The Toy Department – Episode 225

In Episode 225, Madden and Kolsky open another attempt at a short pod with an unnecessary detour into sparkling water v. still water before moving on to:

  • HBO’s new series Lovecraft Country (6:55) and the wild, occasionally disturbing ride of the first episode…
  • The new Netflix movie Project Power (19:40), which might be a B movie, and whether the tone fit the quality…
  • A few thoughts on baseball (29:50) and its stupid unwritten rules…
  • Some NBA Playoff chatter (36:25) with thoughts on what happens moving forward…
  • Homework for next week (57:25), including: the new Netflix cartoon Hoops, the new HBO Max reality dating series Singletown and LOTS MORE NBA Playoff action…

The Toy Department – Episode 224

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)…

The Toy Department – Episode 223

In Episode 223, Madden and Kolsky talk a bit about the busy return of sports before switching to pop culture for discussions on:

  • A quick revisiting of HBO’s Perry Mason (4:45) to set up a longer discussion after this coming Sunday’s finale…
  • The second season of Netflix’s Umbrella Academy (11:55) and why the second season is even better than the first…
  • The Go-Go’s documentary on Showtime (19:10) and how it is a little too cookie cutter to really stand out…
  • Season Five of the Netflix docu-series Last Chance U (27:10) and the fertile storytelling ground that is Oakland’s Laney College…
  • HBO’s docu-series I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (36:20) and how it deftly covers two converging storylines…
  • Beyoncé’s new visual album Black is King (44:10) and the greatness of the Queen…
  • Homework for next week (52:30), including: the season finale of HBO’s Perry Mason, the new HBO Max film An American Pickle and the return of Hard Knocks (also on HBO), plus LOTS of sports action and maybe a touch of Shark Week…