The Toy Department – Episode 376

In Episode 376, Madden and Kolsky pause to celebrate Chelsea FC’s successful FA Cup match before focusing on today’s topics:

  • An action-packed episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (6:05) and the Challenge-fan-villain origin story that transpired this week for one of our hosts…
  • The latest entry in the ever-expanding why?! canon, Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air (28:15) and how maybe it’s time to usher Hollywood’s old guard into a not-even-actually-early retirement…
  • Donald Glover’s new take on Mr. & Mrs. Smith (34:00) and how his art continues to surprise and delight…
  • Jake Johnson’s bizarre opus Self Reliance (39:25) and the value of full commitment to a wacky premise…
  • Netflix’s new (old) dour addiction recovery comedy Loudermilk (44:25) and the all-time That Guy rankings, featuring Ron Livingston…
  • Homework for next week (48:45), including: the long-awaited arrival of TJ’s Final on The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, Apple TV+’s fashion/WWII show The New Look, Ryan Murphy’s new show Feud: Capote v. The Swans and Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show…
  • A few football thoughts (50:20) as we head into what should be ann extremely entertaining Super Bowl weekend…

The Toy Department – Episode 220

In Episode 220, Madden and Kolsky discuss the fact that one of them will be finishing a bottle of rosé (or is it rosado?) throughout the program before getting into:

  • This week’s season finale of The Challenge: Total Madness (2:30) and the anticlimax that was a one-episode, less-insanely-difficult-than-imagined final…
  • A turn to the world of movies (22:55) starting with the Charlize Theron action vehicle The Old Guard…
  • An examination of the Andy Samberg/Cristin Milioti film Palm Springs (30:40) and its unique take on a well-worn concept…
  • Eric Andre’s Netflix stand-up special Legalize Everything (43:35) and how both guys might appreciate a little more deep thinking from a talented comedian…
  • Homework for next week (50:20), including: the reunion episode of The Challenge, the new Peacock app show Brave New World, the new HBO documentary Showbiz Kids and Amy Schumer’s new HBO Max series Expecting Amy…
  • A detour into some return-of-sports discussion (53:20) with MLB set to start in a week…
  • Some more thoughts on The Challenge (1:01:05) and the upcoming reunion before saying goodbye…

The Toy Department – Episode 202

In Episode 202, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky discuss their feelings about camping before jumping into:

  • The new Tame Impala album The Slow Rush (4:30) and how it hit the ears of each of our hosts…
  • The new film The Photograph (16:05) and where it falls a little short of its potential…
  • The new Hulu show High Fidelity (23:10), the charm of Zoë Kravitz and when the series really locks in, plus thoughts on Hulu’s mediocre interface…
  • A check-in on TBS’ Miracle Workers (30:45) and what makes it entertaining as it really gets into its new premise…
  • The latest season of Brooklyn 99 (34:50) and how it has grown (or not) over its life as a series…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (39:45), including: Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes, the end of The Outsider on HBO, the new show Hunters on Amazon Prime, the new comedy Gentefied on Netflix, the return of Better Call Saul on AMC, the Dwyane Wade documentary Life Unfiltered on ESPN and PBS’ Miles Davis doc Birth of the Cool…