It was one of the craziest things ever to happen on New Zealand primetime TV: a hidden camera caught a cleaner sniffing underwear, spraying it with perfume, then masturbating into it while he watched porn on the household computer. Alex Casey finds out how it all came about. We can all remember the most iconic … Read more
Spaced birthed one of today’s most celebrated comedy directors, writes Andrew Todd.// Some shows come along as fully-formed works in the own rights. Others are flawed beasts that don’t quite hit it out of the park, but highlight the potential of their creators’ work to come. Channel 4’s 1999 comedy series Spaced, at first glance … Read more
Drop what you’re doing, stop stabbing that rugby ball – Shorty Street Scandal is back for another episode. This week James takes us not only through the past week in Ferndale, but revisits a classic spooky Shortland Street Storyline. Ladies and gentlemen, rising from the grave for one night only, we proudly present – The … Read more
House of Cards has been the go-to fictional analogue for this election season. Toby Manhire, however, is voting for The Thick Of It. // On a street in Rochdale in the spring of 2010, Gordon Brown forgot to take off his microphone. The British prime minister had been talking to a local pensioner, Gillian Duffy, … Read more
Late Night Big Breakfast has produced some of the funniest and most bizarre New Zealand television this year. The quality should come as no surprise given the talented team behind it. Leigh Hart and Jeremy Wells have already established themselves as television funny men of note with their past efforts. For my money though, the … Read more
We talked to Late Night Big Breakfast’s Leigh Hart about his mum, the starving people in Africa, and how he got the most out of Mike the Mongolian throat singer.// So, let’s start at the very beginning. After Moon TV, did you have the concept for this show immediately? I think I pitched the show to TV3 … Read more
Beset by endless schedule-induced delays, Late Night Big Breakfast ended up timing its arrival brilliantly. During the greatest period of media flux in decades, and against the backdrop of the strangest election campaign any of us will ever know. The show’s crazed, no-attention-span sensibility seems like it could only possibly have been properly digested right now. At … Read more
Alex Casey finds a role model in a 40-year-old bearded man from Slough. // I still remember the first time I watched The Office. This was a time before Ricky Gervais got bronzed and ripped and spent 99% of his time yelling about how God doesn’t exist. This was a time before Stephen Merchant starred … Read more
Every Tuesday we will endeavour to chat with somebody involved in New Zealand’s magical little world of television. This week we talked to James Mustapic, host of Shorty Street Scandal. / Each week James Mustapic hosts Shorty Street Scandal, assembling all of the absurd moments from Ferndale into a sensational highlights package. If you aren’t a Shortland Street fan, … Read more
In the first of an occasional series, a TV insider who wishes to remain anonymous shares her thoughts on the local industry. First up, the awkward forced sentimentality of the TV news goodbye. // The Sunday edition of 3 News always seems to take forever to get to 7pm. New Zealand’s small population isn’t really … Read more
Slaying vampires and tunes is all in a days work for Buffy. // Although it may not feel like it, there was a time before Glee and High School Musical. This was back when audiences were still unaccustomed to a sentence turning into a five minute melody, or a character casually whipping out a guitar as the gymnasium … Read more
Dominic Corry gives us a rundown of the top celebrities to visit 30 Rock. // The little comedy runt that could, 30 Rock (2006-2013) was entirely overshadowed in the lead-up to its debut by that season’s other new show – also set behind the scenes of an Saturday Night Live-esque programme – Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 … Read more
Alex Casey asks whether this really is ‘the end’ for Joan Rivers. // The world and Donald Trump farewelled comedian Joan Rivers in New York today. A dark day, another shining and oddly taut star gone. For those of you who find yourselves crippled with grief – there is a light at the end of … Read more
Matt Suddain visits the set of the epic new fantasy show Outlander. // Scotland is no stranger to glamour, as you know. My taxi driver tells me he once gave Charlie Sheen a lift from the airport. “He was nay bother really. Very friendly. Full of energy.” He gets so engrossed in his stories he misses … Read more
What exactly is The Spinoff? Editor Duncan Greive explains. // Like most people, I can map my life out through TV. Inspector Gadget and Danger Mouse as a gawky, pale kid growing up in London. A few years later The Bill and Grange Hill made the surrounding streets seem different, more sinister. My mother wouldn’t let us connect … Read more
The rise of reality TV and the post-HBO drama is slowly killing the soap. Rosabel Tan is in mourning. // “I like everything about the dead… ‘cause they’re so quiet… Think about it, how quiet it would be to be in a room with no one that is alive.” – Phaedra Parks, Real Housewife of Atlanta On … Read more