Darrell Taylor – Page 4 – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 318

In Episode 318, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s work trip to the casino before locking in on:

The latest episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies (1:55), Turbo’s heel turn and the ace strategy from the game’s newest veterans, the notorious Johnny Bananas and his incomparable partner Nany Gonzalez…
Netflix’s Redeem Team documentary (35:15) and how it was an enjoyable and entertaining watch despite its somewhat hegeographic tendencies…
Apple TV+’s new show Shantaram (46:00) and how Charlie Hunnam makes for an incredibly engaging and watchable center for a show that transports you to 1980’s Bombay (for some not entirely known reason)…
The return of Documentary Now! on IFC (50:10) and how the first mockumentary of this season is entertaining and pretty spot-on, but not necessarily enough to suck one of our hosts in…
A season wrap-up on FX’s Welcome to Wrexham (59:30) and how the show works on so many levels, ultimately becoming one of the year’s best…
A few thoughts on the not-so-inspiring House of the Dragon (1:11:30) and how it so far fails to live up to its predecessor…
Homework for next Friday (1:14:40), including: the new Netflix show The Watcher, the new film Raymond and Ray on Apple TV+, the limited series From Scratch on Netflix, and OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies… plus Kolsky will watch Top Gun: Maverick so the guys can finally discuss it!

In Episode 317, Madden and Kolsky have a new season of The Challenge to get to, so no time to waste before diving right in to:

The premiere of The Challenge: Ride or Dies (1:00), including thoughts on the Episode 1 surprises, the rookies, the quantity of absentee teams and all the intricacies of the complicated new game design…
The new Paramount+ film Significant Other (50:25), and whether its strange blend of thriller, comedy, sci-fi and horror hit home for our hosts…
Homework for next Friday (1:05:00), including: the new Apple TV+ show Shantaram, the start of a new season of Documentary Now!, a check-in on Welcome to Wrexham, the Netflix documentary The Redeem Team and OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies…

In Episode 302, Madden and Kolsky discuss a new addition to the Kolsky family before switching over to their critical pop culture concerns:

The newest entry in the Star Wars canon, Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi (5:30) and how it just isn’t nearly as enjoyable (or original) as our hosts had hoped…
The insanely un-funny Rhys Darby standup special Mystic Time Bird (13:25) and both guys’ general confusion about what exactly happened here…
HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death (17:40) and how Taika Waititi has once again produced a very funny television show that essentially harnesses the silliness of a workplace comedy into a ship full of (mediocre) pirates…
The absolutely spectacular finale of Top Chef: Houston (20:40), the beautiful dinners prepared by the three finalists and some thoughts on what was an elite season of the long-running reality series…
The latest from The Challenge: All-Stars 3 (31:05) and how Beth is an absolute piece of garbage who should never be invited back, plus strategy concerns for the high-level players that remain…
Reaction to Game 1 of the NBA Finals (1:01:25) and what it means for the rest of a series that will hopefully be long and entertaining…
Homework for next Friday (1:20:30), including: more of The Challenge: All-Stars 3, the new Danny Boyle-directed FX show Pistol (about the Sex Pistols), the new season of Amazon’s The Boys, Norm Macdonald’s posthumous-release stand-up special Nothing Special on Netflix and the new Adam Sandler film Hustle (also on Netflix)…

In Episode 301, Madden and Kolsky are dealing with the world in their own ways and also by focusing on the toy department of life, specifically:

The return of the Kids in the Hall (2:25) and how their stuff is just as good and funny as it was the first time around…
A check-in on Better Call Saul (10:55), the guys’ reactions to the first half of the final season and expectations for the final six episodes…
The Hulu series Conversations with Friends (23:50) and how it is from the same vein as Lenny Abrahamson’s previous series Normal People, which is to say very deep and interesting…
The latest from The Challenge: All Stars 3 (35:30) after an epic elimination and an unwelcome addition to the cast…
The penultimate episode of Top Chef: Houston (51:00) and the incredibly high level of cookery that has characterized the last few weeks…
A few thoughts on the NBA (59:55) as we head towards a likely Finals matchup between the Celtics and Warriors…
Homework for next Friday (1:13:00), including: the finalé of Top Chef: Houston, more of The Challenge: All-Stars 3, the Rhys Darby stand-up special Mystic Time Bird on Amazon Prime, the HBO Max show Our Flag Means Death and Disney+’s new Obi-Wan Kenobi show…