Phil Leirness is joined by music journalist (and friend of the show) Yoshi Kato, who briefly fills in for a tardy Dean Haglund, to discuss the lives and legacies of six notables from the world of music in “Celebrity Deaths”, as well as to set the table concerning a later discussion of Asian Pacific American Heritage month and the 1961 film Flower Drum Song. Dean then arrives just in time to remember a prolific character actor, the decorated police officer who played Eddie Haskell on TV’s “Leave it to Beaver”, and the great Fred Willard. Dean and Phil then answer an email from a loyal listener about an upcoming Michael Bay film set in the world of Covid-19. This leads to a fascinating discussion and argument before attention is turned to the ramping up of film and TV production and the announcement that the Venice Film Festival will go ahead as planned this September. Dean then sings the praises of two different television series, Phil sings the praises of two classic movies about gambling. Then the conversation turns to the careers of Sessue Hayakawa, one of the first heartthrobs of the silver screen, the hilarious and brilliant Jack Soo, and the tragically overlooked Reiko Sato.

Dean and Phil discuss Leap Day, tackle the challenges and joys of teaching (improv and acting respectively) and then open the Chillpak morgue to remember a novelist-turned-adventurer, a talk show host-turned-soap opera producer, a quick draw specialist-turned-western star, a psych-rock innovator-turned-dream pop icon, and a mathematician-turned-space program hero in “Celebrity Deaths”. Dean offers up analysis on the “38%” in “Explanation of the Week”. Then, after some appreciation of a Canadian television series (available on Hulu), John Mulaney, David Byrne (and the “Sack Lunch Bunch”), the gents tackle an email from a loyal listener and frequent contributor about the recent practice of releasing “de-colorized” modern movies. Finally, a couple more great movie monologues performed by women get discussed. Something for everyone? We like to think so!

For many years, your friends in podcasting, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, would reveal their resolutions for the coming year and hold each other’s feet to the fire as they looked back to see how they had fared on the previous year’s resolutions. They are a bit too old, and wise, and honestly, have had too much milk punch to engage in an exercise in depressing humiliation. Instead, on this week’s show, they set their intentions for 2020 by comparing notes on what they are looking forward to in this brand new year. Adventures in travel, comedy, movies, art, health and self-exploration beckon …

Tucker Smallwood is immediately recognizable to fans of science fiction for playing Commodore Ross on “Space: Above and Beyond”, for playing Sheriff Andy Taylor in “Home”, the most notorious of all episodes of “The X-Files”, for playing the flight commander in Contact, for playing the Xindi Humanoid in “Star Trek: Enterprise”, for playing Admiral Bullock in “Star Trek: Voyager” and those are just his highest profile sci-fi roles. An actor, an author, a musician and a decorated military veteran, Tucker Smallwood joins your friends in podcasting to discuss two classic Francis Coppola movies in which he was involved.

It’s our final show before the start of Season 2! After a week off, your friends in podcasting will be moving to ODYSY Radio Network starting Monday December 2nd. Once there, shows will “air” live at 9 pm eastern (becoming available as podcast a few hours later)! On THIS week’s show, our last EVER to exceed one hour (!), Dean and Phil discuss a Veteran’s Day-themed “Live Event of the Week”, remember an actress who starred in a handful of cult classics and the puppeteer responsible for Topo Gigio in “Celebrity Deaths”, compare notes on their upcoming travels, and weigh in on six new, upcoming, or recent movies: The LIghthouse, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Just Mercy, Judy, Tell Me Who I Am, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

On this week’s show, Dean reveals details of his Halloween night, one-man, improv “X-Files” episode and Phil shares tales of a Halloween week visit to the legendary Magic Castle in “Live Events of the Week”. Accomplished stand-up comic and actor John Witherspoon and Hollywood icon Robert Evans are remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. Once again, Dean and Phil discuss the terrific Dolemite is My Name and champion another great title available on Netflix, 2016 Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake. All that, plus HBO’s “Watchmen” and the throw-away gags of “Silicon Valley” get discussed.

Your friends in podcasting have big news to share about where and how YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour can be found and enjoyed starting in December! This week’s episode begins with that news and touches on a variety of topics before buckling down to discuss great films, great filmmakers and great actors. Martin Scorsese’s epic The Irishman and Eddie Murphy’s comeback in Dolemite is My Name get fully analysis as do the films of Abbas Kiarostami and Denis Villeneuve.

Recorded at 6 am (Pacific) on a Monday morning, this 70 minute conversation between your friends in podcasting is a heartfelt, insightful, irreverent exploration of such topics as knife-wielding homeless, the NFL, The Joker, backstage yoga, the important life skills improv training can teach, the key to artful conversation, the danger of reading “news” online (especially on social media), curiosity, empathy, grief, The King of Comedy and more! Oh, and don’t forget to check out Dean’s live, improv, streaming comedy series, Gravity Hole!

You will be hard-pressed to find another episode of this or any other show biz-centric podcast that covers as much ground thematically OR temporally as this installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Silent film legends John Gilbert and Harold Lloyd both made transitions to the sound era and Dean and Phil, with the help of a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU) dig into this history. Dean’s live streaming sci-fi adventure series “Gravity Hole” is back and Dean will tell all! Last week, Phil waxed rhapsodic while singing the praises of two female performers of Asian-American descent. This week, he reveals a startling personal connection to one of them, while previewing a potential “Live Event of the Week” and celebrating another actor he believes is due great things. The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA held a contentious (possibly contested) election and your friends in podcasting will try to make sense of it. In a jam-packed installment of “Celebrity Deaths” a multi-Emmy-winning TV star, a modern-day “robber baron”, the “king of puns”, a pioneering animator, a “Star Trek” actress, a comic book artist, and a counterculture icon of the late 60’s and 1970’s all get remembered. 

Dean regales us with details of his trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, and updates us on his teaching of improv. Phil updates us on his recovery from multiple eye surgeries, and regales us with details of a Hollywood Bowl “Live Event of the Week” before previewing an upcoming presentation at The Los Angeles Breakfast Club about silent film great Harold Lloyd and his love of 3-D Photography. Phil also sings the praises of two terrific Asian-American performers – Maya Erskine and Awkwafina – as he recommends their most recent movies, the romantic comedy Plus One and the indie drama The Farewell. Dean and Phil revisit the great Denis Villeneuve sci-fi pic Arrival, answer an email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU) about the Manson family murders and provide updates and analysis on the CBS-Paramount merger and Netflix’s efforts to purchase the landmark Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. That a whole lot of entertainment for one hour (plus)! Of course it is YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour.