Vanessa Ellingham brings a gift from Norway back to the motherland: an innovative teen drama that doesn’t suck. Earlier this year, I watched as The Spinoff found itself at war with Filthy Rich producer Gavin Strawhan over the quality of the New Zealand television shows receiving public funding. Strawhan argued that critics of his show, … Read more
Ahead of the release of their seventh studio album Sleep Well Beast, The National frontman Matt Berninger spoke to superfan Madeleine Chapman about their new look, politics in music, and why Ed Sheeran got to cameo on Game of Thrones and he didn’t. I’ve never considered myself a melancholic person. In fact I’d go so … Read more
They’re a metal band from Auckland who write songs about life as part of the 2% – those born with red hair. Hussein Moses sits down with Bloodnut to find out where the sweet spot is between taking the piss and being completely serious, and just how far they’re willing to push the concept. Bloodnut … Read more
With Jane Yee galavanting away across the ditch, Tara Ward steps up to power rank the only four night a week NZ renovation show that matters. It was Guest Bedroom and Bathroom Week on the relentless renovation extravaganza that we love to call The Block. The pressure was on like a power hose pointed at a … Read more
Still feeling the chill? Tara Ward assembles some of the best fashions on Lightbox to warm the cockles of your cold heart. It’s International Fashion Day, everyone! If you’re sitting on your couch in your favourite pyjamas with the elastic waistband and the ripped crotch, eating stale pretzels and wondering how you can give such … Read more
When Jeremy Clarkson left Top Gear in 2015, the show seemed doomed. Yet it soldiers on, boring but unbowed, while Clarkson’s profile is much diminished. Duncan Greive asks whether the fading of Clarkson, Paul Henry and Bill O’Reilly means the end of an era looms for a particular species of male broadcaster. Jeremy Clarkson, most recently … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Neil Finn, P!nk, Robert Plant, Kings and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Neil Finn – ‘Second Nature’ The second single from Neil’s month-long live-streaming project Every Friday this month, Neil Finn and a handful of his friends have been getting together to rehearse and … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to bedroom producer and multi-instrumentalist Merk, who is playing at Seamless, an all-ages show, in Auckland this weekend. To win tickets, read till the very end! So what are you up to at the moment? I’m just working on new music. I was just in Europe for a couple of months playing for … Read more
Lucy Zee revisits the sensual Toffee Pops ad of the 90s starring Carlos Spencer and a whole lot of lust. The best factory produced, mid-range, supermarket shelf, chocolate coated cookie in New Zealand according to this statistically accurate twitter poll is: I am going to be honest here guys, I was expecting Toffee Pops to … Read more
Every week Chartlander travels back through time, landing in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we go back to the last time the Labour Party came into power. The day is November 27, 1999, and Helen Clark has just been elected … Read more
Tara Ward watches Wasted, a buzzy British comedy starring spirit guide Sean Bean as every famous Sean Bean character ever. Imagine discovering your subconscious mind can manifest itself into the form it trusts the most. It’s an alarming thought, mostly because mine would reveal itself as an electrifying mix of Suzy Cato and Astar from … Read more
The Real Pod team smash 1000 coffees to discuss Miss Universe NZ, The Block’s resurgence and our producer Mad’s brush with death. Plus: an exciting new Mike Puru segment. As the pirate ship at Rainbow’s End makes its final voyage this week, The Real Pod stowaways are regaled with producer Mad’s tale from the seven … Read more
Aaron Yap plumbs the depths of The Expanse, a sci-fi space opera that’s drawn comparisons to some of television’s greatest. It’s weird to think that the Syfy channel once spawned Battlestar Galactica, one of, if not the finest science fiction series of the modern television era. Today, the very mention of Syfy is cause for … Read more
Gareth Shute examines the varied ways songs are written in the modern era by speaking to three artists who’ve released work recently – Herriot Row, Raiza Biza and October. The last two decades have seen digital technology offering new possibilities not only for the recording process but also the act of songwriting itself. To get … Read more
Following a couple of weeks of controversial headlines, Alex Casey assembles a brief history of sexist drivel on The AM Show. Of all the soothing alarm sounds you could use to welcome a new beautiful day on Earth, Mark Richardson barking “a woman can do Dad jokes, which I’m impressed about” has got to be … Read more
A Māori, a Filipino and a Persian walk into a bar. They’re probably just getting a drink after a day of filming their new comedy sketch show. Hosted by improv comedy trio Frickin’ Dangerous Bro — Jamaine Ross, James Roque and Pax Assadi — Only in Aotearoa is a new Māori Television comedy that skewers modern race … Read more
Martyn Pepperell hangs out at the library with musical polymath Ben Lemi to talk about Lemi’s debut solo EP as Courtesy Caller. “He’s quite an enigma,” muses Brooke Singer, the frontwoman of Wellington dream-pop band French For Rabbits. “Although I’ve known him for a few years, he is still a surprise. When you meet him, … Read more
Ling and Zing have lost the plot, the Twins are ripping off the Renaissance and Stacey’s taken to wearing a rug – it’s just another week on The Block NZ. In the words of the great Ronan Keating, life is a roller coaster you just gotta ride it. Life on The Block NZ is no … Read more
Henry Oliver went to see Jerry Seinfeld at Spark Arena on Saturday. This is what he thought of it. There’s that cliche: never meet your heroes. I often feel like it should be updated: Never go see your heroes perform long after their peak. I saw the band Television once and was bored. And when … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Aminé Ramer, a music supervisor for film and television. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Aminé Ramer, an LA-based New Zealander who chooses music for TV shows and films for companies like … Read more
Our regular round-up of new songs and singles, this week featuring Marlon Williams, Neil Young, Marshmello + Khalid, Physical and more… SONG OF THE WEEK Marlon Williams – ‘Vampire Again’ The man with the golden voice gets some teeth I guess Marlon Williams just got bored of being so damn serious all the time. Almost … Read more
Feast upon this year’s Loading Docs selection featuring ten snack size local documentaries that you can watch in half an hour. If you struggle at times to hold focus during a 10 second Snapchat – let alone a 59 minute Game of Thrones episode – your scatterbrain might be well-suited to the short, sharp wonders of Loading Docs. With … Read more
In this rare Spinoff sealed section, Lucy Zee rounds up some of the most memorable sex scenes in local TV history. I hate sex scenes. They’re awkward, unnecessary and – the worst – they’re grossly unrealistic. But New Zealand can’t seem to get enough of a steamy romp and a glimpse of a muscled male arse on their … Read more
Sam Brooks watches Search Party, the indie-inspired comedy that contains as many mysteries as it does 90s stars. If you were to make a webseries in the 90s, somehow having the same crazy technology as of today, you would probably make Search Party. You’d also immediately burned for being a witch, because that’s what they … Read more
Following Metiria Turei’s resignation as leader of the Greens, The Spinoff TV writers report back on how our news outlets and commentators reacted to the political bombshell/earthquake/catastrophe. “A catastrophic, disastrous result… an absolute political nightmare,” said a typically chilled-out Paddy Gower last night as he thundered out the news of his Newshub poll, and Metiria … Read more
Welcome to Chartlander, where each week we travel back through time to land in a different year on the official New Zealand singles chart in the hopes of (re)discovering forgotten Top 40 gold. Today we go back 26 years to this day in 1991. Welcome to the 10th of August 1991 in Aotearoa. Jim Bolger is … Read more
After weeks of working sources deep inside New Zealand’s political parties, Henry Oliver reveals the songs dominating the office stereos at campaign headquarters.* * Not really. We freely admit this entire playlist is a work of speculative fiction. National Eminem – ‘Lose Yourself’ A source tells the Spinoff that, despite the trouble caused by the … Read more
Got a thirst for chilling mysteries in even colder places? Tara Ward rounds up the best in Nordic Noir on Lightbox. To celebrate the arrival of mystery-thriller Jordskott to Lightbox, we’ve gathered together an extensive list of the best Scandi-noir dramas around. Stop drawing sad faces into your window condensation, because what better way to … Read more
Alex Casey watches the return of TVNZ’s So This Happened, the online series giving a voice to women’s experiences of harassment. There is an inevitable, incredible thing that happens when you put a bunch of women in a room together with enough space to talk freely. No, we don’t shriek like banshees at the moon, … Read more