The Toy Department – Episode 110

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.

The Toy Department – Episode 104

In a special, extra-long Episode 104 (hang in there, it’s totally worth your time) Derek Madden somehow earns another incomplete on his homework assignment, but he and Matt Kolsky still manage to dive DEEP into:

  • HBO’s Crashing (3:00) and the performance of Bill Burr on the excellent most recent episode…
  • The new Starz show Counterpart (9:15) featuring JK Simmons, and whether it’s compelling enough to convince people to pay for the network, which leads to a discussion of the modern TV landscape…
  • A check-in on Kolsky’s binge-watching of Parks & Rec (27:25) which is going swimmingly…
  • The Oscar-nominated film I, Tonya (33:15) and how its relationship with the facts and with real-life Tonya Harding might complicate a viewing of the film…
  • The new Paul Thomas Anderson film Phantom Thread (41:05) and all the things about it that are incredible, plus working through some thoughts and feelings about things that were confusing…
  • Super Bowl LII (1:13:35), specifically some of the delightful prop bets for this Sunday’s game, plus a fun bet on the game between Madden and Kolsky…
  • Homework for next week (1:39:05) including: Derek hopefully finally watching Mudbound and Darkest Hour, plus new albums from Justin Timberlake and Ty Segall and the new Netflix film A Futile & Stupid Gesture, about the early years of National Lampoon…

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.