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!

The Toy Department – Episode 291

In Episode 291, Madden and Kolsky return from a Kolsky-forced hiatus to celebrate (or denigrate) all the pop culture they consumed while away, specifically:

  • The premiere of Top Chef Houston (2:25) and who the guys fell in love with in the first episode, plus thoughts on the first elimination and potential favorites to win…
  • The second season of The Righteous Gemstones (23:15) and how Madden is enjoying a slight shift in content…
  • The end of AppleTV+’s The Afterparty (24:55) and how ultimately it’s just a really good hang, even if it’s not always laugh-out-loud funny…
  • Season two of Euphoria (29:00) and how both hosts love this completely insane and wildly unbelievable show…
  • A quick take on The Girl Before (45:30) and how its particular brand of psychosexual melodrama is less than totally appealing…
  • A few thoughts on the Oscar-nominated film The Power of the Dog (47:00) and how neither host found it enjoyable, but for very different reasons than Sam Elliott…
  • Netflix’s new sensation Inventing Anna (52:15) and how it’s a very Shonda Rhimes show with some great acting and a fascinating story to tell…
  • The utterly “meh” Soderbergh joint Kimi (53:30) and how somehow it’s an empty enough effort to make both hosts indifferent towards Zoe Kravitz…
  • Potential future homeworks (55:30) Superpumped: The Battle for Uber and the Apple TV+ show Severance, directed by Ben Stiller; but those go on the back burner for now because we have…
  • Homework for next Friday (57:10), including: HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, the Oscar-nominated movie Nightmare Alley, the return of the original Law & Order and the new Prime Video cartoon The Boys Presents: Diabolical…