Tag Archives: Netflix

The Toy Department – Episode 99, Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

  By toyAdmin | December 26, 2017 - 10:00 am | Uncategorized
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In Part 2 of the Two-Part Holidaytastic Spectacular Episode 99, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are back with the second half of their year-end discussions, covering:

  • The BEST OF 2017 in television (2:05), wherein Madden and Kolsky both struggle mightily to reduce their Top Ten lists to less than twenty shows…
  • The BEST OF 2017 in music (41:55), which turns out to have the most differentiation between the two hosts’ lists…
  • Homework for next week: HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR’S EVE!!! And get ready for Episode 100, which might be somehow special (and will definitely include the announcement of the Toy Department’s 2017 Spotify Playlists) and even if it’s not is a nice, big, round number…

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 97

  By toyAdmin | December 5, 2017 - 10:27 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 97, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky dispense with the pleasantries and proceed immediately with:

  • Concert stories!! Madden’s experience with Queens of the Stone Age (1:00) and Kolsky’s trip to see Syd from The Internet (11:45)…
  • The new Netflix documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (15:05), which looks back at Jim Carrey’s performance as Andy Kaufman in the film Man on the Moon…
  • Season 2 of Netflix’s Joe Swanberg-directed show Easy (31:35) and how it picks up right where it left off…
  • The Amazon original show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (37:00) and how star Rachel Brosnahan makes it worth your time…
  • New albums from both Noel and Liam Gallagher (43:10) and how they’re definitely better off together…
  • Homework for this week (49:30), including: an upcoming end-of-year-review, the new U2 album, the new film The Disaster Artist and other upcoming releases, and perhaps finishing off Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It on Netflix…

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 96

  By toyAdmin | November 28, 2017 - 10:14 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 96, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have a prettty, prettttttty, prettttttttty good opening before discussions about:

  • Joe Morgan’s letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame (2:10) and how misguided his views on “steroid users” and “cheaters” are…
  • The Martin McDonagh film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (18:05), where it succeeds and where it maybe misses the mark…
  • Netflix’s new western series Godless (28:40) and how it elevates tropes from western films but still doesn’t appeal to Madden…
  • USA’s Mr. Robot (38:10), just what the hell is going on and how an increase in action has not led to an increase in Madden’s enjoyment of episodes…
  • Netflix’s new Spike Lee TV joint She’s Gotta Have It (45:30) and how it hits all the Spike Lee high notes with a great cast and thoughtful commentary…
  • Homework for this week (53:40), including: new albums from both Noel and Liam Gallagher, the Amazon Original show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Netflix/Joe Swanberg show Easy and the Netflix documentary Jim & Andy about Jim Carrey’s performance as Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon…

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 95

  By toyAdmin | November 21, 2017 - 10:09 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 95, Derek Madden indulges Matt Kolsky’s story from his morning dog walk before they delve into:

  • Madden’s controversial distaste for the eating of pumpkin (3:10) that sweeps the nation every fall…
  • Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird (5:45) and what a great job it does of transporting the viewer to a place and time and telling a compelling story…
  • Kolsky’s entrée into the world of Justified (17:45) and his abiding love for Timothy Olyphant…
  • The season finalé of FX’s You’re the Worst (23:20), Doug Benson’s contributions and where the show may be heading in its upcoming final season…
  • Season 2 of the TBS show Search Party (33:40) and how it seems to be engaging in a major tonal shift…
  • An unwelcome interruption (40:05) as another Hollywood executive is accused of sexual misconduct…
  • Madden’s attempt to watch Deadwood (50:30) and his aversion to westerns in general…
  • Homework for this week and into the future (56:30), including: Kolsky eventually watching The West Wing, Madden catching up on Mr. Robot, the upcoming Season 1 binge-dump of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, another season of Netflix’s Easy, and the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri…
  • Thanksgiving plans (1:04:45) and other thoughts on the best meal of the year…

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 93

  By toyAdmin | November 8, 2017 - 3:18 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 93, Matt Kolsky is on the road for the first chunk of the podcast, then Derek Madden is at home for the final portion — it’s a real adventure!! Topics discussed include:

  • Revisiting Netflix’s American Vandal (4:00) and concluding that it really is quite enjoyable…
  • A check-in on FX’s Better Things (6:10) and how it is one of the best shows on television and deserves more attention…
  • The release of a new N*E*R*D song (11:20) and Madden’s experience interviewing Pharrell…
  • The new hit television show The Good Doctor (19:20), dealing with autism in television and how network shows can really be good…
  • The Netflix show Atypical (30:45), another show featuring a central character with autism, and Michael Rappaport’s surprising performance…
  • A few thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok (36:30) from Kolsky, the designated comic book movie viewer…
  • Homework for next week (39:20) including: the new 30 for 30 documentary Nature Boy about Ric Flair, and the Showtime shows Shameless and SMILF…
  • An interview with Emma Kolsky (44:15), Matt’s sister and an autism specialist, about the portrayal of people with autism in The Good Doctor and Atypical…

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 92

  By toyAdmin | October 31, 2017 - 9:08 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 92, Matt Kolsky and Derek Madden waste no time with pleasantries as they jump directly into:

  • A heated debate over the second season of Netflix’s Stranger Things (0:45) and whether it is in fact any good at all…
  • The new Noah Baumbach film The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (27:15) and whether it qualifies as bad-time entertainment or somehow rises above that distinction…
  • Madden’s experience at the Arcade Fire concert (38:40) and how all things must end…
  • The 2017 World Series (48:10), the compelling storylines and the future of baseball…
  • The series finale of HBO’s The Deuce (58:55), Kolsky’s confusion over the length of the season and the storytelling style of David Simon and company…
  • The first two episodes of season eight of The Walking Dead (1:06:30) and how the show seems to have lost its direction and momentum…
  • Homework for next week (1:13:30) including: the new (apparent) network sensation The Good Doctor, the also-about-an-autistic-character Atypical, and finishing Netflix’s Mindhunter before an interview with Stacey Roca, the actress who plays Nancy Tench…

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 91

  By toyAdmin | October 25, 2017 - 12:35 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 91, Matt Kolsky and Derek Madden lament the suddenly crowded entertainment landscape before soldiering on to actually talk about some of it, including:

  • Netflix’s new David Fincher-produced series Mindhunter (7:30) and whether it stands up to the impressive Fincher filmography…
  • Another new Netflix show, American Vandal (21:30) and how it plays to a fan of real crime shows versus someone who does not watch them…
  • Beck’s new album Colors (32:20) which surprised both Madden and Kolsky but only really appealed to one of them…
  • MLB’s World Series (41:30) because yes, it is happening RIGHT NOW, and baseball playoffs are pretty entertaining…
  • The NFL season (48:15) and how it has failed to produce any really good teams or much good football so far… Is this the “parity” we’ve been hearing about?
  • Homework for next week (1:09:00) including: Season 2 of Netflix’s Stranger Things, the Netflix film The Meyerowitz Stories, the return of The Walking Dead and catching up on all the many, many TV shows that have gotten underway this month…

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 89

  By toyAdmin | October 10, 2017 - 8:55 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 89, Matt Kolsky and Derek Madden have switched roles to some degree, as Kolsky records the audio from his home studio while Madden motors around the midwest in his new Lexus, but otherwise things are pretty standard as they discuss:

  • The US Men’s National Team’s World Cup qualifying process (3:05), specifically their game against Panama and what the talented, young roster means for the future…
  • The now seemingly inevitable intersection of sports and politics (18:25) and the specifics of the Jemele Hill suspension from ESPN and the current administration’s behavior towards the NFL and its players…
  • Two Netflix cartoons: Bojack Horseman (33:15) and Big Mouth (37:50), and the guys’ (but especially Kolsky’s) differing reactions to them…
  • A brief detour into James Harden’s appearance on NBC’s The Voice (44:40)… NOTE: The guy says he just looks like James Harden but he is pretty clearly actually just James Harden.
  • Two new albums: Alvvays’ Antisocialites (47:40) and Death From Above’s Outrage! is Now (51:15), both of which get pretty positive receptions…
  • Homework for next week (57:10) including: a new album from St. Vincent (nee Annie Clark) called MASSEDUCTION, the new Showtime show White Famous and of course the ongoing action in the sports world with NFL, MLB playoffs and the looming start of the NBA season…

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 88

  By toyAdmin | October 3, 2017 - 9:12 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 88, Matt Kolsky and Derek Madden get right into it with:

  • The passing of Tom Petty (1:25) and his place in the pantheon of American rock music, leading to…
  • A breakdown of the Mount Rushmore (7:15) of American rock artists…
  • The new Fox show Ghosted (20:05) starring Adam Scott and Craig Robinson…
  • Another Fox comedy, The Mick (24:35) as it begins its second season…
  • The newest entry into the Law & Order canon – True Crime (28:55), focusing on the Menendez brothers murders…
  • The definitive debate about the all-time Law & Order fantasy cast team (39:00) – starring Lennie Briscoe, obviously, but WHO ELSE?!?!
  • Homework for next week (1:01:30) including: new albums from the bands Alvvays and Death From Above 1979, the USA v. Panama soccer game coming up on Friday, Episode 5 of Bojack Horseman and the new Netflix cartoon Big Mouth (from the mind of Nick Kroll) and revisiting The Deuce on HBO…
  • A few words on the NFL’s continued blackball of Colin Kaepernick (1:07:00)…

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 87

  By toyAdmin | September 26, 2017 - 11:53 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 87, Matt Kolsky and Derek Madden fight through a recording snafu to get to a variety of topics, including:

  • The unstoppable interaction between sports and politics (1:30) and where Donald Trump’s behavior has gotten us with the NFL…
  • The Netflix movie The Fundamentals of Caring (11:10) and the idea of the Netflix indie…
  • Rapper Leikeli47’s new album Wash & Set (16:30) and Madden’s seeming disinterest in female rap artists…
  • FX’s Better Things (25:15) and how the guys are feeling about it early in Season 2…
  • HBO’s Vice Principals (35:15) and whether the show will hold up through a second season… or that would have been the discussion but THE RECORDING CUT OUT!!
  • Several hours later, Kolsky and Madden reconvene (36:35) and begin with a brief discussion of Derek’s other podcast and their interview with Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield…
  • They revisit some of the topics from the lost recording (41:00) including: the Killers’ new album, lady rappers and NBC’s The Good Place…
  • Homework for next week (46:45) including: TV shows The Mick, Law & Order: True Crime and Ghosted, and a plan to pick favorite all-time Law & Order teams for next week… Plus checking back in with HBO’s The Deuce…

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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