Tag Archives: Rachel Robinson

The Toy Department – Episode 396

  By toyAdmin | August 15, 2024 - 12:29 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 396, Madden and Kolsky don’t bother with small talk because somebody is UPSET as they get into:

  • The opening episode of The Challenge’s 40th season (1:05) and how the opening salvo (or lack thereof) in the Battle of the Eras left one of our hosts quite upset…
  • The Matt Damon/Casey Affleck film The Instigators (43:15) and whether it qualifies for the much-discussed (on this pod, anyway) “gourmet cheeseburger” designation…
  • Steph Curry as Steph Curry in Mr. Throwback (48:45) and whether or not Steph Curry should quit his day job 🙂 …
  • A few thoughts on Steph Curry at his day job (56:35) or whatever you would call what he did at the Olympics…
  • Some distinctly non-expert opinions on Olympic Breaking (1:09:05) and the apparent controversy around it…
  • Probably more talk about USMNT soccer and Chelsea Football Club (1:12:10) than anyone asked for…
  • Homework for a light show next week (1:28:30), including: another episode of The Challenge Season 40 and the new Apple TV+ show Bad Monkey…

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The Toy Department – Episode 384

  By toyAdmin | April 25, 2024 - 11:18 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 384, Madden and Kolsky open with a long conversation about Kolsky’s visit to The Sphere in Las Vegas to see Phish before snapping out of it to cover:

  • The latest from The Challenge All-Stars 4 (15:55) including an elimination where heavy hitters swung and missed repeatedly…
  • A twisty, dairy-filled week of Top Chef Wisconsin (35:10) wherein two chefs (re)entered the competition and one early star departed…
  • HBO’s new Sunday centerpiece The Sympathizer (49:10) and whether our hosts are impressed after two episodes…
  • A wrap-up discussion on HBO’s The Regime (1:00:25) and what the hell was going on there…
  • Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of the popular Fallout video game (1:04:25) and whether it actually makes sense as a “television” show…
  • A few NBA thoughts (1:08:15) after a few games from the first round of the playoffs…
  • Homework for next week (1:19:20), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin, more of The Challenge All-Stars 4, the Lily Gladstone-helmed show Under the Bridge and the Kristen Stewart-helmed film Love Lies Bleeding…

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The Toy Department – Episode 383

  By toyAdmin | April 18, 2024 - 10:13 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 383, Madden and Kolsky bicker about who bears more responsibility for their bizarre technical difficulties before jumping into:

  • This week on The Challenge All-Stars 4 (2:10) and old heads showing their muscles…
  • The latest from Top Chef Wisconsin (24:35) with a rough week for some good chefs and some badly cooked meat…
  • Michael Douglas’s turn as Ben Franklin for Apple TV+ (45:10) and whether the resulting Franklin makes enough of statecraft to have a worthwhile show…
  • Colin Farrell’s turn as a noir-style private detective (52:40) and what exactly seems to be going on in a broader sense on the Apple TV+ show Sugar…
  • The documentary Steve! (57:15) and the wild and crazy (and suddenly serene) life of Steve Martin…
  • Netflix’s new film Scoop (1:04:45) and the choice to tell a story the Prince Andrew story through the lens of “journalism”…
  • Homework for next week (1:10:20), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin, more of The Challenge All-Stars 4, HBO’s new Sunday night centerpiece The Sympathizer and Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation…

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The Toy Department – Episode 382

  By toyAdmin | April 11, 2024 - 11:19 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 382, Madden and Kolsky have a LOT to catch up on, from Matt’s new debilitating addiction to Derek’s busy concert schedule (with plenty of stops in between) but eventually get around to:

  • A new season of Top Chef (10:20), a midwest location that infuriates Derek and all the insight our hosts have gleaned over the first four episodes…
  • A two-episode debut of The Challenge All-Stars Season 4 (31:40) and a cast of true stars that reaches all the way back to the very first season of the Challenge universe…
  • The surprisingly entertaining BlackBerry (55:45) and the simple pleasure of a good story told with good acting, writing and directing…
  • Netflix’s new sci-fi big swing 3 Body Problem (1:02:30) and whether (to torture the idiom) it makes contact with the ball…
  • Apple TV+’s new Kristen Wiig vehicle Palm Royale (1:13:15) and what exactly they’re trying to do here…
  • The Jake Gyllenhaal-helmed Roadhouse remake (1:17:10) and how it swings and misses (to further torture the same idiom from before)…
  • Homework for next week (1:26:55), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin and The Challenge All-Stars 4, a gaggle of Apple TV+ content — the shows Sugar (with Colin Farrell as a detective) and Franklin (with Michael Douglas as Ben Franklin); and the documentary Steve! (about Steve Martin) — and the Netflix movie Scoop…

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The Toy Department – Episode 329

  By toyAdmin | January 20, 2023 - 2:47 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 329, Madden and Kolsky have a brief bundt cake discussion before getting down to the business of the day:

  • HBO’s new Sunday night series The Last of Us (3:40), and how it was perfectly watchable but didn’t totally live up to the hype for either of our hosts…
  • The despicably bad NBC Night Court reboot (10:55) and how disappointing it was…
  • The warm, inviting Netflix re-imagining that is That 90’s Show (15:25) and how it proves the concept of a nostalgic sitcom reboot…
  • Netflix’s new tennis docu-series Break Point (22:10) and how it worked much better for one of our hosts than it did for the other…
  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (29:10) which is NOT yet at TJ’s final, but still gave us a highly entertaining episode this week… and also the latest from Kolsky’s experience with one of Rachel’s Challenge Workouts…
  • Homework for next Friday (53:30), including: the movie The Menu on HBO Max, the comedy Bros on Peacock and the limited series Treason on Netflix… plus, OF COURSE, the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies!!

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