Tag Archives: Jalen Brunson

The Toy Department – Episode 457

  By toyAdmin | June 3, 2026 - 2:27 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 457, Madden and Kolsky missed a week, so no time is wasted before discussions of:

  • An eventful two weeks on Top Chef (1:00), which sets us up for a humdinger of a finalé next week…
  • Tatiana Maslany’s new Apple TV+ show Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (30:50) and how her magnetism is at the center of an entertaining experience…
  • Netflix’s new Duffer Brothers-produced series The Boroughs (35:00) and how there are some pretty good pieces but neither host is particularly interested in the central storyline…
  • Netflix’s new crime thriller Nemesis (39:05) and how it’s a good version of a broad, good v. evil sort of populist TV show…
  • A look at the world of sports (45:45) with the NBA set for a Spurs-Knicks Finals, Arsenal winning the Premier League (but not the Champions League!) and the World Cup on deck…
  • Homework for some time next week (1:04:20), including: the finalé of Top Chef, the new Apple TV+ series Cape Fear and Kolsky catching up on the series finalés of Hacks, Euphoria and The Boys…

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The Toy Department – Episode 421

  By toyAdmin | May 16, 2025 - 11:38 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 421, Madden and Kolsky return after too long of a break to get into a wealth of pop culture, some of it very excellent, at least whatever they can remember of:

  • The last few weeks of action on Top Chef: Destination Canada (2:55), where a top dog almost fell and the competition is fierce heading into the semi-finals…
  • The first of the week’s two mediocre action flicks, Havoc (16:25) and how it succeeds in little other than being extremely overly self-serious…
  • The second MAF, Viola Davis’s G20 (20:05) and how it at least understands what it is and wins within its limits…
  • Episodes 3 and 4 of the new Black Mirror season (24:00) and how they better fit the brief of the show than the first two did, much to Kolsky’s delight…
  • The second season of Andor (33:10), which places it among the best works in the entire Star Wars canon…
  • A check-in on The Last of Us (39:35), which has taken a couple of pretty dramatic turns over the course of the season…
  • The new season of Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face (46:05) and what a joy it is to have her (and the guest stars) in our lives again…
  • The new Netflix series The Four Seasons (48:55) and how it made two aging men laugh and also think a lot about their lives and decisions…
  • Homework for next week (57:15), including: the semifinals on Top Chef: Destination Canada, the last two episodes of Black Mirror’s new season, the new JJ Abrams show Duster on (HBO) Max, the new Guy Ritchie movie Fountain of Youth on Apple TV+, the Steven Soderbergh film Black Bag on Peacock and the new Apple TV+ series Murderbot…

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The Toy Department – Episode 420

  By toyAdmin | April 25, 2025 - 12:48 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 420, Madden and Kolsky get into some dentistry (and periodontistry?) before circling around to:

  • The latest from Top Chef: Destination Canada (3:55), where Tristen Epps is absolutely clobbering the competition…
  • A check-in on season four of Hacks (19:10) which is just a genuinely great television show with two excellent leads…
  • Nathan Fielder’s HBO madness The Rehearsal (22:45) and how spectacularly it confounds Kolsky…
  • Another season of Black Mirror on Netflix (31:15)… or is it Black Mirror? The guys discuss…
  • A couple of quick NBA playoff thoughts (38:15) after a couple games in the first round…
  • Homework for next week (56:50), including: another episode of Top Chef: Destination Canada, some more of Black Mirror’s new season, season two of Andor and two action flicks: G20 on Amazon Prime and Havoc on Netflix…

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The Toy Department – Episode 343

  By toyAdmin | May 5, 2023 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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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…

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