Pete Douglas looks at two of the great capitalists of our times, Donald Trump and 30 Rock‘s Jack Donaghy, and wonders if they really would get along like a house on fire IRL. One of the best plot devices on my all-time favourite show 30 Rock is the conflict (and eventual friendship) between … Read more
Westside has finished for another year, but the good news is there could be at least 23 more seasons to go. Calum Henderson previews some highlights coming up between now and 2039. Season two of Westside concluded on Sunday night with the West family right in the thick of the 1981 Springbok tour. The Outrageous Fortune … Read more
For his Monitor column this week, Aaron Yap looks at the spectrum of Psycho reboots from the terrible ’80s sequels to the unhinged prequel series Bates Motel. There’s a good chance Hitchcock might have balked if he heard what A&E had done to Norman Bates, the oedipally unhinged monster of his groundbreaking 1960 horror masterpiece Psycho. … Read more
With UnREAL season two coming to an end tonight, Alex Casey shares her favourite moments of producer manipulation, contestant craziness and pant-pooping in all of dating show history. The finale of UnREAL season two arrives to Lightbox tonight, further unraveling the vipers nest of manipulation, lies and corruption on which the twinkling lights of fictional dating show Everlasting … Read more
The Kettering Incident is drawing rave reviews for its ‘Tasmanian Noir’ – a small town with terrifying secrets lurking within and without. What’s the story? Two young women head into the woods in a remote Tasmanian logging town. Only one comes out. Anna Macy is found, hours later, bloody and traumatised, having met with a mysterious … Read more
Comic book superfan Liam Fernandez celebrates the first season of Preacher, a faithful adaptation that didn’t manage to ruin his childhood. Many years ago I was recommended a comic book by a friend. I had just finished reading Watchmen, and given the lofty bar that Alan Moore’s layered alternate history tale had set, my next … Read more
Jose Barbosa talks to Adam Boileau of Insomnia Security about hacking thriller Mr Robot, and New Zealand’s place in the info-war web. The much anticipated Mr Robot season two is on Lightbox. To get everyone’s head in the right place José Barbosa talks to Adam Boileau, a computer security specialist for Insomnia Security. He’s also the owner/operator … Read more
Alex Casey explains how UnREAL, a black comedy set on a fictional reality set, chews on an array of complex issues like no other television show right now. Please note that the following is absolutely riddled with spoilers. I don’t even reckon Galileo himself could have predicted that The Bachelor, the same reality franchise responsible for … Read more
Red-faced Transparent fans fess up with their embarrassingly delayed reactions to the double entendre of the show’s title. Raking in yet another pile of Emmy nominations last week, it’s no secret that the Amazon original series Transparent is one of the boldest and best television shows in recent years. Yes, it tackles issues of gender and … Read more
Inspired by the excellent mockumentary series Hoff the Record, Pete Douglas explains why it’s time to welcome The Hoff back into your life. Like so many 80’s kids I was big into Knight Rider. What wasn’t to like? There was the car – a talking, driverless, artificially intelligent, black Pontiac Trans-Am named KITT– some marvelously … Read more
With the second season of Mr Robot premiering on Lightbox this week, Aaron Yap is drawn back into the show’s elusive, murky world. Mr. Robot was one of the buzziest, most intoxicating television events of 2015. Thematically and formally, it was an inspired blend. The show wedded a heady study of mental illness to a … Read more
TV3’s Westside weaves together New Zealand nostalgia with the pits and peaks of life for the notorious West family. Amelia Petrovich looks back on the history lessons of episodes past. At the end of year 12, my entire class voted to study Medieval England over New Zealand history and my poor teacher dissolved. With a furrowed brow … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Sons and daughters, love and laughter, tears of sadness and happiness. You might recognize that as the theme tune from the timeless Australian soap Sons and Daughters, but to me, it sums up my Outlander … Read more
Pete Douglas revisits an original Dawson’s Creek drinking game he helped invent in the late 90’s to see how it stacks up today. I remember reading about Dawson’s Creek before it even made it to New Zealand screens back in 1999. The show was promised as a kind of Party of Five or Beverly Hills … Read more
Independence Day. 4th of July. ‘MERICA. To celebrate the most patriotic of days, here are the best, like totally, American shows currently available on Lightbox. USA! USA! USA! The Americans “The best show on TV, period” – Aaron Yap, The Spinoff The name hits the nail squarely on the head. The Americans is all about … Read more
Paul Williams, The Spinoff’s resident James Bond expert, places his bets for the new Bond based on the likely contenders lurking on our TV screens. On the 14th of October, 2005, a trio of Royal Marine speedboats came racing up the Thames in a ‘V’ formation. A man was seated at the front, his golden hair … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Shakespeare once wrote “war, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” That dude knew what he was talking about, because there is NOTHING good about ‘The Hail Mary’. Calm down, Outsplainers: I’m talking about … Read more
Tara Ward recaps this week’s episode of Outlander, including ye olde seduction, 1000 yard stares, and other frivolities of the well-to-do. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Oh, Outlander, you were far too good to us this week. Body parts flew all over Scotland in celebration of this glorious hour of television, an episode filled with more action and anticipation than we’ve … Read more
Penny Ashton watches gritty Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge, and finds beauty in the unabashed pile of skin, spleens and wobbly bits. It’s not every day you see a naked bottom half of a woman with intestines hanging out on the telly. Sure, the barrage of murder porn on our TV screens often alludes to gutted … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. It’s taken 10 long (LOOOOONG) episodes to get to this epic moment. At last we stand united with our hoes, scythes and assorted garden implements, ready to bayonet ourselves a butcher’s feast of human intestines. … Read more
For fans, the journey to the end of The Bachelor NZ season two was an excruciating one. But, as Alex Casey finds, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel with the latest season of UnREAL. Contains spoilers. Everyone’s afraid of the difficult second season, especially in New Zealand reality television circles where our … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored segment where we line up shows from the catalogue that you might like to watch. For Queen’s birthday weekend, Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman line up a slew of shows that Liz herself would enjoy. Almost Royal If her photobombing shenanigans are anything to go by, we can all agree that … Read more
The Spinoff wrangled a real-life mystery religious person to dissect the depiction of faith in The Path, a drama following members of a fictional cult. My husband and I sat down and watched an episode of The Path the other night. When you both work and have an eight month old child, sitting down and … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. Oh, Scotland. It’s you, it’s really you! How we’ve missed your honest green hills and your giardia-free waterways. Even Outlander show-runner Ron D. Moore was relieved to say adieu to miserable old France, replacing King Louis’ sauntering … Read more
A police drama set in a West Yorkshire village may not sound like a must-watch, but Ethan Sills finds that Happy Valley is a surprisingly tense and graphic thriller that packs an emotional punch. A police drama? Yawn! Happy Valley is not your regular British cop drama. This is more psychological than procedural, a cat-and-mouse chase met … Read more
Fanboy supreme José Barbosa hitches his hoss and spends a little time in Preacher country, the latest comic book adaptation to hit our screens. Lately it seems 20th century pop culture has been sucked into the 21st century filter and spat out with a nose ring and a smartphone. The reconstituted mass includes Zack Snyder’s … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. This week’s Outlander offering had more tragedy than a Bee-Gees tribute karaoke party. It was a raw, emotional watch: Claire gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Fergus revealed he was abused by Black Jack Randall, and … Read more
Sophie Smith discovers a feminist firestarter in Buffy Summers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and shares how her own life has since been influenced by the cult ’90s icon. Despite being a feminist killjoy and enthusiast of most things Joss Whedon, it was only this year that I finally sought out the cult classic Buffy the … Read more
Our resident Outlander fanatic Tara Ward shares her thoughts from the much-anticipated return of time-travel romance series. Contains spoilers. And smoulders. There was so much plotting and conspiracy in this week’s episode of Outlander that Jamie Fraser officially changed his name by deed poll to ‘Schemey MacSchemeface’. Charles Stuart schemed with Jamie, Jamie schemed against the … Read more