Dean (in Detroit) and Phil (in Los Angeles) celebrate the lives of three amazing women: Performer-turned-novelist Echo Brown, Pilot-turned-architect Beverly Willis, and Detroit’s very own screen legend Piper Laurie. The latest implosion in the negotiations between the actors and the studios gets discussed, analyzed, and what it means for TV and Film production gets predicted. Where television is concerned, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting offer up thoughts on the recent social media furor surrounding Martin Short, and the merits of “Only Murders in the Building” season 3, “Reservation Dogs” season 3, and “Our Flag Means Death” season 2. Where movies are concerned, Dean checks in with a review of The Creator, while Phil weighs in on William Friedkin’s final film and Wes Anderson’s brand new Roald Dahl adaptations for Netflix.

You might not know the name Don Phillips, but you will definitely know the names of many the performers whose careers he launched as a casting director, and the films with which he was involved. He is one of four cultural titans that Dean and Phil remember in “Celebrity Deaths” on this week’s show, including a poet and founder of the mythopoetic men’s movement, an iconic Broadway composer, and a trombonist who received the highest honor ever bestowed on jazz musicians. Dean will update us on the latest in his bout with Covid-19, his travel plans, his live ghost hunts and his “Hellacious Renovations”. Phil will regale us with his birthday adventures, his deep dive into historic movie locations, and his exploration of the Manzanar “War Relocation Center”. Several movies will get analyzed as well, including a Kurosawa classic ripe for a modern-day remake, a film noir with a claim to the best dialogue of any movie ever, and a current box office hit that begs the question, “Does bustin’ make Dean & Phil feel good?”

Pop quiz: What do an Oscar-winning writer-editor, four dead actors, the story of how William Shatner became a star, 3 hilarious movie ads from the 1980s, anti-trust lawsuits pitting writers against actors, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards, a graphic novel, and the brother of presidential assassin James Wilkes Booth have in common? They are all a part of this week’s episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour!

Dean files one last report from Detroit before spending the rest of the year in L.A. What does he hope to accomplish while he is there, what has he been working on and how is a certain graphic novel coming along? Not only will you find out on this week’s show, you will also learn about the (tongue-in-cheek?) Turlock-based detective series Phil has conceived! Of course, Dean and Phil have several serious show biz and culture-related topics to cover as well, from current box office news to an overlooked Sean Connery film that is a true gem, from a Netflix riff on Sherlock Holmes to an Apple TV+ workplace sitcom starring Jason Sudeikis. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they will remember a true behind-the-camera titan of live television, a groundbreaking Broadway performer-turned-TV show creator, and the co-creator of one of the most beloved animated shows of all time. Plus, Dean and Phil will continue their discussion on taking things too seriously in the “public square”.

After a cold open in which Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness celebrate the fact that YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour becomes a teen-ager this week, they launch into what they do best, trying to make sense of a (Covid-19) world gone wild with humor, insight, irreverence and inspiration. In the return of “Wingnut of the Week”, Dean and Phil offer a wag of the finger at Covid-19 conspiracy theorists and a doff of the cap to UFO “truthers”. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they pay tribute to a true titan of comedy publishing and filmmaking, an international star who broke big in both Bollywood and Hollywood, a character actor-turned-casting director, an influential folk singer, and the musician who turned Hugh Grant into a pop star! Then, your friends in podcasting tackle how Covid-19 will affect the up-coming television season, and how it will affect the Oscars, before turning their attention to what years in cinema might rival 1962 as the best year ever for movies! 

With how much ground your friends in podcasting cover on this week’s show, you’ll forgive them going almost eight minutes overtime, won’t you? The show starts with a “Live Event of the Week” as Phil regales Dean with tales of his 49th birthday celebrations on a day that involved marionettes, Norse mythology and the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. Then, for the first time in ages, Dean and Phil discuss what they’re reading. After that, it’s onto “Celebrity Deaths” which contains a correction of a correction from last week, as well as remembrances of a former teen idol, a jazz great, a country music great, a gospel great and two award-winning actors. Then, a few more thoughts about the latest news involving toxic masculinity, the United States Senate and “Whataboutism” before Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves to discuss almost a dozen movies, including both the 1974 and 2017 versions of Murder on the Orient Express, Orson Welles’ 1952 Othello, Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, and this year’s award hopefuls Last Flag FlyingCall Me By Your Name,Lady BirdMudboundHostiles and The Disaster Artist.