Better Call Saul meets Breaking Bad: A crossover wishlist

Better Call Saul is dropping weekly on Lightbox right now – and it’s slowly catching up with the start of Breaking Bad. While we wait, here are four fanservicey ways the new show could tip its hat to the old one. Better Call Saul, the often-prequel sometimes-sequel series to Breaking Bad, is back with its fourth … Read more

New to Lightbox: It’s American women all over this month

A ’70s housewife, an exhausted mother, and a law student moonlighting as a call girl: these are just a few of the people coming to Lightbox in August. Better Call Saul (S4 starts August 7, Express) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYl0Bio5E-E The mostly-prequel sometimes-sequel series to Breaking Bad could very easily have been more of the same. There was a … Read more

Five seasons of New Girl in one minute (WATCH)

Can you sum up five seasons of the bed-hopping, flatmate-loving sitcom New Girl in one minute? Madeleine Chapman thinks she can. Watch five seasons of New Girl on Lightbox right here and right now: This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do … Read more

What’s Katherine Heigl been up to, you guys?

Season eight of Suits starts dropping on Lightbox tomorrow – and Katherine Heigl is coming along with it. Sam Brooks details where the former TV princess has been up to since her heyday. Katherine Heigl has had a strange career, you guys. First up, she had Roswell. You know, that show about aliens starring the guy with … Read more

Rabbits, powerpuffs, cavemen: The best of Lightbox for kids these holidays

We’re halfway through the school holidays and you’re probably running out of things to do with the kids. Never fear  – Tara Ward to the rescue, with the ideal time-filling shows on Lightbox. Welcome to the school holidays, the magical period when whānau bask in the glow of two weeks of quality time with their … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale recap: Bustin’ out all over

We’ve come to the end of the dystopian conservative marathon that is the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale – and oh my god what have you done, June! Tara Ward recaps. For the love of all things red and capey, why did you not get in the truck? It was the last few minutes … Read more

Harlots: Who are these corsetted women and where do I know them from?

Harlots returns to Lightbox tomorrow with a second season full of intrigue, feminism and corset-ripping good times. The show is full of famous faces, but where have you seen them before? Samantha Morton Who is she playing? Margaret Wells! She runs a brothel in 18th century Britain, and her brutal upbringing working in Lydia Quigley’s brothel … Read more

Handmaid’s Tale recap: One step forward, two steps back

Love is patient, love is kind, love is not knowing what beautiful nightmares await us in next week’s season finale. Tara Ward recaps the penultimate episode of the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Time flies while you’re having fun in the apocalypse, and several weeks have passed since we left June bleeding on the … Read more

From Terrence Malick to Magic Mike: The hidden gems in the Lightbox Movies catalogue

Lightbox Movies has a huge selection of movies to choose from, but film geek Sam Brooks is most excited about the obscure, hard-to-find and objectively best ones. A Fantastic Woman Obviously, the first thing a film nerd should catch up on, if they haven’t seen it already, is the latest winner of the Academy Award for … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale recap: You’re tough, aren’t you?

Alex Casey dissects episode five of The Handmaid’s Tale, including the march of the child brides and a lovely holiday to the colonies. Contains spoilers, obviously. Finally, we’ve caught somewhat of a break. ‘Seed’ was perhaps the most relaxed episode of the season so far, and when I say relaxed I mean a couple of … Read more

The best of Lightbox’s mums to watch this Mother’s Day

You want mothers? Lightbox has ’em. Tara Ward takes a look at the best TV mothers to hang with this weekend. Mothers. They’re everywhere these days; at work, at the gym, on the television. They’ve even had the audacity to give themselves a day in their own honour (it’s tomorrow, FYI). Nowhere is safe from women … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale recap: We’ve been sent good weather… or have we?

Alex Casey dissects episode four of The Handmaid’s Tale, including tense baby showers and a walk down memory lane. Contains spoilers, obviously. June, in the sacred words of Fur Patrol, am I surprised to see you here with Lydia? No. No I’m not. After last week’s literal plane crash disaster, I knew it was only … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale recap: Blessed be the fruit loops

Alex Casey dissects episode three of The Handmaid’s Tale, including cereal gags, serious twists and a Gwen Stefani cameo, of all things.  First of all: I’m sorry. I tricked you with a delicious sugary cereal snack and a pun headline, just like episode three of The Handmaid’s Tale tricked me into relaxing a bit before … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale is back to burn everything to the ground

Alex Casey reviews the return of The Handmaid’s Tale, available exclusively on Lightbox with new episodes every Thursday. Sweaty palm on heaving heart, there is simply no other television show that elicits such a violent, physical reaction in me like The Handmaid’s Tale. You should know the story by now, because it’s one that may … Read more

All the ways you can get hyped for The Handmaid’s Tale season two

With The Handmaid’s Tale season two arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Thursday, Alex Casey assembles a handy list of ways you can bide your time.  I wish I could tell you everything about The Handmaid’s Tale season two, I really do. I wish I could tell you why I was silently wincing at my office … Read more

New to Lightbox in April: Handmaids, Russian spies and Helen Mirren

Alex Casey and Sam Brooks round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including the highly anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, Russian spies in wigs and Helen Mirren’s career-defining role! The Handmaid’s Tale S2 (April 26) The last we saw of Offred and the gals, a cute way of characterising a group of women … Read more

Raised by Wolves celebrates howling, hilarious working class women

Alex Casey introduces Raised by Wolves, a coming-of-age sitcom created by UK feminist firebrand Caitlin Moran. What’s the story? Raised by Wolves is a semi-biographical retelling of the childhoods of Caitlin and Caroline Moran, set on an estate in the working class city of Wolverhampton. Join Germaine (who I’m assuming is inspired by Caitlin via … Read more

A chat with The Good Doctor’s Freddie Highmore, the politest TV star in the world

Henry Oliver sits down with Freddie Highmore to talk about his TV journey from the cellars of Bates Motel to the corridors of The Good Doctor. In The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore plays Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident with autism and savant syndrome. So, basically, he’s both a genius with diagnostic powers exceeding those of his superiors at … Read more

A villain from The Bachelor US dishes the dirt on UnREAL

Ahead of UnREAL season three arriving exclusively to Lightbox tomorrow, Olivia Caridi from The Bachelor US takes us behind the curtain of reality romance. To use the quote the astute words of Rachel from UnREAL, her job as a reality TV producer is basically “Satan’s asshole.” Working as a puppeteer behind the scenes of a … Read more

Community’s 10 weirdest episodes… ever

It was one of the most critically acclaimed cult shows of the late-00s, and it’s coming to Lightbox today. Tara Ward runs down Community’s 10 most gloriously wackadoo episodes. If you’re seeking a clever comedy bursting with pop-culture satire and musical parodies, then look no further than the televisual gem Community. When the egotistical Jeff … Read more

The greatest NZ TV shows that you can rewatch without hunting down a boxset

From Close to Home to Shortland Street to Westside, New Zealand has a long and storied history of brilliant TV. Sam Brooks takes a look at the best local shows that you can stream on Lightbox right now. Cheryl West, the cute boy Jay Ryan played on Go Girls, Rita West, Ofa from Supercity. These are … Read more

UnREAL finally returns and more coming to Lightbox in February

Alex Casey and Sam Brooks round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including UnREAL tackling… The Bachelorette?! The Good Doctor (available now) Look, it’s the number one network series in the States, Canada and Australia right now, so if you aren’t watching The Good Doctor then I’m sorry but everyone is secretly … Read more

Our guide to the shiniest stars in Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams

Tara Ward stargazes beneath the celeb-studded galaxy of Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams.  The trippy anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams boasts one of the most formidable collections of actors in a single television series. Not even Sharknado could gather together the creative talents of award-winning stars like Bryan Cranston, Anna Paquin, Vera Farmiga, … Read more

The perfect cocktail of medical shows to shoot straight into your veins

To prepare for The Good Doctor arriving to Lightbox next week, Alex Casey breaks down five more of the best medical shows you can binge.  Just as sure as Chris Warner will reveal an illegitimate child at the dawn of every day, medical shows will forever stroll the corridors of primetime television soaked in blood … Read more

A concise list of times The Office US nearly destroyed me

To celebrate The Office US arriving to Lightbox, Alex Casey lists some of her favourite moments from the show. Contains many, many spoilers.  I have spent a deeply worrying part of my life watching The Office in some iteration or another. As a teen, I became obsessed with the British original, eventually penning an incredibly … Read more

Kit Harington in Gunpowder makes Jon Snow look like a bloody wimp

Sam Brooks argues why Catholic Rebellion thriller Gunpowder is far more interesting than other dour dramas from the same period. I love a good political thriller. Stressed out people waiting for printers to print valuable documents, or wandering around with briefcases that cost more than your rent for the month – they’re my catnip. But it’s … Read more

Throwback Thursday: The L Word was ahead of its time – in more ways than one

Sylvia Giles watches the mid-2000s soap The L Word and discovers a plethora of feminist conversations that are only starting to happen now in the mainstream.  All my lesbian friends told me I should watch The L Word many, many times, and over a decade ago. First aired in 2004, the show chronicled the sapphic … Read more