Tag Archives: Michael Schur

The Toy Department – Episode 346

  By toyAdmin | May 25, 2023 - 11:24 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 346, Madden and Kolsky convene early for a late-night-Thursday episode, giving you the goods on:

  • The final London week of Top Chef: World All-Stars (1:25), a microwaved sponge cake, tricks of the eye and what to look for in the upcoming trip to Paris…
  • Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s new movie Air (17:55) and how it manages to create tension, suspense and drama out of a true story that everyone knows the ending of…
  • Hulu’s Jack Harlow-starring White Men Can’t Jump (24:55), watchable mediocrity and the remake-obsessed world we are all living in…
  • The Shea Serrano-penned series Primo (30:10) and the delight of a family comedy written with love…
  • A few NBA playoff thoughts as we sit on the doorstep of the Finals (34:55), whether the Heat can finish off the Celtics and whether either of them have a shot against the Nuggets…
  • Homework for next week (43:15), including: the series finale of Succession, the new Apple TV+ shows Platonic and High Desert and the HBO movie Reality… PLUS the first episode of the Paris Portion of Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

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The Toy Department – Episode 200

  By toyAdmin | February 6, 2020 - 11:35 am | Uncategorized
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In Episode 200, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky eschew a special ceremony to celebrate their longevity in the interest of discussing:

  • A run-through of the major Oscars (1:50) and who the guys expect and want to win…
  • HBO’s new docu-series McMillions (25:40) and how it turns out to be a delightful tale of the most charming criminal conspiracy…
  • The docu-series Cheer on Netflix (31:45) and how appealing so many of its characters are…
  • Amazon’s new film Troop Zero (37:10) and the difference of opinion between the hosts on its worthwhileness…
  • Season two of the anthology show Miracle Workers on TBS (39:55) and whether it’s worth getting back into…
  • A few words about The Outsider on HBO (43:35) and how much both guys are enjoying it…
  • The series finale of The Good Place (46:30) and how we will never see its like again…
  • The Andrew Wiggins/D’Angelo Russel trade (56:40) breaks mid-recording and the guys discuss…
  • Homework for next week (0:0), including: Brooklyn 99’s return, the premiere of Briarpatch on USA, the new Netflix movie To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and the new movie Birds of Prey in theaters…

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The Toy Department – Episode 105

  By toyAdmin | February 6, 2018 - 2:00 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 105 Derek Madden finds Matt Kolsky freshly returned from Hawaii to discuss such delights as:

  • Super Bowl LII (0:45) and how any season where the Patriots don’t win is a relative success…
  • Justin Timberlake’s new album Man of the Woods (12:05) and how it seems to be a success despite being somewhat confusing…
  • The Netflix movie Mudbound (25:00) and how it’s a good example of quality bad-time entertainment…
  • Another Netflix film, A Futile and Stupid Gesture (30:55), which tells the story of the Doug Kenney and the rise of National Lampoon…
  • The season finalé of The Good Place (45:10) and the tremendous work of Michael Schur in the world of network comedy…
  • Homework for next week (52:00) wherein Madden pays off his losing Super Bowl bet and allows Kolsky to program the entire show, covering: the new superhero film Black Panther, the new Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon, and albums from Nai Palm (Needle Paw), Khruangbin (Con Todo El Mundo) and Ty Segall (Freedom’s Goblin)… Come back next week to hear about the torture!!

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 60

  By toyAdmin | March 7, 2017 - 8:45 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 60, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky kvetch about their various ailments like the couple of aging Jews that they are before jumping into deep discussions of:

  • The diverse television landscape (1:55) including chats about: FX’s The Americans & Legion (10:30), NBC’s The Good Place (12:45), the new Ryan Murphy series Feud (16:25), the new CW Archie adaptation Riverdale (22:10) and the reboot of Must-See-TV’s Will & Grace (27:45)…
  • A week at the movies!! Kolsky saw Logan (32:45) and gives a quick review before an in-depth discussion of the new horror darling Get Out (35:30) which both guys saw and enjoyed…
  • Cleaning up some old homework (49:40) as Madden failed to listen to the new Loyle Carner album but both guys are ready to discuss the new Cloud Nothings album Life Without Sound, which was the previous week’s homework assignment…
  • The World Baseball Classic (57:55) and exactly what the hell baseball is trying to do here… with a little bit of discussion about international sporting tournaments in general…
  • Next week’s homework (1:07:05) wherein Madden promises to listen to Loyle Carner and a couple of new TV shows will be back on the table as well…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

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The Toy Department – Episode 54

  By toyAdmin | January 25, 2017 - 8:46 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 54, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky return after a week off due to Kolsky’s infirmity to discuss MANY pressing issues, including:

  • Brent Musburger’s sudden retirement announcement (1:45) and his legacy as one of our greatest sports broadcasters…
  • Matt Ryan’s place in the NFL’s quarterback pantheon (8:10) and his MVP candidacy, as we head towards next weekend’s Super Bowl 51…
  • A favorite show of the show, The Good Place (17:35), and how it flipped its own narrative on its head in the season finalé… SPOILER ALERT: This conversation will spoil said finalé, so if you want to skip it, the short version is – Madden and Kolsky both liked it!!
  • HBO’s new series The Young Pope (24:10) and whether the visual spectacle of its first few episodes makes it worth sticking with as it finds its footing from a narrative perspective…
  • 2016 in Movies (33:50), viewed through the perspective of Tuesday’s Oscar nominations… Including thoughts on La La Land, Deadpool, Hidden Figures, Moonlight, Lion and Fences, among others…
  • Some homework for next week (59:15): trying to get Derek to watch La La Land and/or Lion and/or Hell or High Water… and an episode of Blackish (specifically – Season 3, Episode 12, entitled Lemons)…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! And if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com… or tweet us: @MaddenOnAir & @thekolsky.

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