The Toy Department – Episode 411

In Episode 411, Madden and Kolsky spend some time whining about the cold weather and their various maladies before sucking it up and getting to:

  • An underwhelming start to the reunion of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:30) and how the customary post-championship party probably needs a new format…
  • The even more underwhelming Cruel Intentions remake (16:45) and how remakes need a new take on the material…
  • The Oscar buzz-y papacy drama Conclave (23:05) and how difficult it is to care about the mystery if you don’t care about Catholicism…
  • Hulu’s comedy How to Die Alone (30:30) and how it entertains pretty well, even if it leaves our host wanting more at times….
  • The world of Philomena Cunk (34:35) — starting with Cunk on Earth — and the brilliance of actress Diane Morgan, with a slight interruption from Kolsky’s three-year-old…
  • The thrilling conclusion of Landman (40:30) and the continuing prolific spectacle of the Taylor Sheridan universe, plus more three-year-old content…
  • Homework for next week (49:40), including: one more week of Challenge reunion, the return of Severance on Apple TV+, the new movie Unstoppable on Amazon Prime, the Peacock comedy Laid (starring Stephanie Hsu) and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown…
  • A few thoughts on the NFL (53:20) as we head into divisional playoff weekend…

The Toy Department – Episode 350

In Episode 350, Madden and Kolsky discuss the moving process for Kolsky’s family and the generally unsettled nature of his life before zeroing in on:

  • Whether or not it’s worth slowing yourself down (3:50) and savoring the shows you love, even if they are available all at once…
  • Season 2 of Hulu’s The Bear (6:40) and how absolutely excellent it is, thanks to the incredible narrative tension and wonderful acting throughout…
  • The return of Black Mirror on Netflix (14:00) and how it’s not quite the Black Mirror you might remember, but remains quite effective…
  • Boots Riley’s new Amazon Prime show I’m A Virgo (23:15) and how it is pretty direct and even heavy-handed with some of its thematic messaging, but also fantastical and enjoyable and really very funny…
  • Idris Elba’s plane thriller Hijack on Apple TV+ (31:30) and the delight of high-quality popcorn programming…
  • The television industry’s need for better decision-making on which shows to make binge-able (35:20) and how our hosts are available to fill that need if necessary…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (40:20), including: finishing Black Mirror on Netflix and also The Bear on Hulu, the new Marvel show Secret Invasion on Disney+, the return of The Afterparty on Apple TV+ and the new Netflix film The Out-Laws…

The Toy Department – Episode 170

In Episode 170, Derek Madden travels and Matt Kolsky braves a heat wave with no noisy fan so they can discuss:

  • The conclusion of Season 4 of Showtime’s Billions (3:10), a wrap discussion and some thoughts on where we are heading…
  • The start of Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies (13:05), with thoughts on the tremendous Meryl Streep and the direction of the plot…
  • Netflix’s new season of Black Mirror (18:30), whether the show retains its ability to shock and some more excellent acting performances…
  • Some NBA Finals thoughts (39:00) after the crushing blow of Kevin Durant’s achilles injury…
  • Homework for next week (58:10), including: the conclusion of the NBA Finals, actually catching up with AMC’s new supernatural series NOS4A2, starting Euphoria on HBO and City on a Hill on Showtime, and checking out When They See Us on Netflix…