After a quarter of a century of loyal fandom, Jane Yee took a three-year hiatus from Shortland Street. Tonight she revisited Ferndale for the dramatic annual Christmas cliffhanger. Full disclosure, I’ve been off the Shorty wagon for about three years, save a couple of months during the first lockdown in which I brought myself up … Read more
The first days of national lockdown have truly brought out the best in our social media stars. Alex Casey counts down the classics. Yesterday I got served with the Instagram notification that normally only pops up around Christmas-time. “You’re all caught up!” it chirped, “you’ve seen every post from the last three days!” The message … Read more
On Monday night’s episode, Chris Warner raised the possibility of a woman aborting her child because of potential medical issues. Controversy ensued, which says a lot about Shortland Street‘s place in our culture, writes Sam Brooks. Shortland Street has been a key part of New Zealand culture for 26 years. Whether you watch it or not, … Read more
Alex Casey and Calum Henderson relive the top 10 most electric, shambolic and memorable New Zealand television moments of 2017. 10) When Wolf met Cheryl He was just a boy in a leather jacket, standing in front of a girl, asking her to let him steal a fistful of cigarettes. Episode four of Westside season … Read more
Tara Ward recounts the surreal experience of being invited to Chris Warner’s intimate 50th birthday shindig – eruptions and all. Last year Chris Warner celebrated his birthday by having sex on his couch. To everything there is a season, for one year later I found myself perched on the same sofa, drinking gallons of pink … Read more
Births, deaths, fake deaths, reunions, vomit, sperm and a massive bloody volcano – there was a lot going on in Shortland Street’s 25th anniversary episode. Chris Warner found out he had leukaemia the day before his 50th birthday. Then, the day of his party, ever worse news: a volcano erupted, spewing rocks and ash and … Read more
We asked Spinoff writers, contributors and pals to share their very favourite Shortland Street moments from 25 rich years of soapy drama. Tara Ward on Lionel and Kirsty’s wedding Every moment of Lionel and Kirsty’s 1994 Christmas cliffhanger wedding gleams with the magnificent glory of early Shortland Street: Lionel angsting aboard the Toroa, Carmen wearing a designer … Read more
The only place on the internet you need to be for the best ‘please tell me that is not your penis’ memes, inspired by what might already be the local TV moment of 2017. All it took was one simple sync of Harry’s iPhone to the family iPad on Shortland Street to break both Chris … Read more
Witness the incredible Shortland Street moment in which Chris Warner comes face to face with… his son’s dick pic. It had been a pretty dramatic week in Ferndale last week, from Kylie skinny-dipping with badboy Frank to Drew proposing to Harper (again). But nothing came close to the closing 10 seconds of Friday night’s episode, … Read more
What happens when you put of two of the most enduring soap opera characters together in one room? After years of wondering, we finally found out in this exclusive video. Shortland Street‘s Chris Warner (played by Michael Galvin) and Home and Away‘s Alf Stewart (played by Ray Meagher) are two of New Zealand’s most beloved soap opera … Read more
What happens when you get two soap immortals and sit them down together for a chat? Calum Henderson was there to recount the making of television history. WATCH: History is made: Sparks fly when Chris Warner meets Alf Stewart It could be a vision of the end of the world: Alf Stewart and Chris Warner, … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Bella’s massage, Warner tears and Kate with the good hair. 1) Rachel has left the building Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again? That’s exactly how Rachel McKenna felt as she was ushered from the building … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Leanne’s facelift, Rachel McKenna’s pashfest and Damo’s stark white thighs. 1) Rachel makes a startling announcement “I’m not made of fingers, Damo!” The strain of being a drug-dependent alcoholic who couldn’t make her computer print got to Rachel, and she began to unravel like an out-of-control … Read more
With an exciting new cast photo coming out of Ferndale this week, Tara Ward digs through some of the finest offerings from Shortland Street‘s archives. Forget the Olympics, ignore the housing crisis, pay no heed to Justin Bieber deleting his Instagram. The big news of the week comes from Ferndale, where the Shortland Street 2016 cast photo … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including cheese dreams, sharp jaws and virus-laden horse stables. 1) Leanne orders a takeaway burger stuffed with Phyllovite and a side serving of crazy “You’re not a turkey!” Nicole yelled at her mother. “Gobble, gobble, gobble!” replied Leanne. Leanne’s bloodstream was 100% Phyllovite, meaning she hooned around Ferndale … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Leanne’s new vitamin business, a spoiled roux, and a pillow made of kiwi feathers. 1) Cam is the Chad Johnson of Ferndale Cam’s been in Ferndale for five minutes and has already fallen in love with Kylie. How nauseating. Thankfully, Kylie rebuked Cam’s creepy advances by insulting his … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her rankings for Shortland Street last week, including Boyd’s beautiful MRI scan and Victoria’s endless supply of bags. 1) The ‘D.I.’ in D.I. Foster’s name really means ‘Dickhead Idiot’ D.I. Foster is like a piece of overcooked macaroni: limp, pathetic and completely ineffective at solving crime. This screengrab makes it look … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including a grim Warner birthday scene and an astounding performance by TK Samuels. 1) Chris turns 49 and all his dreams come true The Warners threw caution to the wind and celebrated Chris’s birthday in a style not seen in Ferndale since Nick … Read more