January 2025 – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 412

In Episode 412, Madden and Kolsky have a quick chat about vacations and the city of New Orleans before focusing in on:

The conclusion of a lackluster reunion for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:20) and a look ahead to the hopefully much more entertaining All-Stars 5…
The Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (16:30), some big-time acting performances and the impact of Dylan going electric…
The Amazon Prime film Unstoppable (27:50) and what a classic high-quality true-story drama looks like…
The return of Apple TV+ sensation Severance (35:05) and what Ben Stiller & Co. are driving at with this bizarre and stylized show…
Peacock’s goofy new comedy Laid (44:25), the irrepressible charm of Stephanie Hsu and the absolute wheelhouse of Zosia Mamet…
A touch of sports talk (49:30) as we careen towards the end of both the NFL season and the soccer transfer window…
Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:04:05), including: the first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, the new Hulu show Paradise, the return of Netflix’s The Night Agent and Oscar contenders Anora and A Real Pain…

In Episode 411, Madden and Kolsky spend some time whining about the cold weather and their various maladies before sucking it up and getting to:

An underwhelming start to the reunion of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:30) and how the customary post-championship party probably needs a new format…
The even more underwhelming Cruel Intentions remake (16:45) and how remakes need a new take on the material…
The Oscar buzz-y papacy drama Conclave (23:05) and how difficult it is to care about the mystery if you don’t care about Catholicism…
Hulu’s comedy How to Die Alone (30:30) and how it entertains pretty well, even if it leaves our host wanting more at times….
The world of Philomena Cunk (34:35) — starting with Cunk on Earth — and the brilliance of actress Diane Morgan, with a slight interruption from Kolsky’s three-year-old…
The thrilling conclusion of Landman (40:30) and the continuing prolific spectacle of the Taylor Sheridan universe, plus more three-year-old content…
Homework for next week (49:40), including: one more week of Challenge reunion, the return of Severance on Apple TV+, the new movie Unstoppable on Amazon Prime, the Peacock comedy Laid (starring Stephanie Hsu) and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown…
A few thoughts on the NFL (53:20) as we head into divisional playoff weekend…

In Episode 410, Madden and Kolsky are both suffering from a little case of winter doldrums, but buck up after a few minutes of whining to get into:

The controversial conclusion of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (5:20) and whether Season 40 lived up to the hype, plus some looking ahead to the debut of All-Stars 5 in a few weeks…
A frustrated reaction to Oscar hopeful Emilia Perez (37:40) and why movie musicals should cease to exist…
The relatively formulaic but reasonably entertaining Carry-On (53:10) and whether Netflix’s ambitions currently rise any higher than this sort of fare…
The surprisingly (for one of our hosts) excellent Saturday Night (58:50) and Jason Reitman’s impressive direction of a hectic real-life story…
Homework for next week (1:06:50), including: the Oscar hopeful Conclave (available on Peacock), Amazon Prime’s new shows Unstoppable and Cruel Intentions, and Natasha Rothwell’s show How to Die Alone on Hulu, plus revisiting Landman after its conclusion…

In Episode 409, Madden and Kolsky have a quick post-holiday catch-up before diving right into:

An underwhelming Part 1 of TJ’s Final on The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (3:00) and how our hosts agree with Kyland’s take on the overwhelming amount of swimming…
The latest in the Taylor Sheridan universe — Landman (16:20) and how Sheridan continues to defy all reason with his level of productivity, plus some tremendous acting from Billy Bob Thornton and company…
Netflix’s delightful spy thriller Black Doves (26:05) and the joy of a nicely packaged, easily completed and wildly enjoyable piece of television…
The new show No Good Deed (29:50), also on Netflix, and whether it’s doing too much or having the right amount of fun…
Hulu’s Interior Chinatown (35:00), a totally original take on well-trodden TV territory, and the brilliance of Ronny Chieng…
Homework for next week (44:15), including: the conclusion of TJ’s Final on The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, the Netflix movie Carry-On, the Oscar hopeful Emilia Perez (also on Netflix) and the Jason Reitman film Saturday Night, about the lead-up to the first airing of Saturday Night Live…