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
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
Two seasons, one Eliza Dushku and a pre-Hangover Zach Galifinakis – how could a show with all this fail? Sam Rutledge writes about the two-season wonder that was Tru Calling. I have a controversial opinion for you: the shortlived Fox network drama Tru Calling was actually good. “Wait, what show?” I hear you ask. Fair question. It … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the eighth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we’ve got two weeks of MAFS madness to recap. Billy and Susie went to hell and back again, and then Billy had to come back one more time to get … Read more
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
Blessed be the fruit loaf, The Great British Bake Off is back. Tara Ward relives the best moments from episode one of the new season of the world’s kindest TV show. We could all do with a warm and fluffy escape right now. Last week I ate my way through more packets of Toffee Pops … Read more
The world needs more kindness, clearly. Thalia Kehoe Rowden reviews Kiri and Lou, a new musical comedy show about kindness and feelings – made for children, but a tonic for adults too. What if you could make a home-grown kids’ TV show that combined the endearing quirkiness of The Muppets, the deadpan hilarity of Flight … Read more
At the end of a long week of anger and sorrow, you may need something soothing from your TV screen. If that’s the case, we can help. After the horrific events of last Friday in Christchurch, writing about television seems frivolous. But, if we use the power of television for good, it can offer us … Read more
Changing Rooms was a 90s DIY show like no other. After this year’s Australian Changing Rooms reboot crashed due to low ratings, Tara Ward relives the glory days of the UK original. This year’s Australian reboot of Changing Rooms came and went from our screens quicker than you could turn a piece of MDF into a hanging shelf … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the sixth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. If we told you this wasn’t a rude pod, we’d be lying. What more can you expect from such a rude week on MAFS AU, complete with naked calendar shoots, brazen buttcracks and passionate party pashing? … Read more
Before The Joe Rogan Experience, before even Fear Factor, Joe Rogan was an actor on a much-loved show called NewsRadio. Laura Vincent reminisces over the hunk before the era of podcasting. I’m an expert on Joe Rogan. You know the guy, right? If not from yelling enthusiastically at UFC cards you’ve surely heard of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, … Read more
Alex Casey rips open the velcro on Married at First Sight Australia‘s biggest scandal yet. There’s a lot to be said about the latest sordid season of Married at First Sight Australia. For a start, there’s the slimy cheating scandals, the violent outbursts of rage and the relentlessly sexist gaslighting. And then there’s the very … Read more
Last night, the first part of the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland aired on TVNZ. Katie Meadows looks at what it means for the popstar’s legacy. This piece involves descriptions of child abuse, sexual assault and grooming. Since Leaving Neverland first aired, one of the first questions to be asked in a world where Michael Jackson is an abuser … Read more
Alex Casey can’t stop watching Jojo Siwa’s vlogs on Youtube. With the documentary Jojo Siwa: My World arriving to Lightbox this month, here’s your much-needed introduction to a young internet sensation. Most nights I find myself falling down a Jojo Siwa rabbit hole, lying on my side with 400 chins as I let vlog after … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the fifth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. It’s another chaotic week on the pod, complete with phone calls to Nasser from the last season of MAFS, Duncan getting cancelled live on air and many, many Haribo lollies. Why is Jessika trying to sleep … Read more
In honour of International Women’s Day, Tara Ward rounds up the best BFFs you can hang out with through the screen. Not only are women taking over an entire day in the calendar, they’re taking over the bloody television too. Better living everyone, because TV keeps giving us brilliant and amazing women inspire us, make … Read more
Anika Moa Unleashed finished up its second season with its most coveted and triumphant get yet: a 20 year reunion of TrueBliss. Okay, so it’s not all of TrueBliss. But one less Carly Binding and one plus Anika Moa is still a pretty damn good effort at a reunion. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. I’m … Read more
Six seasons in, Below Deck remains the wildest drama on the high seas. Now’s the perfect time to catch up on this hugely entertaining boat-based reality series, argues Dominic Corry. Vanderpump Rules and the various Real Housewives shows may dominate the Bravo brand, but a world away from those land-based shenanigans, there’s another Bravo reality … Read more
The return of television’s most authentic mum, a Dance Moms spinoff, and some fantastic mister beasts – all these and more are New to Lightbox this month. Better Things (weekly from March 1) “Better Things is, indeed, a love letter to families. Through vignettes of Sam’s everyday life, the show captures the joys and frustrations of single-handedly raising three … Read more
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
The actor Luke Perry, whose performance as Dylan McKay in the TV show Beverly Hills 90210 was an early ’90s cultural phenomenon, has died aged 52. Emily Writes pays tribute. Luke Perry, aka Dylan McKay, was my first love. There was no separating Luke from Dylan. He was Dylan. Wearing a white shirt and leather … Read more
Love Island has smashed streaming records all over the world and Three’s purchase of the global rights, along with a pricey local franchise, will complete a radical transformation of the channel. This week The Spinoff learned that Mediaworks, parent company of Three, plans on launching a New Zealand version of ITV’s megahit Love Island. The … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the fourth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. Your favourite Married at First Sight Australia experts are back to look at a week on MAFS that may or may not have gone too far. Innes and Sam have gone full steam ahead in the sauna (allegedly), … Read more
Heartbreak Island is back for another year, bringing more raunch and drama than ever before. Watch as Alex Casey dives in. What is Heartbreak Island? Is it a moral toilet? Is it an ambitious mutant? Is it a chance to get hotties to talk about climate change? Is it all just a bit of a … Read more
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
Goosebumps had nothing on this one. Tom Augustine looks back at the Kiwi kid’s horror series that scarred a generation: Freaky. When I was a kid, there wasn’t much I was banned from watching – my mum, bless her, was of the ‘better you do it in the house’ variety – but one such ban came after … Read more
You saw her in The Favourite and you obviously loved it, but where can you experience Queen (quite literally) Olivia Colman on the small screen? It may be wildly out of line considering she’s won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA and now an Oscar (!!!) but I don’t think it’s greedy to want Olivia Colman to … Read more
It’s one of New Zealand’s most picturesque locations, but what are the best bits? Piha local Mark Mitchinson, who plays rockstar-turned-radio DJ Terry Huffer in the Lightbox series High Road, takes us on a tour of West Auckland’s famous beach suburb. High Road is a Lightbox Original. Season two of High Road is available to … Read more
Alex Casey went speed dating with some Heartbreak Island contestants and things got real serious, real fast. Everything around us is slowly sinking. Foot Island. The Tropicana Bar. Even Auckland’s hottie factory The Lula Inn, where I have returned to my favourite booth to do my favourite thing – date a bunch of young, attractive … Read more