Tag Archives: Gabriel Rodriguez

The Toy Department – Episode 348

  By toyAdmin | June 10, 2023 - 3:03 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 348, Madden and Kolsky are working on a Saturday, one at home and one in a hotel suite with an old man and a toddler (sorry for any weird audio stuff) but it doesn’t deter them from discussing:

  • The season finalé of Top Chef: World All-Stars (2:30) and how it ended essentially where our hosts expected, with an awful lot of good cooking on the way there…
  • HBO’s new Sam Levinson series The Idol (20:10) and how it wasn’t necessarily as provocative as expected in the first episode, but does have some intense moments of sexuality and some interesting things to say about the life of a young, female pop star…
  • The big wave surfing docu-series 100-Foot Wave (28:05) and the pure insanity of the pursuits of its main character Garrett McNamara, along with the wonder of watching people ride a mountain of water…
  • ESPN’s The American Gladiator Documentary (32:35) and how director Ben Berman basically gives the viewer two fascinating and well-told documentaries for the price of one…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Finals (39:20), which appear to be headed to an early conclusion, but that does not mean the Miami Heat don’t deserve credit for their accomplishments…
  • Homework for next week (49:35), including: revisiting The Idol after Episode 2, the movie Flamin’ Hot on Hulu, the British drama Somewhere Boy (also on Hulu), the Peacock show Based on a True Story and the Tom Holland show The Crowded Room on Apple TV+… and perhaps some NBA Finals talk as well!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 347

  By toyAdmin | June 4, 2023 - 3:09 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 347, Madden and Kolsky are working on a Sunday, JUST FOR YOU, chatting about:

  • The first Paris episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars (1:35) and what a wonderful episode of the series it was, plus the guys give their thoughts on Padma’s impending departure from the show…
  • The series finalé of Succession (25:45) and how rare it is for a show to be so consistently great throughout its entire run…
  • The Apple TV+ comedy Platonic (40:25) and the delightful chemistry between Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne…
  • Another Apple TV+ comedy — High Desert (43:20) and the powerhouse performance of Patricia Arquette…
  • The HBO/Max movie Reality (47:50) and how it left both of our hosts with more questions than answers; both about its subject Reality Winner and the choices of the filmmakers…
  • Homework for next week (57:50), including: the new HBO series The Idol, The American Gladiator Documentary on ESPN+, and the surfing docu-series 100-Foot Wave on Max… PLUS the finalé of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo… and some NBA Finals talk as well!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 346

  By toyAdmin | May 25, 2023 - 11:24 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 346, Madden and Kolsky convene early for a late-night-Thursday episode, giving you the goods on:

  • The final London week of Top Chef: World All-Stars (1:25), a microwaved sponge cake, tricks of the eye and what to look for in the upcoming trip to Paris…
  • Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s new movie Air (17:55) and how it manages to create tension, suspense and drama out of a true story that everyone knows the ending of…
  • Hulu’s Jack Harlow-starring White Men Can’t Jump (24:55), watchable mediocrity and the remake-obsessed world we are all living in…
  • The Shea Serrano-penned series Primo (30:10) and the delight of a family comedy written with love…
  • A few NBA playoff thoughts as we sit on the doorstep of the Finals (34:55), whether the Heat can finish off the Celtics and whether either of them have a shot against the Nuggets…
  • Homework for next week (43:15), including: the series finale of Succession, the new Apple TV+ shows Platonic and High Desert and the HBO movie Reality… PLUS the first episode of the Paris Portion of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 345

  By toyAdmin | May 19, 2023 - 11:44 am | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 345, Madden and Kolsky have a Challenge final to discuss, so it’s right down to the business:

  • TJ’s Final for The Challenge: World Championship (0:45), the design of an intriguing final, how this CBS/Paramount+ version fits into the Challenge Universe and Jordan’s ascension among the all-time greats…
  • The double-elimination Wellington episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars (22:55) and how brutal it was on all of the chefs, and thoughts on how the competition stacks up heading to Paris…
  • Hulu’s Tupac docu-series Dear Mama (36:50) and how Allen Hughes has crafted a beautiful marriage of historical document and artistic film piece…
  • The Amazon Freevee show Jury Duty (44:25) and how James Marsden and a well-cast unknown centerpiece make this unique show entertaining…
  • Peacock’s new Pete Davidson series Bupkis (48:40) and how the weird state of TV criticism led to unnecessary criticism of a perfectly good show…
  • A couple minutes on the NBA Playoffs (54:20) after two games of each conference finals series…
  • Homework for next week (56:45), including: Hulu’s new White Men Can’t Jump remake (starring Jack Harlow), the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon film Air (available on Amazon Prime) and Shea Serrano’s new show Primo (on Amazon Freevee)… PLUS another week of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 344

  By toyAdmin | May 12, 2023 - 3:15 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

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…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 343

  By toyAdmin | May 5, 2023 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

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…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 342

  By toyAdmin | April 28, 2023 - 3:51 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 342, Madden and Kolsky are working around Kolsky’s 20th college reunion, so it’s a quick attack of:

  • This week on The Challenge: World Championship (2:00), the continuing drama of Danny and Sarah’s weird strategy and the hole in our hearts with some of the favorite characters absent…
  • A quick week of Top Chef Season 20 (17:25) and just how high-level the competition is at this point, plus thoughts on the classic mise en place challenge…
  • Peacock’s confounding new show Mrs. Davis (35:50) and whether or not Betty Gilpin can hold our hosts’ interest long enough to figure out what’s going on here…
  • The wildly intense Dead Ringers (40:00) and the remarkable acting job of Rachel Weisz…
  • Keri Russell’s new show The Diplomat (46:05) and what it says about Netflix’s approach to new television content… 
  • Homework for next week (52:40), including: two new HBO shows — Love & Death (with Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons) and White House Plumbers (about Watergate), and also Amazon’s new sci-fi show Citadel… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 341

  By toyAdmin | April 21, 2023 - 3:54 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 341, Madden and Kolsky are trying to move quickly before Derek’s voice gives out to his cold, so it’s right into:

  • The return of HBO’s Barry (1:40) and how it continues to deliver an utterly unique, genre-bending experience in its fourth season…
  • Netflix’s WWII escape drama Transatlantic (9:05) and how it’s a surprisingly fun show given the subject matter…
  • The gloriously ridiculous Cocaine Bear (15:00) and how one of our hosts gets more mileage out of dumb stuff than the other does…
  • This week on The Challenge: World Championship (21:50) where strange strategy plays and bickering partners continue to dominate the landscape…
  • The latest from Top Chef Season 20 (40:15) where the competition is remarkably fierce and anyone could go home at any time… but usually it’s the chef that goes too far outside their comfort zone!
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Playoffs (51:50) as the first round rolls along…
  • Homework for next week (1:05:00), including: Peacock’s new show Mrs. Davis, The Diplomat on Netflix and the David Cronenberg show Dead Ringers on Amazon prime… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 340

  By toyAdmin | April 14, 2023 - 3:34 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 340, Madden and Kolsky talk a little grilled cheese before locking in on:

  • This week’s monumental episode of Succession (2:50) and all the little pieces of brilliance that went into it…
  • Hulu’s NYT J Dilla documentary (13:55) which is reasonably interesting and relatively informative but feels like it leaves a lot on the table…
  • HBO’s Music Box documentary about Jason Isbell (23:45) and how it paints a really complete emotional picture of a pretty interesting man and musician…
  • Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things (30:35), the magnetism of Kathryn Hahn and how the series brings together a multi-generational story of moms and daughters…
  • Netflix’s Beef (34:40) and the intensity of watching people attempt to express their ultimately impotent rage…
  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: World Championship (39:35) and a significant elimination…
  • An apparently easily-judged episode of Top Chef (58:05) and the incredibly high level of talent remaining on this season…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA (1:10:15) as we head into the playoff season…
  • Homework for next week (1:24:45), including: the return of Barry on HBO, Netflix’s new World War II show Transatlantic and Cocaine Bear (now available on Peacock)… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS

The Toy Department – Episode 339

  By toyAdmin | April 7, 2023 - 2:51 pm | Uncategorized
Leave a comment

In Episode 339, Madden and Kolsky revisit Derek’s mom’s letter to Matt (which you may remember being mentioned a couple weeks ago) before getting to the business of the day:

  • The latest from Top Chef Season 20 (9:25) and how a home cooking challenge put some of the top restaurant chefs on the bottom…
  • This week’s action on The Challenge: World Championship (24:45) and the critical strategy mistakes made by strategy master Wes…
  • Hulu’s delightful new sitcom Unprisoned (46:10) and the positive effects of a powerhouse cast…
  • The new Amazon Prime drama The Power (54:40) and whether this is a superpower show that Derek can stomach…
  • Apple TV+’s new film Tetris (58:55) and the incredible story behind the making of one of the most popular games of all time…
  • The return of FXX’s Dave (1:04:20) and how it seems to be peaking, in part because the show is understanding itself better than ever…
  • Homework for next week (1:11:40), including: Netflix’s new series Beef, Hulu’s new series Tiny Beautiful Things and two music documentaries – Music Box’s Jason Isbel doc on HBO Max and the Hulu/New York Times doc on J Dilla… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS