It’s week three on Married at First Sight NZ, and it’s going downhill faster than Ksenia in a minivan. What a tremendous week on the greatest show on Earth. We got our first visit back to the big old brick commitment ceremony heaven in the sky, we got a lot of seaside drama, and we … Read more
Complete with hard tops and soggy bottoms, The Great Kiwi Bake Off premiered on TVNZ2 tonight. Tara Ward has the power rankings. Inside the grounds of a Mediterranean palace fit for Queen Mary Berry lies a pond with a turtle. Next to that turtle is a building disguised as a tent. Inside that tent is … Read more
The second season of Married at First Sight NZ looks to walk queer representation down the aisle of mainstream New Zealand TV. Dejan Jotanovic writes about a significant misstep the series made this week. In episide seven of season two of MAFSNZ, Sam (the influencer) and Tayler (the not-influencer) have their first major bout of on-screen … Read more
It’s been a beloved cultural phenemenon for a few years now, but the Bake-Off finally makes it way to our shores. Hosted by Hayley Sproull and Madeleine Sami, Sam Brooks interviews the pair spearheading the Great Kiwi Bake-Off ahead of its premiere tonight. Straight up: I haven’t watched an episode of the Great British Bake-Off. It sounds like the most … Read more
Today at midday the first two episodes of Get It to Te Papa, a Lightbox Original made by The Spinoff, are released. But first, journalist and presenter Hayden Donnell has a few words for the infamous subject of episode one. STOP PRESS: All 6 episodes of Get It to Te Papa are streaming here, now! … Read more
In the third episode of Project Runway New Zealand, the designers had to make a two-piece look out of scrapped technology. Henry Oliver ranks the results. Project Runway is back, baby! After complaining last week about the lack of quips, the lack of drama, the lack of, y’know, interesting clothes, the good ship fashion began … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. With Duncan holidaying in Fiji, we’re joined once again by noted celebrity influencer JT Muirhead to dissect the week in reality television and real news. And what a week it’s been, with the badger botching … Read more
Alex Casey spends an afternoon with Astar, morning television superstar turned Youtube extraordinaire. Astar is digging through her garden bin with a Scream mask in one hand and a vape wedged under her arm. She emerges, coiffed hair and red lipstick still perfect, clutching a bunch of old twigs. “Halloween,” she explains, holding the foliage … Read more
We’ve lost our Sunshine, our Cassie, and a lot of other girls whose names we can’t remember, but we’ve made it to our top three. Miriam Moore recaps the final episode of this season’s The Bachelor Australia. We begin with Nick doing parkour on an oversized Australian tree, proving it’s not just girls, but also … Read more
It’s week two on Married at First Sight NZ, and several of our couples have lost their rose-tinted glasses already. Green up those boogie board bags, pack your versatile sarongs and make sure you say hi to Cat from The Bachelor Australia: we’re off to bloody Bali this week! With the final weddings taking place … Read more
Alias is mostly remembered as the show that launched Jennifer Garner’s career. But it deserves more kudos for being a genuinely groundbreaking show, writes Sam Brooks. “My name is Sydney. Seven years ago I was recruited by a secret branch of the CIA called SD-6. I was sworn to secrecy, but I couldn’t keep it … Read more
It’s the second episode of Project Runway New Zealand, in which the designers have to make a streetwear look inspired by … Sylvia Park? Henry Oliver ranks the results. In the words of guest judge James Dobson (Jimmy D), can I be really honest… this was a shitshow. The streetwear challenge should have been a gimme for … Read more
Doctor Who is back, baby, with Jodie Whittaker in the title role as the highly anticipated first ever female Doctor. Uther Dean talked to her about the beloved show’s history, and the weight of expectations. In November, Doctor Who turns 55. Before that, the 11th season of the modern revival – and the 37th in … Read more
The Block NZ season seven champs Amy and Stu meet The Spinoff nursing hangovers, but carrying a big cheque. They’ve had just two hours sleep since they took home a huge cheque, but Amy and Stu are glowing. The pair seemed preordained to win the season, reeling off a string of ridiculous scores, culminating in … Read more
It’s our hour-long finale with live music, numerous guests and hot, hot curry. What could possibly go wrong? We’ve arrived at the grand finale of The Spinoff TV! If the last 15 weeks have been a roller coaster, tonight’s episode is the big twisty corkscrew part where all the money falls out of your pocket … Read more
Get It to Te Papa follows journalist Hayden Donnell on an ambitious quest to collect underappreciated Kiwi cultural artefacts and get them into New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa. Together with his director José Barbosa, Hayden scours the country for artefacts including the Waitangi Dildo, the animatronic fruit and vegetables from defunct supermarket chain Big … Read more
Two years ago, The Spinoff founder Duncan Greive commanded Hayden Donnell to stop pitching things that should be in Te Papa. Today we announce our new show, Get It to Te Papa, starring Hayden Donnell. Here he tells the story of its genesis. GET A FREE LIGHTBOX TRIAL AND WATCH GET IT TO TE PAPA HERE … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, Jane remains in the city of angels so Alex and Duncan are joined by honorary corndog and Survivor NZ superstar JT. Together, they mow through a huge week in … Read more
The show Renters is a morality play about the sufferings inflicted on landlords by their terrible tenants. Hayden Donnell talks to one of the show’s stars ahead of its seventh season, and tries to convince her to support pro-tenant rental reform. It’s impossible to dislike Pru Morrell. The star of TVNZ’s reality series Renters is … Read more
The somewhat inexplicable 14th (!) season of Criminal Minds starts tonight on TVNZ. To celebrate, super-fan Jean Sergent reveals the cult classic series hidden within the long-running procedural. Three years ago I was in London doing a pretty great acting fellowship, but somehow I still found time to watch Criminal Minds on my laptop, which I perched … Read more
There are hearts on sleeves and mullets on heads as week seven of the Bachelor Australia brutally halves six sheilas down to three. Miriam Moore recaps. The very last group date sees a ’50s-clad Nick take the squad of six bowling. Sophie can’t stop looking at his muscles, whereas I can’t stop looking at his … Read more
A bee-based riff on The Hunger Games, a remake of your favourite problematic 80s film, and The Spinoff’s very own new doco-series. This is what’s new to Lightbox in October! Get It to Te Papa (weekly from October 16) “Get It to Te Papa began in great and abiding failure,” says Hayden Donnell, host of The Spinoff’s … Read more
Alex Casey walks back down the aisle for a second season of Married at First Sight NZ. Dust off your matchmaker iPads, rouse the digital birds and get that Sodastream making effervescent farts: Married at First Sight NZ is back for another romantic rollercoaster of a season. Look, I tried to predict what season two … Read more
It’s school holiday time again, and to help us survive the next two weeks of quality time with the fruits of our loins, we must turn to everything that is right and fair about the world: the television. It’s the friend we’ve always needed, in good times and in bad, in sunshine and in rain. … Read more
Welcome to the very first episode of Project Runway New Zealand, in which the designers had to make a cocktail dress inspired by a soft drink so inspiring nearly everyone used white. Henry Oliver ranks the results. Watching the first episode of a competition-based reality show always feels a little sadistic. Who is going home … Read more
Duncan Greive watches The Block’s final nail and asks what this strange show tells us about New Zealand in 2018. 1) Auckland property is definitively chilling the hell out It was never intended to be a quasi-documentary about the other side of the housing crisis (the side where people made heaps of money flipping homes), … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Jane returns to save Alex and Duncan’s souls in this very special episode of The Real Pod, convened to celebrate and commentate the return of Married at First Sight NZ to our screens. The team … Read more
“All the teams want is a happy ending,” Mark Richardson announced, as he welcomed us to The Block NZ 2018 live auction. Speak for yourself, Mark Richardson. Tara Ward recaps. I’ve watched over 54 hours of The Block NZ to get to this point. It’s auction night: I want drama, I want tears, I want The Wolf … Read more
Who can bake good, and who will be baking bad? Our first look at the #GKBO contestants offers some valuable clues. Calum Hendersons ranks them. Good news everybody: life is finally about to get better. Go outside and you can feel it in the air, an unfamiliar sense of hope. Everything is going to be … Read more