Alex Casey 
Alex Casey talks to Hilary Barry about juggling Paul Henry and 3 News, watching X Factor and playing second banana. When I arrived at TV3 to meet Hilary Barry, I was deeply excited to find out that the interview would take place on the Paul Henry set. “It’s about the only quiet place left in the … Read more
With Noel coming to town this week for the NZ International Comedy Festival, Alex Casey breaks down some of his absurd hits from The Mighty Boosh. I can only assume that when Noel Fielding arrives in New Zealand this week, it will be on a bedazzled polystyrene unicorn. Just orbiting around and around baggage claim, … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her (possibly) final power rankings for The Bachelor NZ. With a winner decided, it’s time to rank the greatest moments of the final week in paradise. We made it guys, finally tottering along the sandy shores of love to the finalé. And what a finale episode it was – like the producers … Read more
Despite what Taylor Swift’s album would have you believe, she does not hold the monopoly on 1989. As we found out in Joseph Moore’s comedy show of the same name – there was much more going on that year than the birth of a lady in a “nice dress staring at the sunset”. Bookending his solo … Read more
Lightbox have rolled out their platform to a plethora of new compatible devices. Alex Casey, with the help of some canine friends, breaks them down for you. Like Johnny Depp in Transcendence, video-on-demand service Lightbox has escaped the boundaries of traditional technology to bring television almost anywhere. Here are a few of the places you can … Read more
Alex Casey watches the first returning episode of Days of Our Lives, and notes a few things you need to ease you back into the extraordinary soap. One of the longest running scripted television shows in the entire world, Days of Our Lives has washed back up onto our shores courtesy of Lightbox this week. Five … Read more
With a few minutes before showtime, I took in the crowd at the Comedy Festival’s One Man Breaking Bad show. Unsurprisingly, they were a picture of Breaking Bad fandom. Balding. Novelty t-shirts. Pleather. I was particularly taken by one t-shirt featuring the Disney castle, with Walt Disney’s name replaced by Walt White. Much like the gates … Read more
Joseph Moore is joined by X Factor NZ warmer-upper Eli Mathewson and Lili fan Paul Williams to discuss the week of Kiwi classics. In a noisy Balmoral McDonald’s, they discuss meat ethics, Broad farewells and the controversial Tiki Taane backlash. Fresh from the live show, inside scoops include Steve’s set mayhem, Brendon Thomas and the Toilet … Read more
Sitting on the couch of scrutiny right next to the barbecue of trust, Alex Casey delivers her seventh power rankings in our weekly series. If you missed last week’s power rankings, click here. As visionary artisté Skylar Grey once sang, “I’m coming home, I’m coming home – tell the world I’m coming home” and this was … Read more
This Throwback Thursday, ex-cinema usher Alex Casey watches an Aardman claymation built entirely around real conversations between real foyer girls. You will know Aardman Animations now for the dynamic moon-eating duo Wallace or Gromit, or perhaps, for the more culturally unrefined, the screaming toilet slugs of Flushed Away. They’ve really done it all – Chicken … Read more
With his predictions going hugely awry for the last few weeks, Duncan Greive decided to take some time out from the noble task of power ranking. Spending the long weekend in Ohakune, he meditated next to the giant carrot – hoping to gain the strength to be able to see anything promising in the dark … Read more
My Life in TV is a weekly feature interview with a member of the television industry. This week, Alex Casey talked to Anika Moa about tutoring on Maori TV’s Songs From the Inside, Ed Sheeran’s looks and why she likes to impersonate famous New Zealanders. Anika Moa is obviously chiefly known as an accomplished musician, but she … Read more
After the news broke of Paul Henry’s secret feature film The Desk, it is officially coming to New Zealand in the Documentary Edge Festival. Alex Casey went along to a preview screening to see what on earth is going on. Full disclosure: I don’t really know wtf I just watched. I just got home from a … Read more
Rowing endlessly around The Bachelor NZ pond of love, Alex Casey delivers her sixth power rankings in our weekly series. If you missed last week’s power rankings, click here. This week The Bachelor NZ was about as juicy and satisfying as a face-sized burger eaten without a knife and fork because the Burger People didn’t have … 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 week – it’s superhero central. Superheroes are everywhere at the moment. The new Avengers movie has flown into cinemas, one of the X Men has come out as gay and here at home … Read more
Alex Casey watched the Sunday special on the escapees of Gloriavale, and explains why you need to don a bonnet and get involved in this bizarre ongoing story. What’s it about? Gloriavale is the name of a small religious community in Haupiri Valley, first established by a man called Hopeful Christian (yep) in 1969. The … Read more
With the X Factor NZ going from bad to worse, Alex Casey watches Sesame Street’s Singing With the Stars in an attempt to get back to the music. Sesame Street first began in 1969, and in its first season featured the cameo appearances of BB King, Don McLean and Carol Burnett. Over the next few … Read more
In this segment, Alex Casey tries recreate some iconic small screen meals. In this edition, she tackles the eleventh Doctor’s favourite snack – fish fingers and custard. When looking for more freaky forays into small screen snackage, this Doctor Who delicacy was very high up my priority list. Easy to make, relatively cheap, and combining two … Read more
After blow-karting down The Bachelor NZ race track of love, Alex Casey delivers her fifth power rankings in our weekly series. If you missed last week’s power rankings, click here. Call the ambulance – nay (neigh, lol get it), the morgue. I’m officially dead after this week. We’ve been thrown down waterfalls, had our wrists broken and … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature in which we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey gathers a team of women who could give Hillary Clinton a run for her money in 2016. Throughout her years in the political sphere, Hillary Clinton has suffered … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Holiday madness goes completely awry, Chris Warner dresses like a Playboy bunny and TK says no to violence against women: Terrifyingly, Vinny’s son Michael walked around backwards this week wearing a paper mask, like some mash-up of … Read more
Alex Casey visited the Breakfast set this morning to enjoy an intimate concert with hairy guitar chaps Counting Crows. // This morning I woke up early, got in a big yellow taxi (small gold Uber) and made my way to TVNZ to watch Counting Crows play live on Breakfast. My Uber driver Plamen was keen … Read more
Alex Casey goes through the Bachelorette’s pop quiz answers with a fine tooth comb, in order to find out what’s really lurking behind the smiley faces, scribbles and love hearts. // There is no better way to discover someone’s worldview than a hand-filled out form. So you can imagine my delight when I found out … Read more
‘Next Actor’ on Jono and Ben is one of their most well-known segments, placing a famous New Zealander into a regular pleb job and letting chaos ensue via an earpiece and a fervent need to destroy. When it goes well, you get Phil Goff blowing up a condom at New World. When it goes badly, … Read more
My Life in TV is a weekly feature interview with a member of the television industry. This week, Alex Casey talked to Maria Mahony, head of programming at VOD startup (and Spinoff sponsor) Lightbox. // I’ve talked to Maria a few times already, as the head honcho TV buyer at Lightbox, but we actually first met … Read more
After a an exciting wet and wild week on The Bachelor NZ, Alex Casey delivers her fourth power rankings in our weekly series. If you missed previous power rankings, head here. // Yet another great week traversing the rose petal-lined path to true love. But before we begin, let’s check in with Art to see how his workout is … Read more
Dr Who Of course this was first on the list, you Tardis. Ever since this bad boy first appeared at Number 76 Totters Lane in 1963, Dr Who has been all time travel, all the time. For the unfamiliar, Dr Who is a BBC sci-fi show wherein a Time Lord (The Doctor) flits across time … Read more
Alex Casey recaps the finale episode, of Lightbox’s much-anticipated Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul. Contains spoilers, obviously. // This is it, we’ve come to the end of our time with Slippin’ Jimmy McGill, for now at least. It makes sense to open where he has treaded the con artist boards for so many years – … Read more
After a kiss-fueled week three on The Bachelor NZ, Alex Casey delivers her third power rankings in our weekly series. If you missed week two, head here. What a week. The walls are coming down, the padlocks are unlocking, the closed books are being pried open. No metaphor left behind. I actually believe that some girls are starting to … Read more