It’s a grim week in Outlander as Jamie and Claire go on the camping trip from hell, Brianna reads minds, and Roger pretends to travel through time. Tara Ward recaps episode 11 of season four. This week’s episode of Outlander was a riverboat of misery floating aimlessly on an ocean of misfortune. Our beloved Frasers scrambled to … Read more
Alex Casey watches the joyous return of TVNZ1’s The Casketeers, a docuseries set in an Auckland funeral home. New year, new us, new season of The Casketeers, new leaf blower for Francis Tipene. The fabled leaf blower defined the first season, an enduring symbol of the funeral home owner’s obsession with neatness and order. For … Read more
Meek Mill, rapper and former Drake adversary, had one hell of a 2018, culminating in his long-awaited fourth album. Jogai Bhatt reviews Championships. Championships comes off the back of what has been one of the most defining years of Meek Mill’s life. In 2018, the Philadelphia rapper was released from jail after a highly-publicised probation … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the last few weeks in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. We’re back for 2019! Well, Jane and Alex are. Join us for a sprawling chat about this summer in celebrity news, sightings and scandals. Sam and Tayler’s MAFS journey has come to an … Read more
To many, Drew’s Christmas Holiday was a light-hearted, comedy filler to keep thirsty Shortland Street fans satiated during the long summer hiatus. To others, it was a terrifying descent into the empty soul of a confused and lonely man. Tara Ward finds out what really went on. All I know for sure about Drew’s Christmas Holiday is … Read more
Will we ever truly reach peak TV? Maybe! And if we do, 2019 might be the year when it happens. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey run down all the things you absolutely cannot miss in 2019. Golden Boy / Mean Mums (TV3) The successful pilots from TV3’s inaugural pilot week are presumably coming this year, both having … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Georgia and Caleb Nott, the siblings who make music together as Broods, about being dropped, getting back up again, and their new album Don’t Feed the Pop Monster. Georgia and Caleb Nott were back in New Zealand over the summer. After a whirlwind tour supporting Taylor Swift, they slowed down, visiting … Read more
The most anticipated reality TV event of the year, Celebrity Treasure Island may have just got its first castaway. Hit the dab, 2019, you’ve done it again. I might still be moderately drunk from Hogmanay, but The Spinoff has been handed some extremely piping hot intel from a high level source that Max Key is … Read more
A tangled web of secrets and lies was revealed in this week’s Outlander episode, as the Frasers tried to right their wrongs. They also ate some mashed potato. Tara Ward recaps. There are more reasons to love Claire Fraser than there are ginger curls on Jamie’s head. She has a collection of knitted arm-warmers to die … Read more
Which was the best, loudest, most alternative volume of the ’90s alt-rock compilation series The Trip? Craig Major listens back to all nine editions and casts his verdict. In 1993 Sam Neill was running away from dinosaurs, Kurt Cobain was still breathing, and a compilation album released by Warner NZ thrust alternative music into the … Read more
Angel, Dove, Mercy and the rest of the flock are back, as happy as ever in blue. Writer Anke Richter, a cult observer, watches Gloriavale: The Return. This was originally published on 14 May 2018. The best thing I could do to prepare myself for Gloriavale: The Return was to catch up on the latest … Read more
Summer reissue: For a time in the late 2000s, youth of all backgrounds in this country began to dance. Don Rowe remembers the brief flash when techno became a unifying force in New Zealand. Originally published 7 July 2018 Since the beginning of time humanity has yearned to dance. From the cha cha to the … Read more
It’s a scandalous journalism drama, the darkest Marvel film yet, the thirstiest show on television and Queen Diva™ Mariah herself – it’s January on Lightbox. Press (binge from January 2) Is your New Year’s resolution to watch more classy TV? If it is, look no further than Press. If it isn’t, you better watch Press anyway. This six-part BBC series … Read more
In the middle of the last decade, one man dominated our local music television. Then he disappeared. Elle Hunt tracks down Joel Defries and talks to him about life as a Kiwi TV star, and what he’s been doing since. This was originally published 25 June 2018. Joel Defries was once a household name. Well: … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect 2018 in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Happy New Year! Before you get started on those resolutions, why not join us in looking back at 2018 in reality TV? It’s time for the beloved* annual** Real Pod awards, where everything’s made up and … Read more
In 2018, rapper Mac Miller passed away from a drug overdose. James Roque writes about his passing, and the effect Miller’s music had on him growing up. This post was first published 8 September 2018. This morning the world awoke to the tragic news of the passing of artist Mac Miller. I found out after … Read more
The business of news is as dirty as the ink its printed in – or at least that’s what Press thinks. Sam Brooks reviews the news drama from the BBC, which drops on Lightbox today. There are no heroes in Press. Whether you’re Holly Evans (Charlotte Riley), the righteous news editor for the Herald, who chases up corporate cover-ups and … Read more
In 2018, Ladi6 played her first tour since she lost her voice a year before, an event that led to the cancellation of two tours and which required two surgeries and weeks of silence to recover. Here, for the first time, she tells her story. This post was first published 12 April 2018. In order … Read more
Outlander fans around the world rejoice, because this week’s episode delivered the Fraser family reunion we’ve waited 200 years for. Tara Ward recaps episode nine of season four. Imagine you’re Jamie Fraser, taking a humble pee in an alleyway, watching the steam rise off the bricks one cold morning in 1769 and thinking of nothing more … Read more
Alex Casey goes on a speed dating mission to get to know the beautiful brains behind the beautiful bodies of Heartbreak Island. This post was originally published 11 June 2018. They were hottest people I had ever seen in my life, all skin tight dresses and sharp suits, hair coiffed and curled for the gods. … Read more
Before the release of one of 2018’s best albums, Personal Best, Sam Brooks asked Chelsea Jade everything about her (and other people’s) music. This post was originally published 20 June 2018. It’s the rare unambiguously sunny morning in Auckland when Personal Best drops. I’m sitting outside a big building, waiting for an interview, long flowy coat on, … Read more
They said he couldn’t do it, but what else are you going to do in seven days? Sam Brooks watched 42 episodes of Outlander in a single week to catch up before the fourth season premiere. This post was originally published 4 November 2018. One week ago today I sat around The Spinoff’s story-pitching firepit, and … Read more
To sleep or not to sleep? Madeleine Chapman stays overnight at Max Richter’s eight-hour show and realises how tired she is. This post was first published 17 March 2018. Being tired is a privilege that must be earned, and I earned it for the first time as a 23-year-old. I used to think being tired … Read more
Week after week on Dancing with the Stars, David Seymour cheated eviction at the hands of the judges thanks to massive support from viewers, to the extent that he’s comfortably received more text votes than he did in the election last year. Anecdotally, much of his support is coming from young people. But why? We asked … Read more
Seasons greetings from everyone at The Spinoff. Here’s a little extra scene shot for our Lightbox TV series Get It to Te Papa that sadly didn’t make the cut, featuring host Hayden Donnell and former Māori Party MP Marama Fox. Watch all six episodes of Get It to Te Papa on Lightbox now by signing … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night, for The Real Pod has stumbled upon a Christmas miracle: a full-length podcast with the King of the Cranny himself, Colin Mathura-Jeffree. Joining Jane, Duncan … Read more
It’s a bad week for time-travellers, insurgents, newlyweds, blokes with misdiagnosed hernias, and basically everyone else in this week’s episode of Outlander. Tara Ward recaps. Friends, if I ever have the fortune to fall through a vortex of time and space and find myself two hundred years in the past, please make sure I do not end … Read more
It’s the silly season – and you need an excuse to get away from your family and in front of the television screen. Here’s the best holiday episodes to watch on Lightbox this Christmas – from families modern to fortunes outrageous.
Alex Casey gets to the bottom of a pop culture obsession: what’s the deal with Doc Martin? It’s getting to the time of year where many of us return home to roost like big drunk chooks incapable of doing anything more than chugging prosecco, eating fistfuls of ham and blobbing out on the couch. In … Read more