Tag Archives: Gail Simmons

The Toy Department – Episode 384

  By toyAdmin | April 25, 2024 - 11:18 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 384, Madden and Kolsky open with a long conversation about Kolsky’s visit to The Sphere in Las Vegas to see Phish before snapping out of it to cover:

  • The latest from The Challenge All-Stars 4 (15:55) including an elimination where heavy hitters swung and missed repeatedly…
  • A twisty, dairy-filled week of Top Chef Wisconsin (35:10) wherein two chefs (re)entered the competition and one early star departed…
  • HBO’s new Sunday centerpiece The Sympathizer (49:10) and whether our hosts are impressed after two episodes…
  • A wrap-up discussion on HBO’s The Regime (1:00:25) and what the hell was going on there…
  • Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of the popular Fallout video game (1:04:25) and whether it actually makes sense as a “television” show…
  • A few NBA thoughts (1:08:15) after a few games from the first round of the playoffs…
  • Homework for next week (1:19:20), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin, more of The Challenge All-Stars 4, the Lily Gladstone-helmed show Under the Bridge and the Kristen Stewart-helmed film Love Lies Bleeding…

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The Toy Department – Episode 383

  By toyAdmin | April 18, 2024 - 10:13 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 383, Madden and Kolsky bicker about who bears more responsibility for their bizarre technical difficulties before jumping into:

  • This week on The Challenge All-Stars 4 (2:10) and old heads showing their muscles…
  • The latest from Top Chef Wisconsin (24:35) with a rough week for some good chefs and some badly cooked meat…
  • Michael Douglas’s turn as Ben Franklin for Apple TV+ (45:10) and whether the resulting Franklin makes enough of statecraft to have a worthwhile show…
  • Colin Farrell’s turn as a noir-style private detective (52:40) and what exactly seems to be going on in a broader sense on the Apple TV+ show Sugar…
  • The documentary Steve! (57:15) and the wild and crazy (and suddenly serene) life of Steve Martin…
  • Netflix’s new film Scoop (1:04:45) and the choice to tell a story the Prince Andrew story through the lens of “journalism”…
  • Homework for next week (1:10:20), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin, more of The Challenge All-Stars 4, HBO’s new Sunday night centerpiece The Sympathizer and Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation…

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The Toy Department – Episode 382

  By toyAdmin | April 11, 2024 - 11:19 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 382, Madden and Kolsky have a LOT to catch up on, from Matt’s new debilitating addiction to Derek’s busy concert schedule (with plenty of stops in between) but eventually get around to:

  • A new season of Top Chef (10:20), a midwest location that infuriates Derek and all the insight our hosts have gleaned over the first four episodes…
  • A two-episode debut of The Challenge All-Stars Season 4 (31:40) and a cast of true stars that reaches all the way back to the very first season of the Challenge universe…
  • The surprisingly entertaining BlackBerry (55:45) and the simple pleasure of a good story told with good acting, writing and directing…
  • Netflix’s new sci-fi big swing 3 Body Problem (1:02:30) and whether (to torture the idiom) it makes contact with the ball…
  • Apple TV+’s new Kristen Wiig vehicle Palm Royale (1:13:15) and what exactly they’re trying to do here…
  • The Jake Gyllenhaal-helmed Roadhouse remake (1:17:10) and how it swings and misses (to further torture the same idiom from before)…
  • Homework for next week (1:26:55), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin and The Challenge All-Stars 4, a gaggle of Apple TV+ content — the shows Sugar (with Colin Farrell as a detective) and Franklin (with Michael Douglas as Ben Franklin); and the documentary Steve! (about Steve Martin) — and the Netflix movie Scoop…

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The Toy Department – Episode 349

  By toyAdmin | June 16, 2023 - 2:34 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 348, Madden and Kolsky get into the difficulties of the moving process — especially for weird old semi-hoarders — before locking into the pop culture of the week:

  • The second episode of HBO’s Idol (6:50) and how at least one of our hosts is done with it, and neither think it’s working very well at all, largely due to the presence and mediocrity of Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd)…
  • The British drama Somewhere Boy (16:40) and how it creates some extra curiosity with its storytelling style, but still may not have enough to keep the guys interested…
  • Apple TV+’s new Tom Holland show The Crowded Room (19:20) and how it uses similar style of storytelling but to better effect…
  • The new Eva Longoria-directed film Flamin’ Hot (27:15) and how it tells an inspiring story in a fun way…
  • Peacock’s new show Based on a True Story (34:05) and the appeal of its lead actors — Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Champion Denver Nuggets (44:45) and their incredibly charming superstar Nikola Jokic…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (52:50), including: the return of Black Mirror on Netflix, the return of The Bear on Hulu, Boots Riley’s new show I’m A Virgo and Idris Elba’s Hijack on Apple TV+…

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The Toy Department – Episode 348

  By toyAdmin | June 10, 2023 - 3:03 pm | Uncategorized
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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!

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