Tag Archives: television

The Toy Department – Episode 240

  By toyAdmin | December 23, 2020 - 9:39 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 240, Madden and Kolsky do a bit of show production on air before diving into:

  • The listener-recommended show Wayne (2:05) and just how remarkably well our listener Brandon has pegged our taste…
  • The BEST OF 2020 Extravaganza (7:40) wherein our two hosts intimately detail all the movies, music and television that they loved… settle in for a nice, long ride…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (1:21:45), including: the first of the five films in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe collection (called Mangrove), the new movie Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max and the new Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – The Challenge 36 – Episode 2

  By toyAdmin | December 17, 2020 - 10:57 am | Uncategorized
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It’s Episode 2 of our series on The Challenge: Double Agents — our first team switches, a beastly elimination performance by pod favorite Kyle, and our first Burn of the Week and episode MVPs are handed out. It’s the best coverage of The Challenge on the internet, so don’t miss it!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 239

  By toyAdmin | December 15, 2020 - 2:25 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 239, Madden berates Kolsky for prioritizing a mediocre baba ghanoush over the podcast recording time before jumping into:

  • HBO’s first special episode of Euphoria (5:55) and the tremendous performances by Colman Domingo and Zendaya…
  • The Steven Soderbergh/HBO Max film Let Them All Talk (12:15) and what it has to say about life and relationships…
  • The highly acclaimed new film The Sound of Metal (25:50) and how the strength of Riz Ahmed’s performance carries it…
  • The Rachel Brosnahan film I’m Your Woman (34:30) and how it subverted both hosts’ expectations to great effect…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (52:10), including: our 2020 BEST OF lists — a breathtaking thrill ride, even this year — and the show Wayne on Amazon Prime (recommended by an intrepid listener)… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – The Challenge 36 – Episode 1

  By toyAdmin | December 10, 2020 - 11:01 am | Uncategorized
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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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 238

  By toyAdmin | December 8, 2020 - 11:26 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 238, Madden and Kolsky are debuting the new pod format/schedule and waste little time getting into:

  • HBO Max’s new Kaley Cuoco vehicle The Flight Attendant (1:50) and how the show and its star are both revelations…
  • The new Netflix film Mank (9:50) and whether David Fincher’s throwback to black-and-white movies has enough to draw in those who are not particularly interested in that time period…
  • The return of Big Mouth (24:05) and how Nick Kroll & Co. continue to execute at the highest possible level…
  • A few quick sports thoughts (34:30) touching on MLS and MLB…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (39:35), including: HBO’s new special episodes of Euphoria, the new Soderbergh/Meryl Streep movie Let Them All Talk on HBO Max, the Riz Ahmed film The Sound of Metal and the Rachel Brosnahan action flick I’m Your Woman, both on Amazon Prime… PLUS, our first VERY SPECIAL CHALLENGE EPISODE coming on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 237

  By toyAdmin | December 4, 2020 - 11:23 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 237, Madden and Kolsky are back after a LOOOOONG Thanksgiving break with LOTS to talk about (after a brief recounting of Kolsky’s COVID test):

  • A preview of THE CHALLENGE: DOUBLE AGENTS (3:30) which premiere’s next week on MTV, and which this podcast will cover IN DEPTH…
  • The end of The Undoing on HBO (19:20) and how miserably, ridiculously bad it was…
  • Kevin Hart’s new Netflix stand-up special (24:40) and the difficulty of being funny while incredibly rich…
  • Showtime’s John Belushi documentary (26:50) and its exciting new insight into the personality and humanity of a complicated public figure…
  • Another new HBO Max series, I Hate Suzie (33:45) and its interesting genre-blending style…
  • The HBO Max series Two Weeks to Live (38:10) starring the irresistibly charming Maisie Williams…
  • The 2020 reboot of Saved By The Bell (41:20) and how impressive the execution is…
  • The bizarre intrigue of Netflix’s sword-making reality show Forged in Fire (46:05) and the fascinating question of WHERE DO THEY FIND THESE PEOPLE???…
  • Homework for TUESDAY of next week (53:05), including: the return of Big Mouth on Netflix, the new movie Mank on Netflix and HBO Max’s new Kaley Cuoco vehicle The Flight Attendant…
  • A few sports thoughts on the way out the door (55:20) with the NFL and college sports in full COVID swing and the NBA ready to start shortly…

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The Toy Department – Episode 236

  By toyAdmin | November 17, 2020 - 11:28 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 236, Madden and Kolsky do some show housekeeping and discuss Netflix’s shiftiness before diving into:

  • The madness of this season of The Bachelorette (8:35) and how it compares to other love reality shows…
  • A check-in on pod favorite Fargo (30:30) and the beautiful oddities of Noah Hawley’s work throughout the show…
  • The start of Season 4 of The Crown (37:30) and whether the British royal family is worth engaging with for entertainment…
  • A wrap-up of The Good Lord Bird (44:20) and the hosts’ differing opinions on the strange John Brown bio-series…
  • A final chat about everyone’s new favorite Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit (51:25), and the allure of lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy…
  • Some NBA thoughts (59:30) with the draft and free agency on our doorstep specifically on what Minnesota and Golden State are likely to do with the first two picks…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:12:45), including: I Hate Suzie and Two Weeks To Live (both on HBO Max), Showtime’s John Belushi documentary, the resurrected Saved By The Bell, Kevin Hart’s new Netflix comedy special and the sword-making reality show Forged in Fire… plus Weeks 11 & 12 of the NFL season and the NBA offseason…

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The Toy Department – Episode 235

  By toyAdmin | November 10, 2020 - 4:11 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 235, Madden and Kolsky are taking advantage of Baby Kolsky’s nap, so they get right into:

  • Showtime’s new space comedy Moonbase 8 (3:25) and how it’s funny at times but doesn’t seem to amount to much…
  • The new Song Exploder show on Netflix (11:55) and how interesting and worthwhile the show remains in visual form…
  • HBO’s The Undoing (19:30) and how it’s an intriguing mystery at the three week mark…
  • HBO’s new financial world show Industry (25:30) and the surprising directorial effort in the first episode…
  • Homework for next week (3:50), including: catching up on The Bachelorette and checking out the big controversy, the debut of the newest season of The Crown on Netflix, a catch-up on the current season of Fargo, a check-in on Good Lord Bird and a wrap-up of The Queen’s Gambit… plus Week 10 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 234

  By toyAdmin | November 3, 2020 - 10:54 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 234, Madden and Kolsky dance around the big non-toy-department event of the day before diving into frivolous pop culture to discuss:

  • Sarah Cooper’s Netflix sketch comedy special Everything’s Fine (2:30) and the hosts’ differing opinions on its successfulness…
  • The Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher (9:30) and how the incredible visual experience wasn’t quite enough for one of our hosts…
  • Season 2 of The Mandalorian (20:50) and how it dives right back in to deliver more space cowboy fun…
  • Amazon’s new series Truth Seekers (27:45) and how Simon Pegg and Nick Frost seem to be building another good horror-comedy…
  • Some binging ideas for the masses (31:40) in the event that one needs to spend the next several days in bed watching television…
  • Homework for next week, assuming we still exist (43:50), including: the new HBO show Industry, a check-in on HBO’s The Undoing, Showtime’s new space comedy Moonbase 8 and Netflix’s new Song Exploder show… plus Week 9 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 233

  By toyAdmin | October 27, 2020 - 11:06 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 233, Madden and Kolsky dip their toes into the World Series champion Dodgers and the Tampa Bay mistakes that got them there before focusing in on more entertaining fare:

  • The West Wing reunion special (9:25) and the very different experiences our hosts had watching it…
  • HBO’s new Sunday night show The Undoing (22:20) and how it sets up the mystery that seems to be at the core of the season…
  • Netflix’s new mini-series The Queen’s Gambit (27:10) and the magnetism of both the show and its star…
  • Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (33:25) and how Sacha Baron Cohen still manages to bring the laughs with his old character…
  • The Apple TV+ film On the Rocks (39:45) and how it doesn’t amount to much beyond fun times with Bill Murray and Rashida Jones…
  • Homework for next week (47:20), including: the return of The Mandalorian on Disney+, Truth Seekers on Amazon, Sarah Cooper’s Netflix comedy special Everything’s Fine and the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher… plus Week 8 of the NFL season…

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