Celebrity Deaths

Celebrity Deaths

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … [https://deanandphil.substack.com] universe of shows, these celebrations are no longer merely interesting and inspiring. They have also become truly bizarre and hilarious, especially with frequent contributor Jon Lawlor now along for the ride. This episode goes deep into fine art, popular music, movies, and sitcoms as the following seven media notables get remembered … *Truly iconic artist David Hockney *Front man and songwriter (and cop turned naval officer) for the disco superstars Village People, Victor Willis *Singer and songwriter David Clayton-Thomas, lead vocalist for Blood, Sweat & Tears *Clive Davis, the music executive responsible for discovering and elevating dozens of the best-selling artists of the past sixty years. *The beloved actress who played “Kate Turner” on the series ALF, Anne Schedeen *Ann Blyth, who was Oscar-nominated in 1945 for the classic Mildred Pierce *The director often referred to as the “Steven Spielberg of Television Sitcoms”, the prolific, brilliant, and truly legendary James Burrows A special note to all celebrities: Could you please stop dying until we can catch up? The Chillpak Morgue is full to the rafters! Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Chillpak Hollywood Hour

Tomorrow is Canada Day and the end of the week is Independence Day in the USA. Your friends in podcasting have thoughts about celebrating. They have thoughts about Team Canada’s big win in the World Cup. They have thoughts about why very few of the listeners to this podcast are in Canada! Phil got back from the Carolinas and has stories about being the “Guest of the Day” in Charlotte, North Carolina (the Queen City), and about beaches and alligator encounters in Kiawah Island, South Carolina (the Lowcountry). Dean asks Phil about Bill Murray’s baseball team in Charleston and Phil regales with tales of Carolina Day and America250. Turning to show business, the gents celebrate the best box office year at the movies since 2019 and glean some important lessons from that success, lessons they fear may be lost on the industry, but which certainly seem to be lost on the press covering the industry. Particular focus gets put on the just-opening, and already disastrous Supergirl and on Sam Raimi’s 2026 “survivor horror thriller film”, Send Help. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Deep Dive

In many ways, our expansion of the long-running Chillpak Hollywood Hour into an entire universe of different podcasts here on Substack was inspired by our desire to take some of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ longer form conversations and put them in one place where people can easily find them by topic. So, welcome to to DEEP DIVE! Today’s show features an in-depth analysis of and appreciation for the filmography of the writing, producing, directing AND editing team of Joel and Ethan Coen. An effort is made to delineate what each brother brought to this partnership and an argument is made that they might be the most “American” of filmmakers since, at least, John Ford. Their frequent collaborators get celebrated, the many connections between their films get discovered and the large themes they have been exploring all their careers get discussed. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Television with Marc Hershon

It’s possible more television shows get discussed in this episode of Television with Marc Hershon than in any installment yet! As has become their fashion, Marc and host Phil Leirness categorize shows by defining which ones are worthy of “binge-watching”, which ones might be “guilty pleasures” and which ones, no matter how good or how popular, are “nope” they aren’t going to be watching. Now, they have even added “re-starts” (i.e. shows they stopped watching only to, you guessed it, “re-start” quite a while later) and “vouches” to the mix. These last are shows that you have been aware of, but you aren’t going to take the time to invest in them until people you trust have vouched for their quality, or at least their entertainment value. Just some of the series that get discussed are “Hacks”, “Spider-Noir”, “Widow’s Bay”, “Outlander”, “Not Suitable for Work”, “His and Hers”, “Ponies”, “Russian Doll”, “The Sympathizer”, “Pachinko”, “Mobland”, “Ballard”, “For All Mankind”, “Dracula”, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” and “Battlestar Galactica”. After our most recent episode, Marc invited listeners to share their “Guilty Pleasures, Binge-worthy, and Nope (as in ‘Nope, I’m never going to watch that show!’)” and one listener, Amber, did just that. As Marc had promised, he and Phil cover them in this episode. All Amber’s selections are interesting, and the story she shared about Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” is absolutely hilarious! Marc and Phil would love to hear from you about your selections. So, just drop ‘em in the comments. Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash [https://succotash.libsyn.com/]” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Chillpak Hollywood Hour

There are two Carolinas in the USA. North and South. Phil is exploring both of them. So, this week’s show was pre-recorded quite a few days earlier than usual. In it, Dean and Phil discuss The Actor’s Gang, a well-respected theater company and training ground for talented performers (like their pal, Steve Benaquist). Dean and Phil continue to talk about the late, great artist David Hockney, his love of smoking, and the ways in which he taught the world to think of Los Angeles, namely as it pertains to light. Light and its interplay with shadows is absolutely top of mind for your friends in podcasting and they go deep into film noir, talking about such great actors as George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Edmond O’Brien, and Edward G. Robinson, and such great directors of noir as Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak. The movies They Drive by Night, The Killers and Scarlet Street all get appraised. Finally, Phil holds court about the 1980 neo-noir The First Deadly Sin, which was the final motion picture produced by Frank Sinatra, and the final lead performance for Sinatra as an actor. It was supposed to have been directed by Roman Polanski, which has Phil asking, “What if it had been?” He also suggests another young director (at the time) who would have been a better choice than the film’s eventual director, Brian G. Hutton. Nevertheless, Hutton did director a couple of Dean’s favorite movies, so Phil shares the quite interesting details of Hutton’s career. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe [https://deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]