The Toy Department – Episode 138

In Episode 138, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with digressions into Kolsky’s sports injury and Madden’s new foster dog before picking the meat off the bones of:

  • The new film A Star Is Born (10:05) and the achievements of both actor/director Bradley Cooper and co-star Lady Gaga…
  • Another new film, Bat Times at the El Royale (33:30), and how it doesn’t fail to entertain but does fail to amount to anything significant…
  • Another sampling of network television with NBC’s Manifest (44:30), which at the very least is an awful lot better than last week’s effort from The Cool Kids…
  • HBO’s new Sunday night offering Camping (47:20), and the disappointment of an unlikable pilot from a group of creators that both guys like a lot…
  • A quick check-in on HBO’s other big Sunday nighter, The Deuce (55:25), which continues to be some of the best that peak TV has to offer…
  • Homework for next week (59:25), including: Matthew Weiner’s new Amazon show The Romanoffs, Season 2 of Making a Murderer on Netflix, and two new albums — 21 Pilots’ Trench and Greta Van Fleet’s Anthem of the Peaceful Army…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

The Toy Department – Episode 136

In Episode 136, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly banter about their inability to execute a short version of the podcast before long-winded discussions centering on:

  • The world of baseball (1:30) as the playoffs begin, which — in a bad sign for baseball — devolves into a brief discussion of the Atlanta Hawks…
  • An attempt to find new network television worth watching (16:00) which ends with the selection of one new drama and one new comedy that Kolsky and Madden will try out for at least two episodes…
  • The return of NBC’s The Good Place (30:25) and how incredible a job it does of playing to all audiences while also remaining incredibly smart and original in today’s network climate…
  • FX’s new Australian offering Mr. In-Between (37:10) which both guys find intriguing after an episode or two…
  • Lil Wayne’s new album (42:20) and how its highlights show off Wayne’s skills but aren’t enough to prop up 23 tracks…
  • The season finale of HBO’s Insecure (48:05) and the unique lack of particular excitement or cliffhangers…
  • Homework for next week (53:40), including: finishing Forever on Amazon, starting The Cool Kids on Fox, the return of Big Mouth on Netflix and the season finale of AMC’s Better Call Saul…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/etc. you can just click on the link below the player (and don’t forget to leave us a review!!)… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.