The Toy Department – Episode 271

In Episode 271, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky reconvene after a week off with a MASSIVE list of pop culture topics, including:

  • The just-completed HBO Max series The White Lotus (3:25) and how the soundtrack and the acting were both tremendous, even if our hosts had different views of the series overall…
  • HBO Max’s dating series FBOY Island (17:25) and how Madden and Kolsky received the show in tremendously different ways, though they agree that saying “F Boy” over and over again is a terrible idea…
  • A couple brief thoughts on Apple TV+’s Mr. Corman (25:45) and how neither host has much to say about it yet, but both are in to see where Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes this thing…
  • James Gunn’s Suicide Squad (26:20) and how it succeeded in being largely entertaining, even if there aren’t a lot of meaningful takeaways…
  • THE RETURN of The Challenge (34:35), and all the intrigue from the first two episodes of Spies, Lies and Allies — from the eccentric Romanians Emy and Emanuel to Hurricane Ashley and everything in between…
  • Homework for next Thursday (1:17:10), including: more of The Challenge: Spies, Lies and Allies, plus the Netflix documentary Untold: Malice at the Palace, the new FX (on Hulu) show Reservation Dogs and the Sandra Oh show The Chair (also on Netflix)…

The Toy Department – Episode 35

In Episode 35, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with Madden’s impending death via Metallica (you’ll see) before getting into:

  • The idea of a single band or artist (like the aforementioned Metallica) transcending their genre to the point that they fully represent it (3:15)… And whether the genre of “rock” has faded to the point where it needs a representative artist (11:00)…
  • Movies!! Madden went and saw Sausage Party (17:00)… while Kolsky went to the drive-in (20:15) and checked out Suicide Squad (21:10) and Bad Moms (26:15)…
  • The HBO Show Vice Principals (29:30), which has kicked things up a gear and gotten Madden engaged…
  • The new Netflix show The Get Down (33:30), which neither Madden nor Kolsky have watched yet… But they discuss the show’s creator, Baz Luhrmann, and assign the pilot to each other for homework…
  • More Netflix with a final breakdown of this season of Orange is the New Black (38:30)… No spoilers in this text, but there ARE spoilers in the discussion so BEWARE!!
  • HBO’s The Night Of (50:11) and its latest episode, which may have raised some questions about the truth and the background of the main character…

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.