Some great news came through yesterday: John Campbell is going to Samoa to play rugby. In anticipation of the big match The Spinoff’s leading rugby expert has picked John Campbell’s Rugby Team XV for their first ever test match against Samoa. 1 Duncan Garner Like his front row teammates, Garner has proven he can more … Read more
The new season of True Detective starts tonight, bringing with it a whole new story, cast and setting. Time may well be a flat circle, but feels like a bloody long time to me since the first season. I’ve decided to assemble a refresher package for those delving back into the musky True Detective world. … 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
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
The Spinoff knights meet at the television roundtable to discuss week six on X Factor NZ, and our new additions to the judging panel. Eli Mathewson on the Tough Calls The toughest criticism so far came for a completely unexpected victim… “You disgust me. You make me sick. You ruin everything I love about the world. I want … Read more
Tonight The Bachelor NZ finally launches, and they’ve saved the mystery hunk’s identity for a big reveal. Lewis Van Den Berg-Shaw speculates about who might be dishing out the roses. The Bachelor finally makes its debut at 7.30pm tonight. Despite a recent announcement of all the competitors, and an excellent investigation on this very website, … Read more
The Spinoff knights sprint to the television roundtable to pitch new judges they think should step in for Natalia Kills and Willy Moon after their sacking this afternoon. // Who will be the first scabs to cross the X Factor NZ picket line and take up pen, paper and listening face in place of those martyrs … Read more
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Alex Casey lists a few of the most inspirational women in television land. // Yes International Women’s Day was yesterday, and no I don’t care that this post is way too late for our timezone. I was too busy celebrating womanhood with social netball and peanut butter chocolate to assemble … Read more
With The Bachelor NZ coming to TV3 on March 17, Alex Casey analyses all the biographies of the newly-announced Bachelorettes, and flags some early favourites to look out for. // The Bachelor NZ is mere weeks away, and finally we are getting a little more intel on the women looking to find love in a hopeless place … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey lines up an stunning selection of comedies led by some of the funniest women on the planet. // 30 Rock Tina Fey writes and acts in this behind-the-curtain sitcom, a closely based … Read more
Alex Casey thought she should probably write something about The X Factor NZ, so with Twitter’s help, she did. / Last night, like 305,000 other people up and down the country, I sat down and enjoyed The X Factor NZ premiere. And it was… fine. I always forget that the first audition stages just sort … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, to celebrate the premiere of Better Call Saul, Alex Casey approaches the bench with a strong selection of similar dodgy-lawyer-based shows for you to enjoy. // Boston Legal There was a … Read more
Alex Casey sifts through the mighty body count of Breaking Bad to rank her top ten most memorable deaths on the show. // The statistics of Breaking Bad are always impressive – it received 110 notable awards, had 10.3 million Americans tune in for the finale and over 33,000 articles written about it in the … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey looks at the whacky comedy exports from post-Y2K Britain. // When the clock ticked over on NYE in 1999, everyone was expecting the worst. The computers will wipe! The planes will … Read more
After watching the introductions on The Bachelor Australia, Alex Casey dispenses some crucial advice to New Zealand’s upcoming Bachelorettes about how to make a good first impression. // The Bachelor Australia started here last week in a flurry of sequins and tealight candles (truly the ideal combo for a painfully blinding iridescence). The format? Same … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey gets the best medical shows prepped and ready for you on the operating table. // We can all agree that hospitals are the worst places on earth, filled with enormous … Read more
Alex Casey personally responds to some of the weirder Google searches that have led internet-dwellers to The Spinoff this year. // We have been watching you, readers. We have been watching what you are Googling, and why you are Googling it, and when you are Googling it. First of all, here are the top shows/people that … Read more
With a little help from Twitter, we assembled the best, worst and weirdest TV moments to grace New Zealand screens this year. Please enjoy the confusion, outrage and hilarity that has been NZ TV in 2014. // Puffed Up Little Shit Pam Corkery thought she was simply throwing it down to Brook Sabin outside the Internet Mana Party … Read more
Alex Casey lists the finest vine moments The Spinoff was able to capture this year (we’ve only been around since September, so excuse the recency bias). // I spent a day in the The Spinoff’s Vine archives with a monocle and an ear trumpet reviewing our wealth of six second masterpieces. These are my favourite ones, apologies … Read more
Alex Casey wrestles with the anaconda that has been 2014’s stunt television disasters. // It’s been a hell of a year for television moments. Lest we forget, it was only early this year that Travolta said “Adele Dazeem” and sent me into a laugh coma that I am yet to rise from. Since then, we … Read more
Much like Ponsonby Road on a sunny day, Shortland Street is heaving with celebrities. Alex Casey looks back at some of the more memorable cameos. // Guardian of Our Small Claims Galaxy Kevin Milne Talk about the merging of two iconic New Zealand television worlds! In 1996, Nick Harrison appeared on Fair Go with legendary host … Read more
With Street Week in full swing and Christmas right around the corner, Alex Casey dredges up the very best in Shortland Street merch from the far reaches of Trademe. // Lionel’s Muffin Cook Book Lionel Skeggins was one of Shortland Street’s all-time greats. The cheery café manager played by John Leigh first appeared in a … Read more
Yesterday morning TV3 called for public tip-offs as to who should be New Zealand’s first ever right honourable Bachelor. They are encouraging the public to nominate “a friend, brother, cousin, colleague or son” that is looking for love. If you have anyone in mind, send their names into tipoff@thebachelor.co.nz. But also maybe check with your son first. I sat … Read more
With Sci Fi week in full swing and Christmas right around the corner, Alex Casey dredges up some powerful space junk from the dark reaches of the Trademe TV Memorabilia galaxy. // If there is one place to learn about the nuances of a particular show and it’s fandom, I can highly recommend following the Trademe … Read more