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 …

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. 

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”. 

12 years ago this week, your friends in podcasting were recording their first show in stereo (rather than the two channel mono that was absolutely bonkers) and were discussing Gary Oldman’s sex appeal and The Last Mimzy. A clip from that discussion opens week’s show before Phil provides an update on his recovery from AND preparation for eye surgery, and Dean provides an update on some very interesting live comedy shows he is doing. One is his improv episode of “The X-Files” and you can see it this month in Detroit! Then, the gents move this week’s episode into the Chillpak morgue, where a maverick U.S. Presidential candidate, an all-star pitcher who became a controversial author and a successful actor, one of the greatest character actors of all time, a legend of Italian cinema, and a star of the original “Willy Wonka” all get remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”. A couple more thoughts related to last week’s discussion of what approach will most likely lead to creating great television get shared. Then, Dean and Phil discuss the controversy surrounding the American Cinematheque and the landmark Egyptian Theatre. Finally, they compare notes on Alfred Hitchcock’s fascinating Rope and the recent releases Us from Jordan Poole and Under the Silver Lake from David Robert Mitchell.  

Although this show is 85 minutes long, there’s no truth to the rumor that we will be changing our name to YOUR “Chillpak Hollywood Hour AND A HALF!” Celebrities just keep on dying and your friends in podcasting keep right on remembering them! On this week’s show, music legend João Gilberto, Disney star Cameron Boyce, “Laugh-In” comic Arte Johnson, and automotive icon Lee Iacocca have their lives and accomplishments celebrated. Then, Dean and Phil dig into the archives to sample what they were talking about 12 years ago this week. Roswell, UFOs and an ill-fated “sister” podcast all get discussed. After that, Dean and Phil share an email from a loyal listener like you (yes, YOU!) involving the best ways to ensure a television series’ quality during its entire run. This leads to a conversation about the best TV finales, the worst TV finales and how lucky we are when some awesome shows don’t even GET finales! Oh, yeah, and Phil has eye surgery and post-op procedure stories to share! 

Year 13 of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour gets underway with Phil providing an update on his battle to regain his vision. He and Dean discuss some press they recently received for their film The Lady Killers  as well as the latest progress on part 2 of their documentary The Truth Is Out There. Doris Day gets a few words of remembrance, though Peggy Lipton, Barbara Perry and Jim Fowler get the full “Celebrity Deaths” treatment. David Lynch gets debated (again), especially in light of how much he and Dean have in common! Some news and views on Avengers: Endgame and one excellent, Oscar-nominated film, and two really disappointing 2018 releases get reviewed. Join the Chillpak Mod Squad for year 13!

If you caught last week’s installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour, you know that Dean Haglund was attending a convention in Rhode Island this weekend and that Phil Leirness was NOT attending in order that he could get to the bottom of what has become almost total day and light blindness. Your friends in podcasting will regale you with many tales of these adventures on this week’s show. They will also weigh in on all the news surrounding “Avengers: Endgame”, they will discuss M. Night Shyamalan’s rumination on comic books, “Glass”, and they will play a lightning round of “Celebrity Deaths”, including one that hit very close to home for Dean and Phil. A very personal, funny and touching episode. We hope you enjoy!

As many of you know, our ten most recent shows are now available on iTunes and on our newly re-launched website. We would not have made it this far without a lot of hard work without support from several loyal listeners. If you would like to pitch in with a donation to help your friends in podcasting as they continue the time-consuming effort of re-building, please drop us a line (chillpakhollywood at yahoo dot com). The gents will be back on Monday with another brand new episode where they will be discussing some amazing good news to come out of the Notre Dame fire, a preview of their forthcoming trip to Rhode Island, what TV shows Dean is watching now that he resides in the USA again, the breakdown in negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the talent agents, and three recent movies, including two superhero films! All that plus an Oscar-nominated director fights for life, a brilliant television comedienne is remembered in “Celebrity Deaths”, Roman Polanski returns in a “Lawsuit of the Week” and the yet-to-launch Disney + streaming service announces what film won’t be available and what classic will be edited before it is available. YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Back and better than ever. Monday at 5 pm Pacific. Wherever good podcasts can be found!

Your friends in podcasting have a lot to discuss, including the full, disturbing, spine-tingling story of exactly what happened to their site and Phil’s internet. They will discuss the death of an important Film Production company, the emergence of a truly intriguing Film Distribution company. They will tackle this year’s Oscar Winners for Best Documentary and Best Animated Film, as well as a nominee for Best Actress. All that, plus they share some awesome pet stories and preview at least one upcoming LIVE CHH appearance! It’s a great episode. Just don’t tell Phil that Mercury is in Retrograde!ali