With special “theme” shows planned to ring out 2020 and ring in 2021, this week’s show will be the last of Dean and Phil’s usual irreverent and insightful show biz grab bags for a few weeks! In it, they celebrate the lives of two Broadway legends, an accomplished New Orleans-based actress, and a “Star Wars” icon. They discuss some of their favorite Christmas movies and share what movies they have gravitated towards this holiday season. They offer up a few holiday-themed movie print ads in what has become a weekly tradition. They discuss why Hitchcockian cinema (i.e. Hitchock-like movies directed by people other than Hitchcock) might have had its peak in the 1970s. They weigh in on Tom Cruise’s Covid-19 safety protocol rant. All that, plus, “The Mandalorian”, “Star Trek: Discovery”, “The Boys” and John Cassavetes!

Because this show was recorded early Sunday morning, before America awoke to the horrific news of a 2nd mass shooting in a handful of hours, your friends in podcasting only address their thoughts concerning the El Paso shooting – thoughts that concern conspiracy theories, their film The Truth is Out There and more. 12 years ago, Dean and Phil were discussing the “dog days” of summer, “slow news weeks”, the stars that Entertainment Weekly were in love with, a true-life nightmare plane flight, and great sci-fi movies. All those topics get revisited, and a clip of CHH #14 gets shared, in an hilarious segment. Dean and Phil finally answer two emails from listeners, one about an interesting documentary and the other about the lost (?) art of long-form conversation on TV as well as the “rebirth” of Detroit, and the rebuild of one of that city’s icons. All that, plus a great voice performer and a Broadway legend (perhaps THE Broadway legend) get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”.