Here’s what you need to know about Neon merging with Lightbox

Streaming services Neon and Lightbox will merge next month. So what does this mean for your favourite shows? Tara Ward finds out. What’s happening to Neon and Lightbox? In December 2019, Sky announced the purchase of Lightbox, the entertainment subscription service formerly owned by Spark. Sky’s plan was to merge Lightbox with its own streaming … Read more

What’s new to Netflix NZ, Neon and every other streaming service in June

What are you going to be watching in June? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to see our listings from May. The biggies I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (docuseries on Neon from June 29) … Read more

What’s new to Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in March

What are you going to be watching in March? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to read our listings from February. The Biggies Westworld (Season 3 on NEON weekly from March 16) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJbFA32_QY Welcome back to … Read more

Outlander recap: Claire saves the world, one loaf of bread at a time

Jamie’s away with the lads, Claire’s elbow deep in a dead man’s abdomen, and Roger wants to go back to the future. Tara Ward recaps episode two of season five of Outlander. Well, my thirstly little Outlander cherubs, that was something else, wasn’t it? It’s been many a moon since I watched an episode of our … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in December

What are you going to be watching in December? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Disney+, AppleTV, Neon, Amazon Prime, Acorn and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for November. The Biggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fnS96wQp4c The L-Word: Generation Q (NEON, Season 1 weekly from December … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in November

What are you going to be watching in November? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for October The Biggies His Dark Materials (NEON, Season 1 weekly from November 5) Feel like your life … Read more

Review: the new Vodafone TV is the last box you’ll ever buy for your telly

Vodafone TV is yet another damn thing to plug into your television – but one you really should take a look at, says Duncan Greive. What is it? A small box – about the size of a sandwich – which you plug into an HDMI port on your television, along with a simple remote to … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in October

What are you going to be watching in October? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for September. The Biggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-33JCGEGzwU Watchmen (NEON, Season 1 weekly, from October 21) This HBO series is set … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in September

What are you going to be watching in September? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for August. The Biggies The Good Place (Netflix, Season 4 weekly, September 24) It’s weird that the smartest, … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale finale recap: Praise June, Mayday is here

It’s the season finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, and we’re desperate for a happy ending. Will we get one, or will we be left weeping into our revolution muffins? Tara Ward recaps. I didn’t think anything could be tenser than the time Maria made the Von Trapp kids hide from the Nazis in the Sound of … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in August

What are you going to be watching in August? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for July. The Biggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0QuaQ0huk Veronica Mars (Neon, Seasons 1-4 + Movie, August 2) Praise be, because our … Read more

What’s new on Netflix NZ and every other streaming service in July

What’re you going to be watching throughout July? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand this month. The Biggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEG3bmU_WaI Stranger Things (Netflix, Season 3, July 4) For the few who don’t know, Stranger Things follows the adventures of several 13-year-old Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale recap: Handmaid June goes to Washington

Aunt Lydia’s pumped, Fred’s pumped, we’re all pumped for this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. Tara Ward recaps episode six of season three. The Handmaid’s Tale loves a good prayer situation, and this week we had them coming out our ears. Let us bow down before the TV gods and pray this is the episode … Read more

The Handmaid’s Tale season three recaps: Bonnets off, ladies

In the words of wise old owl Aunt Lydia, good things come to those who wait. Tara Ward recaps the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season three. Just as tinned tomatoes arrived in the supermarkets of Gilead, our own personal apocalypse was today blessed with three episodes of a brand new season of The … Read more

Blessed be the fight: The Handmaid’s Tale returns tonight

With three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale arriving express to Lightbox tonight, Alex Casey prepares you to return to life in Gilead. Starch your bonnets, straighten your Scrabble tiles and plot to overthrow the oppressive patriarchal system because The Handmaid’s Tale returns to Lightbox tonight with three whopper episodes for you to devour like your … Read more

Video recap: The Handmaid’s Tale season 1 and 2 in under three minutes

Season three of The Handmaid’s Tale drops on June 6, exclusively on Lightbox. Brush up on all the bonnets, babies and body horror of the first two seasons here.  !!! Contains spoilers for season 1 and 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale !!! The first three episodes of season three of The Handmaid’s Tale drop on Lightbox … Read more

The Big C serves up the best kind of wish-fulfilment fantasy

All four seasons of Laura Linney’s cancer comedy The Big C drops on Lightbox today. Sam Brooks writes about the series’ surprisingly uplifting journey through a woman’s nightmare. There’s a moment late in the first season of The Big C that hits you right in the gut. After finding out his mother Cathy (Laura Linney) has terminal cancer, her … Read more

The six best Kiwi films on Lightbox

A little bit of Taika, a little bit Jackson, a little bit Footrot Flats. Calum Henderson celebrates the best New Zealand-made films available to watch on Lightbox right now. Growing up, the options sometimes felt a bit limited when it came to New Zealand movies. Want a whimsical romcom? Your best bet was probably the first half of Heavenly Creatures. … Read more

Review: Abby’s is breezy fun in a vintage package

Cheers for a millennial audience? A three-camera sitcom that you can laugh at without feeling guilty? Sounds great! Sam Brooks reviews Abby’s, which you can watch on Lightbox right here. “Abby’s is filmed in front of a live outdoor audience.” Perhaps unintentionally, the disclaimer that begins every episode of Abby reflects the two-pronged strength of the show. On one … Read more

New to Lightbox in May: The stars come out to play

Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Pierce Brosnan – they’re all coming to Lightbox in May, y’all! The Son (S2, Weekly from May 1) I mean, it’s JAMES BOND AS A COWBOY. What more do you people WANT from your POPULAR CULTURE? A handsome (and I’m not just talking about Pierce) epic set in Texas at … Read more

The fightback begins: What we learned from the new Handmaid’s Tale trailer

A close reading of the brand new, oddly hopeful trailer for season three of The Handmaid’s Tale. The latest trailer for the new season of The Handmaid’s Tale got me so excited that I inhaled half a pack of Chocolate Finger biscuits in approximately ten seconds. Then I felt bad because Serena Joy had a finger … Read more

The unbearable, exquisite dread of The Americans’ final season

The sixth and final season of The Americans drops on Lightbox today. Alex Braae reflects on the unique, tense brilliance of the series. The worst part about being deeply invested in the characters at the centre of The Americans is your fear for them. Not a fear that they’ll be killed off – that would almost be … Read more

The mystery of Jamie Fraser’s wig: a special Outlander investigation

Yesterday Starz released a promo photo for Season 5 of Outlander, and the world shifted on its axis. And breaking news: Jamie Fraser’s wig is finally perfect, writes Tara Ward. We’re crossing live to the 18th Century, where Outlander hero Jamie Fraser has been survived some terrible things. He has loved and lost. He’s been battered and … Read more

Move over Isaac, there’s a new Newton’s Law in town

What is Newton’s Law, or more important who is Newton and what is her law? Tara Ward has the lowdown on Newton’s Law, which you can watch on Lightbox right now. What’s it about? Josephine Newton is a brilliant Melbourne lawyer. She spends her days in court as a small-time solicitor, advocating for the suburban underdogs charged with … Read more

New to Lightbox in April: True crime, many spidermen and Jenny from The Block

All the superheroes are coming to Lightbox this month – Spider-Man, Aquaman, Jennifer Lopez, Spongebob Squarepants – but there’s a few villains in the bunch too. It’s your round-up of what is coming to Lightbox in April. The Act (Four episodes dropping April 4, then weekly) From Jean Sergent’s review of The Act, coming later this … Read more

Television doesn’t need to make someone else’s agony our entertainment

The three-part mini-series Three Girls tells the story of the horrendous Rochdale child rape ring in the UK. It’s a harrowing watch, says Emily Writes, but it’s important we don’t look away – on screen and in real life. I’m not a fan of true crime; it too often feels like ingesting someone’s agony as … Read more

VIDEO: The Spinoff staff and one unbiased stranger pick their favourite Lightbox shows

Four members of the Spinoff staff and one completely unbiased stranger run down their favourite shows on Lightbox. What do Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden, Alex Braae, Toby Morris and one person who is definitely not Hayden Donnell watch in their time off? Check it out here. This content was created in paid partnership with Lightbox. Learn … Read more

The Enemy Within is a fantastic spy thriller – and an even better character study

The Enemy Within, which drops weekly on Lightbox from today, combines the funnest parts of a spy thriller with the complexity of a character study, thanks to a compelling lead performance. Sam Brooks reviews. The title ‘The Enemy Within’ is one of those multi-entendre’d ones that you can tell someone was very satisfied to come up with. … Read more

What Better Things nails about being a parent

There’s a lot to love about the acclaimed comedy-drama Better Things, which returns to Lightbox for a third season this Friday. Tara Ward takes at look what the show gets right about parenting.   Better Things heroine Sam Fox reckons that if she was to ever name her home, it’d be called ‘Tiny Assholes With Vaginas’. … Read more