This week, another “audio collage” of two different conversations recorded at different times, both exploring different facets of comedy. First Dean and Phil convene to compare notes on the new reboot of The Naked Gun – what it did right, what could have been done better and what good things its success (especially with young people) might portend! Another recent release, Riff Raff gets reviewed, and the importance of sketch and improv training for actors gets discussed. Then, your friends in podcasting take a deep dive into The Beatles’ movies directed by Richard Lester: A Hard Day’s Night and Help! A whole lot of deep concepts and legendary cinematic figures get explored as a result! In the final half hour of this epic installment, frequent contributor to the show, and comedy impresario, Marc Hershon and Phil discuss recent, disturbing news from the world of television, before discussing a Marc Maron comedy special, how authenticity might be having a moment, how young people seem to have good B.S. detectors, and several of Marc’s formative comedy influences.

Dean is getting into the spirit of Halloween, Phil is dressing up in steam punk to judge a fashion show, and they are both curious about Jim Thorpe PA, and they talk about all of this! The death of Nikki Finke inspires a celebration and analysis of the Deadline Hollywood website that was her creation and a discussion of a recent headline on the site about ageism in Hollywood. In “Celebrity Deaths”, Phil rants about people claiming anyone is “best known for” a particular work before he and Dean celebrate the lives and legacies of actress Angela Lansbury, actor Robbie Coltrane, author Peter Straub, groundbreaking disc jockey Art Laboe, and significant Hollywood matriarch Eileen Ryan. There is much discussion of the greatest film directors of all time (according to a 2002 Sight and Sound poll) before Dean and wrap things up where they began with Halloween-themed movie viewing.

On Christmas Eve in the nation’s capital, your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting!) got together in-person for this very special (and pre-recorded) holiday treat! Dean discusses his Los Angeles adventures, including the Cerritos mall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and nudists! Phil discusses his east coast adventures, including a visit to the Hillwood Estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post and the night his beloved cat, Fuzz Aldrin, decided to go walkabout! They touch briefly on the death of beloved novelist Joan Didion, and they discuss a handful of holiday season cinematic releases, including (more on) Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, Being the Ricardos, King Richard, Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Matrix Resurrections. There is even time for a brief follow-up on the zen brilliance of Bill Murray, and there is a photo shoot during the show! Join Dean and Phil as they ring out the final week of 2021 in style …