After twelve weeks, two melted pairs of pants and too many bespoke furnishings to count, Tara Ward shares her top ten lessons learned from watching The Block NZ 2014. // I’m amongst friends, so let me share with the group: I am a Blockaholic. This morning I thought I saw The Wolf coming out of the … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Harper goes bizarre for old pizza, Dallas invents a cool colleague called Fridge and we find out what Santa does for 364 days of the year: This week, Harper found herself eating pizza alone in … Read more
Joseph Moore reports on last night’s Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards from the safe confines of his VIP couch. // Grab your tuxes and gowns everyone! And by tuxes and gowns, I mean your track pants and delivery-Thai food, we’re doin’ these awards from the couch! Who needs a fancy invitation or VIP table when you’ve invited … Read more
With the return of University Challenge NZ to Prime this Saturday morning, Alex Casey watches the incredible 1988 final between Canterbury and Waikato. // Host Peter Sinclair welcomes us to the 1988 final, reflecting on the year that has been. He honestly looks like the perfect combo of Christoph Waltz, a Ken doll and this infamous dog wearing … Read more
Like advertising’s cockroach, informercials have emerged stronger following the internet’s onslaught. José Barbosa suffered through a night of them to bring you this harrowing report. // It can be argued that, in terms of human dignity, waking up at 1:30 in the morning with the intent to watch infomercials is a plunge into the lowest … Read more
Gather around, my friends: the time has come. It’s here! It’s really, really here! It’s our last week on The Block NZ. The teams returned their tools to the Bunnings Shed, packed their suitcases and said an emotional goodbye to their houses. Let us journey onwards and upwards, as we relive the glorious moments of the … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? We meet our darling Clementine, Chris forgets how to parent and Wendy cockblocks the night away: It’s always exciting to have a new addition to the Street – this week saw the arrival of Clementine. … Read more
MediaWorks and TVNZ have both launched their television schedules for next year, and there is one undeniable trend for 2015: local. Local productions, local stories and local singles in your area looking for love. The parallels between programming are impossible to ignore, so why not encourage some healthy competition? // The Block NZ vs Our First Home With The … Read more
The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive went along to TVNZ’s new season launch and left with ringing ears, an LED lanyard and dreams of a reality juggernaut. // Six million people are stalked every year in the United States. 3.5m New Zealanders view TVNZ weekly. 18,000 paid their condolences to non-existent person Sarah Potts. Kleenex quadrupled … Read more
For TV Autopsies The Spinoff ventures deep into the TV universe to check in with New Zealand’s fallen stars, away from the spotlight’s glare. In this debut instalment Alex Casey went to Manurewa to meet four-octave powerhouse and Harry Warner hater, Wayne Anderson. // Wayne Anderson, the greatest singer in Manurewa, first bellowed his way onto our screens in the 2005 series … Read more
Legend has it that the team who wins front garden week goes on to win The Block NZ. So there was no pressure this week as our teams planted, painted and pushed their way to front garden nirvana, all determined to create the best first impression for their buyers. Join me as we walk towards … Read more
Please enjoy this week’s episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Kronos the cat gets karmic with Dallas and we revisit Harry before he got a major facelift/attitude problem: Kronos the cat is definitely a weird addition to the Shortland Street world. It’s not often that … Read more
Alex Casey recaps her own My Kitchen Rules NZ recapping experience, summarising the tips and tricks she has learnt from Kitchen HQ.// “This is the night, I’m turning up the heat. This is the night, I’m standing on my feet.” – MKRNZ theme song One week ago, Neena and Belinda (The Modern Day Hippies) won … Read more
It’s due to hit our screens in early 2015, but already the search is under way to discover the next Benny Tipene or… whoever it was that won the first series of X Factor. Robyn Gallagher updates us with happenings land of the X. // Pre-auditions The pre-audition tour has just ended, which no doubt involved … Read more
What’s not to love about Outdoor Week? Shirts off and shorts on! Bark and beersies! Spas and succulents! The judges’ brief was ‘holiday’, but I don’t think they meant Madonna’s 1983 hit single. Regardless, let us be nurtured and restored by the top five moments plucked from the abundant wilderness that was Week 10 of … Read more
On the night before Halloween, Duncan Greive went to the launch of MediaWorks’ new season. To some it would have been a vision of pure terror. But not to him. // “A living nightmare,” said Damo. His interviewer, radio DJ Mike Puru, nervously pressed him to expand. “It’s like a bad dream, but when you wake up … Read more
You know it’s the finale when the contestants have their special little chef outfits on. We have our first cry of the episode about four seconds in when Aaron muses that he’s already “the last man standing, technically.” I would have probably taken time get mad about that statement, but he immediately started crying. So I … Read more
The second semi-final is upon us. Dai and Dal vs. Neena and Belinda. Isn’t it amazing? One team all the way from Laos – and one all the way from Cambridge. Aaron and Heather were gently pushed aside, already through to the finals. Aaron’s sweater said “dead” on it, which I found quite dark for … Read more
Can you believe this? The first round of semifinals? It’s happening, it’s all happening. One of these four teams will hold the glistening MKR shield (what actually is the prize?) of glory within a few episodes. It was time for a showdown between The Polynesian Cooks and The Corporate Dads. The tension was palpable, and … Read more
Our resident The Block expert Tara weighs in on the week on Newell St. This week, as the competition begins crawling to a close, she reflects upon the warfare strategies employed by The Block‘s little battlers.// Great things come in fours. The A-Team. The famous 90s girl band B*witched. And of course, The Block NZ. Four houses, … Read more
MediaWorks is racing into the future right now, crowd-sourcing ideas for its forthcoming soap and going multi-media with its new Paul Henry breakfast show. We couldn’t resist combining the two innovations and volunteering our own ideas to fill Henry’s soon-to-be vacant 10.30pm weeknights slot. As always, these bad, bad ideas remain © the authors, and are available for big … Read more
Rebecca Wadey has an unnatural affection for homegrown reality TV, so the arrival of The Block on her doorstep was a big deal. The open homes? Double that again. // There was never any point at which I which I wouldn’t have gone to The Block open homes. I love a local reality TV show at … Read more
As any scarf-laden teen will tell you – hickeys are notoriously hard to get rid of. But we don’t want to part with this one. Today, the Herald announced that our eternal weather shaman Jim Hickey is sadly retiring (again). Doing his time in front of that mesmerizing TVNZ green screen since 1988, Hickey is … Read more
Last night was Sudden Death: Cuties vs Hippies. As always, the two teams went head to head cooking a three-course meal for the ever-glamorous panel of celebrity judges. The entrées were up first, because this is MKRNZ not Crazy Land NZ. The Cuties were making cheese tortellini, flexing their strong pasta muscles in the face of pasta … Read more
Ah, nothing like a touching interview with someone who is head over heels in love. Last week on the British ITV morning show This Morning, hosts Amanda Holden and Phillip Schofield talked to 63 year old smokeshow Edward Smith, who has taken 700 lovers since the age of 14. Did I say lovers? I meant cars. … Read more
The Corporate Dads were safe as hell after their major pizza hustle of the last ep, and the three remaining teams were left fighting for a place in the coveted MKRNZ semifinals. Jessie and Ricki were on the Sudden Death loser couch, and the rest of the teams were left to make a romantic date night … Read more
We talked to “The Social Media Buddies” aka Sam and Dan from My Kitchen Rules New Zealand about getting trolled by school teachers, the big lamb screw-up and having major Mum beef with Sean Connolly.// Sam and Dan were the youngest MKRNZ team by far, two early twenty-somethings from Auckland who were coined “The Social Media Buddies” (because they … Read more
Our resident The Block enthusiast Tara dissects the week on Newell St. This week is all about breakthroughs, with Quinn and Ben finally hitting some sort of stride and Damo breaking both a creative block, and a door off it’s hinges. // It was a big week on The Block NZ. Damo was compared to a stray dog, … Read more
Jono and Ben at Ten employee Guy Williams has watched every minute of every episode of Jono and Ben at Ten ever made. This makes him uniquely qualified to pick the five best Jono and Ben at Ten sketches of all time. // 1. Guy Williams interviews the Pakeha Party (These aren’t all going to … Read more