Alex Casey watches UnREAL – a drama set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-esque reality show – with The Bachelor NZ runner-up Dani Robinson, who dishes the dirt on how real reality TV really is. Set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-style dating show, the fictional world of UnREAL hints at the dark methods used to construct reality TV. Co-created by Marti Noxon and … Read more
When Funny Girls was still but a twinkle in her eye, Rose Matafeo sat down with Alex Casey to talk about her eclectic TV upbringing, getting toenails in the mail and becoming a television star. // Rose Matafeo has already lived many television lives. Just 23, but already a grizzled showbiz vet, having been on the … Read more
After Come Dine With Me limped to an unlamented end, Alex Casey (big fan) and Joseph Moore (official Come Dine With Me NZ joke writer) mercilessly ranked all 40 contestants from the first (and ultimately last) well-seasoned season. Story has officially made it to our screens, causing us to forget about Come Dine With Me NZ faster than … Read more
Revisiting Alex Casey’s piece about ‘crotchgate’, an issue which took over the internet, broke our website, and revealed some heavy truths about shock jocks, women’s bodies and rape culture in New Zealand. I have spent a very large chunk of 2015 floating on the choppy whitecaps of the MediaWorks reality TV sea. I’ve recapped and … Read more
Back in April, brave couch warrior José Barbosa journeyed 10 hours across the televisual seas to consume the first season of Spinoff sponsor Lightbox’s epic Norse saga Vikings in one sitting, accompanied only by meat soup and mead. This is his story. It’s an interesting feature of this amazing future amusement park we currently inhabit … Read more
After the terrifying tirade that made our top TV moment of 2015, we thought it would be fitting to revisit Don Rowe’s report from Auckland airport as he watched Willy Moon and Natalia Kills leave the country. Like great dark bats they swooped through Auckland International Airport. He wore leather and she sheltered beneath a … Read more
Hacking thriller Mr Robot was undoubtedly one of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows of 2015. Upon its release, José Barbosa tracked down the man who once ran the internet in New Zealand, and asked him to assess its realism. Listen below as a podcast, or read on for a text transcript of the package. So there’s this scene in a movie … Read more
MediaWorks launched gossip site Scout amid much fanfare in 2015. Duncan Greive spoke with a number of former Scout staff members and MediaWorks employees, and was given access to a large cache of correspondence, recordings, data and other documentation to create this portrait of a modern media debacle. On Wednesday September 16 of 2015, MediaWorks CEO Mark Weldon … Read more
This year Pam Corkery had a crack at reality television – but she is by no means the first politician to dive in front of the camera. With the help of the internet and genius archivists NZ On Screen, Sarah Robson takes a look at five of the best appearances. In a time before she donned … Read more
In July Aimie Cronin spent a maniacal week incessantly ruining TV shows for her nearest and dearest, and wrote it up hilariously. Spoiler alert: contains a very well-known Game of Thrones spoiler. When someone has been told the ending of the show they are watching before they have watched it, their face looks like those … Read more
Homai Te Pakipaki has been a mainstay every Friday night on Māori Television, encouraging people from all walks to life to “bring your keyboard and your mates for a jam”. José Barbosa went behind the scenes during the Grand Final, before the karaoke show shuts down after nine glorious years. The first time I watched Homai Te … Read more
Lost amongst TV3’s big budget reality imports and current affairs cancellations has been one unexpected hit: YouTube-on-TV clip show Fail Army. Duncan Greive tries to figure out how this designed-to-fail show works. Of all the millions of new shows TV3 has launched this year, few had lower expectations than Fail Army. A clip show screening … Read more
Ears at the ready, our sponsors over at Lightbox have just launched a new game that challenges you to identify some famous TV theme tunes from a small clip. To celebrate, we thought we would share some our favourite (and least favourite) theme songs of all time. Don Rowe Best theme tune: Sherlock Sherlock’s opening theme … Read more
Danielle Moreau, the blogging mastermind behind Coronation St of Old, assembles her favourite Coronation Street moments of 2015 including a rare clip of Deirdre singing Rihanna. We shouldn’t talk about Hayley’s death straight away, should we? We want to end this piece curled up on the floor sobbing in the foetal position, not start out that way. … Read more
Before Joe Irvine copied Willy Moon, the only important suit this year was Harvey Specter. In June, Tim Lambourne shared his triumphant story about how binge-watching the legal drama Suits helped him win his underdog tenancy dispute. A few years ago I lived in a four bedroom flat on Summer Street in Ponsonby, Auckland. If you’re unfamiliar with … Read more
Not only were WIlly Moon and Natalia Kills electric TV talent, they also were involved in one of the strangest TradeMe auctions of the year. Alex Casey tracked down the man who tried to sell their used sheets, towels and hotel feedback form on TradeMe. Notwithstanding the furore enveloping ex-con Slim Shaedy, there was far more … Read more
With a bit of spare time on your hands this summer, you might want to revisit some old family-friendly classics. José Barbosa suggests the legendary Kiwi canine caper A Dog’s Show on NZ On Screen, arguing a strong case for why it is the best television show New Zealand has ever seen. It’s become part of … Read more
In May 2015, Campbell Live left our screens. We ran a rolling tribute page all day, here are the messages from fans, colleagues and other legends from across New Zealand. Saturday May 30, 12 PM Grant Findlay, Campbell Live Cameraman 2011-2014 (@GrantFindlay) One of the most stressful, yet exhilarating experiences of my life to date … Read more
A reissued post from July this year, days before the premiere of the much-anticipated Outrageous Fortune prequel Westside. Alex Casey talked to creator James Griffin about getting started in television, the perils of funding in New Zealand and the Van and Munter spin-off that time forgot. It’s a dizzying feeling to walk into the Grey Lynn villa where you … Read more
The first episode of On the Rag, a podcast hosted by Alex Casey which looks at, laughs at and questions the state of women in pop culture, news and the world. To look at back at the year of 2015, she is joined by comedian and author Michele A’Court and marketing guru and longtime good … Read more
2015 saw an unprecedented amount of reality television shows made and broadcast right here in good old New Zealand. From The Bachelor to The Block, X Factor to My Kitchen Rules, here are The Spinoff’s top ten reality stars of the year. Contributions by Alex Casey, Duncan Greive, Calum Henderson and Steve Braunias. 10) Steve … Read more
The final in our week-long series, counting down the greatest New Zealand television moments of the year. Click here to catch up on numbers 50-41, 40-31, 30-21 and 20-11. Contributions by Alex Casey, Calum Henderson, Duncan Greive and Jose Barbosa. 10) HDPA buys a gun Story’s biggest news stunt of the year saw Heather du Plessis-Allan … Read more
Duncan Greive talks about television’s past and future with Matt Heath and Jeremy Wells as they launch WatchMe – the most exciting birth in a year of TV deaths. Some time in September Matt Heath got in touch, asking if I wanted to have lunch with him and Jeremy Wells. Who wouldn’t? We went and … Read more
The fourth in our week-long series, counting down the greatest New Zealand television moments of the year. Click here to catch up on the first, second and third instalments. Contributions by Alex Casey, Calum Henderson and Duncan Greive. 20) Dadbod wins DWTS When he first strode out sheepishly onto the Dancing With the Stars dance floor Simon … Read more
This year some of the most powerful performances on television came from canines. James Beavis of Facebook’s Cool Dog Group picks his top 10. I used to find the “dogs > people” sentiment extremely corny and bad, but I’m a changed person. After nearly two years of helping run the Cool Dog Group on Facebook … Read more
Think this year’s Shortland Street cliffhanger was dramatic? The 1995 festive special was even more heartrending. Tara Ward remembers the Christmas episode that shocked a nation. Christmas Day television is notoriously bad. You can guarantee a Royal Variety Performance and a Vicar of Dibley special, and Jamie Oliver is bound to chuck a litre of olive … Read more
Last night’s Oprah Winfrey show at Vector Arena was more akin to a religious revival than a speaking engagement. Anny Ma tells how she felt the full force of the Oprah Effect. Oprah has God, but I have Oprah. Sorry, Jesus. An Evening With Oprah was the single most inspiring 2.5 hours of my entire … Read more
The third in our week-long series, counting down the greatest New Zealand television moments of the year. Click here to catch up on the first and second instalments. Contributions by Alex Casey and Calum Henderson. 30) Ben turns his back on Masterchef The biggest moment on Masterchef NZ this year was when Ben Sheehan dropped … Read more
Alex Casey has watched and ranked every episode of My Kitchen Rules NZ this year, and for what? She shares some vital lessons learned from the show including what not to feed rugby players, and how to avoid being too much of a JAFA. We have come to the end of another exhausting MKRNZ journey, … Read more