Will Ferrell – The Toy Department

The Toy Department – Episode 414

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 402, Madden and Kolsky discuss their great lost episode, and attempt to recreate some of the magic you missed last week as they cover:

The last two episodes of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras (2:00), including the gladiatorial greatness of Derrick Kosinski and the age-defying dominance of Rachel Robinson…
A sprint through the un-aired conversations from last week about: the Pitt/Clooney film Wolfs (26:05), the new HBO comedy The Franchise (27:10) and Mark Duplass’ quietly impactful Penelope (30:15)…
The Netflix documentary Will & Harper (32:25) and how it walks a fine line between laughs and love to produce a tremendous study of America and friendship…
The NBA-focused docu-series Starting 5 on Netflix (38:55) and how it delivers watchability and entertainment even if it doesn’t deliver much basketball…
Apple TV+’s new big-ticket drama Disclaimer (54:50) and how it’s all twisted around and structured in a way that makes it difficult to process…
Homework for next week (1:05:30), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle of the Eras, the second season of Shrinking on Apple TV+, the new Ali Wong stand-up special Single Lady on Netflix and watching Game 4 of the WNBA Finals so you can try to find Derek Madden in the crowd…

In Episode 365, Madden and Kolsky discuss Derek’s rock-and-roll travels before getting to today’s pod business:

The latest from a double-episode week of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (3:20), including the impending chaos portion of the game and thoughts on the exciting crop of developing you lady contestants…
The Hulu movie Quiz Lady (43:05) and how it doesn’t make good enough use of its two leading ladies or its big-name guest star…
The new Apple TV+ film Fingernails (48:50) and yet another project that tragically fails to add up to the appropriate sum of its parts…
Netflix’s new Shea Serrano-created series Neon (57:15) and how he once again delivers a joyful series with clever writing and a deeply endearing heart…
Homework for next week (1:05:20), including: another episode of The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion, the new David Fincher movie The Killer on Netflix, the new Nathan Fielder/Emma Stone show The Curse on Showtime/Paramount+ and the Australian show Colin from Accounts on Paramount+…

In Episode 218, Kolsky gives Madden the scoop on a mildly disastrous start to his road trip vacation before discussing:

The new Netflix/Will Ferrell movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (7:05) and its star-powered cast…
The first episode of HBO’s I’ll Be Gone In the Dark (14:00) and its twin storylines of Michelle McNamara and her subject…
The first two episodes of HBO’s Perry Mason (21:20) and how few redeeming qualities the show has…
The third season of Search Party (26:55) now on HBO Max, and what remains appealing about this weird little show…
The return of The Chi on Showtime (31:35) and settling into a new season minus a couple of ostensibly major characters…
The last two weeks of action on The Challenge: Total Madness (41:05) and the departure of Aneesa and Josh…
Homework for next week (1:06:25), including: another episode of The Challenge, checking out Hamilton on Disney+, Cate Blanchett’s new show Stateless on Netflix, and probably some other stuff too…