The Toy Department – Episode 236

In Episode 236, Madden and Kolsky do some show housekeeping and discuss Netflix’s shiftiness before diving into:

  • The madness of this season of The Bachelorette (8:35) and how it compares to other love reality shows…
  • A check-in on pod favorite Fargo (30:30) and the beautiful oddities of Noah Hawley’s work throughout the show…
  • The start of Season 4 of The Crown (37:30) and whether the British royal family is worth engaging with for entertainment…
  • A wrap-up of The Good Lord Bird (44:20) and the hosts’ differing opinions on the strange John Brown bio-series…
  • A final chat about everyone’s new favorite Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit (51:25), and the allure of lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy…
  • Some NBA thoughts (59:30) with the draft and free agency on our doorstep specifically on what Minnesota and Golden State are likely to do with the first two picks…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:12:45), including: I Hate Suzie and Two Weeks To Live (both on HBO Max), Showtime’s John Belushi documentary, the resurrected Saved By The Bell, Kevin Hart’s new Netflix comedy special and the sword-making reality show Forged in Fire… plus Weeks 11 & 12 of the NFL season and the NBA offseason…

The Toy Department – Episode 235

In Episode 235, Madden and Kolsky are taking advantage of Baby Kolsky’s nap, so they get right into:

  • Showtime’s new space comedy Moonbase 8 (3:25) and how it’s funny at times but doesn’t seem to amount to much…
  • The new Song Exploder show on Netflix (11:55) and how interesting and worthwhile the show remains in visual form…
  • HBO’s The Undoing (19:30) and how it’s an intriguing mystery at the three week mark…
  • HBO’s new financial world show Industry (25:30) and the surprising directorial effort in the first episode…
  • Homework for next week (3:50), including: catching up on The Bachelorette and checking out the big controversy, the debut of the newest season of The Crown on Netflix, a catch-up on the current season of Fargo, a check-in on Good Lord Bird and a wrap-up of The Queen’s Gambit… plus Week 10 of the NFL season…

The Toy Department – Episode 234

In Episode 234, Madden and Kolsky dance around the big non-toy-department event of the day before diving into frivolous pop culture to discuss:

  • Sarah Cooper’s Netflix sketch comedy special Everything’s Fine (2:30) and the hosts’ differing opinions on its successfulness…
  • The Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher (9:30) and how the incredible visual experience wasn’t quite enough for one of our hosts…
  • Season 2 of The Mandalorian (20:50) and how it dives right back in to deliver more space cowboy fun…
  • Amazon’s new series Truth Seekers (27:45) and how Simon Pegg and Nick Frost seem to be building another good horror-comedy…
  • Some binging ideas for the masses (31:40) in the event that one needs to spend the next several days in bed watching television…
  • Homework for next week, assuming we still exist (43:50), including: the new HBO show Industry, a check-in on HBO’s The Undoing, Showtime’s new space comedy Moonbase 8 and Netflix’s new Song Exploder show… plus Week 9 of the NFL season…