Tag Archives: Los Angeles Lakers

The Toy Department – Episode 353

  By toyAdmin | August 11, 2023 - 10:03 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 353, Madden and Kolsky discuss the Kolsky family’s bizarre living (and recording) arrangements before moving on to:

  • The return of The Challenge!! It’s the second season of The Challenge: USA (2:35) and it offers a lot of promise, despite a climax-less first episode and a questionable release schedule… The guys discuss some old favorites and some new blood…
  • Max’s Steven Soderbergh-directed kidnapping drama Full Circle (28:35) and how it asks its viewers to remain engaged with obvious puzzle pieces missing…
  • The Netflix docu-series Quarterback (34:50) and just how impressive those who play the position are (even Kirk Cousins)…
  • The return of pod favorite Reservation Dogs (45:40) and how the Hulu series continues to be utterly unique on television and wildly enjoyable…
  • The premiere of season two of Winning Time on HBO (52:15) and the Magic/Kareem relationship that appears to be at its core…
  • A few thoughts on the English Premier League (58:15) and Kolsky’s potentially heartbreaking hope surrounding Chelsea’s season…
  • Homework for next week (1:04:15), including: more of The Challenge: USA Season 2, the Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone, the Wes Anderson film Asteroid City (now on Peacock) and Netflix’s Untold: Johnny Football doc…

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The Toy Department – Episode 345

  By toyAdmin | May 19, 2023 - 11:44 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 345, Madden and Kolsky have a Challenge final to discuss, so it’s right down to the business:

  • TJ’s Final for The Challenge: World Championship (0:45), the design of an intriguing final, how this CBS/Paramount+ version fits into the Challenge Universe and Jordan’s ascension among the all-time greats…
  • The double-elimination Wellington episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars (22:55) and how brutal it was on all of the chefs, and thoughts on how the competition stacks up heading to Paris…
  • Hulu’s Tupac docu-series Dear Mama (36:50) and how Allen Hughes has crafted a beautiful marriage of historical document and artistic film piece…
  • The Amazon Freevee show Jury Duty (44:25) and how James Marsden and a well-cast unknown centerpiece make this unique show entertaining…
  • Peacock’s new Pete Davidson series Bupkis (48:40) and how the weird state of TV criticism led to unnecessary criticism of a perfectly good show…
  • A couple minutes on the NBA Playoffs (54:20) after two games of each conference finals series…
  • Homework for next week (56:45), including: Hulu’s new White Men Can’t Jump remake (starring Jack Harlow), the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon film Air (available on Amazon Prime) and Shea Serrano’s new show Primo (on Amazon Freevee)… PLUS another week of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 344

  By toyAdmin | May 12, 2023 - 3:15 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 344, Madden and Kolsky somehow compare Derek to LeBron James before getting back to reality and into:

  • The latest from The Challenge: World Championships (2:20) and how Sarah and Danny’s nutty gameplay somehow worked out for them as we have reached TJ’s Final…
  • This week on Top Chef: World All-Stars (26:15) and an absolutely stacked field heading into the final few weeks…
  • The new FX/Hulu show Class of ’09 (39:00) which features more questions than answers over its first couple of episodes…
  • Apple TV+’s new series Silo (43:55) and how it feels awfully and uncomfortably incomplete in its storytelling…
  • A few thoughts on the continuing drama of the NBA Playoffs (50:45) and some Nikola Jokic appreciation…
  • Homework for next week (1:12:05), including: Pete Davidson’s new Peacock show Bupkis, the new Amazon Freevee show Jury Duty and the Tupac docu-series Dear Mama on Hulu… PLUS the FINAL of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND another week of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 343

  By toyAdmin | May 5, 2023 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 343, Madden and Kolsky open with a quick detour about Derek’s friend Steven Hyden and the Seattle grunge scene of the ’90s before focusing on:

  • The latest from The Challenge: World Championships (4:45) and how Sarah was saved from outing herself as a snake by Yes and Emily’s daily win, plus whether our hosts have underestimated her strategic game thus far…
  • A twisty restaurant wars on Top Chef World All-Stars (20:20) and how it didn’t stop Top Chef’s top chef from distinguishing himself as the favorite in the competition…
  • The deeply emotional HBO series Love & Death (35:35) and the heavy lifting its actors are doing over the first few episodes…
  • The Watergate comedy White House Plumbers (40:20) and how the buffoonish nature of conservative operatives…
  • The new Amazon Prime Video thriller/spy drama Citadel (45:05) and the role of action entertainment in our TV landscape…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Playoffs (52:05) and just how wide open the field is with eight teams still remaining…
  • Homework for next week (1:06:05), including: Apple TV+’s new show Silo and the FX/Hulu show Class of ’09, with a healthy portion of NBA Playoffs on the side… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 292

  By toyAdmin | March 11, 2022 - 11:07 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 292, Madden and Kolsky briefly address the sad news of the passing of Derek’s dog before brightening everyone’s spirits with:

  • This week’s episode of Top Chef: Houston (1:50) and just how high the level of execution appears to be in the early part of the season…
  • HBO’s new Lakers-focused show Winning Time (22:20), how much fun it is and some of the excellent performances in the first episode…
  • The Oscar-nominated Guillermo Del Toro film Nightmare Alley (33:50) and how it sucked both hosts in with a gripping and visually striking noir story…
  • The return of the original Law & Order (41:35) and what makes the OG the best version of the now widely spun-off concept…
  • The new cartoon short series The Boys: Diabolical (49:00) and how it’s more or less exactly what you’d expect and not particularly important for any reason…
  • Homework for next Friday (51:25), including: more Top Chef: Houston, along with the Apple TV+ series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (starring Sam Jackson) and Severance (directed by Ben Stiller), the Oscar-nominated Paul Thomas Anderson film Licorice Pizza and the Showtime show SuperPumped about the battle for Uber…

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The Toy Department – Episode 261

  By toyAdmin | June 1, 2021 - 11:25 am | Uncategorized
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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…

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The Toy Department – Episode 231

  By toyAdmin | October 13, 2020 - 11:55 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 231, Madden and Kolsky dally briefly over Madden’s new family member and his failure to complete the homework assignment before getting into:

  • The new AMC series Soulmates (2:20) and whether its premise is enough to carry a whole anthology series…
  • HBO Max’s original movie Charm City Kings (14:20) and how a good script and quality acting aren’t enough to make it stand out much…
  • The new Showtime series The Good Lord Bird (21:30) and its explosive and complicated portrayal of abolitionist John Brown…
  • The Netflix indie movie The 40-Year-Old Version (32:25) and what writer/director/star Radha Blank is saying with a very personal film…
  • A few thoughts on the conclusion of the NBA Finals (43:20) and LeBron James’ greatness…
  • Some brief NFL discussion (1:03:05) as the season teeters on the edge of viability…
  • Homework for next week (1:06:20), including: Madden actually getting to The Comedy Store docu-series on Showtime, the season finale of Lovecraft Country, the Netflix/Aaron Sorkin film The Trial of the Chicago 7, David Byrne’s American Utopia (directed by Spike Lee) on HBO and the show Ted Lasso on Apple TV+… plus more MLB playoffs and Week 6 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 230

  By toyAdmin | October 6, 2020 - 11:37 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 230, Madden and Kolsky compare themselves to playoff baseball before moving into the realm of popular fiction to cover:

  • The new Netflix show Sneakerheads (4:10) and how it just fails to distinguish itself in any way…
  • Showtime’s two-part movie The Comey Rule (9:40) and the hosts’ drastically differing opinions on it…
  • The start of Season 4 of Fargo on FX (31:40) and how the show retains its signature charms…
  • Amazon’s new show Utopia (54:10) and what a creative and original project it seems to be…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA Finals (1:02:15) and the last couple weeks of NFL football (1:05:10)…
  • Homework for next week (1:13:45), including: Showtime’s new series The Good Lord Bird (starring Ethan Hawke), HBO Max’s original movie Charm City Kings (starring Meek Mill), AMC’s new series Soulmates, the new Netflix movie 40-Year-Old Version and the first couple episodes of The Comedy Store docu-series on Showtime… plus the potential end of the NBA Finals and Week 5 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 229

  By toyAdmin | September 24, 2020 - 11:46 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 229, Madden and Kolsky are alive and employed, which means good in 2020, and ready to discuss:

  • The new season of PEN15 on Hulu (3:05) and how one of our hosts has really come around on the show…
  • The new Ryan Murphy show Ratched (10:35) and just what exactly he is doing with all of Netflix’s money…
  • Fox’s new show LA’s Finest (19:40) and how it follows a pretty successful formula to being exactly what you think it is…
  • A check-in on HBO’s Lovecraft Country (36:00) after a bottle episode starring an old veteran of The Challenge…
  • A brief NFL chat (48:50) about quick takeaways from the first two weeks of pro football…
  • Some thoughts on the NBA Playoffs (51:45) with particular focus on Tyler Herro’s tremendous performance…
  • Homework for our next show, on October 6 (1:07:35), including: the new Netflix show Sneakerheads, season four of Fargo on FX, Showtime’s new movie The Comey Rule and the new Amazon show Utopia… plus EVEN MOAR NBA Playoffs and Weeks 3 & 4 of the NFL season…

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The Toy Department – Episode 228

  By toyAdmin | September 17, 2020 - 11:53 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 228, Madden and Kolsky steel themselves to work through arguably the weirdest content week in Toy Department history, featuring:

  • The exceedingly weird Netflix film I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2:05) from the mind of Charlie Kaufman…
  • The new HBO series We Are Who We Are (25:20) and what the guys make of some weird vibes and a lack of background or explication in the first episode…
  • The new HBO mini-series The Third Day (36:25) and what exactly is happening with both the airing of the show and the content…
  • Hulu’s new Lamorne Morris-starring show Woke (46:25) and how it’s a nice place to spend some time…
  • The topsy-turvy NBA Playoffs (52:10) and what the Nuggets’ big upset of the Clippers means…
  • A few thoughts on Week One of NFL action (1:19:35), featuring the San Francisco 49ers’ somewhat surprising loss to Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals…
  • Homework for next week (1:25:55), including: the probably terrible new Fox show LA’s Finest, the new season of PEN15 on Hulu and the new Netflix/Ryan Murphy show Ratched… plus MOAR NBA Playoffs and Week 2 of the NFL season…

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