The Toy Department – Episode 398

In Episode 398, Madden and Kolsky are doing it after dark again, with LOTS to catch up on, beginning with a recap of their IRL meetup for a Pearl Jam concert, but moving on to:

  • Two episodes of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (7:50) and dealing with the fact that heavy hitters (or at least major characters) will be headed home on a weekly basis…
  • Jeff Goldblum & Co.’s interpretation of Greek mythology in the Netflix show KAOS (41:15) and whether our hosts could deal with the chaotic nature of the show’s storytelling…
  • FX’s new comedy English Teacher (46:05) and what a high-quality sitcom looks like in 2024…
  • The return of the undeniable Slow Horses (51:35) and the many joys of Jackson Lamb…
  • Homework for next week (57:50), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, the Peacock show Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, Nicole Kidman’s new Netflix effort The Perfect Couple and checking out the film Challengers, now available on Amazon Prime…

The Toy Department – Episode 370

In Episode 370, Madden and Kolsky have an in-depth discussion of sinus procedures and overall nasal health before ending their year with:

  • ALLLLLL the action from the last THREE episodes of The. Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (5:30) including the (questionable?) toppling of some all-time greats and a collection of some of the most stupefying game moves that 25 years of The Challenge Universe has seen…
  • The new season of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses (27:35) and the continuing brilliance of lead actors Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden…
  • Netflix’s much-ballyhooed Bradley Cooper vehicle Maestro (32:05) and how it wasn’t as much of a Leonard Bernstein biopic as our hosts would have liked…
  • The new Eddie Murphy Christmas movie Candy Cane Lane (42:10) and whether it’s good enough to slide into a regular holiday viewing rotation…
  • A fresh season of Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher (48:25) and how a new cast of characters stacks up around the mountain of Alan Ritchson…
  • Homework for next week (55:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the Emerald Fenell movie Saltburn, the Alexander Payne movie The Holdovers (available on Peacock), Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special The Dreamer and Peacock’s new season of Dr. Death…

The Toy Department – Episode 324

In Episode 324, Madden and Kolsky missed each other deeply but equally deeply they long to discuss the two weeks of Challenge action on the docket so it’s straight into:

  • Two action-packed weeks of The Challenge: Ride or Dies (1:20), whether that name still fits the season and all the various strategic fallout from the game’s big twist(s)…
  • Showtime’s George & Tammy series (24:20) and how neither of our hosts much enjoy the country music but one of them definitely enjoyed this show more than the other…
  • The second season of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses (29:55) and how it remains a highly entertaining spy drama with some really excellent characters and a fantastic lead performance from Gary Oldman…
  • A few World Cup thoughts leading up to Sunday’s final (36:30), from the beauty of Messi to the messiness of Fox’s coverage…
  • Homework for next Friday (50:00), including: the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies… AND NOTHING ELSE!! Because it’s going to be Best of 2022 Week!! But feel free to get started on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, which Derek forgot to watch this week 🙂

The Toy Department – Episode 305

In Episode 305, Madden and Kolsky begin with some personal sadness before moving on to the beautiful distractions of:

  • A totally unacceptable ending to this week’s episode of The Challenge: All-Stars 3 (3:10) and all the drama that would have made it a great episode if not for that travesty…
  • The new Netflix comedy God’s Favorite Idiot (21:25) and how it charmed both of our hosts and seems like a real keeper…
  • The two spy drama/thrillers The Old Man and Slow Horses (25:35), how they are both good but The Old Man seems to stand above and apart…
  • The 30-minute restaurant drama The Bear (35:00) and how its uniqueness and attention to detail make it a tremendously interesting show…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Draft (42:45) and the disappointing television coverage thereof…
  • Homework for next Friday (50:05), including: potentially the finalé of The Challenge: All-Stars 3, the new Disney+ film Rise about the Antetokounmpo brothers, the new movie Beavis & Butthead Do the Universe on Paramount+, the return of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and the new Maya Rudolph show Loot on Apple TV+…

The Toy Department – Episode 238

In Episode 238, Madden and Kolsky are debuting the new pod format/schedule and waste little time getting into:

  • HBO Max’s new Kaley Cuoco vehicle The Flight Attendant (1:50) and how the show and its star are both revelations…
  • The new Netflix film Mank (9:50) and whether David Fincher’s throwback to black-and-white movies has enough to draw in those who are not particularly interested in that time period…
  • The return of Big Mouth (24:05) and how Nick Kroll & Co. continue to execute at the highest possible level…
  • A few quick sports thoughts (34:30) touching on MLS and MLB…
  • Homework for of next Tuesday (39:35), including: HBO’s new special episodes of Euphoria, the new Soderbergh/Meryl Streep movie Let Them All Talk on HBO Max, the Riz Ahmed film The Sound of Metal and the Rachel Brosnahan action flick I’m Your Woman, both on Amazon Prime… PLUS, our first VERY SPECIAL CHALLENGE EPISODE coming on Thursday!!!

The Toy Department – Episode 106

In Episode 106 Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky discuss their respective Valentine’s Day thoughts before settling into an episode designed mostly by Kolsky with the foremost intention of stretching Madden’s limits of entertainment consumption and discussing:

  • Showtime’s The Chi (8:00) and just what kind of show it seems to be at the midway point of its first season…
  • The Winston Churchill-focused film The Darkest Hour (14:30) and how it outshined its period piece contemporary Dunkirk…
  • The rebooted Jumanji (21:25) and how it wildly exceeded expectations to be a good movie…
  • The Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon (27:40) and whether Madden was able to swallow the fantasy world or not…
  • Three albums that Derek wouldn’t otherwise have listened to: Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo (42:20), Ty Segall’s Freedom’s Goblin (44:10), and Nai Palm’s Needle Paw (47:20)…
  • Both guys’ weird propensity to tear up during entertainment (53:25)…
  • Homework for next week (56:30), including: the new sitcom AP Bio, Black Panther the movie AND the soundtrack to Black Panther, and whatever else they add to the pile during the week…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.