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
Aaron Yap welcomes part two of Mad Men season seven, dissecting the first two episodes and predicting towards how the show will wrap its final season. As Mad Men heads towards the end of its extraordinarily consistent eight-year run, the first two episodes of its final season, ‘Severance’ and ‘New Business’, usher in a brand new … Read more
The Spinoff knights meet at the television roundtable to talk week 10 on X Factor NZ. Topics include opportunities for cross-promotion, Israel Dagg’s music video debut and a general sense of apathy. Renee Church on The Blatt-Chelorette We can’t deny it anymore. Mel Blatt is a straight babe, and all males in association with the show (who would be/are in … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 11 of Outlander, in which she introduces the show to her husband, Claire discovers the intricacies of the Scottish legal system, Geillis causes a scene and Jamie seeks The Future. If you missed last week’s recap, click here. We begin with a visit to that ever-popular Highland tourist attraction: the Thieves … Read more
Duncan Greive watches the first episode of Lightbox’s murderous new drama The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, starring Christina Ricci. What’s it about? Lizzie Borden was a real life human animal – a perfect internet-era celebrity who just happened to be born a century or so too soon. She grew up relatively wealthy in a small Massachusetts … Read more
A confession: Sometimes when I sit staring uncomprehendingly at the blinking cursor, trying to figure out how something which once brought me so much joy came to be such a chore, I lean back and think of the winter of 2013. It was very cold, my wife very pregnant and our house a building site. … Read more
In the fourth of a five-part series – here are the first three parts – James Milne signs up to watch Jennifer Love Hewitt’s cancelled borderline softcore porn series The Client List in its entirety. This week Riley gets singing, and James rediscovers JLH’s musical career. There were some genuinely compelling moments of drama in episodes six … 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
With TV3’s drive to find a new 7pm weeknight rating-killer, Joe Nunweek looks back at their mid-90s effort, a venture so amazing and bold that it was discussed in Parliament. If the doomsayers are right – and Campbell Live is not long for this earth – it won’t be the end of an era so … Read more
Appointment Viewing is a regular column which features a Spinoff writer watching one or more episodes of a current show and attempting to decode its appeal. This week: Calum Henderson watches Flog It!, a sub-par Antiques Roadshow with bizarre new wave beats. What’s it about? I first became aware of Flog It! via an ad which … Read more
Sophie Smith shares health lessons learned from watching House, and how the show both helped and hindered her struggle with hypochondria. I have always been excessively anxious about my health. For as long as I can remember, any prolonged or acute headache has been followed by the declaration that I must have a brain tumour. Pain in my … Read more
The Spinoff knights meet at the television roundtable to discuss week nine on X Factor NZ, featuring the shock elimination of Finlay and Joe. Calum Henderson on 50 Shades of Broad I love the Invercargill sexyman Steve Broad. I love his damp charisma, his done-in confidence, the fact that X Factor is the third(!) reality singing show he has … 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
Paul Williams takes us on a heartfelt journey through his ongoing online courtship of Lili Bayliss from The X Factor NZ. // Episode 13 of the second season of X Factor NZ will widely be remembered for one thing: Natalia Kills firing up at Joe Irvine for wearing a suit and combing his hair. While … Read more
Double elimination. Two words, either heavenly or horrific. They sounded so sweet to us at home, carrying with them the promise of a shorter show, relieved of two more can’t-winners from this cursed season. To the performers they were a chill wind blowing through their mansion, a reminder that their dreamy existence – fame, coaching, … Read more
With the first full-time female referee appointed to the NFL last week, Elle Hunt examines the low-key feminist crusaders who blazed the fictional way in Friday Night Lights. // Friday Night Lights is ostensibly about a high school football team in Texas – but is actually about being a good friend and partner and parent, especially … Read more
Paul Henry, New Zealand’s most entertainingly obnoxious talk show host, is starring in a film about to premiere in America. Tomorrow. Seriously. David Farrier brings us this exclusive report and interview. // For two years Paul Henry has been sitting on a strange, fascinating secret. For a few months in between being fired in Australia … Read more
Calum Henderson continues his series of really stupid yet incredibly entertaining Spinoff stories by imagining ace ensemble comedy Party Down as an indoor netball team. // The thing about a good ensemble cast is that it can transcend space and time. You could transplant the casts of Friends onto a spaceship or Seinfeld into the current … Read more
News broke yesterday that Jono and Ben was being considered as a replacement for Campbell Live – which would have been up there with KillsMoon as the most scandalising TV moment of this or any other year. Thankfully a recent press release has informed us, in extremely certain terms, that the speculation was entirely, indisputably ill-founded. Phew. … 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
Joseph Harper responds to the outrageous revelations that Campbell Live may be on the outs. Tweet King and Herald media man John Drinnan dropped a bizarre and shocking shocker on us all this arvo with the revelation that Campbell Live could be facing the chop. Worse still, it could be replaced with a daily dose … Read more
You don’t really see ads on TV anymore. What with the mute function, DVRs and streaming, this once proud tradition is not necessarily dead – but definitely not as great as it once was. I’m not saying there aren’t still great ads – the drug driving ads in the dairy and takeaway stores are comic … Read more
In the third of a five-part series – here are parts one and two – James Milne signs up to watch Jennifer Love Hewitt’s cancelled borderline softcore porn series The Client List in its entirety. // I am a seeker of joy. I yearn to transcend society’s material concerns; to live a life strange and … Read more
With David Lynch dramatically quitting the return to Twin Peaks, another auteur will have to step into his slippers. Aaron Hawkins throws out a few contenders. // Twin Peaks ushered in the 1990s with eight glorious episodes that changed the way we thought about television forever. Almost a quarter of a century after it was … 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
With Alex battling to complete her power rankings ahead of a trip to Melbourne, Duncan and Jane had a one-on-one in The Fantasy Suite (not like that) to discuss the week’s Bachelor NZ action. Topics covered include a week of not kissing, Natalie’s failure to launch and the dramatic showdown between Alyssa and Chrystal. All … 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
The Spinoff knights meet at the television roundtable to discuss week eight on X Factor NZ: One Hit Wonder edition.// Robyn Gallagher on Pleasing the Older Woman In week two, the show theme was “Biggest Records Right Now” and Twitter was filled with 30-somethings having existential crises because they didn’t recognise any of the music. It’s been easier since, … Read more