Tag Archives: football

The Toy Department – Episode 178

  By toyAdmin | August 15, 2019 - 9:50 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 178, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky discuss the weather in their respective climates before hustling through:

  • The new show BH90210 (2:55) and how interesting the idea behind it is, even for someone who didn’t watch the original 90210…
  • The return of HBO’s Succession (10:25) and how it picks up right where it left off with high-stakes billionaire family drama…
  • The end of the first season of HBO’s Euphoria (18:05) and what an incredibly unique and well-acted show it was…
  • The return of Netflix’s GLOW (27:25) and how it remains one of the most enjoyable shows to spend time with…
  • AMC’s Lodge 49’s second season premiere (34:50) and what exactly it is that Kolsky finds so charming about this show…
  • A few random thoughts on the Raiders (42:00) and Antonio Brown as Hard Knocks continues…
  • Homework for next week (46:10), including: the new movie Good Boys, the return of Netflix’s Mindhunter and the premiere of The Righteous Gemstones on HBO, plus whatever else they come up with during the week (including hopefully finishing Amazon’s The Boys)…

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The Toy Department – Episode 160

  By toyAdmin | March 27, 2019 - 2:44 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 160, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky address a recent major life event before discussing:

  • The NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend (2:15) and what the lack of upsets means for the remainder of the event…
  • The Dirt (8:35), Netflix’s Mötley Crüe biopic, and how it moves through the life of one of rock’s wildest bands…
  • Hulu’s new comedy Shrill (27:35) and how Aidy Bryant has created a really honest and honestly hilarious show…
  • The Act (35:05), also on Hulu, the intensity of its acting performances and compelling nature of its mysteries…
  • The career of the recently retired Rob Gronkowski (40:05) and how he stacks up with the all-time greats at the tight end position…
  • Homework for next week (56:10), including: Barry and Veep on HBO, the end of Miracle Workers on TBS and the Adnan Sayed docu-series on HBO, and the premiere of What We Do in the Shadows on FX, plus Derek tries to watch US…

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The Toy Department – Episode 150

  By toyAdmin | January 9, 2019 - 11:33 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 150, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky cruise past a hiccup — or, more accurately, a giggle-cough — at the start to cover:

  • The Lifetime docu-series Surviving R. Kelly (1:45), which Madden watched and about which he gives an impassioned address to both Kolsky and the audience…
  • Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars episodes (13:15) and how the show continues to be wildly entertaining, the peak of reality television…
  • A wrap-up of Escape At Dannemora (30:20) and whether it has enough to it to be a really good show…
  • The award-winning film The Favourite (38:35) and the guys’ mildly differing opinions on how well it pulls off a satirical look at England of old…
  • Some quick thoughts on the Golden Globes (47:45) and their predictably bizarre results…
  • A check-in on the NFL playoffs (53:35) after a Wild Card weekend that left Kolsky near tears, a look forward to the Divisional Round and some thoughts on team-building…
  • Homework for next week (1:18:40), including: watching more NFL Playoffs, the return of You’re the Worst on FX, season two of Friends from College on Netflix and season three of True Detective on HBO…

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The Toy Department – Episode 135

  By toyAdmin | September 26, 2018 - 10:52 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 135, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with some chatter about Kolsky’s new show and some other sports radio before transitioning into:

  • The state of the NFL (6:25) and Madden’s continued attempts to stop giving the league his money…
  • Jimmy Butler’s demand to be traded from the Timberwolves (19:05) and how it reflects on him, the team and the coach in charge of the whole mess; plus some thoughts on the NBA in general…
  • Netflix’s new limited series Maniac (36:25) and whether it makes enough sense to be enjoyable…
  • A season wrap-up discussion on Netflix’s Ozark (43:45) and how it remains one of the most entertaining shows available despite a confusing decrease in critical support…
  • The new film The Predator (52:10) and whether it’s good enough to cross into broad, popular appeal…
  • The new album Master Volume (1:00:05) by Canadian band The Dirty Nil, and how it sounds like a band on the verge of doing really cool things…
  • Homework for next week (1:08:40), including: the return of The Good Place on NBC, picking a new network show to try out, FX’s new show Mr. In Between and finishing up this season of HBO’s Insecure…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 134

  By toyAdmin | September 18, 2018 - 11:08 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 134, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky belabor their show introduction before jumping headlong into:

  • Amazon’s new streaming show Forever (2:15) and why they guys’ views on it differ so extremely…
  • Hulu’s new Sean Penn vehicle The First (27:05), where Penn plays a very muscular (former?) astronaut and brings a dramatic weight that is not necessarily enjoyable…
  • Some thoughts on (probably) bad new shows (34:15) including A Million Little Things and Rel, plus plenty of re-made “classics”…
  • A check-in on Derek’s active-ish (40:00) NFL boycott and the league’s many problems, starting with its commissioner…
  • Season 2 of Netflix’s American Vandal (49:20) and how the mock-umentary is still immensely enjoyable despite somewhat diminishing returns on the concept…
  • A quick check-in on Season 2 of Ozark (54:55) and how both guys are having a blast with it despite a less glowing critical reception than Season 1…
  • Homework for next week (1:02:05), including: finishing the aforementioned season of Ozark, the premiere of Maniac on Netflix, the album Master Volume by The Dirty Nil and an attempt to get to the theater for the new Predator movie…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 114

  By toyAdmin | April 10, 2018 - 4:11 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 114, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with a distressingly un-fun chat about Facebook before returning to the appropriate purview of the podcast to get into:

  • A check-in with FX’s Atlanta (7:10) to sort through Derek’s feelings about Episode 6 of the second season, Teddy Perkins…
  • The second season premiere of FX’s Legion (13:40) and whether it can keep Madden’s attention if it doesn’t lock into a more straightforward approach to plot and story…
  • The first episode of the new TBS sitcom The Last O.G. (25:45), starring Tiffany Haddish and Tracy Morgan, which both guys are hopeful about after watching the pilot…
  • The new album from Cardi B (34:15), Invasion of Privacy, and how it may represent the culture passing Derek by…
  • A quick description of Madden’s experience at Cafe Spiaggia (53:10), Top Chef Winner Joe Flamm’s restaurant in Chicago…
  • A wrap-up discussion on the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country (57:45), despite some technical difficulties…
  • The Al Pacino-starring HBO film Paterno (1:08:45), and the difficulties of making a movie about the short period of time that it focuses on…
  • Homework for next week (1:22:20), including: getting to the film A Quiet Place some time in the next two weeks, the Andre the Giant documentary on HBO, BBC America’s new Sandra Oh-starring series Killing Eve and the new album from the indie/psych-rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 110

  By toyAdmin | March 13, 2018 - 2:58 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 110, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky quickly move past Kolsky’s morning of customer service hell and Madden’s mild illness to get into all of this:

  • The Netflix original film Mute (3:00) and how it fails to deliver on its promise and star power…
  • The return of the Netflix series Love (12:30) and how charming and wonderful it is to both guys…
  • Amazon’s series Sneaky Pete (23:35) after the release of the second season…
  • #PodChef time: the 15th Season of Top Chef (31:20) has come and gone, and there’s plenty to discuss…
  • NBC’s new series Good Girls (39:50) and whether it rises above traditional network fare…
  • Some NFL offseason talk (48:20) after reports that Kirk Cousins will sign a fully guaranteed contract…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:00), including: the start of Season 3 of Lifetime’s UnREAL, AMC’s McMafia and Netflix’s Collateral, plus all the NCAA action you can handle…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 105

  By toyAdmin | February 6, 2018 - 2:00 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 105 Derek Madden finds Matt Kolsky freshly returned from Hawaii to discuss such delights as:

  • Super Bowl LII (0:45) and how any season where the Patriots don’t win is a relative success…
  • Justin Timberlake’s new album Man of the Woods (12:05) and how it seems to be a success despite being somewhat confusing…
  • The Netflix movie Mudbound (25:00) and how it’s a good example of quality bad-time entertainment…
  • Another Netflix film, A Futile and Stupid Gesture (30:55), which tells the story of the Doug Kenney and the rise of National Lampoon…
  • The season finalé of The Good Place (45:10) and the tremendous work of Michael Schur in the world of network comedy…
  • Homework for next week (52:00) wherein Madden pays off his losing Super Bowl bet and allows Kolsky to program the entire show, covering: the new superhero film Black Panther, the new Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon, and albums from Nai Palm (Needle Paw), Khruangbin (Con Todo El Mundo) and Ty Segall (Freedom’s Goblin)… Come back next week to hear about the torture!!

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 103

  By toyAdmin | January 23, 2018 - 5:54 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 103, Derek Madden has once again failed to do his homework, yet he and Matt Kolsky power through to cover:

  • The nominations (3:25) for the 2018 Academy Awards and how well-represented the year in movies is, for a change…
  • Kolsky’s experience at the St. Vincent concert (26:40) and how incredible her staging is versus other shows…
  • The return of HBO’s Crashing (32:15) and how it’s really cruising in the early parts of its second season…
  • The premiere of this year’s American Crime Story (37:15) and whether the Gianni Versace murder has enough to carry the season…
  • The results of the NFL Playoffs (44:40) and a look forward to Super Bowl LII…
  • A mid-season check-in on the NBA (55:50), including thoughts on the “collapsing” Cavs, Thibodeau’s T-Wolves and the Baby Bulls…
  • Homework for next week (1:10:25) including: Derek actually watching Mudbound and I, Tonya, plus everyone checking out the new Paul Thomas Anderson joint Phantom Thread to prepare for the Oscars, and checking back in on Showtime’s The Chi after four episodes…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 98

  By toyAdmin | December 13, 2017 - 8:04 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 98, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have a lot to say, so they begin with purpose and discuss:

  • The new SyFy show Happy (1:15), which one of them REALLY did not like
  • U2’s new album Songs of Experience (10:20) and how it falls completely flat…
  • James Franco’s new film The Disaster Artist (26:20) and what a great job it does of telling a deeply human story…
  • A dip into the sports world (35:45) results in an aborted argument about baseball…
  • Conversation about the NFL proves more fruitful (39:10) and gets into the many problems the league has to confront in its near future…
  • Sports talk continues with some NBA thoughts (51:10), getting into the year’s most compelling storylines and projecting the rest of the season…
  • Homework for this week (1:22:45), including: a Best of the Year episode next week — Top 5 and 10 lists in TV, movies, music and sports, plus watching the new Star Wars film…

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.

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