As the tension builds towards tomorrow night’s Ockham national book awards, Graeme Lay shudders to recall the time the award for best novel went to a bogan – and Steve Braunias barges his way in at the end of the story, and adds a highly unusual postscript. Book awards are wonderful. They’re also fraught. Glittering … Read more
An excerpt (lightly edited – the least it needed! So many semi-colons!) from the masterful biography Maurice Gee: Life and Work, by Rachel Barrowman (Victoria University Press). In this early chapter, she writes of Gee as a young, unhappy misfit in Wellington, putting up with James K Baxter and enjoying his time as a hospital … Read more
All week this week we feature a book or author nominated in next Tuesday’s Ockham national book awards. Today: Holly Walker is given a rare interview with fiction finalist Patricia Grace. Since becoming the first Māori woman to publish a book of short stories in English in 1975, Patricia Grace has always made a commitment … Read more
The shock resignation of Hilary Barry from Mediaworks represents a bigger blow than any of the other high profile TV3 newsroom departures, says Duncan Greive. Last night, just before 9pm, news broke that Hilary Barry had become the latest and biggest casualty of the Mark Weldon era at Mediaworks. It’s a cataclysmic event for the organisation, … Read more
We requested police records on the destruction of the Waitangi Dildo under the Official Information Act. What we got back left us with more questions than answers. At first glance, it’s just another Government form. The police property sheet noting the final destination of the Waitangi Dildo is nothing flashy. Nothing new. A jumble of … Read more
A personal essay by Maria McMillan on the monopoly of Phantom Billstickers. “…if they were all putting up their own posters it would be mayhem.” RNZ, November 30, 2015. “We’ve been putting the New Zealand voice out there for some time.” NZ Book Awards website, March 21, 2016. Quotes from Jim Wilson, founder of Phantom … Read more
An essay by long-time bad dude Iain Sharp on the state of book reviewing in New Zealand – and the preponderance of witless fucking “round-ups.” When I met the poet Lauris Edmond for the first time in 1990, she peered hard at me and announced with her trademark directness, “In person you seem quite gentlemanly, … Read more
From an all-male radio station panel to a bad Paul Henry poll, Jessica McAllen digs through the shittiest New Zealand contributions to International Women’s Day. In case you missed the Beyoncé memes and “go girl” quotes clogging up social media, yesterday was International Women’s Day. In accordance with age-old tradition, many men and corporations marked the day with ill-advised … Read more
Our impossibly torturous flag change process has left us with two terrible options. Design industry professional Simon Pound explains why he’s sticking with the status quo. You know someone’s in real trouble when they have to call in their popular, tough mates to help out. So I feel sorry for John Key, having to get Richie and Dan to … Read more
Scotty Stevenson gives his take on the shockingly competent Blues and the Mighty and Terrible Brumbies in our first ever KFC Super Rugby power rankings. 1. The Brumbies Rd 1: 52-10 v Hurricanes The Brumbies are more organised than an obsessive compulsive’s wardrobe. From the grind of the 150-game veteran skipper and resident orc, Stephen Moore, to the metronomic goal … Read more
When Duncan Greive reviewed Filthy Rich a couple of weeks back he was overwhelmed with messages from a depressed New Zealand TV industry. Here he summarises what they had to say. Part of an ongoing series assessing our publicly funded television. Read part two, comparing TVNZ with the BBC, here. A couple of weeks back I … Read more
Why was Conrad Smith always praised for his ‘intelligent’ play, while Ma’a Nonu was often branded an ‘imposing physical specimen’? Jamie Wall takes on racial stereotyping in the New Zealand rugby media. There’s an opening in the archetypes department of NZ rugby. No, not the bashful, camera-shy tight forward. Not even the first five who … Read more
Joseph Harper uses his Playstation 2 version of The Sims to decide the final outcome of The Bachelor NZ. Speculation is rife going into the final week of The Bachelor NZ. All three remaining bachelorettes seem to have a crack at the title of Art Green’s girlfriend. Alysha has the nice accent. Matilda has a nice … Read more
Earlier this week Massey University released their list of the quotes of the year. They were all by men. Alex Casey finds that a little odd. This week Massey University has released their list of contenders for 2015’s Quote of the Year, with competition organiser Dr Heather Kavan pointing out that 2015 has shown a … Read more
Everyone is churning out snackable video content these days, from SCOUT in 60 Seconds leading 3 News every night, to TVNZ announcing that short entertainment videos will be available on demand by the end of the year. Feels like we could be at snack saturation point – something which may have been confirmed with the launch of … Read more
Today marks the launch of Scout, the new entertainment news site forged in MediaWork’s basement furnace by Rachel Glucina, the twisted firestarter of New Zealand gossip. Today she emerged: charred and smokey, holding Mike Hosking’s petite vacuum cleaner in her hands. Whatever you think of the website: there’s no denying that this is a moment in New … Read more
Alex Casey watches the rollicking teaser video for The Block NZ: Villa Wars, and gives sound analysis on what some aspects we can expect from the competitive DIY show. You better swatch out, You better not ply(wood), You better not grout, I’m telling you why: The Block NZ is coming to town. Yesterday I introduced you … Read more
TV3’s brand new 7pm current affairs show Story debuted last night. Duncan Greive and Alex Casey break down the crucial elements of the show with very big shoes to fill. Story is a show with extremely high stakes. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that as the show goes, so goes Mark Weldon. That’s not necessarily fair … Read more
Former Metro digital editor Catherine McGregor recently moved to New York. Naturally, her first priority was obtaining a television, so she could watch the first Republican debate on Fox News. On my local public radio station, morning call-in listeners described how they were planning to watch the show. Comparisons were made to stand-up comedy, WWE, and the audition rounds … Read more
In our new feature A Week Of It, a Spinoff writer watches a show every day for a week and reports back with their findings. This week, Alex Casey watches a week of The 4.30 Show to find out what the cool teens of New Zealand are up to. Despite the amount of people telling … Read more
In our new feature A Week Of It, a Spinoff writer watches a show every day for a week and reports back with their findings. This week, Alex Casey watches a week of Seven Sharp – and finds a meta twist at the end of the viral video tunnel. I normally like to spend 7pm … 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
Yesterday the All Blacks finally played a test in the Pacific Islands, thanks largely to the efforts of one passionate man with a bug in his head. John Campbell campaigned endlessly on the irony of so many of our most glorious ABs having island ancestry, yet the side never having played a test there. And … Read more
Hayden Donnell looks into the oozing ruptured abdomen of Game of Thrones and tries to discover how to make it through this doomscape alive. Contains endless spoilers, obviously. Game of Thrones is trying to inflict as much emotional and physical harm on you as possible. It wants to teach you that good guys don’t always win, that honour … Read more
In a time before she donned a sparkly dress and mom-danced (as my flatmate put it) on free-to-air television, before she called one journalist a “puffed up little shit” and another Cameron Slater’s “glove puppet”, our dearly beloved Pam Corkery was once an MP. For three years, she occupied a seat in our hallowed halls … Read more
Last Monday David Farrier and Sam Hayes’ Newsworthy debuted. At the end of of their first week they invited The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and Duncan Greive along to review their first week on air, on air.
When big name broadcasters have left their networks in the past it has been chasing vast sums of money, or with the kind of smugness which can only come from knowing you’ve just received the most golden of handshakes. The godly authority of their bully pulpits seemed to mean never worrying about job security. So … Read more
Finlay McDonald looks at the emerging international television phenomenon known as ‘poverty porn’, and wonders how long we’ll have to wait for a New Zealand version. Sydney’s sprawling west contains some of the best-named suburbs known to humankind: Blacktown, Punchbowl and, my firm favourite, Rooty Hill. Each would make a fine title for a gritty … Read more
Joseph Harper uses his Playstation 2 version of The Sims to decide the final outcome of The Bachelor NZ. Speculation is rife going into the final week of The Bachelor NZ. All three remaining bachelorettes seem to have a crack at the title of Art Green’s girlfriend. Alysha has the nice accent. Matilda has a nice … Read more