Another year, another avalanche of television to keep track of. Sam Brooks rounds up all the shows you’ll want to watch this year – new, returning, and local. New Shows Normal People What is it? A BBC/Hulu adaptation of that Sally Rooney book you read for book club because everybody loved it and you could … Read more
The first two seasons of TVNZ’s The Casketeers made international stars out of Auckland funeral directors Kaiora and Francis Tipene. With season three starting tonight, Alice Webb-Liddall caught up with the couple to talk their TV journey so far. Alice: It’s been just over a year since the premiere of season one, how has … Read more
The gentle godfather of nature returns in Seven Worlds: One Planet on TVNZ 1 tonight, and you best have your tissues at the ready. “Never has it been a more precious time to reveal the life on our seven continents,” Sir David Attenborough says at the beginning of his new documentary series Seven Worlds: One … Read more
Summer reissue: Ten years on from its first episode, Sam Brooks revisits all the wild, dumb, and plain terrible things that happened on Glee. This was originally published on 27 May, 2019. Ten years ago, a little show from the brain of Ryan Murphy premiered. Up until this point, he’d had a minor failure with … Read more
Sam Brooks steps back in time to 2009, the year of Now! That’s What I Call Music 31. What did his younger self think of those songs – and do they still hold up today? This post was originally published on March 4 2019. The year was 2009 and it was full of, as your worst … Read more
Summer reissue: Starz released a promo photo for season five of Outlander, and the world shifted on its axis. And finally, Jamie Fraser’s wig is actually perfect, writes Tara Ward. This post was originally published on April 18, 2019. We’re crossing live to the 18th Century, where Outlander hero Jamie Fraser has been survived some terrible things. … Read more
What are you going to be watching in January? 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 for December. The Biggies AJ and the Queen (binge on Netflix from January 10) The RuPaul empire … Read more
Summer reissue: What’s it like to wait over a decade for a new record from one of your favourite bands? David Farrier writes about the joys, perils and embarrassment of being a Tool fan in 2019. This was originally published on 3 August, 2019. Before you say it, let me: Tool fans are the worst. … Read more
It’s the rejection that fuelled a comedy legend: the failed TVNZ pilot from Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Paul Horan writes about his hunt for the footage for the NZ comedy documentary Funny As. This post was originally published on 9 August, 2019. There have always been people in my line of business that are … Read more
Radio competitions are won by impulsive decision-makers. A giveaway on RNZ taught one woman to never hesitate. About a decade ago, on a lazy hot afternoon in early January, I was at home listening to Matinee Idle, Radio NZ’s summer programme. I was a big fan of the programme. That afternoon they were running a … Read more
Summer reissue: With Falling Inn Love, New Zealand gets its very own Netflix romcom – so how accurate is its depiction of small town NZ? Sam Brooks investigates. This post was originally published on 29 August, 2019. When the trailer for Falling Inn Love dropped earlier this month, I had my knives out, and so … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of You, the surprise 2018 Netflix hit that made toxic masculinity compulsively watchable. Major spoilers for the first season of You, which is really worth watching. What if you were watching a Lifetime movie, but from the perspective of the villain? That’s the premise of You, which was a … Read more
Summer reissue: Alex Casey goes down a YouTube rabbit hole to try and find the best New Zealand advertising jingle ever created. This post was originally published on 28 May, 2019. It happened without warning. Staring into my simmering bolognese last week, something came over me. I turned slowly, the harsh kitchen lights dimming to … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Spend your relaxing Boxing Day unboxing the Great Kiwi Bake Off finale with us. It was a Christmas-themed episode stacked with surprises, meringues and exploding tarts. But of course, most important of all is the fact that … Read more
Think you know your Lings from your Zings and your Fleischls from your Brettschneiders? Take The Real Pod’s reality TV quiz and prove it, with special thanks to Nando’s. Here at The Real Pod, The Spinoff’s own weekly popular culture and reality TV podcast, we live and breathe reality television and real life in New … Read more
God may have created all of his children in his image, but the same cannot be said for his hymns. Some church songs are good, some are bad, and some are absolute bangers. Madeleine Chapman ranks the best of them. This was originally published on 31 June, 2019. Some say that in order to experience … Read more
Just when you thought The Great Kiwi Bake Off was over, a bunch of celebrities took over the tent to raise money for charity. Tara Ward ranks their performance, poo biscuits and all. Sound the klaxon, wrap yourself in puff pastry and dive into the jelly lake of your wildest dreams, because the best gift … Read more
Stuck for something good to watch this Christmas? We’ve picked the television highlights (and lowlights, depending on your love of talking dogs) for everyone this festive period. Nothing says ‘summer’ and ‘Christmas’ like barricading yourself in a dark room and watching a bunch of strangers do made-up things on a screen. But what are the … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Netflix’s The Witcher, a wildly fun adaptation of the Polish fantasy novels of the same name. Mild spoilers follow. It’s become a stock phrase in the age of streaming that you have to wait until it gets good. Think of the beloved BoJack Horseman which takes a full half-season to not just … Read more
Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 20-1. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. It’s the second to last week on The Great Kiwi Bake Off and utterances of “don’ like jelleh?” are ringing through the land. Booze jellies, udder jellies and ancient Egyptian jellies abound, our final four bakers pulled … Read more
Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 40-21. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more
Musical-theatre sceptic Anna Knox writes about her conversion to the hilarious Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as the fourth and final season drops on Netflix Let it be known before I say anything favourable that throughout the first few episodes of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend I was in a state of deep cringe. I cringed at the exaggerated characters. … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Josh Thomson about his satanic transformation in tonight’s Wellington Paranormal Christmas special on TVNZ2. There’s a scene in the Wellington Paranormal Christmas special tonight that is sure to cheer up even the grizzliest of Christmas grinches. Due to a clerical error, Tawa Mall has accidentally booked Satan instead of Santa and … Read more
At 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff will be counting down 100 local television moments of the decade. Today, moments 60-41. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 60) John Oliver is obsessed with us, 2015-2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmoe0tgpxaM “How to … Read more
With the arrival of season three of the Emmy award-winning Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Tara Ward explains her topsy-turvy love affair with the show’s infuriating heroine. When season one of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel burst onto our screens in 2017, it was love at first sight. After years of watching nightmarish shows about … Read more
Alex Casey looks back at 10 years of reality television in New Zealand, a genre which reflected both our viewing habits and the good, bad and ugly sides of our national character. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like watching television in 2019 has become kind of a stressful chore. What used to be … Read more
At 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff will be counting down 100 local television moments of the decade. Today, moments 80-81. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 80) Behind Jeff’s Eyes, 2018 The first season of the Great Kiwi Bake Off was notable for many charming things (the hosts, … Read more
Another British drama, another moody small town with more murders than actual people – but what makes a truly great one? Drama masterchef Tara Ward has the recipe down. Nothing beats a good crime drama for a binge watch, and nobody does it better than the British. Whether it’s award-winning shows like Broadchurch, Luther and … Read more