First they came for our pavlova, now they’ve come for our Buzzy Bees. Tara Ward watches the new season of The Crown and discovers Australia has pinched more of our stuff. It seems I was premature in declaring that season four of The Crown was all about New Zealand. After a sneak peek at the … Read more
For an entire generation of music lovers, Ready to Roll was appointment viewing. In this piece, first published by Audioculture, Fiona Rae looks at the impact the show had on New Zealand and our appreciation of homegrown music. TVNZ’s news hour at 6pm has always rated big, but from the late 1970s it had a … Read more
Call the police, Tara Ward needs to report a crime. Shortland Street nurse Carmen Roberts has risen from the dead, and the show seems to think nobody will notice. Drive a mack truck straight through my heart and throw me into an exploding Mt Ferndale because Carmen Roberts, the iconic Shortland Street nurse who died … Read more
The announcement that a controversial New Zealand reality TV star would be returning to the small screen has been met with outrage on social media. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports. Free-to-air television network Bravo has defended the casting of former Real Housewives star Gilda Kirkpatrick in a new local reality show following a rush of negative comments … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Morgan Donoghue from InMusic. Auckland’s Karangahape Rd has long been a home of live music, but it might … Read more
This morning, TVNZ announced what we’ll all be watching in 2021. Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ve got to look forward to, assuming we’re still here next year. The Brokenwood Mysteries OK, let’s get the biggie out of the way first: The Brokenwood Mysteries is jumping from Prime to primetime, baby! Brokenwood travels to … Read more
The Comey Rule, which revolves around FBI director James Comey in the run-up to the 2016 US election and the early months of Donald Trump’s presidency, drops on Neon this week. Here’s a rundown of the cast of characters in the political mire of the US, and who’s playing who. Jeff Daniels as James Comey … Read more
Some of New Zealand’s best comedians unite in Golden Boy to bring us a fun, breezy sitcom that will brighten any bad day. I’m binge-watching Golden Boy after a morning at the dentist. My face is numb. I’m sliding mandarin pieces between the teeth I’m allowed to use. I want to be cheered up, and … Read more
The second season of The Mandalorian is more of the same, but it’s also a signal of where the world’s biggest franchise is headed, writes Sam Brooks. When The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+ last year, nobody could have predicted how truly huge it would come to be. Not only was it actually pretty good television … Read more
Stewart Sowman-Lund and Tara Ward take a walk down memory lane to look at some of the best (and worst) UK to New Zealand television remakes. The good Grand Designs There can only be one Kevin McCloud, but we’ve proved there can be two excellent versions of Grand Designs. Hosted by our own amiable architect … Read more
What are you going to be watching in November? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. The biggies The Crown (binge season 4 on Netflix from November 15) Something good was bound to happen in 2020, and the new … Read more
Black Hands, adapted from the podcast of the same name, doesn’t do the Bain family justice, writes Sam Brooks. “Dunedin 20th June, 1994 5 members of the Bain family were shot dead in their home.” That blunt piece of text precedes the opening credits of every episode of TVNZ’s Black Hands, adapted from the hugely … Read more
A new trailer for season four of The Crown dropped overnight, and big news, Aotearoa: we’re in it. London-based Māori group Ngāti Rānana has confirmed they were involved in filming a haka scene. The fourth season of Netflix’s award-winning drama about the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II premieres next month, and a new … Read more
Are you excited about spending Halloween on the couch this year? So is Emily Writes, who has some suggestions for a weekend of spooky streaming. If 2020 hasn’t been scary enough for you and you’re looking to be terrified this Halloween, there’s plenty to watch on all of the streaming services. Binge away and add … Read more
Drax Project are back from LA, and finalists in next month’s Aotearoa Music Awards for single of the year. Sherry Zhang catches up with the band as they get ready to release their new single ‘Firefly’. In a corner of the lounge at Universal Music’s Auckland offices sits an oversized plaque, made to commemorate a … Read more
Each year, the highlight of the annual Silver Scrolls aren’t the speeches, but the covers. In advance of tonight’s ceremony, Sam Brooks runs down his favourite performances since 2010. Tonight is the 2020 APRA Silver Scroll Awards, New Zealand’s most prestigious prize for songwriting (and you can stream them right here from 7:30pm). The nominees … Read more
Review: In their heyday they were invulnerable, but now the likes of Piri Weepu and Eroni Clarke are all too human. That’s what makes Match Fit so compelling, says Duncan Greive. Match Fit is aimed at the more casual class of rugby fan, but its audience would likely bristle at what lies underneath its code-heavy … Read more
The Big Little Lies showrunner and one of its stars are back with an addictive new limited series – and they’ve brought Hugh Grant along for the ride. Nicole Kidman does a lot of walking in The Undoing. The new HBO murder-mystery miniseries features seemingly endless shots of her character, Grace Fraser, crossing busy Manhattan … Read more
Timaru, Waihi, Greymouth and Woodville entered; only one could emerge the winner. Tara Ward looks back at one of the most exciting moments in regional New Zealand history: the grand final of Top Town. It was a hot summer’s day in 1977 when 10,000 people gathered in Whangarei’s Okara Park to witness one of our … Read more
Just six months after going live with much fanfare, streaming service Quibi is shutting down. Emily Writes provides a eulogy to the platform nobody liked. It’s almost shameful to admit it given the chorus of people bagging Quibi, but I tell you – I loved that thing. The criticism of Quibi started with the very … Read more
Sacha Baron-Cohen’s most successful character returns to a pandemic-stricken middle America. The formula is the same, but its impact has radically changed, says Duncan Greive. In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, more commonly known as Borat 2, the conceit is the same, … Read more
New Zealanders love Taskmaster UK. But will they warm to the homegrown version? Guy Williams is doing his best to amp up the crowd, while Angella Dravid sits quietly alongside with her usual look of both discomfort and amusement. Leigh Hart has that wry smirk on his face that viewers of Moon TV and the … Read more
Just a few years ago, few people had heard of the self-help group/cult of personality known as NXIVM. Now the dark story has gone global, thanks to an eight-part docuseries that debuts on Neon today. This review contains mild spoilers for The Vow. What is it that people love so much that they’d join a … Read more
After a lockdown spent creating stop motion in their laundry, Sports Team is now nominated for an Aotearoa Music Artisan award. The duo talk to The Spinoff about making music videos. The first music video Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin made was accidental. It happened on a date, wandering around Auckland city, Kean wearing a … Read more
WATCH: Newshub’s national correspondent took things to another level during Three’s election results coverage on Saturday night – here’s the supercut to prove it. Watching the election results roll in on election night is a triennial event beloved by many New Zealanders, none so much as Patrick Gower. From the second the clock ticked 7:00pm … Read more
They’re competing to be named top dog, but they’ve already won our hearts. Nothing brings the nation together like a good dog. Ask Spot or the SPCA dogs that learned to drive, or even John Campbell and Matty McLean speaking directly to the good dogs of New Zealand, live on Breakfast television. Tonight, new reality TV … Read more
Tara Ward recaps the highs and lows of last night’s free-to-air television election coverage. “Thank God it’s over,” John Campbell declared in the opening moments of 1 News’ election broadcast, but really, we’d only just begun. John and Hilary Barry were in charge of the catchy ‘1 News Your Vote 2020 Election Night Special’, and … Read more
Our most verbose screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin, makes good on all his hype in just his second turn as director. If I had to pick one of the best opening scenes of the past decade, I’d go with the scene that opens The Social Network. It’s an immediate evisceration of Mark Zuckerberg – and by proxy, … Read more
After almost 15 years together, Cut Off Your Hands are officially disbanding. Frontman Nick Johnston spoke to The Spinoff about where he’s been and where he’s going. Three years into their decade-and-a-half-long career, Cut Off Your Hands needed a break. The Auckland band were high-energy, sweaty, and perpetual; frontman and singer Nick Johnston reckons they … Read more