Tag Archives: Los Angeles Lakers

The Toy Department – Episode 227

  By toyAdmin | September 10, 2020 - 11:56 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 227, Madden and Kolsky discuss the apocalypse weather in California and the movie Madden DIDN’T watch before sliding into:

  • The new Bill & Ted movie (5:25) and how it doesn’t give you much beyond a few laughs and a lot of references to the originals…
  • The new Netflix show Away (14:10) and how it’s less mission to Mars space show than it is interpersonal drama…
  • Amazon’s The Boys (23:40) and how the second season looks in the early going, plus thoughts on the three-per-week release schedule…
  • Amazon’s soccer docu-series All or Nothing (30:25), which focuses on Tottenham Hotspur and got very lucky with a mid-season coaching change…
  • A bit of NBA discussion (45:45) as the playoffs wind towards the conference finals…
  • Some NFL preview talk (1:02:50) on the eve of what should be a very strange season…
  • Homework for next week (1:19:55), including: the new Lamorne Morris series Woke on Hulu, Madden actually watching I’m Thinking of Ending Thigs, the new HBO series We Are Who We Are, the new HBO miniseries The Third Day and LOTS MORE sports action with the NBA Playoffs and the opening of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 226

  By toyAdmin | September 3, 2020 - 11:58 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 226, Madden and Kolsky briefly get into the misery of the outside world before entering the toy department of life to discuss:

  • The new Netflix cartoon Hoops (3:50) and how absolutely awful it is…
  • The HBO Max reality dating series Singletown (9:20), which went over far better with one host than with the other…
  • The Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai (19:10) and what a good job the creators and writers have done with the source material…
  • The Amazon movie Get Duked (28:50) and how much fun it was to traipse through the Scottish Highlands with some weird teens…
  • A check-in on HBO’s Lovecraft Country (35:50) as the guys try to pin down exactly what is going on there…
  • The NBA Playoffs (42:30), with some thoughts on the Rockets’ Game 7 win and their prospects against the Lakers, the potential Celtics/Heat matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals, and a little bit of NBA draft chatter…
  • Homework for next week (1:12:20), including: the return of The Boys on Amazon, the new Netflix series Away (about a Mars mission), the new Charlie Kaufman movie I’m Thinking of Ending Things (also on Netflix), and LOTS MORE NBA Playoff action… plus the new Bill and Ted movie, which the hosts forgot to mention…
  • A few quick thoughts on baseball (1:15:20), especially the White Sox and Braves, both of whom are very exciting…

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The Toy Department – Episode 187

  By toyAdmin | October 23, 2019 - 11:52 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 187, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky waste no time getting down to their many topics, specifically:

  • HBO’s new series Watchmen (1:20) and how an interesting premise, Damon Lindelof’s writing and Regina King’s ass-kicking are more than enough to hold your attention…
  • Netflix’s Living With Yourself (14:40) and its lead Paul Rudd, plus the enjoyable sports-related cameo…
  • The new Amazon series Modern Love (25:05) and how it succeeds at being both delightful and heart-yanking…
  • Jenny Slate’s stand-up special on Netflix (29:50) and how it delivers a uniquely Jenny Slate experience more than a set of jokes…
  • Some thoughts on the tip-off of NBA season (39:10) including some talk about the first two games, the favorites and the overall theme…
  • Homework for next week (1:04:20), including: the return of the Kominsky Method on Netflix, the return of Silicon Valley on HBO, the debut of Mrs. Fletcher on HBO, and two Netflix films — The Laundromat and Dolemite is My Name…

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The Toy Department – Episode 168

  By toyAdmin | May 29, 2019 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 168, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly discuss Madden’s tummy-ache before soldiering through and into:

  • The season finale of The Challenge (2:15) and why this is the absolute peak of reality TV entertainment…
  • The second season of Spike Lee’s Netflix show She’s Gotta Have It (15:45) and the undeniable charm of the film-making and lead actress…
  • The action thrill-ride of John Wick 3 (25:30) and how Derek probably should have just skipped it…
  • Derek’s experience watching Netflix’s horror-thriller The Perfection (46:45) and Kolsky’s decision to spend his time elsewhere…
  • The second season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag on Amazon (49:40) and how nobody is better at being Phoebe Waller-Bridge than Phoebe Waller-Bridge…
  • The new reports detailing the rampant dysfunction in the LA Lakers organization (54:10) and just where the blame for the mess lies, plus some thoughts on Kevin Durant and people’s odd refusal to listen to what he actually says…
  • Homework for next week (1:16:30), including: wrapping up Season 2 of Killing Eve, heading to the theater to see Rocketman, the premiere of Good Omens on Amazon, the new Netflix show How To Sell Drugs Online Fast, the Netflix rom-com Always Be My Maybe, HBO’s new Deadwood movie and the NBA Finals…

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The Toy Department – Episode 127

  By toyAdmin | July 31, 2018 - 4:54 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 127, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky return from a week off with a brief analysis of their podcast introduction, then focus in and banter about:

  • The return of Orange is the New Black (2:40) on Netflix and how the show has once again gone through a paradigm shift in the situations of the characters…
  • Derek tries to convince Kolsky to dive into watching NBC’s classic The West Wing (13:20) and the more recent Halt & Catch Fire (18:35)…
  • A short aside into Kolsky’s recent binge experience with Love Island (22:35), a British sex/competition show currently available on Hulu…
  • The Robin Williams documentary Come Inside My Mind (27:15) currently airing on HBO, and how it does a good job of surveying Williams’ life but doesn’t really get all the way into his mind…
  • A brief detour into Jack Nicholson and the Lakers (37:05) which diverges into Kobe Bryant conversation…
  • A discussion of HBO’s Sharp Objects (45:00) at the halfway point, covering how much faith the guys have in it coming together in a meaningful way through its second half…
  • Homework for next week (56:20), including: the films Mission Impossible: Fallout and Eighth Grade, both in theaters now, as well as Kolsky checking out The West Wing and Halt & Catch Fire and Madden sampling Love Island on Hulu, plus Madden is heading to Lollapalooza so concert stories coming…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

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The Toy Department – Episode 124

  By toyAdmin | July 3, 2018 - 12:10 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 124, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky talk a little Fourth of July before they dive into:

  • The wild weekend of NBA free agency (4:50) including LeBron James going to the Lakers and Boogie Cousins heading to the Golden State Warriors…
  • The 2018 FIFA World Cup (19:45) and just how delightful it has been through most of the Round of 16…
  • A quick discussion of Drake’s new album Scorpion (28:15) and how the Canadian pop artist continues to disappoint…
  • The new season of GLOW (32:45), how wonderful the show is and how great a job it does of honoring the diversity and complicated nature of humanity…
  • A check-in on I’m Dying Up Here (41:05) and a chat about how it has really climbed up the TV rankings for both Madden and Kolsky…
  • A check-in on Succession (49:25) and how it presents a world of miserable, terrible people that somehow both guys still want to watch…
  • Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger (53:50) and how it differs from most superhero fare and whether Derek liked it enough to continue watching through the first season…
  • Homework for next week (1:01:40), including: HBO’s new Amy Adams-starring series Sharp Objects, more World Cup and NBA offseason discussion and some subset of films currently in theaters (like Ant Man & The Wasp, Jurassic World 2, The Incredibles 2, Sicario 2 and Tag)…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

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The Toy Department – Episode 58

  By toyAdmin | February 23, 2017 - 4:08 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 58, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky work through physical and mental illness, respectively, to bring you discussions about:

  • HBO’s Girls (3:20) and the greatness of Lena Dunham…
  • HBO’s new 30-minute comedy Crashing (13:45) and how it feels true-to-life as it tells the story of comic Pete Holmes’ life…
  • The first full album from Wondaland Records artist Jidenna (26:40) and whether the LP itself lives up to Jidenna’s talent…
  • Some musical homework (33:30) as Kolsky asks Madden to listen to Roman GianArthur’s OK Lady album, a sort of Radiohead/D’Angelo tribute album… and Madden asks Kolsky to listen to the latest album from Cloud Nothings, called Life Without Sound…
  • Lego Batman (38:00) which Kolsky saw on purpose and Madden saw essentially by mistake…
  • The National Basketball Association’s silly season, from the DeMarcus Cousins trade (43:30) and the Sacramento Kings’ ineptitude to the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office restructuring (1:00:20)…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

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The Toy Department – Episode 47

  By toyAdmin | November 24, 2016 - 9:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 47, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly explore the details of California Proposition 64 before Kolsky puts the prop into action with some bong hits and they dive into:

  • The Golden State Warriors’ 149-point performance, from which Kolsky has just returned (6:50), and the Warriors’ early season performance in general… which somehow leads to…
  • An incredible fantasy matchup between the current John Calipari NBA All-Stars and the Golden State Warriors (27:45)…
  • Thanksgiving aka The Greatest of All Holidays (32:15)… The guys break down why Thanksgiving is clearly the best and also food and of course…
  • FOOTBALL!! and the NFL’s excellent Thanksgiving slate this year (38:00)…
  • A Tribe Called Quest’s new album We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (41:50)… and the debut of a new (weekly?) segment we’re calling Toy Department Takes On The Classics (54:15) wherein we’ll talk about the classic album The Low End Theory on next week’s pod…
  • This week’s episode of Black Mirror, San Junipero (55:35)… arguably the most unique episode of the series thus far and a favorite of both of our hosts…
  • Homework for next week, where Derek assigns the PBS show Soundbreaking as homework (1:06:40)… specifically the episode entitled The World Is Yours about sampling in hip hop…
  • A quick debrief on the Kolsky-smokes-weed-during-the-podcast experience (1:10:00)…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com.

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