Homai Te Pakipaki has been a mainstay every Friday night on Māori Television, encouraging people from all walks to life to “bring your keyboard and your mates for a jam”. José Barbosa went behind the scenes during the Grand Final, before the karaoke show shuts down after nine glorious years. The first time I watched Homai Te … Read more
With a bit of spare time on your hands this summer, you might want to revisit some old family-friendly classics. José Barbosa suggests the legendary Kiwi canine caper A Dog’s Show on NZ On Screen, arguing a strong case for why it is the best television show New Zealand has ever seen. It’s become part of … Read more
Recently NZ On Air published its 2015 report. Our thoughts on NZ On Air’s digital funding and other tidbits from the report can be read here. But that’s not all we gleamed from the numbers and tables … Without a doubt the most interesting morsel from the report is this: The Christian Broadcasting Association made … Read more
NZ On Air has released its 2015 annual report. José Barbosa pulls up some things to applaud and some things to question. Such is the current media environment the release of NZ On Air’s state-of-its-work report feels a bit like a message in bottle chucked into a chum bucket and fed to Jaws. The funding body … Read more
The Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi, describes some of his favourite episodes from Doctor Who‘s 50 year history. Do you have a list of favourite episodes? I hate doing the favourite game, because it betrays a lot of the other ones. But there are things that I think are great; and I always forget there … Read more
(Music: Please Listen Carefully (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0) We met in a fancy hotel on Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour. I was the short, big boned chap with creased and crinkly clothes; he was the tall Scot wearing an immaculately pressed suit, sans tie, shirt buttoned to the top. “I’ll sit anywhere that works for you,” he … Read more
Homai Te Pakipaki has been a mainstay every Friday night on Māori Television, encouraging people from all walks to life to “bring your keyboard and your mates for a jam”. José Barbosa went behind the scenes during the Grand Final, before the karaoke show shuts down after nine glorious years. The first time I watched Homai Te … Read more
The scene is the set of a craptastic public access TV channel. A woodwork demonstration with a table saw is underway as the cameras roll. The demonstrator is a gangly, seemingly spaced out man in white overalls; he’s being interviewed by a young guy with a mop of permed hair and glasses. Overalls says “There’s … Read more
The merging of NZME’s news teams from its various operations in print, radio and online into one all-purpose news gathering is due to be completed by the end of the year. As we’ve previously noted, the great smooshing of 2015 has already begun with a handful of journalists and columnists for The New Zealand Herald now … Read more
José Barbosa wraps on a tinfoil hat and dissects the hidden meaning in the trailer for the new X Files reboot. Earlier this year the television world was rocked by the announcement that 2016 would bring a brand new X-Files series. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, we were told, would reprise their roles as FBI … Read more
Jose Barbosa interviews Samantha Newark, voice of Jem in the mid-80s cartoon Jem and the Holograms, and reflects on how the show represented bold and independent role models for young women. Every generation has their cultural touchstones. For my parents it’s the music of the Beatles and Norman Kirk. For their parents it was Johnny Cooper and … Read more
José Barbosa listens to the debut of First Person, John Campbell’s new podcast series for Radio New Zealand. Whatever Radio NZ ends up doing with John Campbell you’d hope, possibly pray, his old mate Carol Hirshfeld would get him out into the world. Campbell standing in a field somewhere navigating the tributaries of the Solid Energy collapse … Read more
I was happy before Black Mirror. I was even deliriously happy in the way dogs are when their owners wave food in front of them. They’re so glad they’re getting fed. What they don’t know is they’re getting served sick old nags ground up into paste. It was nearly four years ago Charlie Brooker’s dank … Read more
José Barbosa tracks down the man who once ran the internet in New Zealand, and asks him to assess Mr Robot, Lightbox’s acclaimed new hacking thriller. Listen below as a podcast, or read on for a text transcript of the package. So there’s this scene in a movie called Panic Room. It’s directed by David Fincher, stars Jodie … Read more
José Barbosa spent three long days trapped in a New York apartment to bring you this stunningly detailed, lovingly rendered tribute to the iconic interiors of New York City situation comedy. When you’re done reading – watch 30 Rock, Seinfeld and Louie on our great mates’ Lightbox.
The eighth season of Doctor Who has just arrived to Lightbox, and hitting us all square in the guts like a radiophonic workshop generated sine wave. ‘Tis a time for cheer, but is the verdict still out on Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of our favourite rogue Gallifreyian? José Barbosa examines Capaldi’s first season. Does the actor bring anything … Read more
Season eight of Doctor Who has arrived on Lightbox today, with Peter Capaldi making his debut as The Doctor. José Barbosa power ranks the Doctors as they have regenerated through the ages. There was a time the way the BBC felt about Doctor Who was analogous to how most people feel about flatulence in enclosed spaces: … Read more
Fragmentary Thoughts is a comic strip by José Barbosa, in which he explores a different television show or phenomenon each month. In this instalment, he tackles the perils of working in the television world. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you making television is pretty much insane. There’s rampant egos, nincompoops, psychopaths, managers acting seemingly at random, … Read more
José Barbosa goes to the future to visit the set of TV3’s current affairs show Story, and reports back on just how much fun is in store for Heather du Plessis-Allan and Duncan Garner. This week MediaWorks made public its plans for a new current affairs show in the 7pm slot recently vacated by Campbell Live. The new … Read more
Fragmentary Thoughts is a comic strip by José Barbosa, in which he’ll tackle a different television show or phenomenon each month. In this instalment, he celebrates the best bonkers moments from week one of Come Dine With Me NZ. Among all the angst and genuine uncertainty that has come to characterise New Zealand’s TV industry, the local … Read more
Fragmentary Thoughts is a comic strip by José Barbosa, in which he’ll tackle a different television show or phenomenon each month. In this instalment, he illustrates his favourite moments from Mad Men. The end is coming for Matthew Weiner’s examination of the slow, gurgling death of the American dream. One more episode of Mad Men remains. The … Read more
It’s an interesting feature of this amazing future amusement park we currently inhabit that we talk about the “TV binge” where once we referred to the “TV marathon”. Slowly TV is becoming human foie gras as complete seasons of TV shows are now made to be inhaled in one sitting. It’s been great for people … Read more
Fragmentary Thoughts is a comic strip by José Barbosa, in which he’ll tackle a different television show or phenomenon each month. In this instalment, he shares his initial reaction to the first week of Paul Henry. // A week has passed since MediaWorks carpet bombed the country with the new Paul Henry show, Paul Henry. Landing … Read more
José Barbosa watched the on-screen festivities of Campbell Live‘s 10th anniversary, and considers the marvellous legacy of Mr John Campbell. // Last week marked 10 years of TV3’s flagship current affairs show, Campbell Live. The last decade has seen John Campbell drop his “Gidday yous fellas” greeting, literally drive the opening titles with the sponsor’s … Read more
Ahead of forthcoming Prime documentary The Naughty Bits, co-creator José Barbosa talks with former Chief Censor Bill Hastings about his career watching video nasties. Strictly speaking former Chief-Censor Bill Hastings isn’t part of that madcap world of TV production, TV is outside the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s (OFLC) remit, but he’s certainly done … Read more
Fragmentary Thoughts is a new comic strip by José Barbosa, in which he’ll tackle a different television show or phenomenon each month. This time round it’s everyone’s favourite Ed Sheeran-belting swear-fest: The X Factor NZ. This season of The X Factor NZ has already brought us much: a contestant with a past manslaughter conviction, poor beautiful Stan getting chewed … Read more
José Barbosa farewells Parks and Recreation, the American sitcom that stood for the power of people, Pawnee or otherwise. // I have a friend who is a political junkie. He nerds over the finer details of democracy’s pulsating innards and loves nothing better than witnessing true political engagement. A few years ago he had a small … Read more
Last Friday Leonard Nimoy died in his bed at home. He lived in Bel Air, so he had done pretty well from a life spent portraying a human/Vulcan hybrid with green blood. Nimoy played many other characters in his career, both before and after Star Trek, but in terms of fame Spock overshadowed all of … Read more
Outrageous Fortune’s James Griffin is one of the few New Zealanders who’ve known he was scripting a series’ final episode. José Barbosa talks with him about the different ways, many of them terrible, TV shows have bowed out. The writer Alan Moore (most widely know as the guy who, along with artist David Lloyd, gave Anonymous the idea … Read more