Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and director Steve Silverman, whose dark comedy Happy Birthday McKenna is currently running at the Hudson Backstage Theater in Hollywood. Steve talks about the fateful trip to a Chicago cemetery that inspired the play, mounting a show in LA when you live in Santa Barbara, rotating in different actors and the bratty 3 year-old who is the McKenna in question. He also talks about his career working in promotion for TV networks and directing stars like Cloris Leachman and Mindy Kaling. Other topics include: the Spielberg movie that rocked his world, how he learned the facts of life, what keeps him going, why The Wizard of Oz is so perfect and the one time he cried while recording his podcast World Gone Good. www.hbmtheplay.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by L.A.-based filmmaker Robert Chandler to discuss his new documentary Dirty Sexy Comics, which is about the world of gay, male, erotic comics.  Robert talks about how he got the idea to do the film, balancing this passion project with a day job in corporate entertainment, being starstruck while interviewing the artists he’s admired for years and how many of those artists destroyed their work when they were starting out rather than risk being exposed as gay. Robert also recalls his first comics crush, Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four, the days he spent perusing the aisles of A Different Light gay bookstore, and what it’s like to visit the Tom of Finland House in Los Angeles. Other topics include: being drawn by one of the artists he interviewed,. Getting Pansy Division to let him use their music for the film, what a Tijuana Bible is and the politics of dick size in comics. www.dirtysexycomics.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege for Part 2 of their annual year-end movie wrap-up. The films discussed include 13 Lives, The Banshees of Inisherin, Bros, A Man Called Otto, The Whale, Blonde, To Leslie, Official Competition, Barbarian, The Black Phone, Decision to Leave, Nope, Watcher, The Fabelmans, Babylon, The Cathedral, Emily the Criminal, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Emergency, The Inspection, Causeway, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Dog.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include RRR, Tar, Marry Me, Bones and All, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Speak No Evil, The Lost City, Women Talking, Good Luck To You Leo Grande, Pearl, She Said, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Menu and Triangle of Sadness.

Dennis goes from host to guest with this crossover episode with the podcast Cinema Craptaculus Presents The Expanded Universe hosted by John H.H. Ford and Smoore. Here’s the official blurb: Love … exciting and -- GONE? Are romantic movies going extinct? Dennis Hensley, host of game shows and the Dennis Anyone? with Dennis Hensley podcast joins the geeks to see if Hollywood still cares about love in films, where we can find them, and why we still need them. Romance, wherefore art thou? It’s a special Valentine’s Day episode of Cinema Craptaculus Presents: The Expanded Universe! 

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actors Jonny Beauchamp and Mike Manning the stars of the new thriller The Way Out, which hits streaming this month. The film, directed by Barry Jay, tells the story of a vulnerable young man named Alex (Beauchamp) whose dealing with major issues like abuse and addiction, who takes in a new roommate named Shane (Manning) who maybe isn’t quite the nice guy he seems to be. The pair talk about what drew them to the project, supporting each other on set and how good it felt to be working after a year and a half of lockdown. Jonny talks about the thrill of shooting his debut movie Stonewall and then being caught up in the backlash after the film’s release. Mike recalls deciding to be open about his sexuality before appearing on The Real World and also what it was like to be on Days of Our Lives, playing a character who dies and comes back as a zombie and later a ghost. Other topics include: what it’s like to be an out actor at this moment in Hollywood, working with director Barry Jay on this very personal story, pregnancy scares, costarring with Sherri Shepherd, being bossy at the gym and how a daily Chipotle burrito helped make the movie better.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by cartoonist Eric Orner, who is best known for The Mostly Unfabulous Life of Ethan Green, to talk about his new graphic novel Smahtguy: The Life and Times of Barney Frank. Eric talks about meeting Congressman Frank when he was in his 20’s, going to work for him in his congressional office and describes why, decades later, he wanted to turn Barney’s life into a graphic novel. Eric also talks about getting Barney’s blessing on the project, interviewing him over four months to get the full story, and the reaction Barney had after reading the finished book. He also discusses when he first knew he could draw, his use of hand-drawing mixed with computers and what comes first when he’s creating, the words or the images. Other topics include: Barney Frank’s role as Clinton’s top defender in the early days of the Lewinsky scandal, Barney making a pivotal deal with singer James Brown back in the 1960’s, Nancy Pelosi cutting a rug at Barney Frank’s wedding and how Barney Frank is a horrible backseat driver but an excellent boss. https://us.macmillan.com/author/ericorner

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Jonathan Slavin, one of the stars of the play Home Front, which  is about the obstacles facing a black naval officer and his white fiancee in post WW2 America and is currently playing at the Victory Theatre in Burbank, CA. Jonathan plays the couple’s gay neighbor, who is also a veteran. Jonathan talks about working with the playwright Warren Leight, who based Jonathan’s character on his uncle, and how he balanced bringing humor to the show without playing into wacky gay neighbor clichés. Jonathan also talks about his career in television, playing series regular roles on Dr. Ken, Better Off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Union Square, and Santa Clarita Diet and guest roles on shows like Grace and Frankie, Pam & Tommy, Grey’s Anatomy and Friends. He also reveals which appearance brings in the most residual cash and which show he gets recognized from most. Jonathan also talks about being out from the beginning of his career, whether things have changed for gay actors in that time, that time he got fired from a job for being too gay, going to a gay march in Washington DC when he was just 17 and why he’s so glad the closet never called to him. Other topics include: how Dennis and Jonathan first met over 20 years ago, the one yes that changed his career, how he met his longtime husband Michael, working cleanup crew at an LA sex club, his most unfortunate haircut, his lifelong love of animals—he owns a pig!--and what it was like to go back at speak at the Methodist Prep School where he always felt so out of place.

Dennis connects via zoom with Matt Carter, the London-based co-writer and director of In From the Side, a romantic drama about a forbidden love between two players in a gay rugby league. Matt talks his own rugby background and why he wanted to explore the issues of monogamy and infidelity rather than the coming out and homophobia themes that are so common in gay films. Matt also talks about the casting process, when he knew his two leads Alexander Lincoln and Alexander King had chemistry and how he approached directing the pair in the film’s steamy love scenes. He also discusses how he got the movie made while working a full-time job in visual effects and breaks down all the different hats he wore on the production: co-writer, director, editor, director of photography, composer, visual effects...Matt even picked up oil painting to create images for the closing credits! Other topics include: the first time he saw the film with an audience, his most surprising fans, masculinity in sports, star Alexander Lincoln’s meme-ready dreamy glances and what Matt learned about himself through the long odyssey of making the film. https://strandreleasing.com/films/in-from-the-side/

For his first episode of 2023, Dennis is joined via Zoom by visual artist Warren Wright (AKA Warrencito) whose affectionate, witty and incredibly-detailed Dollmation videos have been delighting fans on YouTube and Instagram since before the pandemic. Warren talks about what went into creating his most popular videos, like Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” Cher’s “Dark Lady” and Madonna’s MTV Awards performance of “Vogue.” He also talks about the amount of time and effort that goes into creating his videos, how he shoots everything on his iPhone, finding treasures on Ebay, thrift stores and cake decorating shops, why G.I. Joe got smaller and what “flocking” means in doll lingo. Warren also talks about how his late mother’s love of musicals inspires his current work and how creating the videos keeps her spirit alive. Other topics include: getting reactions from people who are in the videos he pays tribute to like Julie Brown and Donna McKechnie, his dream of having his videos played in gay bars, creating his own mini-me doll, his dream of laying his hands on a 12” Judy Garland doll and how getting sober a few years back has made his current creative renaissance possible. www.warrencito.com