The Toy Department – Episode 287

In Episode 287, Madden and Kolsky are BACK (at long last!) to cover a MYRIAD of pop culture topics… and don’t worry, we cut out most of the COVID conversation so it’s basically straight into:

  • Aaron Sorkin’s Amazon Prime film Being the Ricardos (4:35) and how it’s a poorly cast, oddly framed and ultimately kind of pointless look at Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz…
  • The Matrix Resurrections on HBO Max (8:35) and how it was a pretty enjoyable action flick but not really anything special or mind-blowing…
  • Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett (13:10) and how it doesn’t live up to The Mandalorian’s high standard in the first couple episodes, but it probably deserves some time to achieve that level…
  • The Apple TV+ film Swan Song (15:00) and how tremendous performances from Mahershala Ali, Glenn Close and Awkwafina bring an incredibly subtle but deeply moving film to life…
  • The HBO Max post-apocalyptic series Station 11 (21:30) and how it really came together beautifully and is, in the end, a hopeful and uplifting version of the world…
  • The return of HBO’s Euphoria (33:25) and how it delivers the same beautiful cinematography and fascinating storytelling that you may remember from its first season…
  • The end of Season 1 of Showtime’s Yellowjackets (40:50) and how thrilling and entertaining and well-acted it was, plus some excitement over the potential for Season 2…
  • The end of The Challenge All-Stars 2 (50:10) and the new level we expect the Challenge’s senior circuit to hit with the quickly-coming Season 3…
  • A few thoughts on the NFL Playoffs (1:10:00) after a largely boring “Super” Wild Card Weekend…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (1:16:40), including: Abbott Elementary on ABC/Hulu, Pivoting on Fox/Hulu, How I Met Your Father on JUST Hulu and HBO’s new Duplass show Somebody Somewhere, plus the new season of Netflix’s Ozark… (and don’t miss the post-show out-take, we say the F word a lot 🙂

The Toy Department – The Challenge 36 – Episode 3

Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are back to recap and discuss another terrific episode of The Challenge: Double Agents… Complete with the Burn of the Week, MVP of the Week, and even a few minutes on the old school Challenge episodes that just hit Netflix!!

The Toy Department – The Challenge 36 – Episode 1

Welcome to the Toy Department’s VERY FIRST VERY SPECIAL CHALLENGE EPISODE!!! No detailed description today, no frills, just an hour of Challenge content. Madden and Kolsky break down the first episode of The Challenge: Double Agents, and get you ready for what feels like a real level-up season of America’s THIRD BEST professional sport. Don’t miss a minute.

The Toy Department – Episode 181

In Episode 181, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky dive into a short list of topics including:

  • The return of MTV’s The Challenge (2:05) and the incredible prospects for high level entertainment with War of the Worlds II
  • Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (19:40), a retelling of Jim Henson’s movie from the 80’s, and how it is really for kids…
  • The new Tool album Fear Inoculum (27:35) and how it may not win any new fans but it is definitely a strong late-period effort…
  • The now-imminent kickoff of the NFL season (36:30), the underwhelming season of Hard Knocks and how it looks at the top of the league…
  • A few thoughts on Travis Scott’s Netflix concert film/documentary Look Mom I Can Fly (53:20) and how it’s a decent look at Scott’s behind-the-scenes life…
  • Homework for next week (56:25), including: the return of The Deuce on HBO, the new film Late Night on Amazon, the new Hulu show Wu Tang: An American Saga, Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik on Comedy Central and ESPN’s new 30 for 30 about Dennis Rodman…