The Spinoff has the rare and singular pleasure of bringing you a full scene from TV3’s eagerly anticipated sketch comedy ‘Funny Girls’, debuting on TV3 this Friday at 10pm. For the past few weeks I’ve been traipsing across Auckland to bars, breweries and bars, watching a brand new New Zealand comedy being made. It’s a … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her power rankings for week two of MKRNZ, including Laurence’s new character ‘Stace’ and the worst restaurant theme television has ever seen. We’re in week two and I’m just so glad that we are all becoming friends. The contestants are letting their guards down, warming up to each other and repeatedly touching … Read more
Xena: Warrior Princess showed 90’s kids that girls could kick ass just like boys. An alternative reading implies they could do much more than that besides. If you were to design a feminist superhero, you could do a lot worse than just copying Xena. Righteous, strong and ready to kick a pervert right in his Ancient … Read more
Calum Henderson watches Newsworthy every day for a week, to see how TV3’s late night current affairs show manages to balance both the credible, the incredible, and Gene Simmons. MONDAY Walking home from the bus stop, a long-haired orange cat followed me all the way to the front door. He wandered around the flat for a … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: TK gets gruesome, Bella gives birth and a random man makes waves. 1) Bella gives birth to a fully formed human being As if childbirth wasn’t painful enough, Bella just found out that Lucy’s handmade soap features heavily in this week’s … Read more
In this exclusive excerpt from Uniform magazine issue two (launching tonight), Kiran Dass interviews English post-punk legend Martin Bramah, on the eve of his former band The Fall’s New Zealand tour, about his life in drugs and music. “The only way out is up,” bellows Martin Bramah on the psyched-out 1982 Blue Orchids song ‘Dumb … Read more
Thinking of applying for the new season of The Bachelor NZ? Last year’s winner Matilda Rice shares her secrets for success, including sweating profusely and eating a lot. Today the casting call was opened for second season of The Bachelor NZ, calling for “females aged between 21 and 35 who are genuinely looking for love.” … Read more
At the height of survey season, Jono and Ben made an attempt to cross Lake Taupo in an inflatable castle. Don Rowe watches from the sky. Some time around the year 180 AD an explosion in the Pacific turned the sky over eastern China red. The violent upheaval threw over a thousand cubic kilometres of … Read more
Bringing together the best, worst and weirdest TV moments of the week, including crazed celebrity cameos and forklift driving champions. Contributions by Calum Henderson and Alex Casey. Brand Power Takes Over Seven Sharp On Tuesday afternoon, a sweaty man seemingly wearing jeans under jogging shorts sprinted into TVNZ and demanded to be put on television. … Read more
As we await the results of the vitally important Bathroom Week on The Block NZ: Villa Wars, Calum Henderson looks at how the teams are tracking. 1. Cat & Jeremy – House 3 The happy-go-lucky couple on the corner are leading a charmed life on The Block NZ, scooping Kid’s Bedroom Week from under Jamie and … Read more
Catherine McGregor sits in on the Games of Thrones panel at Comic Con in New York, and finds out exactly what Margaery Tyrrell and Kermit the Frog’s new girlfriend have in common. New York Comic Con doesn’t attract quite the same fan frenzy as its San Diego cousin, but the gap is closing fast. Since … Read more
Alex Casey’s first power rankings for the new season of My Kitchen Rules NZ, including Pete Evans’ tan and Paul’s extraordinary cow art. The best cooking show in the world is back and I couldn’t be happier. Last year I broke my brain recapping every single episode of My Kitchen Rules New Zealand, which you … Read more
Ben Stanley embarks on a True Detective pilgrimage, visiting the most famous Louisiana sites from the first season. Pensive but mystically lucid, Rust Cohle looks up from a half-empty Lone Star, and considers his answer. Two detectives stare him down in a cigarette smoke-filled New Orleans cop station room. They’ve been bailing up Rust – everyone’s … Read more
For Monitor this week, Aaron Yap looks at how Homeland has embraced explosive twists and stories pulled-from-headlines to breathe new life into the political thriller. Homeland made an unexpected, somewhat miraculous comeback with its fourth season. It wasn’t perfect, but improved immensely on the wobbly second and third. Back then, the show couldn’t decide what to … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: Bella reaches peak pregnant, Dayna is a local legend and there’s a surprise visit from a 1940s gentleman. 1) Dayna surfs her way through a sea of fools and idiots Dayna rockets up the power rankings this week for her endurance and … Read more
Every lazy Sunday we select an excellent local short film from Lightbox’s Show Me Shorts catalogue. Queenie is an animated short film by Paul Neason, following a geography lecturer Danny Mulgan as he works with his students on a mysterious personal project. Through talking heads (that immediately bring all the humanity and agony of David … Read more
Alex Casey visits the set of The Brokenwood Mysteries and finds more mystery and murder than you can shake a blood bag at. I couldn’t believe I was staring at my first dead body. He was lying there stiff, a calming shade of pale blue. “That’s going to be me one day,” I thought to … Read more
Bringing together the best, worst and weirdest TV moments of the week, including an alarming amount of butt-based broadcasting. Contributions from Alex Casey and Calum Henderson. Rachel Hunter’s Enigmatic Enema This week, Rachel put her arse on the line in the name of beauty… again. Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty travelled to India this week, … Read more
Claire Adamson is undoubtedly New Zealand’s premiere expert on the 90s What Now series This is Serial Stuff. This week she hit the jackpot after being sent over an hour of kiwi childhood nostalgia on Youtube. The Reddit envelope of doom blinked angrily from the corner of the page. “Read me!” it screamed, a tiny, triangle-filled precursor of terrible, hate-filled, … Read more
To celebrate the arbitrary three-day respite TV3 have offered us from The Block NZ: Villa Wars, Calum Henderson looks back at the last week-and-a-bit of daybed dramas, dangerous drilling, dick moves and a hundred pre-line inspections. 1) Cat & Jeremy – House 3 The New Plymouth jokers took out first week honours with their guest bedroom … Read more
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation, fans share what the soggy shirts and fiberglass statues mean to them. It is a truth universally acknowledged that most women in this country will encounter Pride and Prejudice at some stage in their lives, be it a set of old VHS tapes, … Read more
Love Grand Designs but can’t afford to build a concrete oasis? Alex Casey lists the top affordable style tips from the series premiere. Sunday night saw the premiere of New Zealand’s first ever Grand Designs, swapping out Kevin McCloud for Chris Moller and giant glass houses in England for concrete spaceships plopped in the middle of … Read more
We got the think tank together to list our favourite television geeks from LAN party monsters to virtual reality pioneers. Today marks the anniversary of the death of Apple Founder Steve Jobs, a man who has done as much for modern computer technology as he has for the black turtleneck. In his honour, we got The … Read more
Tara Ward ranks her favourite moments from the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week: TK goes to the dogs, Drew wears a terrible suit and Queen Holt graces the halls. 1) The Holt bolts her way to the top. There she is. Hayley Holt dances her way to the top of this week’s power … Read more
A weekly series where we pick one local film from the Show Me Shorts catalogue on Lightbox. Sonny; My Older Brother was a part the 2012 Show Me Shorts festival, and written and directed by Tammy Davis. You’ll know him as Munter from Outrageous Fortune, and the director of Stan Walker’s new dance movie Born … Read more
Don Rowe travels to Auckland’s Flea Bottom to hear Game of Thrones‘ Hodor – aka touring DJ Kristian Nairn – drop some beats. I was dropped at a carpark on Liverpool Street in Auckland, our version of the seedier part of King’s Landing. A forlorn prostitute leaned against the wall, smoking and waiting and staring up at … Read more
A sponsored post listing the new shows to hit Lightbox this October, including a slew of local award-winning short films and the fourth freaky season of American Horror Story. The Mindy Project (throughout October) Seasons 1-3 arrived last month, but new episodes from season four of The Mindy Project will be arriving weekly to Lightbox in … Read more
Bringing together the TV moments on the week, including Bieber on Story, Trevor Noah’s Daily Show debut and farewelling two local gems. Contributions by Alex Casey and Calum Henderson. Good Mourning for Two Kiwi Classics It was with great sadness this week that we learned of the impending demise of TVNZ’s long-running lifestyle show Good … Read more
Duncan Greive watches Bill Kerton and company finish the last episode of New Zealand’s reality classic Neighbours at War – airing tonight – before it heads into long-term hiatus. It starts with something shared: a driveway, a boundary, a cul-de-sac. Two sets of New Zealanders, meeting at the edge of their properties, disagreeing over noise, over … Read more