Alex Casey 
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Harper goes bizarre for old pizza, Dallas invents a cool colleague called Fridge and we find out what Santa does for 364 days of the year: This week, Harper found herself eating pizza alone in … Read more
Tingly Fingers for Better Call Saul Better Call Saul, one of the more hotly-anticipated shows for next year, has managed to maintain an almost unheard of level of mystery. The Breaking Bad spinoff show has restrained its PR to mere small town billboards, classified ads and the odd trailer, leading to fever pitch levels of intrigue … Read more
With the return of University Challenge NZ to Prime this Saturday morning, Alex Casey watches the incredible 1988 final between Canterbury and Waikato. // Host Peter Sinclair welcomes us to the 1988 final, reflecting on the year that has been. He honestly looks like the perfect combo of Christoph Waltz, a Ken doll and this infamous dog wearing … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? We meet our darling Clementine, Chris forgets how to parent and Wendy cockblocks the night away: It’s always exciting to have a new addition to the Street – this week saw the arrival of Clementine. … Read more
Goodbye Sweet Dawg After 13 seasons, 400 cheesecutter hats and just as many peace signs – judge Randy Jackson is moving on from American Idol. He leaves Ryan Seacrest as the only remaining original cast member, to join Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul in some sort of Coca-Cola Mecca. The judges for the upcoming season … Read more
MediaWorks and TVNZ have both launched their television schedules for next year, and there is one undeniable trend for 2015: local. Local productions, local stories and local singles in your area looking for love. The parallels between programming are impossible to ignore, so why not encourage some healthy competition? // The Block NZ vs Our First Home With The … Read more
For TV Autopsies The Spinoff ventures deep into the TV universe to check in with New Zealand’s fallen stars, away from the spotlight’s glare. In this debut instalment Alex Casey went to Manurewa to meet four-octave powerhouse and Harry Warner hater, Wayne Anderson. // Wayne Anderson, the greatest singer in Manurewa, first bellowed his way onto our screens in the 2005 series … Read more
This music monday, we visit the catchiest musical moments to come from the good folk at 30 Rockerfeller Plaza. // One of the greatest things about 30 Rock (aside from the dickey shirts, the sandwiches and the jokes about Kenneth being 100+ years old) is the musical element of the show. Set behind the scenes of a … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Kronos the cat gets karmic with Dallas and we revisit Harry before he got a major facelift/attitude problem: Kronos the cat is definitely a weird addition to the Shortland Street world. It’s not often that … Read more
Will it be Fourth Time Lucky for the Girls of Girls? HBO has confirmed that the fourth season of Lena Dunham’s Girls will premiere on January 11 in the States. Who knows what that means for us at this stage but, for now, please enjoy this set visit teaser. I always thought Shoshanna was born in … Read more
This Throwback Thursday Alex Casey finds a hotbed of young talent in the TV adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. Reader beware, you’re in for a scare/moderate surprise. // The hottest news in the cinematic world is obviously the adaptation of R.L. Stine’s terrifying children’s horror series Goosebumps into a feature film starring Jack Black. So, now is … Read more
Alex Casey recaps her own My Kitchen Rules NZ recapping experience, summarising the tips and tricks she has learnt from Kitchen HQ.// “This is the night, I’m turning up the heat. This is the night, I’m standing on my feet.” – MKRNZ theme song One week ago, Neena and Belinda (The Modern Day Hippies) won … Read more
Alex Casey went along to the official Outlander fan gathering, and discovered a visionary group of female fans who are as unconventional as the show they love. // I didn’t know a lot about Outlander. I had watched half of the pilot, had read some bits and pieces online, and raced through the infamous sexy episode … Read more
“If you think you can fall, you’re more likely to.” – Nik Wallenda, inspirational speaker and King of the Wire Here at The Spinoff, we love a good live event – and Nik Wallenda is fast-becoming the modern day king of the live event. Last year, the world was gripped as he crossed the Grand … Read more
Trying to read everything on the internet can be a bit like trying to high-five a ghost, you will never manage and you will look like an idiot doing it. Never fear, we have taken the liberty of assembling an entire crypt full of spooky TV reading for you over this frightening weekend. Fill your skull … Read more
With Halloween just around the corner, Alex Casey finds costume inspiration from the trusty team at Dunder Mifflin. // “I love Halloween. You know, it’s just fun. Every year, it’s just fun. Last Halloween I came as Janet Jackson’s boob. It was topical. People got a big kick out of it. The year before that, … Read more
You know it’s the finale when the contestants have their special little chef outfits on. We have our first cry of the episode about four seconds in when Aaron muses that he’s already “the last man standing, technically.” I would have probably taken time get mad about that statement, but he immediately started crying. So I … Read more
The second semi-final is upon us. Dai and Dal vs. Neena and Belinda. Isn’t it amazing? One team all the way from Laos – and one all the way from Cambridge. Aaron and Heather were gently pushed aside, already through to the finals. Aaron’s sweater said “dead” on it, which I found quite dark for … Read more
Can you believe this? The first round of semifinals? It’s happening, it’s all happening. One of these four teams will hold the glistening MKR shield (what actually is the prize?) of glory within a few episodes. It was time for a showdown between The Polynesian Cooks and The Corporate Dads. The tension was palpable, and … Read more
Forecast? Sadness Today, the NZ Herald announced that our all-time favourite weather man/father of the nation Jim Hickey will be retiring to pursue his memorabilia café dreams. It looks at this stage like he will be replaced by Dan Corbett, who has recently joined the One News weather team. We put together some of his … Read more
As any scarf-laden teen will tell you – hickeys are notoriously hard to get rid of. But we don’t want to part with this one. Today, the Herald announced that our eternal weather shaman Jim Hickey is sadly retiring (again). Doing his time in front of that mesmerizing TVNZ green screen since 1988, Hickey is … Read more
Last night was Sudden Death: Cuties vs Hippies. As always, the two teams went head to head cooking a three-course meal for the ever-glamorous panel of celebrity judges. The entrées were up first, because this is MKRNZ not Crazy Land NZ. The Cuties were making cheese tortellini, flexing their strong pasta muscles in the face of pasta … Read more
Ah, nothing like a touching interview with someone who is head over heels in love. Last week on the British ITV morning show This Morning, hosts Amanda Holden and Phillip Schofield talked to 63 year old smokeshow Edward Smith, who has taken 700 lovers since the age of 14. Did I say lovers? I meant cars. … Read more
The Corporate Dads were safe as hell after their major pizza hustle of the last ep, and the three remaining teams were left fighting for a place in the coveted MKRNZ semifinals. Jessie and Ricki were on the Sudden Death loser couch, and the rest of the teams were left to make a romantic date night … Read more
We talked to “The Social Media Buddies” aka Sam and Dan from My Kitchen Rules New Zealand about getting trolled by school teachers, the big lamb screw-up and having major Mum beef with Sean Connolly.// Sam and Dan were the youngest MKRNZ team by far, two early twenty-somethings from Auckland who were coined “The Social Media Buddies” (because they … Read more
It was time for a People’s Choice challenge, and the top five teams were making pizza – the people’s food. At this point, the teams were feeling overwhelmed by the wild MKR journey from their homes, to Kitchen HQ, all the way to Federal Street: “this train has not stopped, we must be on the … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? It’s all tensions and flying soccer boots at Warner HQ: Harry has finally got some direction in his life. No longer just a snotty brat – he’s going to be an All White. After confessing … Read more
It’s the weekend. You can’t deny it, it’s definitely about to happen. Lucky you’ve got that giant television spreadsheet nailed onto your wall to get you through the next 48 hours. Oh, you don’t? Well never fear. It’s scheduled to rain a lot over the weekend, so let us guide you through the two days … Read more
The Most Important Paul of the Day On Monday, MediaWorks announced that Paul Henry will be hosting New Zealand’s first cross-platform breakfast show in 2015. That’s right, Paul Henry will be all over your morning cereal, your drive to work, your radio, your TV, your ears, your eyes, your entire world. MediaWorks are hoping to integrate … Read more