Looking for something safe to watch on the telly? Tara Ward has some suggestions. Chucking on the old gogglebox is the perfect way to escape the bewildering shitstorm we currently call “the real world”, especially if you’ve built yourself a comfortable throne out of your many, many stockpiled rolls of toilet paper. That’s why we’ve … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the seventh week of The Bachelorette NZ, with special thanks to Nando’s. The good news is that we are all back in the same country for the first time in a long time, the bad news is that it is definitely not because of The Right Reasons. In a … Read more
The effects of Covid-19 on New Zealand music won’t be short-lived. Here’s how some members of the industry – both on stage and behind the scenes – are coping. On a plane to New York, musician Joe Locke is dry-retching. He’s having a panic attack. Soon he’ll be flying home to New Zealand, back to … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her eleventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where two more lads veto themselves from this get-up. Click here for previous instalments. The Bachelorette NZ is no longer a televised search for love, but a bizarre time capsule from a pre-pandemic era that feels so long ago that the sepia finally makes … Read more
Jamie kills a man, Claire invents penicillin, and somebody adopts a cat. It’s a big week in Outlander, as Tara Ward recaps episode five of season five. We open with some important news, friends: the first verse of the Outlander theme song is the perfect length to wash your hands to. That’s science for you, so … Read more
HBO’s biggest drama since Game of Thrones returns for a third season to NEON. Here’s everything you need to know about Westworld season three. Obviously, major spoilers for Westworld seasons 1 and 2. It’s been a year and a half – remind me where we left off. Okay, strap in! At the end of season … Read more
As a new season of My Brilliant Friend lands on TVNZ OnDemand, we take a look at some of television’s most iconic and enduring friendships. Life is for living, so close the curtains, lock the doors, and wrap your optic nerves around My Brilliant Friend. It’s a treat for the eyes and a treat for … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the sixth week of The Bachelorette NZ, with special thanks to Nando’s. In this trying times of global chaos and social distancing, we welcome you to join our digital gratitude circle and recap the last week on The Bachelorette NZ. These were happier times when the swimming was synchronised, … Read more
Michelle Cruickshanks presents a complete taxonomy of the types of people who’ll be descending on New Plymouth this weekend for Womad. First things first: Womad is going ahead this weekend as planned. You can find more information here, and a statement from it follows: “New Zealand is prepared and ready to deal with a Covid-19 … Read more
Jamie dances like nobody’s watching, Claire finds herself a new surname, and Roger’s going to sing until someone tells him to stop. Tara Ward recaps episode four, season five of Outlander. Read all of Tara Ward’s Outlander recaps here. I know what you’ve been thinking about this past week. It’s been on my mind too, … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her tenth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads escape the concrete jungle for the rolling countryside. Click here for previous instalments. It’s time for us to lie down in a circle in an abundant field full of prickles and say what we are grateful for on The Bachelorette NZ. … Read more
Milk and Honey Festival organisers Lani Purkis and Teresa Patterson on celebrating women in the New Zealand music industry on International Women’s Day. What’s the Milk and Honey Festival? A platform for women to celebrate women in the NZ music industry on a day internationally set aside for women, a platform for younger women to … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the fifth week of The Bachelorette NZ, with special thanks to Nando’s. The boys have escaped jail for the Argentinian countryside this week, complete with rabbit hunting and a whole lot of prickles. Steve tries to serenade his way to a kiss, Liam goes on a jean short journey … Read more
Like Benee, BBNO$ and about a thousand other acts that suddenly became superstars in the last 18 months, Ashnikko is blowing up off the back of a TikTok craze. But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that there’s much more to this blue-haired rapper than Miley Cyrus memes. Barely a second into the intro, … Read more
Nearly 30 years after its first episode, award-winning sitcom Mad About You is back. Tara Ward travels back in time to celebrate the show’s most ’90s moments. Mad About You is back on our screens, and it seems the only thing that’s changed since 1999 is the colour of the Buchmans’ kitchen cabinets. The series … Read more
Formerly known as Tom Lark, Shannon Matthew Vanya is an artist familiar with reinvention. The Spinoff is extremely excited today to premiere his new single ‘Closer’, a roller disco hit that walks a careful line between Japanese city pop and smooth French neo-disco. Here, Shannon explains how it all came together. I worked on a … Read more
Born and bred in Dunedin, Vanessa Worm is now known in nightclubs the world over. She talked to Josie Adams about how being punk got her signed to one of the world’s best club music labels. Vanessa Worm – real name Tessa – is calling from her bed in Melbourne. Stage names, sleep-ins, jet-setting; she’s … Read more
The Netflix reality show has been a smash hit in New Zealand, but what the hell is Love Is Blind and why is it so good (or bad)? Alex Casey and Tara Ward discuss an instant classic. Alex: Knock, knock, Tara. Are you there? It’s me, just a simple ex-tank mechanic with a baby voice, … Read more
This week, the Norwegian band A-ha will play their first ever dates in New Zealand. Though it’s been more than three decades since the release of their timeless debut single ‘Take on Me’, sometimes it seems like it was only yesterday, writes Catherine McGregor. It’s a Saturday evening in the spring of 1985 and I’m … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her ninth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads escape the concrete jungle for the rolling countryside. Click here for previous instalments. Something I’ve been thinking about at 3am every night is this: what if The Bachelorette NZ isn’t reality TV show at all but a Lost-style high concept drama? … Read more
Something smelt strange in Outlander this week, and for once, it wasn’t Claire’s mouldy bread. Tara Ward recaps episode three of season five of Outlander. Outlander would be nothing without goats. Without the goat in season one, Claire wouldn’t have been noticed by the Redcoat, taken to see Black Jack, and forced to marry Jamie. Without the … Read more
To celebrate the return of Country Calendar to TVNZ1, Alex Casey tracks down the show’s biggest canine fan. This Sunday night at seven o’clock, Suki will run to the television and demand that her parents turn on TVNZ1 so she can hear her favourite theme song. She’ll then sit, nose against the screen, to watch … Read more
What are you going to be watching in March? 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 read our listings from February. The Biggies Westworld (Season 3 on NEON weekly from March 16) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJbFA32_QY Welcome back to … Read more
The series, a collaboration between Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington, kicks off with a discussion on politics and the media. As all right thinking people know, there are a mere 204 days until the general election. To get in the mood, we’re launching a new series of live events. And not just events: events in … Read more
On the heels of the arrival of The Outsider on NEON, Jean Sergent explores how screen adaptations of Stephen King’s work are able to take on a life of their own. Stephen King, the 72 year old horror author from Portland, has a better work ethic than you or I and that’s just science. The … Read more
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the cultured fourth week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Bachelorette NZ, a burrito bust-up ends in anaphylaxis, Steve chows down on some one-ply, and the Buenos Aires hostel goes full Lord of the Flies. It’s become abundantly clear that that the … Read more
Fancy a quick trip to Europe without leaving the comfort of your own couch? Tara Ward rounds up the best European drama for your viewing pleasure. Anyone who reckons travel is the only way to expand your mind has never had the pleasure of lying on a couch for three days while hoovering up several … Read more
Six60 are on pace to overtake Pink Floyd for one of the most formidable records in NZ chart history. Duncan Greive breaks down their dominance. Over the weekend, Six60 played Western Springs to around 50,000 people for the second straight year, a feat which seemed utterly unfathomable 18 months ago, but now feels routine. This … Read more
Sam Brooks watches I Am Not Okay With This, the new show that feels like a calculated mash-up of a bunch of other Netflix shows you really liked. “Oh, it’s like Sex Education meets Stranger Things.” It’s not a new thing to describe a television show in this X-meets-Y fashion. It’s convenient shorthand, and a … Read more