It was a rough weekend for Dean Haglund, whose beloved Doberman, Leeloo, is undergoing emergency spinal surgery as we publish this show. It has also been a rough week for the media business where fear over job loss is concerned. In the UK, ITV has been taken over by Sky and several more television mergers, and downsizings, seem to be in the offing. In the U.S. Netflix is mulling a major expansion, and distribution company NEON has sold a major stake to production company Department M in hopes of massively “scaling up” operations. Dean and Phil have all this “business of show” news covered. Then, they go into detail analyzing Disclosure Day as a definitively “American” movie, and Guy Maddin’s Careful as a definitively “Canadian” one. Then, their ongoing discussion of film noir and neo-noir continues, with some key questions being asked and at least one truly awful neo-noir getting discussed in depth.

This week’s show is a bit of a pastiche, cut together from snippets of different conversations Dean and Phil have had these past couple weeks. So, after a hilarious “audio check” cold open, if you hear references to topics not yet covered, don’t worry, it all weaves together wonderfully by the end in what might just be one of our best shows of the year! Phil discusses the forthcoming Netflix reboot of Beverly Hills Cop and the (unwanted by the producers) role he might play in it, and whether its filming location means he lives closer to Detroit than Dean does! The subject of “soft tissue” and the importance of stretching and yoga get discussed in the wake of Phil learning about what it means to “pop a rib”. The reason firefighters carry axes gets explained. The graphic design creative explosion that was the late 70s and early 80s is the subject of a gallery exhibit at the Pacific Design Center and it leads Dean to reminisce. When he was in London, did Dean experience the magic of the Elizabeth Line? And did he get to England through the worst itinerary ever? And what exactly did he get wrong when describing the Billy Wilder failure Kiss Me Stupid? These questions all get answered and the great improv comic turned successful character actor Mike Hagerty gets remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. And if that weren’t enough, Phil takes the time to interview Russ Haslage about his career in radio, the “wonder” of Subspace, and the history of the fine works by The Federation (and how YOU can help)!