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!

The Toy Department – Episode 156

In Episode 156, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky rap briefly about Kolsky’s bizarre schedule before delving into:

  • Some debriefing on Sunday’s 91st Academy Awards (1:20) including winners, losers and over-reactors…
  • The premiere of the third season of Documentary Now on IFC (30:30) and what turned out to be a hilarious take on Wild Wild Country…
  • A wrap-up discussion of HBO’s True Detective Season 3 (37:00) and why Derek really didn’t like it at all…
  • The new film Fighting With My Family (46:55) and how it was a charming, if not entirely true-to-life, look at the early life and career of WWE’s Paige…
  • The first episode of Desus & Mero in their new home on Showtime (56:35) and how both guys think it can be a huge success and will make an interesting test case for new-look late night television…
  • Homework for next week (1:01:55), including: actually seeing the new HBO film O.G, the return of Pamela Adlon’s Better Things on FX, and the Netflix movie Paddleton (plus whatever else pops up during the week)…

The Toy Department – Episode 44

In Episode 44, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have recovered enough from the release of new Black Mirror episodes JUST in time to bring you discussions about:

  • Last week’s homework assignment: the Test Pattern episode of IFC’s Documentary Now (2:30), and how Kolsky just can’t get over his deep distaste for Fred Armisen…
  • The aforementioned Netflix property Black Mirror (12:55) — Madden and Kolsky rank the original 7 episodes (17:15) by quality and by how disturbing they are, and also discuss the first of the newest episodes (47:10) that hit Netflix last Friday… WARNING: Spoiler-Heavy discussion, especially about the original 7 episodes…
  • A few thoughts on the last couple episodes of FX’s Atlanta (57:55) and how it returned to a more straightforward narrative arc over the last couple episodes… But still maintains the quality and innovation that makes it so wonderful… And a few words on Donald Glover’s casting in an upcoming Star Wars film (1:03:45)…
  • It’s ROCKTOBER, so Kolsky talks about a couple of concerts he saw last weekend: Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World Tour (1:05:40) and Anderson .Paak (1:11:40) at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco…

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… 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.

The Toy Department – Episode 43

In Episode 43, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky fight through a weird Lipton Brisk detour and some audio technology issues to bring you discussions about:

  • Last week’s homework assignment: the new Solange album A Seat at the Table (1:30)… specifically its originality and some general thoughts about the Indie R&B genre, and a new idea about future music homework (10:00)…
  • This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees (12:20) and how the Hall decides who is an appropriate candidate for induction…
  • NFL replay review, specifically with regards to pass interference penalties (19:00) and the disappointing end to last week’s Falcons-Seahawks game… and some thoughts on using technology for sports officiating in general (27:30)…
  • The NBA’s upcoming season (31:00) and whether the fact that the Warriors and Cavaliers are prohibitive favorites is a problem for the entertainment value of the league…
  • A few general thoughts on movies and the movie business (46:55) after Kolsky noticed some things when he went out to see The Accountant…
  • Homework for next week (51:30): Madden assigns a particular episode of the IFC show Documentary Now! to Kolsky…

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… 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.