Gillian Anderson – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 383

In Episode 383, Madden and Kolsky bicker about who bears more responsibility for their bizarre technical difficulties before jumping into:

This week on The Challenge All-Stars 4 (2:10) and old heads showing their muscles…
The latest from Top Chef Wisconsin (24:35) with a rough week for some good chefs and some badly cooked meat…
Michael Douglas’s turn as Ben Franklin for Apple TV+ (45:10) and whether the resulting Franklin makes enough of statecraft to have a worthwhile show…
Colin Farrell’s turn as a noir-style private detective (52:40) and what exactly seems to be going on in a broader sense on the Apple TV+ show Sugar…
The documentary Steve! (57:15) and the wild and crazy (and suddenly serene) life of Steve Martin…
Netflix’s new film Scoop (1:04:45) and the choice to tell a story the Prince Andrew story through the lens of “journalism”…
Homework for next week (1:10:20), including: more Top Chef Wisconsin, more of The Challenge All-Stars 4, HBO’s new Sunday night centerpiece The Sympathizer and Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout adaptation…

In Episode 358, Madden and Kolsky lament Derek’s illness before he pushes through to discuss:

The new Mitski album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (2:20), how it differs from Mitski’s past output and the deep darkness and moments of bright light within it…
The return of pod favorite Sex Education (14:30) and its undeniable charm, plus how its end coincides with a desperate lack of similar quality on Netflix…
A few thoughts on Winning Time (24:10) and its cancellation…
The based-on-a-true-story film A Million Miles Away (37:40) and the remarkable life of astronaut Jose Hernandez…
British true-story-heist series The Gold on Paramount+ (41:30) and whether the first two episodes are enough to draw our hosts into what is undeniably an interesting real life tale…
A mile marker episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (46:20) and the end (at least for now) of one of the Challenge Universe’s truly legendary careers…
Homework for next week (1:04:35), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the British rom-com Still Up on Apple TV+, the movie Bottoms (available on VOD of your choice) and the Amazon Prime Video film Cassandro, plus Kolsky said will try to listen to The National…

In Episode 236, Madden and Kolsky do some show housekeeping and discuss Netflix’s shiftiness before diving into:

The madness of this season of The Bachelorette (8:35) and how it compares to other love reality shows…
A check-in on pod favorite Fargo (30:30) and the beautiful oddities of Noah Hawley’s work throughout the show…
The start of Season 4 of The Crown (37:30) and whether the British royal family is worth engaging with for entertainment…
A wrap-up of The Good Lord Bird (44:20) and the hosts’ differing opinions on the strange John Brown bio-series…
A final chat about everyone’s new favorite Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit (51:25), and the allure of lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy…
Some NBA thoughts (59:30) with the draft and free agency on our doorstep specifically on what Minnesota and Golden State are likely to do with the first two picks…
Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:12:45), including: I Hate Suzie and Two Weeks To Live (both on HBO Max), Showtime’s John Belushi documentary, the resurrected Saved By The Bell, Kevin Hart’s new Netflix comedy special and the sword-making reality show Forged in Fire… plus Weeks 11 & 12 of the NFL season and the NBA offseason…

In Episode 198, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky address the reverb on Madden’s microphone before settling in to discuss:

The return of Netflix’s Sex Education (2:00) and what a delight it continues to be in its second season…
HBO’s new Armando Iannucci comedy Avenue 5 (17:20) and how both guys see the potential for a good show in its pilot…
The new HBO Stephen King adaptation The Outsider (21:55) and how it is spooky and gripping and is bound to get more and more intense and action-packed as the season goes on…
The film 1917 (32:05) and how it stacks up with other recent (and not-so-recent) war films…
Homework for next week (42:25), including: actually watching the new Awkwafina show Nora From Queens on Comedy Central, the new movie The Gentlemen, Tiffany Haddish’s new stand-up special, season two of Shrill on Hulu and perhaps the Aaron Hernandez docu-series on Netflix…
A few thoughts on the upcoming Super Bowl (50:35) and a preview of more football discussion next week…