Alex Casey 
Katherine Kelly Lang, star of The Bold and The Beautiful for over 28 years, has brought her luxury kaftan line to New Zealand. With nothing else to do on a Monday, Alex Casey went along to the launch party. It was a Monday morning and, like any normal day, I was off to a kaftan … Read more
Last night, whilst Simon Barnett was weeping his way through a winning pasodoble, another notable New Zealander debuted a winning performance piece of their own. It was Max Key, who finally launched his holiday video after much Instagram anticipation/boob-leering promo shots. I’ll be honest, I was a little disappointed. In this post-Blair Witch GoPro era, it … Read more
Duncan Greive and Alex Casey run through the Emmy nominations for 2015, picking their favourites to take home the dangerously spiky golden awards. Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series: Better Call Saul • AMC • Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill Bloodline • Netflix • Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn House Of Cards • Netflix • … Read more
Bringing you the best and worst TV moments of the week, including gnarly shoot-outs, powerful haircuts and terrible advertorials. 1) The Mother of the Nation Rises Again This week on Paul Henry, Hilary Barry’s regular spot was filled with another beloved member of TV news royalty. Judy Bailey showed up to keep her seat warm … Read more
In three minutes you could make yourself a bowl of two minute noodles (prep time + meditation included), look through someone’s ‘Bali 2009’ album on Facebook, or watch some incredible short kiwi documentaries on TVNZ Ondemand. Part of the Loading Docs initiative, filmmakers are given the opportunity to produce three-minute documentaries across a wide range … Read more
Alex Casey watches over three hours of Miss USA 2015 coverage, and reports back with some giant sneakers, rough public voting systems and a growing sense of despair. I have a shocking, groundbreaking announcement: Miss Congeniality lied to us, and the Miss USA competition is nothing like the movies. Sandra Bullock has left me high … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her semi-final round of Dancing With the Stars power rankings, including deep conspiracies, low-resolution underwear decals and a winning NZ flag pitch. It’s semifinals week, and we are all but a meat hand away from the finish line. The couples each performed two dances this time around, which meant far less time … Read more
This morning on Paul Henry, Hilary Barry’s regular spot was filled with another beloved member of TV news royalty. Judy Bailey showed up to keep her seat warm whilst Hilz holidays for the week. The mighty microphone baton has been passed back from one Mother of the Nation to another, as have their eerily identical … Read more
Jono and Ben have combined two of The Spinoff’s favourite things this week: massive pranks and our good friends at Dancing With the Stars NZ. They were nice enough to lend us this teaser trailer of what mayhem is coming tonight at 7.30pm. All the classics are in there: Hayley Holt, Candy Lane, Sharyn Casey, Simon Barnett … Read more
TV One’s new lifestyle show Kiwi Living begins at 7.30pm tonight, an “all-encompassing lifestyle show covering food, travel, gardening, living spaces, health and well-being, fashion and the outdoors”. It will be hosted by celebrity chef and caravan enthusiast Michael Van de Elzen and 20/20‘s Miriama Kamo, featuring many other specialist presenters. Fine. Those are words. … Read more
This morning the NBR reported that Paul Henry had gone on an angry rant at the wrong person. Criticising John Drinnan as the “man of evil words” for reporting that Paul Henry has been out-rated by Sesame Street, Paul recounted his discovering the article in a Robert Harris in Tokoroa: “Luckily though, Maria Tutaia was on the … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her sixth power rankings for Dancing With the Stars NZ, including an audience member’s momentous belch and Chrystal Chenery’s revival of Joe Dirt-based insults. I wasn’t around in the ‘80s, but boy oh boy do I feel like I’ve lived a thousand lives in it now. It was all about shocks this … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Kane gets an A+ in physical education, credit card debt hits Ferndale hard and James Mustapic reveals his sleazy namesake: Kane and his mysterious Swedish/American teacher had some private tutoring sessions this week. And by private tutoring … Read more
In April this year, we published a very public declaration of love by Paul Williams for Lilli Bayliss, the undeniable pop princess of X Factor NZ. “A girl with snow-white hair had done the impossible. Not only had she made me not hate the song ‘Rude’ by Canadian reggae band Magic!, she had made me love … Read more
Alex Casey runs through James Griffin’s extensive television biography with the man himself, gauging his first response on everything from The Strip to Bro Town. A few weeks ago I had a sit-down interview with James Griffin for our My Life in TV series. It’s a tall task to get through his entire biography in … Read more
A reissued post from July this year, days before the premiere of the much-anticipated Outrageous Fortune prequel Westside. Alex Casey talked to creator James Griffin about getting started in television, the perils of funding in New Zealand and the Van and Munter spin-off that time forgot. It’s a dizzying feeling to walk into the Grey Lynn villa where you … Read more
Last night John Campbell got in front of a TV camera for the first time since his tearful farewell to ‘The Cup Song’ from Pitch Perfect. Once direct competition, he was billed as “Hurricanes expert”, taking to The Crowd Goes Wild desk to a cacophony of canned applause and cameraman cheers. “It’s John Bloody Campbell,” says Andrew Mulligan. … Read more
Alex Casey watches TV2’s new show Take Me Out, a chaotic dating competition where one man catches an elevator and thirty women use lights and fire poi to communicate their feelings. What’s it about? Take Me Out is a fast-paced, lightbulb-based dating show, hosted by world’s most Irish person Paddy McGuinness. His wisecracks pour out crazy … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This month, it’s out with the old and in with the new as the cool content gets a mid-year shake-up. Here are the new shows that have arrived just in time for July: The Good … Read more
I love the films, me. In fact, the only thing I love more than a lovely film is a lovely, lovely episode of Dancing With the Stars NZ. You should have seen my face when I found out my two favourite things were colliding! Oh the possibilities! Oh the opportunities for beautiful homages to the … Read more
Married at First Sight takes a bunch of single strangers looking for love, but eliminates all the hassle involved in getting to know someone. Or even choosing someone to get to know. A group of professional labcoat nerds run tests on the participants, crunch their stats, and match couples together using a sophisticated Minority Report-style … Read more
Hip hop has had a hard time on Dancing With the Stars NZ so far, with Teuila and Scott’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’-inspired rumba scoring dangerously low with the judges last week. But that’s all about to change. We’ve been granted exclusive access to a teaser clip from tonight’s elimination episode, featuring the powerful hip hop dance … Read more
Jono and Ben returns to TV3 tonight, and promises a jam-packed evening filled with hot dogs, dancing celebrities and Colin Craig’s exclusive return to the dangerous territory of TV3 talk shows. What else can you look forward to? Those of you mourning the loss of gone-too-soon Dancing With the Stars legend Pam Corkery can rejoice as she pops … Read more
Alex Casey looks back across the week in television and picks her favourite moments, including The Bachelorette’s sex scandal and Hosking’s skinny jeans ratings smash. 1. True Detective’s Premiere Flat as a Circular Pancake Okay, I overstated that a bit – but it was definitely more pancake than three tier wedding cake, right? As I … Read more
This Throwback Thursday, Alex Casey watches a 1995 documentary that unearths the bizarre origins and rituals around Paeroa’s L&P bottle and Ohakune’s giant carrot. Our host Miranda Harcourt is taking us around New Zealand, looking at what different small towns have done to put themselves on the map. Invariably, it seems, there is only one option … Read more
The people in TV shows are all good and well, but won’t someone think of the animals? Alex Casey ranks her favourite pets scurrying around on Lightbox. It’s always the boring old humans that are remembered for their good work. Everyone’s clapping for Tony Soprano, nobody spares a thought for Adriana’s dog, violently killed onscreen … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her fourth power rankings for winter wonderland week of Dancing With the Stars, wherein hell freezes over, Pam gets eliminated and Teuila does the running man. The power rankings are a little late this week, as I have been very busy rocking gently in a corner, despairingly imagining the next few weeks … Read more
The new season of True Detective starts tonight, bringing with it a whole new story, cast and setting. Time may well be a flat circle, but feels like a bloody long time to me since the first season. I’ve decided to assemble a refresher package for those delving back into the musky True Detective world. … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Pixie goes down in a brownie blaze, Boyd and Harper talk dirty and James celebrates one year of Shorty Street Scandal: Rampant leg cancer aside, Pixie has been living a pretty cruisey life in Ferndale. She gets personal visits … Read more