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 tips its hat to the second season of The Bear , the comedy-drama series created by Christopher Storer. The first season premiered on Hulu in 2022 and starred Jeremy Allen White as a young, award-winning chef who returns to his hometown, Chicago, to manage the chaotic kitchen at his deceased brother's sandwich shop. The supporting cast includes Ebon Moss-Bac...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dives deeply into Succession , the celebrated television series created by Jesse Armstrong that aired on HBO from June 3, 2018, to May 28, 2023, for four seasons and 39 episodes. In Succession , the head of one of the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerates decides to retire whilst each of his four grown children follows a personal agenda that...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the second season of HBO Max's Perry Mason , a compelling series which portrays the origin story of the famed criminal defense lawyer (played by Matthew Rhys). The series was created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald for HBO and it is based on the character of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner. The series also stars Juliet Rylance as Della St...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the American mockumentary television series created by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and starring Ronald Gladden,  Jury Duty . The series chronicles the inner workings of a jury trial through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, who is unaware that his jury dut...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal delves into Daisy Jones & The Six , the musical drama television miniseries developed by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Set in the Los Angeles music scene of the late 1970s, the series charts the rise and fall of the fictional titular rock band through a documentary...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates  The Last of Us,  the post-apocalyptic television series created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO. Based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog, the series is set in 2023, twenty years into a pandemic, caused by a mass fungal infection which forces its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures. The series follows J...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects the 95th Academy Awards to examine what the academy got right and what they got wrong while celebrating the magical moments that occured on stage amid Hollywood's biggest night. Listen in as hosts Michael Shields and River Jordan tip their hat to Everything Everywhere All At Once 's dominant evening, bemoan Banshees of Inisherin's lack of award rec...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates The Menu , the black comedy horror film directed by Mark Mylod, written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, based on an original story created by Tracy, and produced by Adam McKay, Betsy Koch and Will Ferrell. It features an ensemble cast that includes Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef with Hong Chau playing his assistant and Anya Taylor-Joy,...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal, hosts Michael Shields and River Jordan dissect the Oscar-nominated film The Banshees of Inisherin which was directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh. Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two lifelong friends who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their re...

This episode of Welcome To The Party celebrates the return of Mike White's Emmy-winning television series White Lotus which premiered its sophomore season this past October. The second season stars Jennifer Coolidge, Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, among others. It recently won Golden Globe Awards for Best Limited or Anthology Series and Best Supportin...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party , Avatar: The Way of Water, the epic science fiction film directed and produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, is dissected and celebrated. It is the sequel to Avatar  (2009) and the second installment in the  Avatar film series. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal looks forward to the year ahead and previews a slew of the captivating television shows set to air in 2023. First, hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O' Connell discuss heralded television shows returning for their latest season — those highly anticipated, beloved programs such as Succession , Barry , The Mandalorian , and Loki . Then, they dig into a bevy of t...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal pays tribute to The Fabelmans , the coming-of-age drama directed by Steven Spielberg and written and produced by Tony Kushner and Spielberg. It is a semi-autobiographical story based on Spielberg's adolescence and first years as a filmmaker, told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how...

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 2022. In a year absolutely chock full of brilliant offerings, across a multitude of genres, whittling it down to just ten was no easy task, but that was thej ob. And so, join in on a celebration of 2022's bounty. Does Barry , The Bear , Better Call Saul , Rings...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the first season of Andor , the science-fiction action-adventure television series created by Tony Gilroy for Disney+. It is the fourth live-action series in the Star Wars  franchise, as well as a prequel to both the spin-off film  Rogue One  (2016) and the original  Star Wars film (1977). The series follow...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal dissects the first season of  House of the Dragon,  the fantasy drama television series that persists as a prequel to  Game of Thrones . It is the second show in the franchise created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal for HBO. Both series are based on the  A Song of Ice and Fire  novels by Martin with Condal and Miguel Sapochni...

In this episode of Welcome To The Party Pal hosts Michael Shields and Ryan O' Connell set forth to answer one of the most impossible questions in television: Who is the greatest HBO character of all time? Basing their conversation on an article written by Ryan O' Connell at BroBible titled, " Who Is The Greatest HBO Character of All Time? We Set Up A Massive Battle Royale To Figure Out The G.O.A.T...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal journeys to Graceland to commemorate  Elvis , the 2022 biographical musical drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. The film follows the life of rock and roll icon, singer, and actor Elvis Presley, told from the perspective of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin But...

In this episode, Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates Better Call Saul , the American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the  Breaking Bad franchise, it is a spin-off, prequel, and sequel to Gilligan's previous series,  Breaking Bad . Set primarily in the early 2000s in Albuquerque, N...

In this episode, Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates Season 4, Volume 2 of Stranger Things , the science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers that is streaming on Netflix. The brothers serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Set in the 1980s primarily in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the series centers around...

In this episode, Welcome To The Party Pal revisits Wes Anderson's directorial debut Bottle Rocket , a cult classic that persists as one of the most cherished indie films of the 1990s. Bottle Rocket was written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. Bottle Rocket  is also the acting debut for brothers Owen and Luke Wilson, who co-starred w...

In this episode, Welcome To The Party Pal examines Obi-Wan Kenobi , the television miniseries created for the streaming service Disney+ that is part of the Star Wars franchise starring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, reprising his role from the  Star Wars  prequel trilogy. Set ten years after the events of  Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith &nbsp...

In this episode, Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates Season 4, Volume 1 of Stranger Things , the science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers that is streaming on Netflix. The brothers serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Set in the 1980s primarily in the fictional town of Hawkins,&...

This episode of Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates the second half of the fourth season of Ozark, the crime drama television series created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams for Netflix. The series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Marty and Wendy Byrde, a married couple who relocate their family to the Lake of the Ozarks for money laundering. Bateman also serves as a director and executive...

Welcome To The Party Pal celebrates The Batman , the latest reboot based on the DC Comics character Batman. The film was directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. It stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, a...