The Toy Department – Episode 330

In Episode 330, Madden and Kolsky do a LITTLE bit of housekeeping before jumping right into:

  • The fact that Derek failed to complete his homework when he forgot about Treason (1:40) which is a nice little spy drama/thriller that Kolsky can still tell us a bit about…
  • The most recent episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies (5:40), including thoughts on elimination selection strategy, some great Burns of the Week and a preview of what looks to be a GRUELING final…
  • The new horror/satire/comedy film The Menu (39:55) and how it is carried along by a group of excellent acting performances…
  • The Billy Eichner/Judd Apatow-created rom com Bros (45:50) and how both hosts thought it hit all the Romantic Comedy pleasure spots…
  • Homework for TWO WEEKS from now (52:15), including: the new Netflix comedy You People, the new Peacock show Poker Face, Apple TV+’s new show Shrinking, Hulu’s British superpower show Extaordinary and OF COURSE the final of The Challenge: Ride or Dies…
  • A few quick thoughts on this weekend’s NFL Conference Championship games (56:35)…

The Toy Department – Episode 328

In Episode 328, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s tough day at the office before getting into the pop culture content of the week:

  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (2:50) as we have reached the doorstep of TJ’s Final and likely seen our final major twist of the season…
  • The new season of Last Chance U (35:55) on Netflix, which stays with East LA College and coach John Mosley as he rebuilds the program after COVID killed their previous season…
  • The film She Said (41:20), now available on Peacock, and how it takes a specific and successful angle on covering the reprehensible Harvey Weinstein, plus some thoughts on the excellent lead performances…
  • The new Netflix show Kaleidoscope (49:35) and how when its elaborate gimmick turns out to be nothing special, what’s left is a decidedly not special heist show…
  • A few thoughts on the impending Wild Card Weekend (59:45) and who the guys see ending up in the Super Bowl in February…
  • Homework for next Friday (1:09:40), including: HBO’s new show The Last of Us (), Netflix’s new tennis docu-series Break Point, the NBC reboot of Night Court and Netflix’s 70’s Show reboot That 90’s Show… plus, OF COURSE, the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies!!

The Toy Department – Episode 288

In Episode 288, Madden and Kolsky have a little laugh about the sadness of missing The Challenge before getting networky with:

  • The underwhelming How I Met Your Father on Hulu (2:20) and how it’s super networky, despite being a streaming-only show, and mediocre-at-best…
  • The more enjoyable Abbott Elementary on ABC/Hulu (8:25) and where it succeeds, though mileage may vary person to person on really loving it…
  • Fox/Hulu’s Pivoting (13:15) and the irrepressible charm of its cast…
  • The new Duplass joint Somebody Somewhere on HBO (20:25) and how nice it is to have the brothers back in their sincere, heartwarming wheelhouse…
  • The beginning of the final season of Netflix’s Ozark (29:00) and how the stakes just keep getting higher on a really great TV program…
  • Some thoughts on arguably the greatest weekend of NFL playoff football ever (40:55) and where we’re headed now that it’s down to the final four…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (59:15), including: Single Drunk Female on Freeform/Hulu, the film The Last Duel (now on HBO Max), The Afterparty on Apple TV+ and Netflix’s new Kristen Bell show The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window… plus hopefully another great weekend of NFL Playoffs!!

The Toy Department – Episode 6

In Episode 6, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with a brief discussion of football’s move to Los Angeles, before transitioning into a discussion of the life of the great David Bowie (6:30). Then transition into a long movie talk based around today’s announcement of Oscar nominations (14:45) that addresses the lack of diversity in nominees, among other things. Then it’s back to sports (32:30) for a discussion of the Bengals’ meltdown (or was it a meltdown??) at the end of their playoff loss to Pittsburgh and other postseason football issues. Then a minute or two on Sean Penn’s El Chapo interview ties things up at the end.

Oh, and if you want to subscribe via iTunes (and you really should), just CLICK HERE!!