Natasha Rothwell – The Toy Department

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…

In Episode 411, Madden and Kolsky spend some time whining about the cold weather and their various maladies before sucking it up and getting to:

An underwhelming start to the reunion of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (4:30) and how the customary post-championship party probably needs a new format…
The even more underwhelming Cruel Intentions remake (16:45) and how remakes need a new take on the material…
The Oscar buzz-y papacy drama Conclave (23:05) and how difficult it is to care about the mystery if you don’t care about Catholicism…
Hulu’s comedy How to Die Alone (30:30) and how it entertains pretty well, even if it leaves our host wanting more at times….
The world of Philomena Cunk (34:35) — starting with Cunk on Earth — and the brilliance of actress Diane Morgan, with a slight interruption from Kolsky’s three-year-old…
The thrilling conclusion of Landman (40:30) and the continuing prolific spectacle of the Taylor Sheridan universe, plus more three-year-old content…
Homework for next week (49:40), including: one more week of Challenge reunion, the return of Severance on Apple TV+, the new movie Unstoppable on Amazon Prime, the Peacock comedy Laid (starring Stephanie Hsu) and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown…
A few thoughts on the NFL (53:20) as we head into divisional playoff weekend…

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