Seth Rogen – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 347

In Episode 347, Madden and Kolsky are working on a Sunday, JUST FOR YOU, chatting about:

The first Paris episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars (1:35) and what a wonderful episode of the series it was, plus the guys give their thoughts on Padma’s impending departure from the show…
The series finalé of Succession (25:45) and how rare it is for a show to be so consistently great throughout its entire run…
The Apple TV+ comedy Platonic (40:25) and the delightful chemistry between Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne…
Another Apple TV+ comedy — High Desert (43:20) and the powerhouse performance of Patricia Arquette…
The HBO/Max movie Reality (47:50) and how it left both of our hosts with more questions than answers; both about its subject Reality Winner and the choices of the filmmakers…
Homework for next week (57:50), including: the new HBO series The Idol, The American Gladiator Documentary on ESPN+, and the surfing docu-series 100-Foot Wave on Max… PLUS the finalé of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo… and some NBA Finals talk as well!

In Episode 292, Madden and Kolsky briefly address the sad news of the passing of Derek’s dog before brightening everyone’s spirits with:

This week’s episode of Top Chef: Houston (1:50) and just how high the level of execution appears to be in the early part of the season…
HBO’s new Lakers-focused show Winning Time (22:20), how much fun it is and some of the excellent performances in the first episode…
The Oscar-nominated Guillermo Del Toro film Nightmare Alley (33:50) and how it sucked both hosts in with a gripping and visually striking noir story…
The return of the original Law & Order (41:35) and what makes the OG the best version of the now widely spun-off concept…
The new cartoon short series The Boys: Diabolical (49:00) and how it’s more or less exactly what you’d expect and not particularly important for any reason…
Homework for next Friday (51:25), including: more Top Chef: Houston, along with the Apple TV+ series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (starring Sam Jackson) and Severance (directed by Ben Stiller), the Oscar-nominated Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza and the Showtime show SuperPumped about the battle for Uber…

In Episode 224, Madden and Kolsky already talked about the weather pre-pod, so they dive right into:

The totality of HBO’s Perry Mason (1:25) and whether the guys are interested in a second season…
The current season of The Chi on Showtime (13:15) and how it has changed from what it seemed to be in its first season…
The new Seth Rogen film American Pickle (18:10), available on HBO Max, and how it is exceptionally bizarre and really quite enjoyable…
The return of HBO’s Hard Knocks (25:50) and the challenges the show is dealing with in this strange season…
Some NBA talk (33:55) as the bubble games give way to the official playoffs and Damian Lillard makes us all gaze on in wonder…
A little bit of MLB discussion (1:05:50) as we hit the 20-game mark, which is one third of this weird season…
Homework for next week (1:16:05), including: the new Netflix movie Project Power, HBO’s new show Lovecraft Country and LOTS of NBA Playoff action (with maybe some other stuff added mid-week)…

In Episode 179, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky exchange pleasantries and childcare thoughts before shuffling through:

The new film Good Boys (3:15) and how producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have once again made a delightful film of a very specific type…
Another Rogen/Goldberg joint, Amazon’s The Boys (13:05) and how both guys feel after the conclusion of its first season…
The premiere of The Righteous Gemstones (26:10), another deeply Danny McBride-ish dark comedy on HBO…
The return of Netflix’s Mindhunter (33:45) and some of the things that make it one of the best TV shows going…
Homework for next week (50:10), including: the new Showtime series On Becoming a God in Central Florida, Dave Chappelle’s new stand-up special and The Let Down (an Australian dramedy) on Netflix, plus two new albums — Little Brother’s May the Lord Watch and Sleater-Kinney’s The Center Won’t Hold…

In Episode 176, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have a quick chat about Madden’s concert-going exploits before delving into:

The premiere of the final season of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black (2:10), which Madden enjoyed more than Kolsky but also maybe Kolsky just needs to stick with it a little longer…
Amazon’s new Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg production The Boys (10:15) and how it is different than any superhero show you’ve seen and pretty damn good…
The Showtime documentary Shangri-LA (16:20) and its fascinating subject Rick Rubin…
Chance the Rapper’s new album The Big Day (31:45) and how it is long but really quite good throughout…
Homework for next week (40:50), including: the premiere of Bachelor in Paradise (for real this time), the return of Dear White People on Netflix, the new season of HBO’s Hard Knocks (featuring the Oakland Raiders), a new HBO show – A Black Lady Sketch Show (from Issa Rae), Whitney Cummings’ new comedy special on Netflix and the new Tarantino film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood…