The Toy Department – Episode 175

In Episode 175, Derek Madden finds Matt Kolsky STILL on paternity leave and STILL without a high quality microphone to record into, but nevertheless they persist with:

  • The conclusion of the second season of Big Little Lies (1:55), and whether the HBO drama had enough to justify coming back…
  • HBO’s teen drama Euphoria (14:15) and how it’s a unique and impressive work of prestige television…
  • Toy Department hits the movies, as Madden saw Stuber (25:05) and Kolsky saw the new Lion King (27:50)…
  • Hulu’s surprise early drop of the fourth season of Veronica Mars (36:15), and how it takes us right back to that Veronica Mars place in our hearts…
  • The new album Help Us Stranger by the Raconteurs (39:45) and how the influence of Brendan Benson tames the genius of Jack White in an appealing way…
  • Homework for next week (48:40), including: the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise, the return of Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and the new Amazon show The Boys (from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg)…

The Toy Department – Episode 170

In Episode 170, Derek Madden travels and Matt Kolsky braves a heat wave with no noisy fan so they can discuss:

  • The conclusion of Season 4 of Showtime’s Billions (3:10), a wrap discussion and some thoughts on where we are heading…
  • The start of Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies (13:05), with thoughts on the tremendous Meryl Streep and the direction of the plot…
  • Netflix’s new season of Black Mirror (18:30), whether the show retains its ability to shock and some more excellent acting performances…
  • Some NBA Finals thoughts (39:00) after the crushing blow of Kevin Durant’s achilles injury…
  • Homework for next week (58:10), including: the conclusion of the NBA Finals, actually catching up with AMC’s new supernatural series NOS4A2, starting Euphoria on HBO and City on a Hill on Showtime, and checking out When They See Us on Netflix…

The Toy Department – Episode 99, Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

In Part 2 of the Two-Part Holidaytastic Spectacular Episode 99, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are back with the second half of their year-end discussions, covering:

  • The BEST OF 2017 in television (2:05), wherein Madden and Kolsky both struggle mightily to reduce their Top Ten lists to less than twenty shows…
  • The BEST OF 2017 in music (41:55), which turns out to have the most differentiation between the two hosts’ lists…
  • Homework for next week: HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR’S EVE!!! And get ready for Episode 100, which might be somehow special (and will definitely include the announcement of the Toy Department’s 2017 Spotify Playlists) and even if it’s not is a nice, big, round number…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.