Tag Archives: Beth Stolarczyk

The Toy Department – Episode 414

  By toyAdmin | February 21, 2025 - 11:19 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 414, Madden and Kolsky are pressed for time after missing last week, so it’s some quick pleasantries and right into:

  • Two weeks of action from The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:15), the early leaders in the clubhouse and the unfortunate (for entertainment purposes) elimination of Ashley and Aneesa…
  • Our hosts’ thoughts on all of the SNL 50 content (22:25) from the past weekend…
  • A couple minutes on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (33:30) with Phish nominated for the first time…
  • The Oscar-nominated film The Substance (40:05) and the excellent performances at its core…
  • More spy-show fodder with Netflix’s The Recruit (50:00) and Apple TV+’s Prime Target (54:25) and how one of our hosts found a deeper enjoyment in one of them…
  • The return of White Lotus (57:25) and the excitement we all feel to have it back…
  • A reasonably unproductive discussion about the NBA All-Star fiasco (1:04:30) and the NBA MVP Award, which Derek is already furious about…
  • Homework for two weeks from now (1:18:40), including: two more episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals and a bunch of Netflix content — the new Olympic basketball doc Court of Gold, new limited series Zero Day and new comedy series Running Point…

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The Toy Department – Episode 413

  By toyAdmin | February 7, 2025 - 12:31 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 413, Madden and Kolsky give you everything they’ve got about the Super Bowl (which amounts to approximately 47 seconds of content) before locking in on:

  • The first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:30) which featured a fortuitous elimination and very little personal growth from people we’ve known for a decade…
  • The Jesse Eisenberg feature A Real Pain (20:35) and how it doesn’t feel like a Best Picture nominee but DOES manage to entertain and intrigue for its 90 minutes…
  • The definitely-feels-like-a-best-picture-contender movie Anora (24:10) and the remarkable performance of Mikey Madison in the leading role…
  • The Netflix hit The Night Agent (32:35) and whether they put enough work in on the fast-arriving second season…
  • The new Hulu show Paradise (37:55) and why we seem to be in the post-apocalyptic-underground-city era of television…
  • A few thoughts on a WILD NBA trade deadline (46:05) and what some of the participants are looking at for the remainder of the season…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:50), including: the next episode of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, Oscar contender The Substance, the new Apple TV+ show Prime Target and the return of Netflix’s The Recruit…

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The Toy Department – Episode 412

  By toyAdmin | January 24, 2025 - 10:18 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 412, Madden and Kolsky have a quick chat about vacations and the city of New Orleans before focusing in on:

  • The conclusion of a lackluster reunion for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:20) and a look ahead to the hopefully much more entertaining All-Stars 5…
  • The Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (16:30), some big-time acting performances and the impact of Dylan going electric…
  • The Amazon Prime film Unstoppable (27:50) and what a classic high-quality true-story drama looks like…
  • The return of Apple TV+ sensation Severance (35:05) and what Ben Stiller & Co. are driving at with this bizarre and stylized show…
  • Peacock’s goofy new comedy Laid (44:25), the irrepressible charm of Stephanie Hsu and the absolute wheelhouse of Zosia Mamet…
  • A touch of sports talk (49:30) as we careen towards the end of both the NFL season and the soccer transfer window…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:04:05), including: the first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, the new Hulu show Paradise, the return of Netflix’s The Night Agent and Oscar contenders Anora and A Real Pain…

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The Toy Department – Episode 302

  By toyAdmin | June 3, 2022 - 11:51 am | Uncategorized
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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)…

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The Toy Department – Episode 301

  By toyAdmin | May 27, 2022 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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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…

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