The Toy Department – Episode 435

In Episode 435, Madden and Kolsky return from an extended absence with Derek running on fumes to discuss:

  • Three weeks of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats (4:15) which featured lots of content but maybe not a whole lot of action…
  • The Chair Company on HBO (26:05) and why both of our hosts are all the way out on Tim Robinson…
  • Hulu’s football comedy Chad Powers (33:35) and what it looks like when a movie star is in a middling TV comedy…
  • Netflix’s new period drama House of Guinness (38:05) and whether it will pick up enough to draw one of our hosts in…
  • Mae Martin’s new Netflix thriller Wayward (43:25) and its extremely chaotic energy…
  • Derek’s failure (49:30) to watch One Battle After Another…
  • Homework for next week (51:30), including: another episode of The Challenge: Vets & New Threats, actually getting to talk about One Battle After Another, the new Naked Gun movie on Paramount+, the new Shane Black movie Play Dirty on Amazon Prime Video, the Hulu documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (despite Kolsky’s sexism) and the Colin Hanks-directed documentary John Candy: I Like Me on Amazon Prime Video…

The Toy Department – Episode 391

In Episode 391, Madden and Kolsky are back from an unplanned hiatus (thanks to Derek’s unnamed coworkers) to dive deep into:

  • The last two episodes of Top Chef (2:05) including a cheese-and-fishy quickfire, great chefs cooking scared in the pre-final and a final cook that saw three great chefs do their thing…
  • The the end of The Challenge All-Stars 4 (22:40) including a purge, a rad paintball shooting challenge to kick off TJ’s Final, a friend-ly twist to end it and a big win for a bigger legend…
  • The HBO docu-series Ren Faire (36:05) and whether the Succession comparisons go deeper than the obvious surface narrative…
  • The intense and emotional Godzilla Minus One (44:00) and whether it transcends the standard monster-flick label…
  • Bob Marley: One Love (49:15) and the life and legacy of reggae music’s GOAT…
  • The Glen Powell/Richard Linklater team-up Hit Man (55:45) and what a winning rom-com it ends up being…
  • A few thoughts on the end of the NBA season (1:00:30) and the championship-winning Boston Celtics…
  • Homework for next week (1:10:55), including: Hannah Einbinder’s stand-up special (on Max), the documentary Brats on Hulu, Ophan Black: Echoes on AMC, Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent, the Dev Patel feature Monkey Man (now on Peacock) and the return of The Boys on Amazon Prime Video…

The Toy Department – Episode 319

In Episode 319, Madden and Kolsky have a few not-so-spooky Halloween thoughts before they circle back to pop culture and get into:

  • The new Apple TV+ film Raymond and Ray (7:50) and how enjoyable it is to watch a fun, quirky movie for adults (particularly when it features such enjoyable performances)…
  • The limited Netflix series From Scratch (17:45) and how it’s a perfectly good romance novel on screen if that’s the sort of thing that you’re into…
  • Netflix’s The Watcher (23:00), complete with explosive acting and very creepy vibes…
  • Kolsky’s experience with Top Gun: Maverick (27:45), whether it’s a “good movie” and whether that even matters in this case…
  • The week’s episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies (38:55), featuring some rookie upstarts, Messy Fessy (whether he likes it or not) and an epic elimination…
  • Homework for next Friday (1:14:30), including: the movie The Stranger on Netflix, the return of The White Lotus on HBO, the BBC series Inside Man (now on Netflix) and the film The Good Nurse (alo on Netflix!!), plus OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies… and maybe a quick check-back on House of the Dragon for Kolsky to be upset about it again 🙂