From Twin Peaks to The OC, a great soundtrack can elevate any TV series. Insecure is just the latest example – and with all its seasons now streaming on Neon, Laumata Lauano talks us through her favourite needle drop moments. Straight up: the Insecure soundtrack is fire. I’ve known this since Issa Rae’s character Issa … Read more
Three’s new rugby-themed drama is both original and feels like it could have come from nowhere else, writes Duncan Greive. Over the past decade, New Zealand’s prestige (read: most well-funded) drama has established a trend of revisiting some of the country’s most celebrated characters and notorious incidents. Dear Murderer, Runaway Millionaires, Resolve, Jonah, Jean – … Read more
A new season of Big Brother Australia starts tonight, but where did it all begin? Tara Ward travels back to 2001 to relive the best moments from the show’s inaugural episode. Hold on to your three-quarter cargo pants and get ready to dial up your modem, because there’s a lot of unexpected chicken content during … Read more
Sam Brooks talks to actor-director Miriama McDowell, fresh from a top billing in Head High and directing Ahikāroa. There’s a moment in the second episode of Three’s new family-and-rugby drama Head High that stands out for me. A committee, entirely made out of bureaucratically-aligned adults discussing a student’s future in rugby, descends into personal attacks … Read more
Nadia Lim taught Sam Brooks to cook. He talks to the beloved celebrity chef about her new cookbook, and filming an entire TV show in lockdown. Lockdown brought us together as a nation. Together with our team of five million, together with our families and flatmates, but most importantly? Together with our ovens. As supermarkets … Read more
In 2001, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s coughing scandal made villains out of British couple Charles and Diana Ingram. A new three part drama on SoHo (and Lightbox) suggest they may be innocent after all. There are few creative works that can be considered genuinely seminal; few that changed the game so entirely that … Read more
There’s no doubt the young women of High School Mums will leave you feeling inspired. But the show should also spur change, says Emily Writes. It’s unlikely anyone could watch High School Mums and be unmoved by the incredible young women and their children in it. The TVNZ show follows a year in the life … Read more
The Floor is Lava is a new Netflix series based on, you guessed it, the children’s game known as The Floor is Lava. Who better to review it than a seven-year-old home champion? The Floor is Lava is cool. But at first you don’t think it’s cool because they actually die in the real lava. … Read more
Over six years, Ben Sarten filmed Adam Rohe (who was assigned female at birth) on his journey into manhood, forming a friendship that to them has become as important as the documentary itself. Most documentary-makers put in hours, days, or years before a subject trusts them enough to do a film like Man Lessons. But … Read more
With a new season of Big Brother Australia underway, Tara Ward looks back at the show’s history through a single object: the diary room chair. Chairs. Where would we be without them? Our posture would be better, we’d probably be fitter, and I wouldn’t have split my jeans that one time in the Centre City … Read more
You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your drama. Tara Ward rounds up the five best family dramas on TVNZ OnDemand. However weird your own family might be, there’s a strange comfort in knowing there’s always one on TV that’s much, much worse. Whether it’s a grieving wife discovering her husband has three … Read more
Jamie Wall reviews 2nd Chance Charlie, where lower grade rugby players compete to have another go at rugby stardom and success. Here’s a show for all the battlers: one of the oldest male traditions in New Zealand, the “had it not been for [insert reason here] I would’ve been an All Black” story, has been … Read more
Streaming services Neon and Lightbox will merge next month. So what does this mean for your favourite shows? Tara Ward finds out. What’s happening to Neon and Lightbox? In December 2019, Sky announced the purchase of Lightbox, the entertainment subscription service formerly owned by Spark. Sky’s plan was to merge Lightbox with its own streaming … Read more
Over lockdown, the daily Covid-19 update became appointment viewing. As the country returns to normality, Fiona Rae looks back on how the 1pm briefing became a nationwide ritual. It was a low-budget show that screened every day at lunchtime. There were only two starring roles and about the same number of camera angles. The scripts … Read more
Sam Brooks interviews Walter Iuzzolino, the man behind TVNZ’s new curated algorithm-free channel, Walter Presents. When you sign onto any given streaming platform, you’re likely to be bombarded with several shows before you get to the one you want or even get an idea of what you’re looking for. Some of them are shows that … Read more
After 31 years on air, the American police television show Cops was finally cancelled on Wednesday. Is it time for New Zealand to do the same to Police Ten 7? After 32 seasons, Cops is over. And good riddance. It has been a long time since the controversial US show was on New Zealand television … Read more
Under Cover is a new series that brings New Zealand musicians together via video link to bond, chat, and play each other’s songs. The third episode features Chelsea Jade and Liz Stokes. Liz Stokes (The Beths) and Chelsea Metcalf (Chelsea Jade) go way back. They were in the same guitar group in high school, just … Read more
Sam Brooks compares two of the most prominent on-screen bodyguards to see how they stack up in the all-important realm of guarding bodies. One man has to guard the home secretary against potential terrorist attacks. One man has to guard an actress-turned-singer against stalkers and fans. Two bodyguards in two very different products. Let’s zoom … Read more
Over the lockdown period, thousands of people joined a Facebook group dedicated to remembering the nightlife of inner-city Auckland. Its creator Simon Grigg explains why it touched a chord in lockdown. Within a few days of The Lost Nightlife of Inner-city Auckland Facebook page accidentally going live on May 12, we had several thousand members, … Read more
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books. “What if James Bond was a teenager?” The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 novels (with the … Read more
The British Tribe Next Door attracted over 60 complaints of racist themes from viewers when it first aired in the UK. Now TVNZ is airing it on Wednesday nights, attracting concerns from members of Aotearoa’s African community and a letter from race relations commissioner Meng Foon. When The British Tribe Next Door was released in … Read more
With Rhys Darby returning to our small screens with a travel series documenting his wild travels around Japan, Tara Ward rounds up some more TVNZ shows that will take you from your armchair to locales far and wide. Rhys Darby is world famous for bringing walk socks to New York on Flight of the Conchords … Read more
Greg Daniels (The Office US) and Steve Carell’s successful return to TV? If only. Sam Brooks reviews the abysmal first season of Netflix’s Space Force. It’s pretty much indisputable: The Office is one of the most beloved television shows of its generation, and perhaps one of the most beloved shows of all time. After a … Read more
What are you going to be watching in June? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to see our listings from May. The biggies I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (docuseries on Neon from June 29) … Read more
Tara Ward checks out Beat the Chasers, the new quiz show starring all five brainiacs from The Chase. If you think the greatest show on television is The Chase, then you are correct. You are also wrong and must leave the stage immediately, because there’s a new gameshow hitting New Zealand screens that will be … Read more
Blindspott’s self-titled debut album has just hit No 1 for the second time. Fiona Connor talks to the resurgent West Auckland band. Content with playing rock covers out of west Auckland garages, longtime friends Damian Alexander, Marcus Powell and Shelton Woolright never thought it was within their reach to write and release an album of … Read more
This week, parliament’s Education and Workforce Select Committee has been hearing submissions on the Screen Industry Workers Bill. Equity New Zealand president Jennifer Ward-Lealand explains why the actors’ union supports it. The Screen Industry Workers bill rolls back some of the worst aspects of the 2010 Hobbit Law, and we believe this will lead to … Read more
Lady Gaga’s sixth album, Chromatica, sees the popstar stepping back into big pop after the experiment that was Joanne, but at what cost, asks Sam Brooks. Since Lady Gaga’s last album, 2016’s critically shrugged off Joanne, the star has stepped as far away from her meat-dress persona as possible, collecting a Golden Globe and an … Read more
As part of a $175 million arts package, a new $7.5 million ‘Careers Support for Creative Jobseekers’ programme was announced today, building on ‘the most successful aspects’ of the former Pathways to Arts and Cultural Employment (Pace) programme, which ran from 2001-2012. Former Pace recipient Henry Oliver writes on what he learned on what became … Read more