Jennifer Aniston – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 357

In Episode 357, Madden and Kolsky briefly address their literal physical proximity before diving right into the culture with:

The return of Apple TV+’s expensive and totally insane The Morning Show (2:50) and how, ridiculously, it somehow manages to be wildly enjoyable without really having any recommendable qualities…
The second season of Welcome to Wrexham (10:35) and how great documentary film-making and a real heart at the center continue to make it one of the best watches on TV, whether you know the results of the soccer games or not…
Apple TV+’s new show The Changeling (18:40) and how it turns out to be significantly darker than our hosts may have expected…
The most recent episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2 (25:25) and how Survivor finally got theirs, plus the total domination of the Challenge vets…
A look ahead to the coming season of the flagship Challenge (52:40) and the newly-released list of participants…
Homework for next week (57:35), including: another episode of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the return of Netflix’s Sex Education, British heist series The Gold on Paramount+, the new movie A Million Miles Away on Amazon Prime Video and Mitski’s new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We…

In Episode 284, Madden and Kolsky spend a few minutes talking about a musician Kolsky just discovered before getting to:

Kevin Hart’s new Netflix series True Story (4:55) and how a lot of good acting is not really enough to save a mediocre plot…
The absolutely insane conclusion to Season 2 of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show (20:05) and how this sort of soapy silliness happens on the watch of so many great actors…
The new film King Richard (30:45) and how good Will Smith is in Venus and Serena Williams’ tribute to their incredibly unique father…
The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies (43:55) and just what the major elimination twist will be, plus the unbelievable career of CT and some informal player power rankings as we head into the final…
The latest from The Challenge All-Stars 2 (1:02:00), from the lovable insanity of Ayanna to the strange decision-making of Steve after an entertaining trivia challenge…
Homework for next Thursday (1:17:55), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, AND more Challenge All-Stars, the new Beatles docu-series Get Back, the new Amazon Prime show Harlem, the new HBO show Landscapers and the musician Jacob Collier…

In Episode 261, Madden and Kolsky have a log list of subjects, so time-wasting is eschewed in favor of:

The latest from Top Chef: Portland (1:10) and FINALLY the elimination of bad-pasta-Chris, plus thoughts on the recipe challenge and the hosts’ favorites heading down the stretch…
The Friends reunion on HBO Max (20:45) and how it aimed for 100 minutes of nostalgia and hit pretty close to the bullseye…
The new film Plan B (38:25) and how it’s an absolute home run of an indie high school adventure movie…
A wrap-up discussion on Mare of Easttown (43:55) and how HBO has another high-quality limited series in the drama category, filled with tremendous acting performances and a compelling crime mystery…
Some NBA playoff thoughts (54:35) at the halfway point (or so) of the first round, re-assessing the favorites after a rash of injuries and some see-sawing series results…
A brief discussion about Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open (1:02:50) and the difficult task of respecting metal health while also realizing that media availability is part of the job of a modern professional athlete…
Homework for next Tuesday (1:09:30), including: more Top Chef in Portland (and probably more NBA Playoffs action), the new Netflix movie Army of the Dead, Bo Burham’s new stand-up special on Netflix and the new British comedy We Are Lady Parts, about an all-female Muslim punk band…

In Episode 252, Madden tries to waylay Kolsky with a “fuck Woody Allen” message to open the show, but they quickly move on to:

The new season of Last Chance U (3:00) covering the East LA College basketball team, what moving to basketball does for the series and some of the best characters from the first couple episodes…
The new Netflix film Moxie! (22:05), how original and uniquely delightful it turned out to be, and the impending superstardom of Alycia Pascua-Peña…
Apple TV+’s signature series The Morning Show (33:40) and how — while certainly imperfect — it’s a very watchable show with a lot of good acting…
Homework for next Tuesday (45:20), including: Marvel’s new TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, Netflix’s new documentary Operation Varsity Blues about Hollywood’s college admissions scandal, the Oscar-nominated Mads Mikkelsen movie Another Round and the Oscar-nominated Steven Yeun film Minari… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!