There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. This week in The Fantasy … Read more
Duncan Greive interviews Emily Edrosa as Street Chant’s long-delayed second album Hauora is released, and discusses the often-grim realities of life as a woman in the New Zealand music industry. Content warning: contains discussion of sexual assault. I met with Emily Edrosa twice in April. We went to a pub near my office, and each time she was wearing a Street Chant t-shirt. … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Leanne’s street talk, Ali’s book tease, and the Warner’s controversial new room. 1) Norelle calls time on Ferndale and everything else basically This was a bloody howler. The tears poured down my face like Huka Falls in flood when Norelle passed away, with … Read more
Steve Braunias watches a deeply morbid episode of meandering ’70s action-adventure Kung Fu. Warning: content may be disturbing. Every second Wednesday my daughter and three of her pals come over to the house after school before their dance lesson, and they always ask for macaroni and Kung Fu. I tape it from the Jones Channel and one … 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. Life in Paris is one giant mystery. Which knife does Murtagh use first at dinner? Which carriage should Claire take to visit the poor? Which is hotter, brunette or auburn? This week Jamie and Claire are up … Read more
Madeleine Chapman and her Aunty Henga assess the skills, builds, and tattoos in Game of Bros, Māori television’s reality quest for the ultimate Polynesian warrior. Last night was the penultimate episode of Game of Bros. The semi final. The final bend. That last spoonful of palusami before you’re left with the perfect ratio of taro and coconut cream. Sticking to … Read more
During the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, ‘Behind the LOLs’ will reveal the inner workings of some of our finest comedy talent. First up, 2016 Billy T nominee James Malcolm writes a list of his prenuptial conditions for Shortland Street‘s Chris Warner. This year I’m taking advantage of the festival to stage my elaborate wedding to Chris Warner … Read more
Want to binge-watch an entire series without signing away the next four months of your life? We’ve assembled a selection of the best shows on Lightbox that you can knock out in one sitting. Firefly Like Guardians of the Galaxy but without the talking tree and Bradley Raccoon Cooper, Firefly takes place 500 years in … Read more
A mysterious TradeMe listing offering a GOLD MINE of a magazine for potential investors piques Steve Newall’s interest – but why won’t they tell us its name? A mysterious listing on Trade Me teases an “Iconic Magazine for Sale”. Beside it, an image alluringly screams GOLD MINE. Oddly, there’s no mention in the listing of what it’s actually … Read more
In town to promote the new Xbox game Quantum Break, Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore also lifted the lid on his early acting career on Animorphs. José Barbosa gets the scoop on how to portray a teenage alien invasion fighter with the power to change into animals. For a larger group of people who existed as teenagers in … Read more
Hayden Donnell looks back on one of New Zealand’s most iconic interviews. In December 1997, two teenage girls gave Paul Holmes the sternest test of his storied interviewing career. The Ingham twins, both 18, had gone to extraordinary lengths for love. Sarah had fallen for a sailor. Her sister Joanna decided to help her pursue … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her power rankings for week seven on The Bachelor NZ, including the rise of Naz and Kate’s shocking ocean release. What’s the point in trying to rank, predict, or follow anything to do with The Bachelor NZ anymore. Let’s all just go to Waitangi and get plastered in elaborate gowns, because apparently … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. This week sees a shock … Read more
After week seven on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Jordan’s poor connecting skills, that mannequin, and life after The Bachelor. Anny Ma on Connect Four Never trust somebody who can’t play Connect Four. Never trust Beyoncé when you lose to her in Connect … Read more
Alex Casey transforms into a high society Aucklander for a day as an extra on the Filthy Rich set, and discovers the truth about glamour and stardom the hard way. “And there’s these…” the wardrobe woman said, presenting me with some enormous diamanté earrings. I hadn’t worn earrings since I was 13 because my friends used to tell … Read more
In its annual tradition of blowing something up, Neighbours based a whole week around the destruction of their cursed hotel. Ethan Sills sat through five nights of deaths, shock returns and a whole lot of dust. For a show that is predominantly about middle-class white people arguing and sleeping with each other, Neighbours loves a … Read more
After witnessing two near tragedies in as many seasons of Our First Home, Madeleine Chapman has found the common cause. Our First Home is the tamest and safest reality show on television. Or so we thought. With the show’s second season coming to an end, Our First Home has seen two near tragedies play out on our television screens. I was … 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, Claire and Jamie head for Paris, where their ‘to do’ list consisted of: 1) infiltrating the French royal court 2) drinking all the profits from their new business 3) living a life of … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Harry’s tears, Michael’s fear fall and the worst pool party of all time. 1) Finn encourages Harry to live his dreams Finn and Harry’s cunning plan to host the pool party of the century became a cannonball of chlorine-riddled disappointment. It was … Read more
Madeleine Chapman and her Aunty Henga assess the skills, builds, and tattoos in Game of Bros, Māori television’s reality quest for the ultimate Polynesian warrior. On Wednesday morning I walked past Louis on my way to work and didn’t say anything. Moving on. Last night Aunty Henga was called away from the dinner table to “come watch your … Read more
Wrenches, old iPhones, and Kunzites. Ruth Spencer goes on a journey through the good and the great of television shopping. I once watched a TVSN host wonder aloud which planet it was that had the rings. She consulted with the producer through her earpiece, then opened it up to people emailing from home before going … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. This week the #TFSPod Squad … Read more
In the middle of a whirlwind New Zealand press tour, Gabriel Macht, star of Lightbox legal drama Suits, reveals the show’s darkest secret to Calum Henderson: there are no actual records in Harvey Specter’s record collection, just shelves of empty sleeves. The elephant in the room, and pretty much every room that Gabriel Macht ever … Read more
Katie Parker reopens the locker of her adolescence in Being Eve, the local teen series brimming with asymmetrical tank tops, IRL dating and fourth wall-breaking. Like all naive pre-teens, at the age of 10 all I wanted in the world was to hit adolescence. Whether I was trimming my non-existent leg hair with scissors or studying … Read more
With The Mindy Project returning from hiatus to Lightbox soon, Alex Casey assembles some of her hopes and dreams for the rest of the season. Contains spoilers. Season four of The Mindy Project went on hiatus in December, leaving us all in a cold sweat over whether or not Mindy was about to tearfully say … Read more
Alex Casey assembles her contestant power rankings for week six, including stolen dogs, a birthday for Naz and a daredevil massage. Ah well Rebecca, that’s us then. Farewell to the greatest potential reality TV love story ever told. Farewell to the book deal resulting in a global bestseller, the inevitable reality spin-off series called Pinky … Read more
After week six on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Ceri’s tragic expressions and eerie similarities with Twilight. Anny Ma on rejected cheese What kind of world do we live in where I have to watch two people walk away from a guaranteed love … Read more
Calum Henderson sat down to watch The Café, a morning show set in a café. “This is the perfect show,” Mike Puru raved halfway through Monday morning’s first episode of The Café. “We’ve got a barista on set, we’ve got a kitchen on set… I am in heaven right now.” After years serving as Jay Jay and Dom’s sidekick … Read more
This Saturday marks the return of Record Store Day, the annual international celebration of independent music retail. What started as a fun way to support your local record store has become an orgy of price-gouging and corporate greed, says Alan Perrott. We must destroy Record Store Day to save Record Store Day. Which, frankly, is … Read more