The Toy Department – Episode 375

In Episode 375, Madden and Kolsky address Derek’s road location and failure to shower — with a weird detour to the film Wonka — before splashing into:

  • A thrilling and dramatic episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (3:05) that leaves the show in an unfortunate place moving forward towards the final…
  • The fifth and final season of Fargo (35:30) and what a spectacular show it was throughout its run…
  • Netflix’s Emmy Award-Winning limited series Beef (42:05), which both hosts only returned to recently and ended up really enjoying…
  • The new series Sexy Beast (50:50) and the fundamental but still-unanswered question of why??
  • The excellent Best Picture nominee American Fiction (57:10) and some thoughts on the upcoming Oscar race…
  • Homework for next week (1:07:40), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, Apple TV+’s new World War II show Masters of the Air, Donald Glover’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon, Netflix’s dour comedy Loudermilk and the film Self Reliance on Hulu (written/directed/starring Jake Johnson)…

The Toy Department – Episode 340

In Episode 340, Madden and Kolsky talk a little grilled cheese before locking in on:

  • This week’s monumental episode of Succession (2:50) and all the little pieces of brilliance that went into it…
  • Hulu’s NYT J Dilla documentary (13:55) which is reasonably interesting and relatively informative but feels like it leaves a lot on the table…
  • HBO’s Music Box documentary about Jason Isbell (23:45) and how it paints a really complete emotional picture of a pretty interesting man and musician…
  • Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things (30:35), the magnetism of Kathryn Hahn and how the series brings together a multi-generational story of moms and daughters…
  • Netflix’s Beef (34:40) and the intensity of watching people attempt to express their ultimately impotent rage…
  • This week’s episode of The Challenge: World Championship (39:35) and a significant elimination…
  • An apparently easily-judged episode of Top Chef (58:05) and the incredibly high level of talent remaining on this season…
  • A few thoughts on the NBA (1:10:15) as we head into the playoff season…
  • Homework for next week (1:24:45), including: the return of Barry on HBO, Netflix’s new World War II show Transatlantic and Cocaine Bear (now available on Peacock)… PLUS another week of The Challenge: World Championship on Paramount+ AND Top Chef Season 20 (World All-Stars) on Bravo…

The Toy Department – Episode 253

In Episode 253, Madden and Kolsky hit the ground running with a short show in mind, covering:

  • The new Marvel show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (1:45) and how it is essentially exactly what you would expect it to be, however far that gets you…
  • Netflix’s Operation Varsity Blues documentary (6:10) and some of the interesting choices they made to tell the story of the country’s biggest college admissions scandal…
  • The Steven Yeun-starring Minari (21:50) and how it’s a quiet family drama but a very good one, despite both hosts finding Yeun’s Oscar nomination a little curious…
  • The also Oscar-nominated Another Round (28:35) and the fascinating ride it takes the viewer on…
  • Homework for next Tuesday (36:25), including: the HBO Max show Beartown out of Sweden, Nate Bargatze special The Greatest Average American, the new Tina Turner documentary on HBO and the Netflix documentary The Last Blockbuster… and DON’T MISS our coverage of The Challenge: Double Agents on Thursday!!!