefuls, including Tár, Don’t Worry Darling, The Menu, Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes. There is a brand new “Lawsuit of the Week” AGAIN involving the tragic Alec Baldwin-starring western Rust. An email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) about a celebrity death will be followed by … “Celebrity Deaths”! A versatile actor, a comedy impresario, and a legendary prop comic have their lives and legacies celebrated. All that, PLUS Phil shares a hilarious account of a recent 50th high school reunion.

During this week’s cold open, Dean and Phil finish up their discussion of Marlon Brando and Jack Lemmon, offering up some final movie recommendations. Phil is back after a lengthy trip to the east coast and he returns with tales of a Shakespeare Theater production about Leonardo Da Vinci and thoughts inspired by Hurricane Ian about how human beings become fixated on the statistically anomalous and he also shares with Dean the exciting way in which their former podcasting home – the Eastern Columbia Building – had a starring role in the new season of Amazon’s fashion competition show “Making the Cut”. Loyal listener Maurice Terenzio checks in with a thought-provoking email that brings the conversation back to Marlon Brando before the return of Lawsuit of the Week focuses Dean and Phil’s attention onto the ill-fated Alec Baldwin western Rust. Celebrity Deaths begins by bringing the conversation once again back to Marlon Brando (!) with a remembrance of activist and artist Sacheen Littlefeather. Many other notables get remembered as well, including an Oscar-winning actress, a comedic “love goddess”, a comic book artist who dazzled live audiences, and a chart-topping rapper-turned-reality star. Finally, two movies get reviewed: the current whodunit theatrical release See How They Run and the 2020 Netflix offering from Charlie Kaufman, I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

On this week’s show, Dean shares with Phil his jury duty “cheat code”, Phil shares with Dean fascinating historic facts and rumored hauntings surrounding the town of Turlock, and they discuss another David Lynch-Mark Frost television collaboration from the late 1980s, and this one was supposed to star Steve Martin and Martin Short! Speaking of those comedy greats, their co-star from “Only Murders in the Building” has a new movie in development, a remake of a 1980s classic. Dean and Phil discuss it and they analyze the ever-shifting landscape in the battle between theatrical movie-going and streaming releases, a battle that movie theaters seem to be winning. A terrible new Netflix movie gets discussed as does the rather spotty track record of its celebrated directors. Other topics covered include “Better Call Saul”, the casting of Bullet Train and Craig Kilborn’s new podcast. Finally, in “Celebrity Deaths”, three trailblazers get remembered: Pat Carroll, Bill Russell and Nichelle Nichols.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, from the cosmic to the deeply personal, Dean and Phil are going deep on this week’s show! Remembering the haunting, ethereal “voice” of “Twin Peaks”, Julee Cruise, leads into ruminating about the afterlife, hauntings, consciousness, and moral underpinnings to the universe. This, naturally, involves analyzing two new Netflix comedy specials – Ricky Gervais’ “SuperNature” and Norm MacDonald’s “Nothing Special” – and two fascinating and troubling cinematic releases of the late 60s – Otto Preminger’s Skidoo and Richard Brooks’ In Cold Blood.