DINNER PARTNERS with Christopher & Eric

Christopher can't seem to stop publishing new novels this year, and poor Eric keeps getting pulled away from his own writing to celebrate their releases. This time it's DECIMATE, a twisty horror thriller about plane crashes, near death experiences and telekinesis in the hands of a madman. Your hosts decided to mark the creepy occasion by asking you, our Party People, to name the book that scared you the most. (Spoiler alert — there's one clear winner and it stars a balloonist.) EPISODE BONUS: Find out what scares Eric more than mismatched silver and poor table manners.

For the second course in our Mother’s Day true crime pairing, it’s a True Crime Movie Time featuring CHANGELING, the too-often overlooked Clint Eastwood film based on the horrors of the Wineville Chicken Coop murders, which we served up in our last episode. The focus this time is on Christine Collins, the courageous mother of one of the victims expertly played by Angelina Jolie in this sad but true story. After she reports her son Walter missing,  the Los Angeles Police Department claims to locate the nine-year-old boy. But her joy turns to confusion and horror when she discovers they've brought her the wrong child. Christine and Walter’s heartbreaking story helped reform a hopelessly corrupt police department and unveiled one of the most horrific serial killing sprees in American history.

As this installment of Christopher & Eric's True Crime TV Club proves, some mothers are for the birds. Dive into the disturbing real life horror show that inspired next week's True Crime Movie Time as Christopher and Eric serve up episode 12, season 3 of EVIL KIN, entitled Body Farm. It's a disturbing exploration of the notorious Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. It's also the first course in our Mother's Day true crime pairing that serves up the best and the absolute worst of the maternal among us.

Each week, Christopher and Eric post a special Wednesday Question on The Dinner Party Show's Facebook page. Sometimes the responses from you, our Party People, blossom into compelling episodes. Our recent question “What comes after death?” resulted in a fascinating discussion that includes mystical near death experiences, various forms of religious belief and an emotional opportunity for Christopher and Eric to discuss their ongoing grief at the loss of beloved Premier Party Person, Anne Rice.

He's called Canada's Jeffrey Epstein. But if you've never heard of Peter Nygard, don't worry, Christopher and Eric hadn't either until diving headfirst into UNSEAMLY: THE INVESTIGATION OF PETER NYGARD available on Discovery Plus. Listen in as your hosts serve up this stunning and devastating tale of how wealth and celebrity were used to enable a vast network of criminality and abuse. From wintry Winnipeg to the sun drenched Bahamas, this is one of the most epic and disturbing true crime sagas they've ever covered.

Infamous "don't say gay" bills and their institutionalized bigotry are the new front lines in a culture war designed to distract from one political party's enabling of a criminal president who tried to overthrow the government after spending years supporting a corrupt dictator he worked for and who may now usher in World War III. So Christopher and Eric have decided to go positive! In this episode, they celebrate the gay story driven novels, movies and television shows that most profoundly impacted them as gay men. Representation matters, and so do elections.

The mysterious disappearance of handsome Hollywood film executive Gavin Smith gets stranger and stranger… depending on who's telling the story. In their first ever True Crime TV Club Redux, Christopher and Eric pit two dueling true crime shows-- each covering the same crime--against each other to find out which one told the truth and which one stretched the facts to breaking. It’s Episode 47, season 25 of DATELINE, entitled Dark Valley, vs THE PERFECT MURDER, Season 5, Episode 9, a show already guilty of straight-washing the murder of a closeted gay man (See "TDPS Presents Christopher & Eric" Episode 69). May the best true crime story teller win!

Christopher and Eric complete their fashionable “true crime pairing” by letting out the hems, the sleeves and the waist on the outrageous ensemble parading through Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci”.  Who are the real villains in this purported true crime opus? The convicted murderers or the fake accents? And who deserves to be nominated for their retelling of this tale of family intrigue and tragedy? Lady Gaga or Lester Holt?

It’s the first in an Oscar season “true crime pairing” and possibly Christopher and Eric’s most fashionable True Crime TV Club to date! In advance of our discussion of the controversial Lady GaGa film based on the same shocking case, Christopher and Eric serve up DATELINE episode 10, season 30, entitled “Murder In The House of Gucci”. So much more than just the facts, ma’am.

To celebrate their birthdays this year, your hosts Christopher and Eric are serving up a generous slice of one of their favorite comfort watches, the classic (and campy) mystery series MURDER, SHE WROTE. They’ll dish about the sweet spots and the sour bites on offer in the show’s first season. It’s not True Crime TV Club, but some of the ingredients are just as tasty.