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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…

In Episode 222, Madden and Kolsky start with a discussion of babies and zoos before getting into:

The second week of The Challenge: Total Madness Reunion (5:00) and the general let-down of this season’s end…
The return of HBO’s Room 104 (21:10) and just how delightful the first episode of this season was, even if it doesn’t make the show feel essential…
The new Amazon Prime film Radioactive (28:20) and some of the curious choices made by the filmmakers…
The return of sports (32:45) with MLB already underway (for now, at least), the NBA set to start and the NFL opening training camps…
Homework for next week (52:45), including: the new season of Umbrella Academy on Netflix, the fifth season of the Netflix docu-series Last Chance U, the new Go-Go’s documentary on Showtime, the end of HBO’s docu-series I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and revisiting HBO’s Perry Mason…
The new Taylor Swift record Folklore (57:15) and how it doesn’t quite resonate with either of our hosts…

In Episode 214, Madden and Kolsky spend a few minutes lamenting the state of America before turning to the lighter fare of:

This week’s episode of Top Chef (4:05) and how things look as we head to a new country and towards the finalé…
This week’s episode of The Challenge (22:45) and the prospects for players still in search of their red skull…
Hulu’s new show The Great (44:15) and how it is a bundle of fun in the vein of The Favourite, among other things…
A few quick words on Patton Oswalt’s new comedy special (52:30), but it’s nothing special…
Far more words on Hannah Gadsby (54:40), her new special Douglas and the excitement of a talented new comedic voice…
Season 2 of Homecoming (1:06:05) and whether or not it even really needs to exist…
TNT’s Snowpiercer (1:10:20) and whether its potential is weighed down by its TNT-ishness…
Homework for next week (1:15:05), including: more from both Top Chef and The Challenge, HBO Max’s initial offering Love Life (with Anna Kendrick), Netflix’s new show Space Force, the return of Ramy on Hulu and ESPN’s 30 for 30 on Lance Armstrong…

In Episode 212, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky dive right into:

This week’s restaurant wars episode of Top Chef (1:40) and the unsuspenseful upset that it delivered…
This week’s episode of The Challenge (17:10) and the many dangers of Total Madness…
Two more episodes of The Last Dance (34:50) and the singular maniacal drive of Michael Jordan…
The return of Showtime’s Billions (52:40) and whether there’s enough growth to keep the show’s momentum going…
HBO’s new skater show Betty (56:15) and whether a pilot episode with no pilot can grab your interest…
Upload on Amazon Prime (1:00:40), where it falls short and why it remains a reasonably enjoyable watch…
Hulu’s new show Normal People (1:04:20) and its unique, perhaps novelistic style…
Homework for next week (1:08:10), including: new episodes of Top Chef & The Challenge, two more episodes of The Last Dance, finishing this season of Brockmire, the second season of Dead to Me and Jerry Seinfeld’s new stand-up special (plus HBO’s new show I Know This Much is True, which was not mentioned)…

In Episode 203, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have MUCH to discuss, so dive right into:

The HBO Sports documentary Ali & Cavett: Tale of the Tapes (1:25) and how it adds something to the historical record on a well-covered sports titan…
Dwyane Wade’s documentary Life Unexpected (8:00) and how it is very much the Dwyane Wade version of the Dwyane Wade story…
PBS’ American Masters episode on Miles Davis, entitled Birth of the Cool (14:55) and what a complete picture it painted of a complicated man who was truly one of the great musicians in human history…
The return of Better Call Saul on AMC (24:00) and how it is probably the best show on television right now…
The new Amazon show Hunters (30:55) and the surprisingly understated performance of Al Pacino…
AMC’s new show Dispatches from Elsewhere (37:00) and how producer/writer/director/star Jason Segel has created a fascinating and exciting curiosity through two oddball episodes…
The new Netflix comedy Gentefied (44:55) and how it fails to really grab the viewer in its first couple episodes…
Pete Davidson’s Netflix standup special (48:10) and how he’s a promising young comedic talent…
Homework for next week (57:40), including: the return of Better Things on FX, the end of The Outsider on HBO, Devs on FX/Hulu, Dave on FXX (it’s an FX-heavy week), the Netflix Lil Peep documentary Everbody’s Everything, Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This, the HBO Sports documentary Women of Troy and Marc Maron’s new special End Times Fun…