Chillpak Hollywood Hour

Television with Marc Hershon

Welcome to our most action-packed installment yet of Television with Marc Hershon as Marc and host Phil Leirness discuss such current series as “The Boys”, “Hacks”, “Rooster”, “Widow’s Bay”, “Spider-Noir” and “Last One Laughing” (UK edition). As has become their custom, they usually discuss 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! Marc even adds a new category to the mix! He and Phil share a couple of all-time favorite “guilty pleasures” and in honor of Stephen Colbert’s final episode of “The Late Show”, Marc takes the Colbert Questionert. As a special bonus, a never-before-heard outtake of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ Interview [https://open.substack.com/pub/deanandphil/p/interview-73d?r=3e3grq&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web] with legendary broadcaster, podcaster and academic Alex Lewczuk, wherein Alex reveals his all-time television selections, gets included as well! 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. 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]

The Art Life

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s show runs the gamut from the business of movie trailers to the personal as the gentlemen reveal their all-time favorite classes and Jon reveals which of his songs came from despair. Other topics explored on this episode include … *Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters *The Sheep Detectives *Why the USA always seems to be in the doldrums whenever a major anniversary of its existence comes around *Which America250 celebrations Phil is looking forward to attending in Charleston, South Carolina, and which ones Jon might attend in New Jersey *Two cocktails that might well be battling for the title of THE Cocktail of Summer 2026 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

Even we are impressed at the ground covered in only 74 minutes this week by your friends in podcasting! They start by going deep into the improvisational jazz of Sun Ra and dissecting comments Sonny Rollins made in a podcast about jazz being “ a music of freedom”. The Coen Brothers’ 1991 masterpiece Barton Fink gets revisited at 35 and is found to be better than ever. The film genre of neo-noir gets analyzed, and the all-too-overlooked Hickey & Boggs (directed by Robert Culp and co-starring Culp and Bill Cosby) gets championed as an outstanding exemplar of that genre. The death of certain kinds of horror tropes are foremost on Dean’s mind after seeing Scream 7, whereas Phil is intrigued by the new generation of horror exemplified by the current box office sensations Backrooms and Obsession. Then, Dean and Phil switch genres yet again, and examine cinematic comedy through two documentaries (Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Marty, Life is Short), one all-time classic (Some Like it Hot) and two current releases in theaters (I Love Boosters and The Sheep Detectives). 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]

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 always interesting, occasionally inspiring, frequently delightful, and sometimes downright bizarre and hilarious! Heavy on music, this installment makes great use of the expertise of frequent contributor Jon Lawlor and the following media notables all get remembered … *Famous “for being famous” hairdresser-turned-groundbreaking disco star Monti Rock III *Dennis Locorriere, lead singer of the classic rock group Dr. Hook *Rapper Rob Base, who helped bring hip hop into the mainstream *The World’s Greatest Improviser, jazz great Sonny Rollins *“The Mouth of the South”, media mogul Ted Turner *Eric Dane, the actor who starred in such shows as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” *Sondra Lee, a stage actor and dancer who helped define Broadway of the mid-20th Century A reminder to all celebrities: As long as you keep dying, Dean and Phil (and Jon Lawlor) will keep talking about you! 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]

The Art Life

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week, Phil shares two seemingly disparate stories that come together in an astonishing way at the end: One involves a day of annoyance, where he journeyed ever deeper into turmoil, the other details his effort to get shoes fixed in Atlanta on a Labor Day some 15 years (or more) ago. The other topics explored on this episode include … *Power animals *Focus vs. Creativity *Rage vs. Despair *Dean’s paintings that come from despair *Jon’s songs that come from rage *Zoo animals as projection screens for our emotions *Barton Fink 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]