Tag Archives: Katie Cooley

The Toy Department – Episode 417

  By toyAdmin | March 28, 2025 - 9:32 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 417, Madden and Kolsky get right down to business because Kolsky has important activities to get to (specifically a 3-year-old’s dance performance):

  • Two weeks of Canadian cooking on Top Chef: Destination Canada (1:20) including some distinctly north-of-the-border challenges and a couple of understated standouts…
  • Two weeks of action on The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (9:15) including some legends falling and setting the scene for an imminent final…
  • The deeply mediocre Netflix/Russo Brothers film The Electric State (20:00) and what its remarkably bad critical reception says about the state of movie criticism…
  • Seth Rogen’s new Apple TV+ show The Studio (25:55) and how it’s failing to find its footing through two episodes…
  • Netflix’s deeply disturbing and ambitiously shot family drama Adolescence (31:05) and how British TV seems to have settled on a specific model (or two) for its shows…
  • Apple TV+’s crime drama Dope Thief (37:05) and the sheer magnetism of Brian Tyree Henry…
  • Homework for next week (40:35), including: new episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals & Top Chef: Destination Canada, the SZA/Keke Palmer movie One of Them Days, the Paramount+ series MobLand and the action sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera…

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The Toy Department – Episode 416

  By toyAdmin | March 14, 2025 - 10:40 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 416, Madden and Kolsky get into the transition from winter to spring and the many traps this season presents before shifting over to:

  • The season premiere of Top Chef (3:30) where it’s Destination Canada and they have the tuxedos to prove it…
  • The latest on The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (24:25) where another team of heavy hitters heads home and the ladies of Era 1 seem to be in full control of the house…
  • The new documentary series Celtics City (38:40) and whether there’s a trick to watching great content about incredibly annoying stuff…
  • Hulu’s new comedy Deli Boys (46:35) and the abounding silliness therein…
  • A few thoughts on the upcoming (and uninspiring) Toy Department Derby (51:30) and our hosts’ respective Premier League teams…
  • Homework for two weeks from now (56:30), including: another two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, more Top Chef: Destination Canada, the new Netflix series Adolescence, the new Apple TV+ drama Dope Thief, the new Seth Rogen show The Studio and the new Netflix/Russo Brothers film The Electric State…

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The Toy Department – Episode 415

  By toyAdmin | March 7, 2025 - 10:29 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 415, Madden and Kolsky briefly recount Derek’s London experience before diving into:

  • The last two weeks of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (5:50) featuring plenty of drama and the elimination of a major favorite…
  • A trio of Netflix content:
    • The new basketball comedy Running Point (20:45), the Mindy-ness of it all and whether it passes muster with its basketball knowledge…
    • Olympic basketball docu-series Court of Gold (25:40) and the wonderful world of basketball’s many stars…
    • The new limited series Zero Day (30:30) and whether the content stands up to the massively talented cast…
  • Homework for next week (38:50), including: another episode of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, the return of Top Chef (this time in Canada), Bill Simmons’ documentary series Celtics City on Max and the new Hulu comedy series Deli Boys…

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The Toy Department – Episode 414

  By toyAdmin | February 21, 2025 - 11:19 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 414, Madden and Kolsky are pressed for time after missing last week, so it’s some quick pleasantries and right into:

  • Two weeks of action from The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:15), the early leaders in the clubhouse and the unfortunate (for entertainment purposes) elimination of Ashley and Aneesa…
  • Our hosts’ thoughts on all of the SNL 50 content (22:25) from the past weekend…
  • A couple minutes on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (33:30) with Phish nominated for the first time…
  • The Oscar-nominated film The Substance (40:05) and the excellent performances at its core…
  • More spy-show fodder with Netflix’s The Recruit (50:00) and Apple TV+’s Prime Target (54:25) and how one of our hosts found a deeper enjoyment in one of them…
  • The return of White Lotus (57:25) and the excitement we all feel to have it back…
  • A reasonably unproductive discussion about the NBA All-Star fiasco (1:04:30) and the NBA MVP Award, which Derek is already furious about…
  • Homework for two weeks from now (1:18:40), including: two more episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals and a bunch of Netflix content — the new Olympic basketball doc Court of Gold, new limited series Zero Day and new comedy series Running Point…

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The Toy Department – Episode 413

  By toyAdmin | February 7, 2025 - 12:31 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 413, Madden and Kolsky give you everything they’ve got about the Super Bowl (which amounts to approximately 47 seconds of content) before locking in on:

  • The first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals (1:30) which featured a fortuitous elimination and very little personal growth from people we’ve known for a decade…
  • The Jesse Eisenberg feature A Real Pain (20:35) and how it doesn’t feel like a Best Picture nominee but DOES manage to entertain and intrigue for its 90 minutes…
  • The definitely-feels-like-a-best-picture-contender movie Anora (24:10) and the remarkable performance of Mikey Madison in the leading role…
  • The Netflix hit The Night Agent (32:35) and whether they put enough work in on the fast-arriving second season…
  • The new Hulu show Paradise (37:55) and why we seem to be in the post-apocalyptic-underground-city era of television…
  • A few thoughts on a WILD NBA trade deadline (46:05) and what some of the participants are looking at for the remainder of the season…
  • Homework for next week (1:03:50), including: the next episode of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, Oscar contender The Substance, the new Apple TV+ show Prime Target and the return of Netflix’s The Recruit…

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The Toy Department – Episode 412

  By toyAdmin | January 24, 2025 - 10:18 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 412, Madden and Kolsky have a quick chat about vacations and the city of New Orleans before focusing in on:

  • The conclusion of a lackluster reunion for The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:20) and a look ahead to the hopefully much more entertaining All-Stars 5…
  • The Oscar-nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (16:30), some big-time acting performances and the impact of Dylan going electric…
  • The Amazon Prime film Unstoppable (27:50) and what a classic high-quality true-story drama looks like…
  • The return of Apple TV+ sensation Severance (35:05) and what Ben Stiller & Co. are driving at with this bizarre and stylized show…
  • Peacock’s goofy new comedy Laid (44:25), the irrepressible charm of Stephanie Hsu and the absolute wheelhouse of Zosia Mamet…
  • A touch of sports talk (49:30) as we careen towards the end of both the NFL season and the soccer transfer window…
  • Homework for TWO weeks from now (1:04:05), including: the first two episodes of The Challenge All-Stars: Rivals, the new Hulu show Paradise, the return of Netflix’s The Night Agent and Oscar contenders Anora and A Real Pain…

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The Toy Department – Episode 397

  By toyAdmin | August 21, 2024 - 10:04 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 397, Madden and Kolsky are staying up late again, so it’s right on into:

  • An absolute banger of an episode in Season 40 of The Challenge (1:05) with wall-to-wall physical eliminations that delivered some classic battles and some intriguing upsets…
  • Vince Vaughn’s new Bill Lawrence-created show Bad Monkey (43:20) and whether we finally have an official “gourmet cheeseburger”…
  • A few thoughts on Chelsea and the English Premier League (51:30) after Derek drags Kolsky into the conversation…
  • Homework for two weeks from now (1:00:05), including: two more episodes of The Challenge Season 40, Netflix’s new Greek mythology dark comedy KAOS, the return of Slow Horses on Apple TV+ and the new FX show English Teacher…

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The Toy Department – Episode 396

  By toyAdmin | August 15, 2024 - 12:29 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 396, Madden and Kolsky don’t bother with small talk because somebody is UPSET as they get into:

  • The opening episode of The Challenge’s 40th season (1:05) and how the opening salvo (or lack thereof) in the Battle of the Eras left one of our hosts quite upset…
  • The Matt Damon/Casey Affleck film The Instigators (43:15) and whether it qualifies for the much-discussed (on this pod, anyway) “gourmet cheeseburger” designation…
  • Steph Curry as Steph Curry in Mr. Throwback (48:45) and whether or not Steph Curry should quit his day job 🙂 …
  • A few thoughts on Steph Curry at his day job (56:35) or whatever you would call what he did at the Olympics…
  • Some distinctly non-expert opinions on Olympic Breaking (1:09:05) and the apparent controversy around it…
  • Probably more talk about USMNT soccer and Chelsea Football Club (1:12:10) than anyone asked for…
  • Homework for a light show next week (1:28:30), including: another episode of The Challenge Season 40 and the new Apple TV+ show Bad Monkey…

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