Welcome To The Party Pal: The Mind-Bending Film & Television Podcast You Didn't Know You Needed!

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects the most recent episode of The Bear , a surprise drop, entitled "Gary." The episode was written by and starring cast members Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal and directed by series creator Christopher Storer. The episode is a flashback to early 2019, when Richie's pregnant wife Tiff is close to her due date and Rich...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the second season of The Pitt , the procedural medical drama television series created by R. Scott Gemmill, and executive produced by John Wells and Noah Wyle. Each season of the series follows emergency department staff as they attempt to overcome the hardships of a single 15-hour work shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, all...

This episode of Welcome To The party Pal celebrates the second season of Hulu's Paradise, the post-apocalyptic political thriller television series created by Dan Fogelman and starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden. The second season expands beyond the bunker that was the focal point of season one as Xavier Collins searches for his wife Terri, and we meet a new survivor...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O'Connell examine A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms , the television series created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin. A prequel to  Game of Thrones , it is the third television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire  franchise and is an adaptation of the Tales of Dunk and Egg series of nov...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O'Connell celebrate Hamnet , the 2025 period drama film directed by Chloé Zhao, who co-wrote the screenplay with Maggie O'Farrell, based on the 2020 novel by O'Farrell. The film dramatises the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway as they cope with th...

To celebrated the 50th Anniversary of director Martin Scorsese's classic, Taxi Driver , Welcome To The Party Pal expounds upon the perpetual greatness of the neo-noir psychological drama written by Paul Schrader. Set in a decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as taxi driver Travis Bickle, whose mental state deteriorates as he w...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects Secret Mall Apartment, the documentary film directed by filmmaker Jeremy Workman that recounts the story of a group of young Rhode Islanders who built a secret apartment inside the Providence Place shopping mall in Providence in 2003, living there for four years until getting caught and charged with trespassing in 2007. At the center of the film is...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects the black comedy action thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another . It is loosely based and inspired by the 1990 novel  Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti (in her film debut). Join...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O’ Connell share their choices for the best television shows of 2025. Join in on a journey that whisks listeners to Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics, quarries in Delaware County, galaxies far far away, a frantic ER in Pennsylvania, the 1880 Republican National Convention, and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects Eddington , the neo-Western thriller written and directed by Ari Aster, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone. Set in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Mexico, the film examines the political and social turmoil caused by the contested mayoral election fought between Sheriff...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects Predator : Badlands , the science fiction action film and the seventh installment in the  Predator franchise. The film was directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison from a story by Trachtenberg and Aison. Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi star in leading roles. In the film, Dek, a young Yautja exiled fr...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal delves into Frankenstein, the gothic drama film produced, written, and directed by Guillermo del Toro, based on the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley. The film stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Creature, while Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz play supporting...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal journeys to Delaware County, Pennsylvania to celebrate the crime drama, HBO hit Task , created and written by Brad Ingelsby. It stars Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Fabien Frankel, countless bottles of Yuengling, hoagies, and the Dark Hearts. In it, Philadelphia-based FBI agent Tom Brandis is put in charge of a task force investigating a string o...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates Alien : Earth , the FX / Hulu television series created by Noah Hawley. It is the first television series in the  Alien  franchise and is set two years before the events of the 1979 film  Alien . The series stars Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rhysadle, and Timothy Olyphant...

Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the best movies of the 21st century in an episode based on The New York Times list of The Best Movies of the 21 Century . Join in as hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O' Connell evaluate the quality of the list and also offer their picks for the ten best films of the last 25 years, a decade and a half brimming with brilliant filmmaking. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the fourth season of the comedy-drama television series The Bear which premiered with all 10 episodes on June 25, 2025, on FX on Hulu. Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo return as showrunners for the season, and Jeremy Allen White reprises his role as Carmy Berzatto, an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage the chaotic kitchen at hi...

Welcome To The Party Pal examines the timely satirical comedy-drama television film Mountainhead , written and directed by Jesse Armstrong in his directorial debut, and starring Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef. The film follows four billionaire friends on a secluded weekend retreat as the world goes through major turmoil. In this episode co-hosts Michael Shiel...

Welcome To The Party Pal delves into the the second season of the post-apocalyptic drama television series  The Last of Us, the HBO series based on the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog. The season is set twenty-five years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and&nb...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the second season of Andror , the American science fiction political spy thriller drama television series created by Tony Gilroy for Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars  franchise and a prequel to the film  Rogue One  (2016), which itself is a prequel to the original  Star Wars  film (1977). The serie...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the final season, and in particular the concluding episode, of The Righteous Gemstones , the comedy-drama television series created by Danny McBride. The series follows a famous and dysfunctional family of televangelists. McBride also stars in the series, alongside Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, and John Goodman. The series concluded on May 4, 2025,...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the long awaited-second season of the science fiction psychological thriller television series Severance , created by Dan Erickson and executive produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller. It stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette. The series follows employees at t...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Sean Baker, Anora . It stars Mikey Madison as Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, a stripper from New York who marries the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch. The film led at the 97th Academy Awards, winning five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Madison), Best Original Screenp...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and River Jordan examine the hype surrounding Paradise , the political thriller television series created by Dan Fogelman and starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and James Marsden. Set in a city-sized underground bunker in Colorado three years after a doomsday event, the series follows United States Secret Service agent...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and River Jordan dissect The Brutalist , the 2024 epic period drama film directed and produced by Brady Corbet. It stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream until a wealthy client changes his life. The cast also feat...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and Douglas Grant break down  American Primeval, the American Western miniseries created and written by Mark L. Smith and directed by Peter Berg. Starring Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin, the series is set in 1857 during the Utah War and examines the fight to gain control of the American West and the violent clash between the Ch...