Tag Archives: Los Angeles Lakers

The Toy Department – Episode 344

  By toyAdmin | May 12, 2023 - 3:15 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 344, Madden and Kolsky somehow compare Derek to LeBron James before getting back to reality and into:

  • The latest from The Challenge: World Championships (2:20) and how Sarah and Danny’s nutty gameplay somehow worked out for them as we have reached TJ’s Final…
  • This week on Top Chef: World All-Stars (26:15) and an absolutely stacked field heading into the final few weeks…
  • The new FX/Hulu show Class of ’09 (39:00) which features more questions than answers over its first couple of episodes…
  • Apple TV+’s new series Silo (43:55) and how it feels awfully and uncomfortably incomplete in its storytelling…
  • A few thoughts on the continuing drama of the NBA Playoffs (50:45) and some Nikola Jokic appreciation…
  • Homework for next week (1:12:05), including: Pete Davidson’s new Peacock show Bupkis, the new Amazon Freevee show Jury Duty and the Tupac docu-series Dear Mama on Hulu… PLUS the FINAL of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND another week of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 343

  By toyAdmin | May 5, 2023 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 343, Madden and Kolsky open with a quick detour about Derek’s friend Steven Hyden and the Seattle grunge scene of the ’90s before focusing on:

  • The latest from The Challenge: World Championships (4:45) and how Sarah was saved from outing herself as a snake by Yes and Emily’s daily win, plus whether our hosts have underestimated her strategic game thus far…
  • A twisty restaurant wars on Top Chef World All-Stars (20:20) and how it didn’t stop Top Chef’s top chef from distinguishing himself as the favorite in the competition…
  • The deeply emotional HBO series Love & Death (35:35) and the heavy lifting its actors are doing over the first few episodes…
  • The Watergate comedy White House Plumbers (40:20) and how the buffoonish nature of conservative operatives…
  • The new Amazon Prime Video thriller/spy drama Citadel (45:05) and the role of action entertainment in our TV landscape…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Playoffs (52:05) and just how wide open the field is with eight teams still remaining…
  • Homework for next week (1:06:05), including: Apple TV+’s new show Silo and the FX/Hulu show Class of ’09, with a healthy portion of NBA Playoffs on the side… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 292

  By toyAdmin | March 11, 2022 - 11:07 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 292, Madden and Kolsky briefly address the sad news of the passing of Derek’s dog before brightening everyone’s spirits with:

  • This week’s episode of Top Chef: Houston (1:50) and just how high the level of execution appears to be in the early part of the season…
  • HBO’s new Lakers-focused show Winning Time (22:20), how much fun it is and some of the excellent performances in the first episode…
  • The Oscar-nominated Guillermo Del Toro film Nightmare Alley (33:50) and how it sucked both hosts in with a gripping and visually striking noir story…
  • The return of the original Law & Order (41:35) and what makes the OG the best version of the now widely spun-off concept…
  • The new cartoon short series The Boys: Diabolical (49:00) and how it’s more or less exactly what you’d expect and not particularly important for any reason…
  • Homework for next Friday (51:25), including: more Top Chef: Houston, along with the Apple TV+ series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (starring Sam Jackson) and Severance (directed by Ben Stiller), the Oscar-nominated Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza and the Showtime show SuperPumped about the battle for Uber…

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The Toy Department – Episode 261

  By toyAdmin | June 1, 2021 - 11:25 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 261, Madden and Kolsky have a log list of subjects, so time-wasting is eschewed in favor of:

  • The latest from Top Chef: Portland (1:10) and FINALLY the elimination of bad-pasta-Chris, plus thoughts on the recipe challenge and the hosts’ favorites heading down the stretch…
  • The Friends reunion on HBO Max (20:45) and how it aimed for 100 minutes of nostalgia and hit pretty close to the bullseye…
  • The new film Plan B (38:25) and how it’s an absolute home run of an indie high school adventure movie…
  • A wrap-up discussion on Mare of Easttown (43:55) and how HBO has another high-quality limited series in the drama category, filled with tremendous acting performances and a compelling crime mystery…
  • Some NBA playoff thoughts (54:35) at the halfway point (or so) of the first round, re-assessing the favorites after a rash of injuries and some see-sawing series results…
  • A brief discussion about Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open (1:02:50) and the difficult task of respecting metal health while also realizing that media availability is part of the job of a modern professional athlete…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:09:30), including: more Top Chef in Portland (and probably more NBA Playoffs action), the new Netflix movie Army of the Dead, Bo Burham’s new stand-up special on Netflix and the new British comedy We Are Lady Parts, about an all-female Muslim punk band…

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The Toy Department – Episode 231

  By toyAdmin | October 13, 2020 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 231, Madden and Kolsky dally briefly over Madden’s new family member and his failure to complete the homework assignment before getting into:

  • The new AMC series Soulmates (2:20) and whether its premise is enough to carry a whole anthology series…
  • HBO Max’s original movie Charm City Kings (14:20) and how a good script and quality acting aren’t enough to make it stand out much…
  • The new Showtime series The Good Lord Bird (21:30) and its explosive and complicated portrayal of abolitionist John Brown…
  • The Netflix indie movie The 40-Year-Old Version (32:25) and what writer/director/star Radha Blank is saying with a very personal film…
  • A few thoughts on the conclusion of the NBA Finals (43:20) and LeBron James’ greatness…
  • Some brief NFL discussion (1:03:05) as the season teeters on the edge of viability…
  • Homework for next week (1:06:20), including: Madden actually getting to The Comedy Store docu-series on Showtime, the season finale of Lovecraft Country, the Netflix/Aaron Sorkin film The Trial of the Chicago 7, David Byrne’s American Utopia (directed by Spike Lee) on HBO and the show Ted Lasso on Apple TV+… plus more MLB playoffs and Week 6 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 230

  By toyAdmin | October 6, 2020 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 230, Madden and Kolsky compare themselves to playoff baseball before moving into the realm of popular fiction to cover:

  • The new Netflix show Sneakerheads (4:10) and how it just fails to distinguish itself in any way…
  • Showtime’s two-part movie The Comey Rule (9:40) and the hosts’ drastically differing opinions on it…
  • The start of Season 4 of Fargo on FX (31:40) and how the show retains its signature charms…
  • Amazon’s new show Utopia (54:10) and what a creative and original project it seems to be…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Finals (1:02:15) and the last couple weeks of NFL football (1:05:10)…
  • Homework for next week (1:13:45), including: Showtime’s new series The Good Lord Bird (starring Ethan Hawke), HBO Max’s original movie Charm City Kings (starring Meek Mill), AMC’s new series Soulmates, the new Netflix movie 40-Year-Old Version and the first couple episodes of The Comedy Store docu-series on Showtime… plus the potential end of the NBA Finals and Week 5 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 229

  By toyAdmin | September 24, 2020 - 11:46 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 229, Madden and Kolsky are alive and employed, which means good in 2020, and ready to discuss:

  • The new season of PEN15 on Hulu (3:05) and how one of our hosts has really come around on the show…
  • The new Ryan Murphy show Ratched (10:35) and just what exactly he is doing with all of Netflix’s money…
  • Fox’s new show LA’s Finest (19:40) and how it follows a pretty successful formula to being exactly what you think it is…
  • A check-in on HBO’s Lovecraft Country (36:00) after a bottle episode starring an old veteran of The Challenge…
  • A brief NFL chat (48:50) about quick takeaways from the first two weeks of pro football…
  • Some thoughts on the NBA Playoffs (51:45) with particular focus on Tyler Herro’s tremendous performance…
  • Homework for our next show, on October 6 (1:07:35), including: the new Netflix show Sneakerheads, season four of Fargo on FX, Showtime’s new movie The Comey Rule and the new Amazon show Utopia… plus EVEN MOAR NBA Playoffs and Weeks 3 & 4 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 228

  By toyAdmin | September 17, 2020 - 11:53 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 228, Madden and Kolsky steel themselves to work through arguably the weirdest content week in Toy Department history, featuring:

  • The exceedingly weird Netflix film I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2:05) from the mind of Charlie Kaufman…
  • The new HBO series We Are Who We Are (25:20) and what the guys make of some weird vibes and a lack of background or explication in the first episode…
  • The new HBO mini-series The Third Day (36:25) and what exactly is happening with both the airing of the show and the content…
  • Hulu’s new Lamorne Morris-starring show Woke (46:25) and how it’s a nice place to spend some time…
  • The topsy-turvy NBA Playoffs (52:10) and what the Nuggets’ big upset of the Clippers means…
  • A few thoughts on Week One of NFL action (1:19:35), featuring the San Francisco 49ers’ somewhat surprising loss to Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals…
  • Homework for next week (1:25:55), including: the probably terrible new Fox show LA’s Finest, the new season of PEN15 on Hulu and the new Netflix/Ryan Murphy show Ratched… plus MOAR NBA Playoffs and Week 2 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 227

  By toyAdmin | September 10, 2020 - 11:56 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 227, Madden and Kolsky discuss the apocalypse weather in California and the movie Madden DIDN’T watch before sliding into:

  • The new Bill & Ted movie (5:25) and how it doesn’t give you much beyond a few laughs and a lot of references to the originals…
  • The new Netflix show Away (14:10) and how it’s less mission to Mars space show than it is interpersonal drama…
  • Amazon’s The Boys (23:40) and how the second season looks in the early going, plus thoughts on the three-per-week release schedule…
  • Amazon’s soccer docu-series All or Nothing (30:25), which focuses on Tottenham Hotspur and got very lucky with a mid-season coaching change…
  • A bit of NBA discussion (45:45) as the playoffs wind towards the conference finals…
  • Some NFL preview talk (1:02:50) on the eve of what should be a very strange season…
  • Homework for next week (1:19:55), including: the new Lamorne Morris series Woke on Hulu, Madden actually watching I’m Thinking of Ending Thigs, the new HBO series We Are Who We Are, the new HBO miniseries The Third Day and LOTS MORE sports action with the NBA Playoffs and the opening of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 226

  By toyAdmin | September 3, 2020 - 11:58 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 226, Madden and Kolsky briefly get into the misery of the outside world before entering the toy department of life to discuss:

  • The new Netflix cartoon Hoops (3:50) and how absolutely awful it is…
  • The HBO Max reality dating series Singletown (9:20), which went over far better with one host than with the other…
  • The Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai (19:10) and what a good job the creators and writers have done with the source material…
  • The Amazon movie Get Duked (28:50) and how much fun it was to traipse through the Scottish Highlands with some weird teens…
  • A check-in on HBO’s Lovecraft Country (35:50) as the guys try to pin down exactly what is going on there…
  • The NBA Playoffs (42:30), with some thoughts on the Rockets’ Game 7 win and their prospects against the Lakers, the potential Celtics/Heat matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals, and a little bit of NBA draft chatter…
  • Homework for next week (1:12:20), including: the return of The Boys on Amazon, the new Netflix series Away (about a Mars mission), the new Charlie Kaufman movie I’m Thinking of Ending Things (also on Netflix), and LOTS MORE NBA Playoff action… plus the new Bill and Ted movie, which the hosts forgot to mention…
  • A few quick thoughts on baseball (1:15:20), especially the White Sox and Braves, both of whom are very exciting…

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