Monte Taylor – The Toy Department

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+…

In Episode 355, Madden and Kolsky lament some technical issues before jumping right into:

The last two weeks of action from The Challenge: USA Season 2 (1:45); and there is A LOT of action to cover!
Tracy Morgan’s new stand-up special Takin’ It Too Far (38:40) which is pretty quintessential Tracy Morgan content…
The Ringer-produced documentary Destination NBA: A G-League Odyssey (40:20) and how it was interesting and informative but didn’t quite come together as brilliantly as our hosts hoped…
The latest Star Wars series, Ahsoka (47:10) and how Rosario Dawson and a generally good cast is not necessarily enough to save the franchise for our less sci-fi-inclined host…
Homework for next week (51:35), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, the Netflix film You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah and the boys are gonna head to the theaters to see Barbie(!!)…

In Episode 354, Madden and Kolsky reflect once again on Kolsky’s family couch-surfing, plus the ultimate basement destination, before locking into:

This week’s two episodes of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (2:55) and how the young guns are running the game so far, plus predictions of defection in next week’s episodes…
The Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone (36:20) and the delightfully over-the-top performances of Jamie Foxx and Teyonnah Paris…
Wes Anderson’s film Asteroid City (39:20) and the diminishing returns of an adult man playing with model houses…
Netflix’s Untold: Johnny Football (44:30) and the insane journey of its subject, Johnny Manziel…
The weekly dose of Chelsea football (54:55) as Kolsky tries to rev himself up for the rebuilding project…
Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:01:35), including: FOUR more episodes of The Challenge: USA Season 2, Tracy Morgan’s Max special Takin’ It Too Far, the new Star Wars series Ahsoka and the Ringer-produced Destination NBA: A G-League Odyssey…

In Episode 353, Madden and Kolsky discuss the Kolsky family’s bizarre living (and recording) arrangements before moving on to:

The return of The Challenge!! It’s the second season of The Challenge: USA (2:35) and it offers a lot of promise, despite a climax-less first episode and a questionable release schedule… The guys discuss some old favorites and some new blood…
Max’s Steven Soderbergh-directed kidnapping drama Full Circle (28:35) and how it asks its viewers to remain engaged with obvious puzzle pieces missing…
The Netflix docu-series Quarterback (34:50) and just how impressive those who play the position are (even Kirk Cousins)…
The return of pod favorite Reservation Dogs (45:40) and how the Hulu series continues to be utterly unique on television and wildly enjoyable…
The premiere of season two of Winning Time on HBO (52:15) and the Magic/Kareem relationship that appears to be at its core…
A few thoughts on the English Premier League (58:15) and Kolsky’s potentially heartbreaking hope surrounding Chelsea’s season…
Homework for next week (1:04:15), including: more of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone, the Wes Anderson film Asteroid City (now on Peacock) and Netflix’s Untold: Johnny Football doc…