Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature in which we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey gathers a team of women who could give Hillary Clinton a run for her money in 2016. Throughout her years in the political sphere, Hillary Clinton has suffered … Read more
Sophie Smith shares health lessons learned from watching House, and how the show both helped and hindered her struggle with hypochondria. I have always been excessively anxious about my health. For as long as I can remember, any prolonged or acute headache has been followed by the declaration that I must have a brain tumour. Pain in my … Read more
Tara Ward recaps episode 10 of Outlander, in which there are bad omens aplenty, Colum is surrounded by fools and idiots, and Claire knows best. // We begin with a bang, with world traveller Jamie going downtown to Chinatown. For the love of all things tartan, I may need to light a cigarette after that … Read more
With the first full-time female referee appointed to the NFL last week, Elle Hunt examines the low-key feminist crusaders who blazed the fictional way in Friday Night Lights. // Friday Night Lights is ostensibly about a high school football team in Texas – but is actually about being a good friend and partner and parent, especially … Read more
My Life in TV is a weekly feature interview with a member of the television industry. This week, Alex Casey talked to Maria Mahony, head of programming at VOD startup (and Spinoff sponsor) Lightbox. // I’ve talked to Maria a few times already, as the head honcho TV buyer at Lightbox, but we actually first met … Read more
Dr Who Of course this was first on the list, you Tardis. Ever since this bad boy first appeared at Number 76 Totters Lane in 1963, Dr Who has been all time travel, all the time. For the unfamiliar, Dr Who is a BBC sci-fi show wherein a Time Lord (The Doctor) flits across time … Read more
Alex Casey recaps the finale episode, of Lightbox’s much-anticipated Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul. Contains spoilers, obviously. // This is it, we’ve come to the end of our time with Slippin’ Jimmy McGill, for now at least. It makes sense to open where he has treaded the con artist boards for so many years – … Read more
Tara Ward celebrates the return of Outlander to Lightbox with a recap of episode nine: The Reckoning. // We open with Jamie on a riverbank, skimming stones and contemplating the meaning of life. Listen, Jamie: if you’re not skimming stones on still water, you’re wasting both your time and mine. Shouldn’t you be saving your … Read more
In the second of a five-part series – here’s part one – James Milne signs up to watch Jennifer Love Hewitt’s cancelled borderline softcore porn series The Client List in its entirety. // Kyle has returned. It has confounded everything I have come to accept about this show, just as I was reaching something that … Read more
Alex Casey recaps the ninth episode of Lightbox’s much anticipated Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul. I have been hanging out all week to see if Chuck has beat his electro-magnetic condition. It really is the damning condition of our times, thank goodness he’s only in 2002 and not 2015. He wouldn’t last three seconds with … Read more
Appointment viewing… is a regular column which features a Spinoff writer watching one or more episodes of a current show and attempting to decode its appeal. This week: Calum Henderson watches Louie, the surrealist baby cartoon not unlike its adult counterpart. // Episodes Consumed: I don’t know. I can’t even begin to count the number of times … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey gives you a full rundown of all the blood-soaked, history-rich and superhero-stuffed shows arriving throughout April. // Wolf Hall (April 1) Based on the already classic Hilary Mantel novels … Read more
For this Music Monday, Alex Casey finds a totally normal way to excuse yourself from devastating cricket chat with help from The Mighty Boosh. // Yes, the cricket final happened last night and some bad things happened. We were all there, no need to dwell. Actually, let’s. As someone who has struggled with watching sport … Read more
This is no April Fool’s joke, the critically adored BBC series is coming to New Zealand exclusively on Lightbox on April 1. Trust us, we wouldn’t joke about something of this televisual magnitude. Based on the iconic Hilary Mantel novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, the series is a historical drama straight out … Read more
In the first of a five-part series, James Milne signs up to watch Jennifer Love Hewitt’s cancelled borderline softcore porn series The Client List in its entirety. // During her pregnancy, my girlfriend spent a lot of time in bed watching a show called Revenge. I never watched the show actively, but from my spot … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, after the nail biting CWC semi final last night, we gathered together some sporty shows to tide you over before Sunday. Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights is the Canterbury of … Read more
Alex Casey recaps the eighth episode of Lightbox’s much anticipated Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul. Ah, to open with Breaking Bad style flashback. Jimmy’s working his butt off as a trolley dolly at Hamlin & Hamlin. It’s a fancy and impressive space, amazingly well lit – the exact opposite of Jimmy, and the majority of … Read more
After years of TV being a wasteland for wastedness, a pair of woozy comedies have helped bring weed back in from the cold, says Henry Oliver. // Like all things, drugs are subject to fashion. As one comes in, another goes out. In the 90s and early 00s, weed was most definitely IN: The Chronic, … Read more
Each month we bring you the latest arrival to streaming service Lightbox, the good people who sponsor The Spinoff. This month features some HBO classics and a brilliant pair of ‘00s dramas. // News broke today that Lightbox will be free to all Spark broadband customers, an extremely fortuitous turn of events for everyone in … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This month, it’s out with the old and in with the new as the cool content gets a mid-year shake-up. Here are the new shows that have arrived just in time for July: The Good … Read more