The Toy Department – Episode 374

In Episode 374, Madden and Kolsky sort through the topics and decide it’s important to get right into:

  • The exploit’s of The Challenge’s Ravyn Rochelle in Seal of Desire (2:40), a mediocre erotic thriller…
  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (7:35) and how the Conquest phase seems to be taking this season in a much better direction…
  • The Martin Scorcese epic Killers of the Flower Moon (31:25) which both of our hosts enjoyed tremendously, despite the extreme running time…
  • A few thoughts on the Oscar nominations (42:25) and the kerfuffle surrounding Barbie’s nominations (or lack thereof)…
  • The Hulu mystery series Death and Other Details (50:55) and how it’s yet another middling murder mystery, but at least it’s fun!
  • The Kaley Cuoco/David Oyelowo film Role Play (53:40) and how it’s not the film you expect, in part because it doesn’t seem to totally know what it is…
  • Homework for next week (1:02:05), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, finishing Fargo on Hulu/FX and Beef on Netflix, the television series version of Sexy Beast, and the movie American Fiction (currently in theaters)…

The Toy Department – Episode 356

In Episode 356, Madden and Kolsky are both exhausted and threatening each other with falling asleep mid-sentence as they prepare to discuss:

  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (2:15) and how the change to an individual game changed the dynamic in the house…
  • A trip to the movie theater to see Barbie (22:55) and how Greta Gerwig snuck a feminist text into the brains of the masses…
  • Adam Sandler and family in the Netflix movie You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (35:15) and how it’s the most Jewish teen comedy our hosts have ever seen (and also very enjoyable)…
  • The surprising and intense Special Ops: Lioness (45:55) and how the Taylor Sheridan/Paramount+ galaxy continues to be more than expected…
  • Some disparate thoughts on the various Hollywood strikes (50:45) and some of the issues at hand…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:15), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, The Changeling on Apple TV+, the second season of Welcome to Wrexham on Hulu and another season of The Morning Show on Apple TV+…

The Toy Department – Episode 327

In Episode 327, Madden and Kolsky debrief on Kolsky’s weird morning before locking in on:

  • The latest from The Challenge: Ride or Dies (2:40) and the critical error made by the Underdogs in the latest daily challenge…
  • The documentary Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair on Peacock (19:20) and how the apparently-still-not-retired wrestler makes for a very compelling subject, even if many of the stories have been told before…
  • The Netflix film White Noise (27:05) from director Noah Baumbach and how it fails to really finish any thoughts despite starting an awful lot of them…
  • Netflix’s new spy series The Recruit (32:35) and Noah Centineo as a leading man/action star…
  • Homework for next Friday (37:00), including: the movie She Said on Peacock, the new series Kaleidoscope and the newest season of Last Chance U (both on Netflix)… and OF COURSE the next episode of The Challenge: Ride or Dies…

The Toy Department – Episode 95

In Episode 95, Derek Madden indulges Matt Kolsky’s story from his morning dog walk before they delve into:

  • Madden’s controversial distaste for the eating of pumpkin (3:10) that sweeps the nation every fall…
  • Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird (5:45) and what a great job it does of transporting the viewer to a place and time and telling a compelling story…
  • Kolsky’s entrée into the world of Justified (17:45) and his abiding love for Timothy Olyphant…
  • The season finalé of FX’s You’re the Worst (23:20), Doug Benson’s contributions and where the show may be heading in its upcoming final season…
  • Season 2 of the TBS show Search Party (33:40) and how it seems to be engaging in a major tonal shift…
  • An unwelcome interruption (40:05) as another Hollywood executive is accused of sexual misconduct…
  • Madden’s attempt to watch Deadwood (50:30) and his aversion to westerns in general…
  • Homework for this week and into the future (56:30), including: Kolsky eventually watching The West Wing, Madden catching up on Mr. Robot, the upcoming Season 1 binge-dump of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, another season of Netflix’s Easy, and the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri…
  • Thanksgiving plans (1:04:45) and other thoughts on the best meal of the year…

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