Pete Davidson – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 345

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Hulu’s Tupac docu-series Dear Mama (36:50) and how Allen Hughes has crafted a beautiful marriage of historical document and artistic film piece…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…

In Episode 217, Madden and Kolsky somehow get into Frank Zappa’s Baby Snakes before focusing in on:

The Top Chef All-Stars LA finale (2:55) and its many moving moments…
An odd detour into the idea of the universal DH in baseball (13:15) before a return to Top Chef chatter…
ESPN’s 30 for 30 doc Long Gone Summer (24:40) and its perplexingly fluffy coverage of the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run race of 1998…
Another episode of The Challenge: Total Madness (38:10), the awkwardness of the Dee edits and the (fast-approaching?) final…
The new Spike Lee joint Da 5 Bloods (50:00) and the greatness of Delroy Lindo…
Judd Apatow’s new movie The King of Staten Island (57:40) and the prospect of Pete Davidson as a leading man…
Dave Chappelle’s surprise special 8:46 (1:07:45) and the value of his voice at this time in America…
Homework for next week (1:17:35), including: another episode of The Challenge, the return of The Chi on Showtime, the debut of Perry Mason on HBO and the new season of Search Party on HBO Max…

In Episode 206, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are still surviving somehow, and find time to discuss:

This week’s episode of Top Chef (4:20) and its great Jonathan Gold-inspired LA food tour…
The new Hulu movie Big Time Adolescence (19:45) and how it turned out to be strangely moving…
AMC’s Dispatches From Elsewhere (24:30) and how its madcap plot and general insanity don’t hinder its charm…
AMC’s Better Call Saul (33:05) and the near-fever pitch it has reached as it builds towards a final season…
The new Amazon film Blow the Man Down (39:15) and the guys’ differing views on its enjoyability…
The old FX show Terriers (42:50) and how it makes a great binge during our time of quarantine…
Homework for next week (47:15), including: another episode of Top Chef, Tiger King on Netflix, the return of Netflix’s Ozark, the new season of The Challenge, the new Pearl Jam record Gigaton and a check-in with political comedy shows Last Week Tonight and Patriot Act, which should be very interesting given where we’re at as a world…

In Episode 203, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky have MUCH to discuss, so dive right into:

The HBO Sports documentary Ali & Cavett: Tale of the Tapes (1:25) and how it adds something to the historical record on a well-covered sports titan…
Dwyane Wade’s documentary Life Unexpected (8:00) and how it is very much the Dwyane Wade version of the Dwyane Wade story…
PBS’ American Masters episode on Miles Davis, entitled Birth of the Cool (14:55) and what a complete picture it painted of a complicated man who was truly one of the great musicians in human history…
The return of Better Call Saul on AMC (24:00) and how it is probably the best show on television right now…
The new Amazon show Hunters (30:55) and the surprisingly understated performance of Al Pacino…
AMC’s new show Dispatches from Elsewhere (37:00) and how producer/writer/director/star Jason Segel has created a fascinating and exciting curiosity through two oddball episodes…
The new Netflix comedy Gentefied (44:55) and how it fails to really grab the viewer in its first couple episodes…
Pete Davidson’s Netflix standup special (48:10) and how he’s a promising young comedic talent…
Homework for next week (57:40), including: the return of Better Things on FX, the end of The Outsider on HBO, Devs on FX/Hulu, Dave on FXX (it’s an FX-heavy week), the Netflix Lil Peep documentary Everbody’s Everything, Netflix’s I Am Not Okay With This, the HBO Sports documentary Women of Troy and Marc Maron’s new special End Times Fun…