Tag Archives: Spike Lee

The Toy Department – Episode 232

  By toyAdmin | October 21, 2020 - 11:20 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 232, Madden and Kolsky make the mistake of getting into a Toobin conversational car crash (which was cut for your listening pleasure) before focusing on less disturbing fare:

  • The Showtime docu-series The Comedy Store (2:40) and the place that room holds in stand-up comedy history and lore…
  • Aaron Sorkin’s Netflix film The Trial of the Chicago 7 (13:30) and how both hosts found it enjoyable and informative…
  • The Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso (21:00) and its irresistible charm…
  • David Byrne’s American Utopia (26:55) and the general brilliance of one of our greatest musical and artistic minds…
  • The conclusion of HBO’s Lovecraft Country (36:35) and how it didn’t totally satisfy either host, though they’d both tune in for a second season…
  • A few quick NFL thoughts (42:40) about how nobody stands out as a great team through six games…
  • Homework for next week (46:40), including: the Sofia Coppola/Bill Murray movie On the Rocks (on Apple TV+), the new HBO show The Undoing, the Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit, the West Wing reunion special on HBO Max and the Netflix movie The Boys in the Band… plus Week 7 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 217

  By toyAdmin | June 18, 2020 - 11:17 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 217, Madden and Kolsky somehow get into Frank Zappa’s Baby Snakes before focusing in on:

  • The Top Chef All-Stars LA finale (2:55) and its many moving moments…
  • An odd detour into the idea of the universal DH in baseball (13:15) before a return to Top Chef chatter…
  • ESPN’s 30 for 30 doc Long Gone Summer (24:40) and its perplexingly fluffy coverage of the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run race of 1998…
  • Another episode of The Challenge: Total Madness (38:10), the awkwardness of the Dee edits and the (fast-approaching?) final…
  • The new Spike Lee joint Da 5 Bloods (50:00) and the greatness of Delroy Lindo…
  • Judd Apatow’s new movie The King of Staten Island (57:40) and the prospect of Pete Davidson as a leading man…
  • Dave Chappelle’s surprise special 8:46 (1:07:45) and the value of his voice at this time in America…
  • Homework for next week (1:17:35), including: another episode of The Challenge, the return of The Chi on Showtime, the debut of Perry Mason on HBO and the new season of Search Party on HBO Max…

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The Toy Department – Episode 208

  By toyAdmin | April 9, 2020 - 10:53 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 208, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky discuss the younger Kolsky’s new walking ability before moving on to:

  • This week’s episode of Top Chef (3:35), how Derek’s fantasy team is falling apart and the Mount Rushmore of potential winners…
  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: Total Madness (23:05) and how it left the guys wanting more of the show’s mainstays…
  • The HBO Sports documentary The Scheme (38:05) and how the main takeaway was an embarrassing job by federal authorities…
  • The Netflix sports documentary Screwball (48:15) and how it told an insane story in an interesting and enjoyable way…
  • The film The End of the Tour (56:15) and how it’s a heck of a good watch if you like watching a couple of dudes talk for two hours…
  • The old Showtime/Spike Lee pilot Sucker Free City (1:00:10) and how it makes you long for a series that never happened…
  • The end of the third season of Netflix’s Ozark (1:03:40) and how wonderful and entertaining a show it continues to be…
  • Homework for next week (1:12:35), including: new episodes of Top Chef & The Challenge, the return of Killing Eve, the fourth season of HBO’s Insecure, the new HBO series Run, FX/Hulu’s new Cate Blanchett show Mrs. America, and the Netflix comedy Brews Brothers…

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The Toy Department – Episode 168

  By toyAdmin | May 29, 2019 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 168, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly discuss Madden’s tummy-ache before soldiering through and into:

  • The season finale of The Challenge (2:15) and why this is the absolute peak of reality TV entertainment…
  • The second season of Spike Lee’s Netflix show She’s Gotta Have It (15:45) and the undeniable charm of the film-making and lead actress…
  • The action thrill-ride of John Wick 3 (25:30) and how Derek probably should have just skipped it…
  • Derek’s experience watching Netflix’s horror-thriller The Perfection (46:45) and Kolsky’s decision to spend his time elsewhere…
  • The second season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag on Amazon (49:40) and how nobody is better at being Phoebe Waller-Bridge than Phoebe Waller-Bridge…
  • The new reports detailing the rampant dysfunction in the LA Lakers organization (54:10) and just where the blame for the mess lies, plus some thoughts on Kevin Durant and people’s odd refusal to listen to what he actually says…
  • Homework for next week (1:16:30), including: wrapping up Season 2 of Killing Eve, heading to the theater to see Rocketman, the premiere of Good Omens on Amazon, the new Netflix show How To Sell Drugs Online Fast, the Netflix rom-com Always Be My Maybe, HBO’s new Deadwood movie and the NBA Finals…

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The Toy Department – Episode 129

  By toyAdmin | August 14, 2018 - 1:51 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 129, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky return for a varied pop culture discussion covering:

  • Two returning HBO shows — Insecure (1:35) and Ballers (9:50) — and how not much has changed with either show, though that means very different things for each…
  • The new Spike Lee joint BlackkKlansman (12:15) and how it successfully creates a vibe and feeling from a different era that says a lot about today…
  • Another new film, Eighth Grade (29:10), written and directed by Bo Burnham, and how it took both Kolsky and Madden back to the turbulent times and emotions of that period in their lives…
  • The return of AMC’s Better Call Saul (42:15) and how it continues to build on its sturdy foundation, heading towards the inevitable crash before the start of the Breaking Bad timeline…
  • Madden confronts Kolsky over a golf tweet (49:00) before challenging his enjoyment of golf with a variety of alternative sporting events…
  • Homework for next week (1:06:20), including: the first few episodes in the new season of The Sinner on USA (starring Carrie Coon), plus whatever else Madden and Kolsky come up with during the week…

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 96

  By toyAdmin | November 28, 2017 - 10:14 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 96, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have a prettty, prettttttty, prettttttttty good opening before discussions about:

  • Joe Morgan’s letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame (2:10) and how misguided his views on “steroid users” and “cheaters” are…
  • The Martin McDonagh film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (18:05), where it succeeds and where it maybe misses the mark…
  • Netflix’s new western series Godless (28:40) and how it elevates tropes from western films but still doesn’t appeal to Madden…
  • USA’s Mr. Robot (38:10), just what the hell is going on and how an increase in action has not led to an increase in Madden’s enjoyment of episodes…
  • Netflix’s new Spike Lee TV joint She’s Gotta Have It (45:30) and how it hits all the Spike Lee high notes with a great cast and thoughtful commentary…
  • Homework for this week (53:40), including: new albums from both Noel and Liam Gallagher, the Amazon Original show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Netflix/Joe Swanberg show Easy and the Netflix documentary Jim & Andy about Jim Carrey’s performance as Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon…

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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