The Toy Department – Episode 329

In Episode 329, Madden and Kolsky have a brief bundt cake discussion before getting down to the business of the day:

  • HBO’s new Sunday night series The Last of Us (3:40), and how it was perfectly watchable but didn’t totally live up to the hype for either of our hosts…
  • The despicably bad NBC Night Court reboot (10:55) and how disappointing it was…
  • The warm, inviting Netflix re-imagining that is That 90’s Show (15:25) and how it proves the concept of a nostalgic sitcom reboot…
  • Netflix’s new tennis docu-series Break Point (22:10) and how it worked much better for one of our hosts than it did for the other…
  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (29:10) which is NOT yet at TJ’s final, but still gave us a highly entertaining episode this week… and also the latest from Kolsky’s experience with one of Rachel’s Challenge Workouts…
  • Homework for next Friday (53:30), including: the movie The Menu on HBO Max, the comedy Bros on Peacock and the limited series Treason on Netflix… plus, OF COURSE, the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies!!

The Toy Department – Episode 261

In Episode 261, Madden and Kolsky have a log list of subjects, so time-wasting is eschewed in favor of:

  • The latest from Top Chef: Portland (1:10) and FINALLY the elimination of bad-pasta-Chris, plus thoughts on the recipe challenge and the hosts’ favorites heading down the stretch…
  • The Friends reunion on HBO Max (20:45) and how it aimed for 100 minutes of nostalgia and hit pretty close to the bullseye…
  • The new film Plan B (38:25) and how it’s an absolute home run of an indie high school adventure movie…
  • A wrap-up discussion on Mare of Easttown (43:55) and how HBO has another high-quality limited series in the drama category, filled with tremendous acting performances and a compelling crime mystery…
  • Some NBA playoff thoughts (54:35) at the halfway point (or so) of the first round, re-assessing the favorites after a rash of injuries and some see-sawing series results…
  • A brief discussion about Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open (1:02:50) and the difficult task of respecting metal health while also realizing that media availability is part of the job of a modern professional athlete…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:09:30), including: more Top Chef in Portland (and probably more NBA Playoffs action), the new Netflix movie Army of the Dead, Bo Burham’s new stand-up special on Netflix and the new British comedy We Are Lady Parts, about an all-female Muslim punk band…