As a new week begins and the Summer season gets into gear, pop in your earbuds at the beach and enjoy our Top 5 most downloaded podcast episodes shows for the week ending June 4th:

The memorable poster design promoting Michael Crichton's WESTWORLD.

5.  Returning to our Top 5 weekly list once again is our podcast vacation at WESTWORLD, Michael Crichton’s futurist 1973 thriller and a DDG tour through some of the best films of 1970s American cinema.  Starring Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as resort visitors wanting to play cowboy with robotic characters until the villainous gunslinger, Yul Brynner, evolves beyond his programming to turn into a automated killer. WESTWORLD is one of many ’70s films we show our appreciation for with their clever use of practical effects and location filming that add to the gritty realism of their stories, including THE EXORCIST, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE.

The Damn Dirty Geeks welcome GREG NICOTERO to talk about JAWS and George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD

4.  A long term resident of the Damn Dirty Geeks’ weekly Top 5 podcast list is THE WALKING DEAD’s executive producer, director and effects creator GREG NICOTERO who returns for a second hour to wrap our making-of JAWS talk and tell tales of his early career inspired by George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD horror landmark. Greg shares his story of meeting Romero in Italy on a family vacation, of all places, and how DAWN’s groundbreaking zombie makeup effects started Greg on his path into effects work, beginning with DAY OF THE DEAD and a stellar career filled with flesh-eating creatures ahead.

Order the updated edition of Ted Newsom's excellent documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR on DVD -- just look for act3prods@aol.com on PayPal to order directly.

3.  Our recent show features filmmaker TED NEWSOM sharing his exclusive and wonderful tales of reuniting the great Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing for the last time as co-narrators of his Hammer documentary FLESH AND BLOOD: THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR. Ted lets us in on some rare tales of humor and humanity displayed between these two iconic actors amid a fascinating discussion of Hammer horror films and more. He and the DDG also branch off into more filmmaking stories of other Hammer actors and actresses, expanded upon in Ted’s recently expanded DVD documentary that we highly recommend to all horror fans.

Sam Witwer struggles with life as an undead vampire Aidan Waite, struggling to live among mortals in the SyFY hit series BEING HUMAN.

2.  Our second-most downloaded podcast of last week was Part 1 of our two-hour show with actor SAM WITWER, discussing his fortuitous casting experience for a role in Frank Darabont’s excellent adaptation of Stephen King’s horror thriller THE MIST, and as a troubled vampire in SyFy’s supernatural series BEING HUMAN. Sam also shares with the DDG his experience making the pilot of AMC’s hit horror series THE WALKING DEAD, including his character makeup with podcast guest Greg Nicotero, and Sam’s role as the undead tank soldier who was slated to have his backstory told in webisodes online.

Actor Sam Witwer as Starkiller in THE FORCE UNLEASHED II video game, one of the many prominent characters he's voiced in the STAR WARS universe

1.  And our #1 most popular podcast episode of last week is a STAR WARS filled follow up, Part 2 of our show with SAM WITWER. Sam and the DDG dive deep into STAR WARS lore, exploring the franchise transitions between the official canon films, books and TV series and the Legends universe of previous fiction. Sam’s been a part of it all, contributing his voice acting as Starkiller in Star Wars: the Force Unleashed video games, plus both animated series THE CLONE WARS and STAR WARS REBELS. Enjoy Sam’s own vocal talents as he gives us some samples of Emperor Palpatine’s evil intonations and Darth Maul’s villainous voice and your journey to the Dark Side will be complete!

Keep listening to and exploring current and past episodes of the Damn Dirty Geeks podcast, as your downloads will determine which shows will be our Top 5 podcasts for next week! We welcome you rate each episode’s page on our website, and rate/review our podcast on iTunes to help spread the word to new fans and listeners.