The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week Duncan is cavorting around Melbourne so Jane and Alex meet at the dining room table to talk about another hot week on this dance floor we call life. Need all the celebrity goss from the … Read more
Last night, Billie Eilish kicked off her world tour at Spark Arena. Tamsyn Merchant reviews the show (alongside her nine year old daughter, Ruby). When I was 9 years old, I was given a double cassette tape – Mellon Colie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was a revelation. I can remember … Read more
Marketing might have you believe Masterchef is a show about cooking. Vanessa Crofskey is here to inform you what it’s really about: dads. There’s something addictive about Masterchef. At one point in high school I watched it everyday. Two minute noodles and cold cups of tea would be slurped down in indigestible succession as my family gathered … Read more
Throughout 2018, James Milne (aka Lawrence Arabia) released a song a month to fans who’d supported him via a Kickstarter campaign. He took time out from his tour supporting the resulting album, Singles Club, to speak with Gareth Shute about the ups and downs of producing songs to a monthly schedule. Two years ago, James … Read more
MARINA’s new album drops in its entirety on April 26 – but where has she been, and where are the Diamonds? Sam Brooks chronicles the journey of popstar MARINA from Diamonds to caps lock. Real talk: MARINA is one of the best popstars we’ve got. She’s performed for a few years under the name ‘Marina … Read more
Over Easter, Prime aired a piece of slow television gold: Go South. Tara Ward watched the whole thing. First published on 23 April 2019 It was five and a half hours into an epic 12 hour journey through New Zealand when I saw it: a giant cat, randomly standing on the platform of the Christchurch train station. … Read more
Forget Daria, Pepper Ann was the 90s’ greatest cartoon depiction of teenage girlhood, argues Sam Rutledge. Somehow the beloved Pepper Ann, which ran for five seasons is – wait for it – 22 years old. I know, I don’t believe it either, but it turns out we’re all much closer to death than we thought. It … Read more
Sam Brooks power-ranks week two of New Zealand’s premiere celebrity charity shimmying show, Dancing with the Stars. Hello, humans! Happy Easter Monday, the day after the day Jesus came back and his friends were not super excited to see him. How was your Easter? Were you one of those people who, deciding they needed to drink everything on Sunday, … Read more
A new miniseries adaptation of Les Misérables starts on TVNZ tonight – and it more than holds up to the novel, says Kate Langdon. We’ve all heard of Les Misérables in one form or another. It began with the historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862 and considered one of the greatest novels of … Read more
New Zealand music’s most famous musical comedy duo return to the stage in Flight of the Conchords: Live in London. Calum Henderson reviews. New Zealand television networks have always got a lot of shit for not giving Flight of the Conchords their own series. Fair enough, in hindsight this does seem like a pretty bad call. … Read more
Bob Marley played his first and only New Zealand concert on Monday, 16 April 1979, at Auckland’s Western Springs. Writing for RNZ, Gareth Shute looks back on that visit and the seismic effect it had on this country’s relationship with reggae music, which continues to resonate forty years later. In the days leading up to … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Courtney Act, host of Bravo’s The Bi Life, about her brand of political activism in the most unlikely of places – reality television. I don’t know if there is some kind of EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) equivalent for reality television but, if there is, Courtney Act is already making her … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. In the hangover of Married at First Sight Australia, we are overjoyed to shimmy onto the shiny lino of Dancing With the Stars NZ. Well, two of us are. Duncan only watched Laura’s dance on Instagram. Which … Read more
Aquaman is an incredibly complex film that puts a lot of questions into your head, distracting you from the simple joy of watching Jason Momoa battle foes under the sea. Never fear, three Spinoff staffers are here with the answers you’re craving. You can watch Aquaman on Lightbox right here.
The arrival of one of New Zealand’s most beloved broadcasters on breakfast TV is very perplexing, writes Duncan Greive Four years have now passed since #savecampbelllive, one of the most bizarre episodes in our recent media history, and one which sent an iconic broadcaster into a funk from which he doesn’t seem to have emerged. … Read more
Yesterday Starz released a promo photo for Season 5 of Outlander, and the world shifted on its axis. And breaking news: Jamie Fraser’s wig is finally perfect, writes Tara Ward. We’re crossing live to the 18th Century, where Outlander hero Jamie Fraser has been survived some terrible things. He has loved and lost. He’s been battered and … Read more
Last night Tom Scott won the 2019 Taite Music Prize for best album in New Zealand for Avantdale Bowling Club. This is his speech. Um. Fuck. I’ve lost this thing four times already, I was kind of hoping this would be the fifth because that would be a sick record. Something to be really proud … Read more
When does a social experiment turn into legitimate psychological torture – and lasting damage? Katie Meadows thinks Married at First Sight Australia has gone too far. Married At First Sight Australia is a horrible show that everyone loves to watch. Before this year, I had never seen it. About a month and a half in to … Read more
New Zealand’s celebrity perambulator competition continues tonight! Sam Brooks power-ranks the second night of the first week of Dancing with the Stars NZ. The ranking for the first seven contestants can be found right here. Yeah, he didn’t take his shirt off this episode. See you next week, you thirsty Mike McRoberts chasers you! Anyway, If … Read more
The new Twilight Zone updates the style of the ’60s classic while keeping its deeply moral core, Adam Goodall writes. In ‘Replay’, the third episode of the new Twilight Zone, a young black man wonders why his mother doesn’t want to visit her brother. “Damn, Mama,” he asks, put out, “aren’t you interested in me knowing … Read more
New Zealand’s celebrity movement competition returns tonight! Sam Brooks power-ranks the first week of Dancing with the Stars NZ. Strap in, you guys. I’m ready to learn what the All Blacks were doing in 1995, I’m ready to learn the names of influencers and sportshumans, and most importantly, I’m ready to wildly disagree with judges … Read more
After years of hammy performances and ropey writing, The Bad Seed represents a landmark for New Zealand serialised drama. Duncan Greive reviews. Serialised New Zealand television drama is something of a paradox. It’s our most lavishly funded screen form – a single season will often cost more than the entire current affairs programming sector gets … Read more
A sitcom starring Pamela Anderson as a bookstore employee in 2005? We’re already laughing. Sam Brooks writes about the dusty two-season wonder that was Stacked. Imagine, for a moment, that you’re an American television network in 2005. Friends has just ended its ten year run, and that format of sitcom (friends do problematic things with guest stars) … Read more
Twenty-five years ago, Nathan Haines released Shift Left, New Zealand’s biggest selling jazz album of all time. On the eve of its anniversary reissue, Graham Reid takes a look at the album’s genesis and impact. This piece has been republished with permission from Audioculture. In 1994 Nathan Haines released his debut album Shift Left, an album which … Read more
There are two weeks; 14 days; 336 hours of school holidays to fill. What better way to fill it than a bunch of great TV? Tara Ward runs down the best TV and movies on Lightbox to watch with your kids these school holidays. It’s school holiday time again, which means the children of Aotearoa … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the final week of Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. It’s been a long and emotional journey full of highs, lows, onesies and toaster pizzas, but Married at First Sight Australia is finally over. Join us as we try to make sense of the final explosive dinner … Read more
Christchurch-born Theia’s second EP Not Your Princess drops today. Sam Brooks chats with the singer about her new music and her video for International Women’s Day. Theia’s first self-titled EP was released two years ago, and it was a stunning artistic statement. The production was lush, her voice had a distinctive husk to it, and the … Read more
Alex Casey reflects on the most dramatic season of Married at First Sight in history. Looks like we made it. Three months. 41 episodes. Well over 60 hours. Two cheating scandals. One multi-million dollar fraud conviction. One virginity lost. Zero moments of calm. This season of Married at First Sight has truly been like no … Read more
After falling head-over-heels for Heartbreak Island, her first reality TV crush, Anna Knox returned eagerly for season two. Turns out there’s nothing like a first love to break your heart. I was genuinely looking forward to watching Heartbreak Island again. Wanderlust, Homeland and Unreal had been my TV diet for the previous weeks, and I … Read more