If any week warranted an episode of epic length, it was the week that was. With Phil Leirness coming at us from the beaten and battered City of Angels and Dean Haglund coming at us from an air mattress on a hardwood floor not far from the Motor City, this week’s show covers a lot of terrain in a little more than 68 minutes. Your friends in podcasting discuss Copenhagen wedding plans and the role that city played in our understanding of quantum physics. They talk about the cold of New York City, the importance of heeding one’s intuition and the horrifying, almost unbearably sad events still ongoing in Los Angeles. Fires, bad behavior and the need for us to stop breaking things all get discussed before Dean and Phil finally put the “Hollywood” into Chillpak Hollywood Hour, briefly revisiting last week’s “Lawsuit of the Week” (involving It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni and star Blake Lively). They re-visit (and double down on) their praise for Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside”, Dean sings the praises of both “So Help Me Todd” and “Elsbeth” before the discussion turns to recent big-screen efforts by Guy Ritchie and Clint Eastwood. Finally, in the return of “Celebrity Deaths”, Phil quizzes Dean about a former U.S. President, a billionaire businessman, a Shakespearean movie star, the Gold Leader from Star Wars, a Broadway legend turned sitcom star, and a folk music icon, before setting his sights on and saying good riddance to a notorious bigot. Trust us, if you have ever enjoyed our free weekly show that has been “changing the way people listen to the internet” since May of 2007, you won’t want to miss this one!

Phil is back from New York City. Dean is preparing to travel to Tokyo. They have a lot to discuss on this week’s installment. Phil talks about a live show he saw in New York, about the work of an all-time great stone-cutter, about Columbus Day, and about Indigenous Peoples Day. Dean talks about the fish market he can’t wait visit, and the “Venice of Japan”, and previews the drawings he will do while far out and far east. “Hogan’s Heroes” gets discussed, because, y’know … Dean! Apple TV + is foremost on the mind of Phil – both its dominance of episodic television and its failure at feature filmmaking. One classic film (1962’s The Manchurian Candidate), one action film from Taiwan (The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon) and two recent releases (Wolfs, The Bikeriders) get deep dive analysis, while Guy Maddin’s latest and the new “Joker” film get previewed. All that plus Phil offers personal recollections of a true genius in the history of film, film criticism and film preservation, Robert Rosen, who died at 84.

Dean and Phil have thoughts about the recent assassination attempt on former President Trump and these thoughts bring back memories of John Lennon’s murder and of vigilante films of the 1970s, especially Taxi Driver as well as the American classic on which it was based, The Searchers. On this week’s show, you will hear all that before your friends in podcasting get down to remembering the great Bob Newhart and the singular Shelly Duvall, as well as Oscar-winning producer Jon Landau in “Celebrity Deaths”. The “Live Event of the Week” involves Disneyland on its 69th birthday, the invention of audio-animatronics and how Disney was denied toys as a kid. Two movies have Phil’s attention, one of whose story (Widow Clicquot) was written by a future guest of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour and the other (Bodies Bodies Bodies) an A24 satire on both WiFi culture and Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians. Watching it was part of Phil’s efforts to see everything in which actress Rachel Sennott has appeared. Finally, the Emmy Awards nominations get discussed and Dean’s viewing habits get put to the test!

This week’s show begins with a mea culpa to those of you who actually listen to the show in podcast form. After that, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting follow up on last week’s “What We’re Reading” with amazing tales of the Knights of Malta and of the great artist Caravaggio’s time in Malta. Then the Hall & Oates “Lawsuit of the Week” gets revisited and clarified, before loyal listener Maurice Terenzio sets Dean straight on a lawsuit that involved puppetry giants Sid & Marty Krofft. In “Celebrity Deaths”, a groundbreaking pianist, a groundbreaking soap opera actress, a trailblazing television producer, an Oscar nominated French Actress, and a beloved American movie star all get remembered. And because awards season in Hollywood is now in full swing, two new television series get described and appraised.

After a cold open that involves a fascinating horror film from the UK in the 1940s (a rarity at the time) and the scientific theories it helped spawn, Phil reveals the horrific travels he undertook since he last convened with Dean on YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! In “Celebrity Deaths”, the political cinema of Jean-Luc Godard gets analyzed, and the lives and careers of five performers and a jazz master get celebrated. Then, it’s back to the movies, with Dean recommending a current horror film and Phil revealing the two mysteries currently in theaters he is dying to see, before he and Dean sing the praises of several “Stranger Things” cast members and then try to figure out what went so right with one Ryan Reynolds vehicle from director Shawn Levy, and what went so wrong with another Ryan Reynolds vehicle from director Shawn Levy!

Because Phil had to travel to Turlock, that means two things for this week’s show: 1) It features a cameo by Dean’s “Lord Turlock” character, and 2) The show was pre-recorded. And it’s a good one, wherein Dean and Phil drill down into the improv form known as “deconstruction” in “Live Event of the Week” and while posing the question “Why can’t we have nice things?” the bombing and destruction of the Georgia Guidestones gets discussed. In a “What We’re Reading” all about the FBI, the influence of “The X-Files” and misogyny, Dean provides a full book report on a terrific work in anticipation of its author being a guest on a future episode of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour! Instead of “Celebrity Deaths”, your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) celebrate the 100th birthday of Hollywood’s greatest icon, which leads to favorite stories about Kenny Rogers and Steve Martin. Finally, the Emmy Award nominations get unpacked, with Phil wagging a finger at the omissions of “Reservation Dogs” and Selena Gomez, and particular attention gets paid to “Abbott Elementary” and to the horse race for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Dean is back in the environs of the Motor City, Phil is back in Los Angeles, and they have a lot to discuss on this week’s show … Phil asks Dean about his SoCal travel adventures and about Dean’s grandfather, a truly remarkable man. Dean and Phil preview new seasons from two utterly terrific television series and also discuss a current show you might just want to check out. The box office is, at long last, seemingly revived and there are a lot of movies out! Dean and Phil discuss some of them, but pay particular attention to the return of Ke Huy Quan, a new Chris Pine spy vehicle, a classic 1960s musical from France, an unusually personal 1981 detective film from Peter Bogdanovich, and the movie that features James Stewart’s all-time favorite performance he ever gave. In the return of “Celebrity Deaths”, several sitcom character actors, a beloved stand-up comic and voice actor, and a groundbreaking dancer, all get remembered.

Season 1 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour ended in November of 2019 after 652 episodes. Season 2 ended last week after 113 episodes. This week, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness launch Season 3 as they make the move to Subspace Radio! They will “re-set” their topics, bringing back the “Explanation of the Week” while discussing something called the “Gell-Mann amnesia effect” and the “Wingnut of the Week” while discussing sci-fi novelist and filmmaker Michael Crichton. In “Celebrity Deaths”, they will remember the legendary improviser who played “Dr. Johnny Fever”. All that, plus a deep dive into what made season 2 of “Ted Lasso” so divisive for viewers and a big award hopeful this Oscar season: Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos.

Dean and Phil discuss Martin Luther King Day, share three messages from loyal listeners like you (yes, YOU!), reveal a handful of new nicknames for Phil, and analyze three recent cinematic releases. They also celebrate the lives and legacies of several music legends, a couple of beloved sitcom stars, and a true Hollywood icon.

We hope this finds you having enjoyed a happy and healthy New Year. Twelfth Night is a festival that takes place on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany. Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (or “What You Will”), is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night’s entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. On this week’s brand new Season 2 Episode 109 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Dean and Phil celebrate both the holiday season AND the immortal Bard of Stratford on Avon by counting down each of their 12 all-time favorite cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare! Brevity might be the soul of wit, but your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) have an hour to fill!