Taskmaster NZ proves we can do panel comedy as well as the Brits

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

But then, drama: Leigh Hart’s clip show was the best TV of lockdown

Made by a single family sewing together bits of old shows, Leigh Hart’s Big Isolation Lockdown was the funniest and most oddly comforting television created in level four, writes Duncan Greive. It takes a special kind of ego to make what is functionally a career retrospective about yourself, with your family as extras and directors, … Read more

Huge and true: Late Night Big Breakfast is returning to TVNZ

Alex Casey talks to Leigh Hart about the return of Late Night Big Breakfast, the finest morning TV parody show New Zealand has ever made.  Late Night Big Breakfast is set to return to TVNZ in 2020 after a five year hiatus, creator and comedian Leigh Hart has confirmed. Filmed in a fully-operational Target furniture … Read more

An open letter from Screaming Reels to our confused Australian neighbours

An Australian network is showing the NZ comedy show Screaming Reels in a time slot usually reserved actual fishing shows, suggesting the broadcaster was not aware it is a parody. The Spinoff asked co-host Leigh Hart to apologise to his confused Australian viewers. Instead, his ‘producers’ came back with this. It has come to our … Read more

Finally: The local fishing show we’ve all been waiting for

Calum Henderson watches TVNZ DUKE’s new fishing show Screaming Reels, Leigh Hart’s latest comedy venture to rival Outdoors With Geoff. Editor’s update: Screaming Reels premiered on Australia’s Channel 7 at 10.30am on Saturday 27 categorised under “sport” and “reality”, raising some questions as to whether or not our Trans-Tasman neighbours realised it was a parody. The network denies … Read more

Video: Speedo Cops to Speed Cooking – Jaquie Brown and Leigh Hart on Moon TV

Jaquie Brown sits down with Leigh Hart to talk about his unhinged comedy show Moon TV. The conversation quickly gets derailed to topics including adult entertainment, sleeping in doggystyle and Leigh’s beautiful eyes. Click here to watch Leigh Hart’s manic creation Moon TV on Lightbox today This content, like everything we do at The Spinoff, is … Read more

LNBB Appreciation Day: An Interview with Leigh Hart

We talked to Late Night Big Breakfast’s Leigh Hart about his mum, the starving people in Africa, and how he got the most out of Mike the Mongolian throat singer.// So, let’s start at the very beginning. After Moon TV, did you have the concept for this show immediately? I think I pitched the show to TV3 … Read more

Late Night Big Breakfast: Season One Obituary

Beset by endless schedule-induced delays, Late Night Big Breakfast ended up timing its arrival brilliantly. During the greatest period of media flux in decades, and against the backdrop of the strangest election campaign any of us will ever know. The show’s crazed, no-attention-span sensibility seems like it could only possibly have been properly digested right now. At … Read more