Carla Crozier, one of Shortland Street’s most memorable villains, is back to wreak havoc in Ferndale. Actor Elisabeth Easther tells Tara Ward why she’s returned to the role – and what’s different this time around. It’s been 25 years since Carla Crozier waved goodbye to Shortland Street, but fans have never forgotten her. Nobody knows … Read more
Summer reissue: The latest episode of Bad News follows Alice Snedden on a quest to expose the double standards around nudity, and break down the barriers by getting the first-ever topless scene on Shortland Street. First published August 25, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is … Read more
Call the police, Tara Ward needs to report a crime. Shortland Street nurse Carmen Roberts has risen from the dead, and the show seems to think nobody will notice. Drive a mack truck straight through my heart and throw me into an exploding Mt Ferndale because Carmen Roberts, the iconic Shortland Street nurse who died … Read more
The latest episode of Bad News follows Alice Snedden on a quest to expose the double standards around nudity, and break down the barriers by getting the first-ever topless scene on Shortland Street. Ever wondered why TK Samuels can’t stop taking his shirt off, but we’ve never seen a woman’s bare chest on Shortland Street? … Read more
It’s the television reunion you didn’t know you needed, and a reminder of one of the best New Zealand shows you might never have seen. Friday night’s episode of Shortland Street saw lovesick doctors Boyd and Zara celebrate their wedding, and it was a nice time. The bride and groom were thrilled and Chris Warner … Read more
She’s Cheryl West, she’s Ellen Crozier, she’s the woman who makes headlines for throwaway jokes online. Sam Brooks talks to Robyn Malcolm, actor and activist. There’s nothing more compelling on a New Zealand screen than Robyn Malcolm wanting something. Whether it’s Cheryl West trying to get a lingerie business off the ground, Ellen Crozier shaking … Read more
With Shortland Street’s 7,000th episode screening tonight, Tara Ward salutes the soap for keeping calm and carrying on through level three lockdown. It’s been one heck of a week on Shortland Street. Leanne lost her winning $8 million Lotto ticket, Louis slipped over in a pile of vomit, and Desi tried to convince Dawn that … Read more
With the start of alert level three, Shortland Street announced it would be the first drama in the country to start shooting again in a Covid-19 world. Chris Schulz talks to the soap’s cast and crew to find out how they did it. When actor Michael Galvin arrives at Shortland Street’s Auckland studio to begin … Read more
Tired of watching human faces on your screen but still love a bit of action? Tara Ward has you sorted with nature docos to fill the heart and lift the soul. People are annoying, and that’s the truth. Look it up in the dictionary, write it in the sky, tattoo it across your heart. Have … Read more
Tara Ward pays tribute to the one true constant in New Zealand television: The Shortland Street Christmas cliffhanger. If you’re going to watch one episode of Shortland Street, make it the annual cliffhanger. Each year our beloved New Zealand soap makes sure we step into summer with a big bang, bigger than Waverley’s hair in … Read more
Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 20-1. Previously: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more
If you don’t like Shortland Street, or you’re unconvinced that Michael Galvin actually is a doctor, does that mean all New Zealand television is rubbish? One newspaper columnist argued as much on Sunday. Tara Ward says an emphatic no. The world is our TV oyster, but lately it seems not everyone in Godzone is feeling … Read more
Today, TVNZ released its latest findings on who is watching what on TVNZ OnDemand. Sam Brooks analyses the results. Today, TVNZ released the 2019 figures for who is watching TVNZ OnDemand, what they’re watching and in what kind of numbers. The big numbers are hopeful – over 1.4 million people reached so far this year, … Read more
While ageing men are celebrated as sexy silver foxes, their female counterparts tend to slowly disappear from our screens – an example of how prejudices often leave older women sidelined. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Alex Casey talks to two women who are defying the expectations around old age. At 82 years … Read more
To celebrate Valentine’s Day and the launch of DB Export’s new campaign, The Spinoff pays tribute to New Zealand’s most famous love stories. Love isn’t something that’s always come easily to New Zealanders. Our “man alone” colonial history has often demanded feelings be suppressed, and emotions were traditionally something to be bottled rather than expressed, … Read more
To many, Drew’s Christmas Holiday was a light-hearted, comedy filler to keep thirsty Shortland Street fans satiated during the long summer hiatus. To others, it was a terrifying descent into the empty soul of a confused and lonely man. Tara Ward finds out what really went on. All I know for sure about Drew’s Christmas Holiday is … Read more
This week it was announced that Auckland Theatre Company’s Shortland Street: The Musical would be cancelling its planned 2019 tour. Sam Brooks asks why the show fell short of its ambitions – and what it says about the industry. Shortland Street: The Musical had the potential to a be a long-running, bonafide hit. It was … Read more
Chris Warner, House, Shaun Murphy, Meredith Grey, Mindy Lahiri – there are a lot of doctors on our television, but who is the goodest? Madeleine Chapman investigates, and the results may surprise you. The Good Doctor season two drops on Lightbox weekly, starting from today. You can watch the entire first season on Lightbox right … Read more
Swearing, nudity, blasphemy and Clarke Gayford – these are just some of the things New Zealanders have been vehemently complaining about to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) over the past year. Blasphemy Using the Lord’s name in vain is always a big no-no for many God-fearing New Zealanders. The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) gets plenty … Read more
Anyone debating the controversy around Shortland Street need to remember those with Downs are not some abstraction but real and important people, writes Sarah Paterson-Hamlin, whose day job involves running a charity for kids with Down Syndrome called the UpsideDowns Education Trust Shortland Street’s latest plotline has it all; pregnancy, medical drama, scandalised tones, hastily googled medical symptoms, unplanned sex, … 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
Yesterday, it was announced that Shortland Street’s famous hourlong winter Mondays will transform into a six night monster. And, surprisingly, some fans were not happy. The incredible news that Shortland Street will screen on Sundays from September hit me harder than Chris Warner’s bathtub crashing through his kitchen ceiling. Shortland Street, six nights a week? Be still, … Read more
Each week on The Spinoff TV’s Repressed Memories, James Mustapic delves into NZ pop culture’s graveyard and digs up the bodies. This episode: Shocking deaths, forbidden love, multiple Harry Warners and TK in a fedora – revisiting the glory of Shortland Street in 2009. Watch all the Repressed Memories videos here. The Spinoff TV screens … Read more
The S***off panel of experts present their learned assessments of what was said on the nation’s favourite soap. The Broadcasting Standards Authority has ruled on a complaint about the perceived use of a very naughty word on the beloved TVNZ soap opera Shortland Street. The complainant reckoned that “despite the subtitles provided by TVNZ, the actor’s … Read more
Rent Week 2018: Shortland Street expert Tara Ward finds the best – and worst – places to live in the mythical Auckland suburb of Ferndale. It’s a hard road finding the perfect place to live, but friends, I bring exciting news. I’ve stumbled across a suburb that is the answer to every renter’s dream, a … Read more
Last night marked the return of several key shows to the coveted 7 pm time slot, so we deployed our television moles to watch and report back. Toby Manhire watched Extreme Cake Makers on TVNZ1 With Seven Sharp on an epic, host-switching hiatus, filling the 7pm slot on TVNZ1 is the similarly hard-hitting Extreme Cake … 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 watches the power-chucking, beard-itching, blood-soaked finale to Shortland Street. Contains spoilers. Lie me down on Chris Warner’s soft, pink bed and let me die quietly. The Shortland Street 2017 cliffhanger just served up so much glorious Christmas goodness that even my fat pants can’t handle it. I am stuffed full of drama, I … Read more
It’s out of the instant restaurant frying pan and into the sudden death cook-off fire – and half the Shortland Street cast has come for tea. “You’ll need to get over being starstruck very quickly,” celebrity chef judge Pete Evans warns the two pairs of chefs before they disappear into the kitchen to cook for … Read more