Tag Archives: HBO Max

The Toy Department – Episode 282

  By toyAdmin | November 19, 2021 - 12:23 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 282, Madden and Kolsky pushed through the technical difficulties common to olds of their age in order to bring you their thoughts on…

  • The newly Disney+-watchable Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2:35) and how it hits all its marks and ends up a highly enjoyable experience…
  • A brief NFL detour (7:55) to discuss some rookie quarterback play…
  • Paramount+’s big prestige TV swing Mayor of Kingstown (11:50) and whether it delivers on the promise of its cast…
  • The thrilling new HBO Max show Yellowjackets (20:55) and the incredible cast of women executing it…
  • Deep analysis of a top-shelf episode of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies (27:20) and who controls the game as it speeds towards the surely imminent final…
  • Episode 2 of this season of The Challenge All-Stars (57:05), the gamut of emotions it runs and how the game is shaping up for the old fogies…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:15:55), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, AND more Challenge All-Stars, HBO’s Music Box documentary Jagged (about Alanis Morrisette), the new Netflix film Red Notice, the new season of The Great on Hulu and The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO Max…

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The Toy Department – Episode 280

  By toyAdmin | November 4, 2021 - 12:07 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 280, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s exuberance in the afterglow of his Braves’ World Series Championship before moving into…

  • Netflix’s new show Colin in Black & White (6:05) from Colin Kaepernick and Ava Duvernay, and how it doesn’t quite live up to the expectations that collaboration might inspire…
  • HBO Max’s new season of Love Life (16:35) starring William Jackson Harper and how it compares to the original Anna Kendrick season…
  • The latest action and drama from The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies (21:30), how the Emerald Cell keeps avoiding infiltration and who’s in control of the game at this critical late-season juncture…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:00:30), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, the new season of Netflix’s Big Mouth, the new Netflix western film The Harder They Fall and the new Apple TV+ film Finch (starring Tom Hanks)…

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The Toy Department – Episode 279

  By toyAdmin | October 28, 2021 - 12:10 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 279, Madden and Kolsky congratulate themselves for managing to record the podcast on schedule before quickly getting down to brass tacks with…

  • The new film Dune on HBO Max (1:20) and how mileage may vary depending on your familiarity with the story…
  • The return of the HBO/Issa Rae series Insecure (14:30) for its final season, and how nice it is to be back in the groove with a show that is founded on being a tremendous vibe…
  • This week’s action on The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies (26:45), whether anyone will ever infiltrate the Emerald Cell and whose strategic moves are working the best as the game heads into the home stretch…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:01:20), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, the new Netflix show Colin in Black & White from Ava Duvernay and Colin Kaepernick, the new season of Love Life on HBO Max, AND the World Series (“Go Braves,” says Derek) AND AND the early NBA season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 271

  By toyAdmin | August 19, 2021 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 271, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky reconvene after a week off with a MASSIVE list of pop culture topics, including:

  • The just-completed HBO Max series The White Lotus (3:25) and how the soundtrack and the acting were both tremendous, even if our hosts had different views of the series overall…
  • HBO Max’s dating series FBOY Island (17:25) and how Madden and Kolsky received the show in tremendously different ways, though they agree that saying “F Boy” over and over again is a terrible idea…
  • A couple brief thoughts on Apple TV+’s Mr. Corman (25:45) and how neither host has much to say about it yet, but both are in to see where Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes this thing…
  • James Gunn’s Suicide Squad (26:20) and how it succeeded in being largely entertaining, even if there aren’t a lot of meaningful takeaways…
  • THE RETURN of The Challenge (34:35), and all the intrigue from the first two episodes of Spies, Lies and Allies — from the eccentric Romanians Emy and Emanuel to Hurricane Ashley and everything in between…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:17:10), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, plus the Netflix documentary Untold: Malice at the Palace, the new FX (on Hulu) show Reservation Dogs and the Sandra Oh show The Chair (also on Netflix)…

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The Toy Department – Episode 270

  By toyAdmin | August 3, 2021 - 11:06 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 270, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky talk a little about the crowded sports calendar before turning their focus to:

  • The return of Behind the Music (7:15) and whether the now-MTV property is doing enough with new content to be worth watching…
  • The new Iliza Schlesinger Netflix movie Good on Paper (17:40) and how it’s a relatively original twist on what is basically a romantic comedy format…
  • The new HBO Max comedy special Tig Notaro: Drawn (22:20) and whether the animation gimmick adds to Tig’s particular brand of stand-up…
  • The surprisingly compelling Peacock show Dr. Death (28:10) and how the lead actors and a shocking true story help create an engrossing experience…
  • Homework for next THURSDAY (37:15), including: the return of The Challenge!!! — Spies, Lies and Allies debuts on Wednesday and the guys will go deep on next week’s THURSDAY pod, plus HBO Max’s goofy new dating show FBOY Island, the new Suicide Squad movie (also on HBO Max) and hopefully an episode or two of Apple TV+’s Joseph-Gordon Levitt vehicle Mr. Corman…

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The Toy Department – Episode 269

  By toyAdmin | July 27, 2021 - 11:28 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 269, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky start by chatting about recent Olympic events and the recent trend of athletes stepping away to prioritize their mental health, then move through:

  • Season 2 of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+ (16:20) and how the show remains tremendously charming but the release schedule is an unanticipated annoyance…
  • Another Apple TV+ original, Schmigadoon! (22:35) and whether it is a parody musical or just a mediocre musical…
  • The new documentary Woodstock ’99: Peace, Love and Rage (28:05) from the Music Box series, a very well-made doc that tells a story about the past but ties directly to our present…
  • The new season of TBS’ Miracle Workers (48:35) and how the show retains a lot of its charm but definitely has some diminishing returns…
  • Hulu’s docu-series McCartney 3, 2, 1 (54:10) and how much mileage each of our hosts get out of old men telling stories — spoiler alert, it varies…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:04:05), including: Tig Notaro: Drawn on HBO Max, the Behind the Music revival on Paramount+, the Iliza Schlesinger Netflix rom-com Good on Paper and Dr. Death on Peacock; plus, LOTS of sports content between the Olympics, the NBA Draft and the MLB trade deadline…

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The Toy Department – Episode 268

  By toyAdmin | July 20, 2021 - 12:26 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 268, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with some Ted Lasso Season 2 excitement before discussing some currently available pop culture, including:

  • The new season of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever (3:40) and how it remains charming and enjoyable but doesn’t necessarily feel essential…
  • LeBron’s Space Jam (8:15) and how it’s a perfectly decent kids movie with a non-actor (but also non-terrible) star…
  • Netflix’s new action flick Gunpowder Milkshake (24:40) and how it’s basically the best version of exactly what you would expect it to be…
  • A few thoughts on an NBA Finals series (31:40) that has changed a lot since we last spoke…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (44:20), including: the new Hulu documentary McCartney 3, 2, 1, Apple TV+’s new musical satire Schmigadoon!, the new season of Miracle Workers (set on the Oregon Trail), the new HBO documentary Woodstock ’99: Peace, Love and Rage and the second season of Ted Lasso…

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The Toy Department – Episode 267

  By toyAdmin | July 13, 2021 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 267, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly debate who is responsible for their totally irrelevant delay in recording the episode before diving into:

  • The newly-available-on-the-CW show Wellington Paranormal (2:45) and whether or not the first two episodes are enough to warrant continued viewing…
  • The CW/HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl (7:50), the pilot-y nature of the first episode and how it compares and contrasts to the original series…
  • Mike White’s new HBO show The White Lotus (29:10) and just how very much is going on in the first episode without necessarily giving you an idea of what’s going on, broadly speaking…
  • A handful of sports thoughts, from the NBA Finals (45:35) to ESPN’s mishandling of the Rachel Nichols/Maria Taylor debacle (52:30)…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:06:50), including: Season 2 of Never Have I Ever and the film Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix, the new Hulu documentary McCartney 3, 2, 1 and LeBron’s Space Jam on HBO Max…

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The Toy Department – Episode 266

  By toyAdmin | July 6, 2021 - 11:34 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 266, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky CAN’T WAIT to start talking pop culture, so it’s straight into:

  • The finalé of Top Chef in Portland (1:00) and the post-series drama surrounding the winner, plus the premiere of Top Chef: Amateurs (23:45) and the impressive talent and quirky personalities therein…
  • The USWNT documentary LFG (33:10) and the team’s long fight for equal pay…
  • The new Steven Soderbergh film No Sudden Move (56:45) and whether the great director still has his fastball…
  • The first Questlove jawn, Summer of Soul (1:01:30) and all of the many takeaways from an excellent documentary film…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:11:35), including: the reboot of Gossip Girl on HBO Max/CW, the New Zealand(ish?) show Wellington Paranormal (produced by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement) on The CW and the new Mike White show The White Lotus on HBO, plus a couple other pieces of pop culture, potentially…

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The Toy Department – Episode 265

  By toyAdmin | June 29, 2021 - 11:16 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 265, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly discuss a soccer game that will be long over by the time you listen to this podcast, then get into:

  • The latest episode of Top Chef in Portland (3:40), whether or not the non-elimination elimination was the right decision and thoughts on the final three chefs…
  • FX’s new talk show Choe Show (30:55), the bizarre brilliance of David Choe and how the show represents a kind of peak version of a modern television talk show…
  • Netflix’s docu-series This Is Pop (43:25) and its place as as sort of documentary innings-eater…
  • The special extra episode of HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (48:45) and what purpose it was intended to serve…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (54:55), including: the FINALÉ of Top Chef in Portland, the premiere of Top Chef: Amateurs, the start of the NBA Finals, the USWNT documentary LFG on HBO Max, the new Questlove film Summer of Soul on Hulu and the new Steven Soderbergh joint No Sudden Move…

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