The Toy Department – Episode 356

In Episode 356, Madden and Kolsky are both exhausted and threatening each other with falling asleep mid-sentence as they prepare to discuss:

  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (2:15) and how the change to an individual game changed the dynamic in the house…
  • A trip to the movie theater to see Barbie (22:55) and how Greta Gerwig snuck a feminist text into the brains of the masses…
  • Adam Sandler and family in the Netflix movie You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (35:15) and how it’s the most Jewish teen comedy our hosts have ever seen (and also very enjoyable)…
  • The surprising and intense Special Ops: Lioness (45:55) and how the Taylor Sheridan/Paramount+ galaxy continues to be more than expected…
  • Some disparate thoughts on the various Hollywood strikes (50:45) and some of the issues at hand…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:15), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, The Changeling on Apple TV+, the second season of Welcome to Wrexham on Hulu and another season of The Morning Show on Apple TV+…

The Toy Department – Episode 326

In Episode 326, Madden and Kolsky wonder whether Derek’s jinx powers are enough to bring about the end of the world before dismissing that danger and locking in on:

  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (2:00), including the heartbreak of another Nelson loss and what might be in store as we head towards TJ’s Final…
  • The Banshees of Inisherin (24:00) and how it infuriated one of our hosts beyond belief…
  • The largely enjoyable sloppy mess that was Amsterdam (37:50) and how it was too convoluted to be particularly good…
  • The harmless fun of Glass Onion (42:50) and how it left the guys wanting a bit more…
  • The bizarre approach of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (47:30) and the needlessness of Nazis…
  • Homework for next Friday (55:05), including: the movie White Noise on Netflix, the documentary WOO! Becoming Rick Flair on Peacock and The Recruit (the Noah Centineo CIA show) on Netflix… and OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies…

The Toy Department – Episode 271

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)…

The Toy Department – Episode 201

In Episode 201, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are on the clock, so skip the pleasantries in favor of discussing:

  • The new film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn) (1:20) and the two hosts’ disparate views on its success…
  • The new Netflix film To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (11:20) and how it retains all the charm of its predecessor…
  • Andy Greenwald’s new show Briarpatch on TBS (19:20) and whether it is worth diving into…
  • Green Day’s new album Father of All Motherfuckers (24:40) and whether it delivers on their promise to revive rock and roll…
  • Homework for next week (31:55), including: Brooklyn 99’s return, the new High Fidelity show on Hulu and the new film The Photograph in theaters, with a potential revisit to Miracle Workers on TBS…

The Toy Department – Episode 196

In Episode 196, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are pressed for time (and Kolsky has a sick baby again) but they still manage to get through:

  • The new film Parasite (2:50) and how director Bong Joon-ho told an incredibly engaging and meaningful story about class in Korea…
  • The film Bombshell (9:05) and how Madden and Kolsky processed the story of rampant sexual misconduct at Fox News…
  • The new NBC show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (24:00) and whether the pilot showed enough promise to keep either of the hosts’ attention…
  • Some thoughts on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (32:25) after the end of its third season…
  • A wrap-up of Disney+’s The Mandalorian (34:05) and why both guys thought it was the best Star Wars content of the year…
  • Homework for next week (36:35), including: NFL PLAYOFFS!!! (and probably some other stuff but really this section of the pod is just an NFL playoffs discussion and whatever else the guys watch will be determined during the week)…

The Toy Department – Episode 104

In a special, extra-long Episode 104 (hang in there, it’s totally worth your time) Derek Madden somehow earns another incomplete on his homework assignment, but he and Matt Kolsky still manage to dive DEEP into:

  • HBO’s Crashing (3:00) and the performance of Bill Burr on the excellent most recent episode…
  • The new Starz show Counterpart (9:15) featuring JK Simmons, and whether it’s compelling enough to convince people to pay for the network, which leads to a discussion of the modern TV landscape…
  • A check-in on Kolsky’s binge-watching of Parks & Rec (27:25) which is going swimmingly…
  • The Oscar-nominated film I, Tonya (33:15) and how its relationship with the facts and with real-life Tonya Harding might complicate a viewing of the film…
  • The new Paul Thomas Anderson film Phantom Thread (41:05) and all the things about it that are incredible, plus working through some thoughts and feelings about things that were confusing…
  • Super Bowl LII (1:13:35), specifically some of the delightful prop bets for this Sunday’s game, plus a fun bet on the game between Madden and Kolsky…
  • Homework for next week (1:39:05) including: Derek hopefully finally watching Mudbound and Darkest Hour, plus new albums from Justin Timberlake and Ty Segall and the new Netflix film A Futile & Stupid Gesture, about the early years of National Lampoon…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.