In Episode 433, Madden and Kolsky literally discuss the weather before they finally get into it with:
The latest from The Challenge: Vets & New Threats (3:35) after the demise of the Justice for Leka movement…
The new Spike Lee joint Highest 2 Lowest (24:40) and whether Denzel is too old for this sh*t…
Prime Video’s new thriller The Girlfriend (35:50) and how (and why) it doesn’t quite rise to the level of must-watch…
The return of Gen V (43:20) and further thoughts on The Boys cinematic universe…
Homework for next week (we forgot to actually mention it in the episode 😬), including: the next episode of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats, Netflix’s new show Black Rabbit and Sterlin Harjo’s new series The Lowdown on FX…
In Episode 431, Madden and Kolsky discuss their IRL meet-up between podcasts before getting down to brass tacks on:
The last two weeks of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats (7:00) and the thrilling elimination that crowned the most recent episode…
The baffling and distinctly not funny comedy The Pickup (22:50) and how exactly we end up making things that make no sense…
The disappointing film The Phoenician Scheme (28:40) and whether the career of Wes Anderson has ceased to be a source of interest…
The excellent Freaky Tales (34:30) and its love affair with Oakland…
A revisiting of Apple TV+’s insane show Smoke (43:05) and how the not-especially-good-but-totally-ridiculous blueprint seems to be working for them…
Homework for next week (51:45), including: the next episode of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats, the Office spin-off The Paper, HBO’s new crime drama Task and the Amazon Prime teen band show The Runarounds…
In Episode 428, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s visit to Chicago and assign some extra homework that they forgot about before locking into:
The first episode of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats (5:55) and also the weird and mostly annoying 0th episode, with lots of excitement for the season to come…
The reasonably enjoyable Happy Gilmore 2 (30:55), how far you can fly on the wings of cameo appearances from terrible actors and Adam Sandler’s career choices…
Hulu’s new show Washington Black (39:50) and the relative usefulness of fantastical historical fiction…
Homework for next week (44:05), including: the next episode of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats, checking in on the apparently very popular The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix’s new series The Hunting Wives, Eva Longoria’s Wrexham spinoff Necaxa and the Billy Joel documentary And So It Goes on HBO Max…
In Episode 427, Madden and Kolsky chat a bit about Kolsky’s new recording setup (which did not work as well as hoped) and recent oral surgery before homing in on:
Netflix’s Charlize Theron action sequel The Old Guard 2 (3:40) and whether it deserves a Part 3, plus thoughts on Netflix’s ouevre…
Michael C. Hall’s return to old haunts on Dexter: Resurrection (10:25) and streamer’s looking for mileage on friendly, well-worn trails…
Amazon Prime Video’s Bosch spin-off Ballard (17:40) and how it landed with two dudes who never watched Bosch…
Lena Dunham’s new Netflix show Too Much (22:50) and the goofy fun of Meg Stalter, plus the difference between Netflix and HBO…
A few pre-season comments on The Challenge (28:15) and what our hosts are looking for in Season 41…
Homework for next week (38:15), including: the return of The Challenge for Season 41, the new Happy Gilmore sequel on Netflix, the British show Assassin on Amazon Prime and the Sterling K. Brown show Washington Black on Hulu…
Some English Premier League thoughts (40:40) before preseason gets fully underway…
The Bong Joon Ho film Mickey 17 (15:35) and how it just never totally comes together or manages to live up to a very appealing trailer…
Amazon Prime’s new thriller The Better Sister (23:05) and streamers’ new obsession with the family-drama-murder-thriller niche…
A couple quick NBA thoughts on the way out (31:10) as the Pacers-Thunder Finals has been thrilling and surprising…
Homework for next week (38:45), including: the Amazon Prime film Deep Cover, the Netflix series Tires in its second season and the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin (also on Netflix)…
In Episode 421, Madden and Kolsky return after too long of a break to get into a wealth of pop culture, some of it very excellent, at least whatever they can remember of:
The last few weeks of action on Top Chef: Destination Canada (2:55), where a top dog almost fell and the competition is fierce heading into the semi-finals…
The first of the week’s two mediocre action flicks, Havoc (16:25) and how it succeeds in little other than being extremely overly self-serious…
The second MAF, Viola Davis’s G20 (20:05) and how it at least understands what it is and wins within its limits…
Episodes 3 and 4 of the new Black Mirror season (24:00) and how they better fit the brief of the show than the first two did, much to Kolsky’s delight…
The second season of Andor (33:10), which places it among the best works in the entire Star Wars canon…
A check-in on The Last of Us (39:35), which has taken a couple of pretty dramatic turns over the course of the season…
The new season of Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face (46:05) and what a joy it is to have her (and the guest stars) in our lives again…
The new Netflix series The Four Seasons (48:55) and how it made two aging men laugh and also think a lot about their lives and decisions…
Homework for next week (57:15), including: the semifinals on Top Chef: Destination Canada, the last two episodes of Black Mirror’s new season, the new JJ Abrams show Duster on (HBO) Max, the new Guy Ritchie movie Fountain of Youth on Apple TV+, the Steven Soderbergh film Black Bag on Peacock and the new Apple TV+ series Murderbot…
In Episode 418, Madden and Kolsky return from an unscheduled absence to revisit the world of pop culture, blasting through:
Two episodes of Top Chef: Destination Canada (1:45), including the return of a Last Chance Kitchen champ and the emergence of a pretty clear favorite…
Two weeks of action on The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (16:20), with the beginning of TJ’s Finals in the books and an unlikely pair at the top of the leaderboard…
The action-flick sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (47:50) and the apparent attempt to build an action franchise…
Paramount+’s new British crime series MobLand (53:20), with a star-studded cast and a tangled web of plot…
The SZA/Keke Palmer movie One of Them Days (59:05), and the enjoyability of a classic buddy caper comedy…
Homework for next week (1:05:05), including: the (hopefully) epic conclusion of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, another episode of Top Chef: Destination Canada, FX/Hulu’s new series Dying for Sex, the Apple TV+ show Your Friends and Neighbors and a pod check in on new-ish show The Pitt…
In Episode 415, Madden and Kolsky briefly recount Derek’s London experience before diving into:
The last two weeks of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (5:50) featuring plenty of drama and the elimination of a major favorite…
A trio of Netflix content:
The new basketball comedy Running Point (20:45), the Mindy-ness of it all and whether it passes muster with its basketball knowledge…
Olympic basketball docu-series Court of Gold (25:40) and the wonderful world of basketball’s many stars…
The new limited series Zero Day (30:30) and whether the content stands up to the massively talented cast…
Homework for next week (38:50), including: another episode of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, the return of Top Chef (this time in Canada), Bill Simmons’ documentary series Celtics City on Max and the new Hulu comedy series Deli Boys…
In Episode 414, Madden and Kolsky are pressed for time after missing last week, so it’s some quick pleasantries and right into:
Two weeks of action from The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:15), the early leaders in the clubhouse and the unfortunate (for entertainment purposes) elimination of Ashley and Aneesa…
Our hosts’ thoughts on all of the SNL 50 content (22:25) from the past weekend…
A couple minutes on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (33:30) with Phish nominated for the first time…
The Oscar-nominated film The Substance (40:05) and the excellent performances at its core…
More spy-show fodder with Netflix’s The Recruit (50:00) and Apple TV+’s Prime Target (54:25) and how one of our hosts found a deeper enjoyment in one of them…
The return of White Lotus (57:25) and the excitement we all feel to have it back…
A reasonably unproductive discussion about the NBA All-Star fiasco (1:04:30) and the NBA MVP Award, which Derek is already furious about…
Homework for two weeks from now (1:18:40), including: two more episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals and a bunch of Netflix content — the new Olympic basketball doc Court of Gold, new limited series Zero Day and new comedy series Running Point…
In Episode 413, Madden and Kolsky give you everything they’ve got about the Super Bowl (which amounts to approximately 47 seconds of content) before locking in on:
The first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:30) which featured a fortuitous elimination and very little personal growth from people we’ve known for a decade…
The Jesse Eisenberg feature A Real Pain (20:35) and how it doesn’t feel like a Best Picture nominee but DOES manage to entertain and intrigue for its 90 minutes…
The definitely-feels-like-a-best-picture-contender movie Anora (24:10) and the remarkable performance of Mikey Madison in the leading role…
The Netflix hit The Night Agent (32:35) and whether they put enough work in on the fast-arriving second season…
The new Hulu show Paradise (37:55) and why we seem to be in the post-apocalyptic-underground-city era of television…
A few thoughts on a WILD NBA trade deadline (46:05) and what some of the participants are looking at for the remainder of the season…
Homework for next week (1:03:50), including: the next episode of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, Oscar contender The Substance, the new Apple TV+ show Prime Target and the return of Netflix’s The Recruit…
