Tag Archives: Chicago Bears

The Toy Department – Episode 242

  By toyAdmin | January 5, 2021 - 11:09 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 242, Madden and Kolsky welcome in the new year with clear eyes and full hearts (and talk a teensy bit of The Challenge) before bidding 2020 adieu with discussions about:

  • The Charlie Brooker dark comedy pseudo-documentary special Death to 2020 (3:45) and the experience of laughing at the horrible events of last year, while trying not to wallow in them…
  • The third season of Netflix’s Cobra Kai (11:35) and the problems that this still-enjoyable show is going to have to work through moving forward…
  • The Steve McQueen film Lovers Rock (21:50), the second in his Small Axe series on Amazon, the director’s impressive execution and the wonderful mood created by a simple and relatively short movie…
  • The new Pixar joint Soul (29:25) and the greatness of Pixar animation in general…
  • The new love story drama Sylvie’s Love (39:35) and the impressive work of lead actors Nnamdi Asomugha and Tessa Thompson in a relatively straightforward dramatic film…
  • A few thoughts on the NFL Playoffs (51:50) with an extra special 6-game Wild Card Weekend on deck…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (1:06:10), including: the HBO Max show How To with John Wilson, the Apple TV+ show Mythic Quest, the new TIger Woods documentary on HBO and the new Netflix film History of Swear Words (narrated by Nic Cage!!!) not to mention NFL playoffs and NBA basketball… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!

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The Toy Department – Episode 181

  By toyAdmin | September 4, 2019 - 10:33 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 181, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky dive into a short list of topics including:

  • The return of MTV’s The Challenge (2:05) and the incredible prospects for high level entertainment with War of the Worlds II…
  • Netflix’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (19:40), a retelling of Jim Henson’s movie from the 80’s, and how it is really for kids…
  • The new Tool album Fear Inoculum (27:35) and how it may not win any new fans but it is definitely a strong late-period effort…
  • The now-imminent kickoff of the NFL season (36:30), the underwhelming season of Hard Knocks and how it looks at the top of the league…
  • A few thoughts on Travis Scott’s Netflix concert film/documentary Look Mom I Can Fly (53:20) and how it’s a decent look at Scott’s behind-the-scenes life…
  • Homework for next week (56:25), including: the return of The Deuce on HBO, the new film Late Night on Amazon, the new Hulu show Wu Tang: An American Saga, Good Talk with Anthony Jeselnik on Comedy Central and ESPN’s new 30 for 30 about Dennis Rodman…

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The Toy Department – Episode 150

  By toyAdmin | January 9, 2019 - 11:33 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 150, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky cruise past a hiccup — or, more accurately, a giggle-cough — at the start to cover:

  • The Lifetime docu-series Surviving R. Kelly (1:45), which Madden watched and about which he gives an impassioned address to both Kolsky and the audience…
  • Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars episodes (13:15) and how the show continues to be wildly entertaining, the peak of reality television…
  • A wrap-up of Escape At Dannemora (30:20) and whether it has enough to it to be a really good show…
  • The award-winning film The Favourite (38:35) and the guys’ mildly differing opinions on how well it pulls off a satirical look at England of old…
  • Some quick thoughts on the Golden Globes (47:45) and their predictably bizarre results…
  • A check-in on the NFL playoffs (53:35) after a Wild Card weekend that left Kolsky near tears, a look forward to the Divisional Round and some thoughts on team-building…
  • Homework for next week (1:18:40), including: watching more NFL Playoffs, the return of You’re the Worst on FX, season two of Friends from College on Netflix and season three of True Detective on HBO…

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The Toy Department – Episode 68

  By toyAdmin | May 4, 2017 - 8:56 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 68, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky discuss the latter’s fragile mental state before going television-heavy on the pod… Unfortunately, time constraints prevent a detailed accounting, but topics discussed include:

  • Kolsky’s progress on HBO’s The Leftovers…
  • The uncomfortable failure of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why…
  • A weird and wild episode of FX’s Fargo…
  • The NBA Playoffs and the seemingly inevitable Cavaliers-Warriors matchup…
  • An ugly draft day for Kolsky’s Chicago Bears…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… Some other links down there as well… 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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