Funny slapstick comedy about a wild dog trying to eat a bird or a treatise on the meaningless of all human pursuits? Sam Brooks watches some Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Straight up: I had never seen a single second of Looney Tunes until this week. I was the kind of child who watched Absolutely Fabulous and … Read more
Because what your Friday night really needs is Duncan Greive getting beaten up in a cow costume. Let’s face it: it’s been a hard week. Judith Collins has tweeted fake news, landlords want to rifle through your bank statements and Clarke Gayford’s beard isn’t going anywhere. Why not unwind at 10.45pm on Three with a … Read more
Nearly 30 years ago The Animals of Farthing Wood debuted – and promptly traumatised a generation of children with its cavalcade of animal slaughter. Picture it: an idyllic wood, teeming with all sorts of delightful creatures big and small, feathered and furred. Thick with green leaf and underbrush. Perhaps there’s the sound of a gentle … Read more
As we reeled from last week’s messy memories of the disastrous shit river in Chlo and Em’s house, a new Block NZ poonami threatened to wash us all away in a wave of shock and scandal. Inflate your water wings, this one’s a doozy. Amy and Stu nearly pulled off the perfect crime this week, by … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. In this Very Special Episode of The Real Pod, we’re joined by Survivor NZ legend JT Muirhead to look back at what was a flaming hot second season. How bad were the tribal toilets? What … Read more
A ’70s housewife, an exhausted mother, and a law student moonlighting as a call girl: these are just a few of the people coming to Lightbox in August. Better Call Saul (S4 starts August 7, Express) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYl0Bio5E-E The mostly-prequel sometimes-sequel series to Breaking Bad could very easily have been more of the same. There was a … 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
Welcome to week four of The Block NZ, where the raw salad of life was chopped up and laid out before our very eyes. Our teams left Hobsonville Point on a one-way ticket to Struggletown, warping into frazzled reno zombies who were one misplaced skylight away from painting their spirit animal onto a piece of … 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 very normal episode of The Real Pod begins with Duncan in the toilet and ends with him being stood on by Alex while Jane shouts loudly. Inspired by the hypnotist from The Block NZ‘s Dinner … Read more
Can you sum up five seasons of the bed-hopping, flatmate-loving sitcom New Girl in one minute? Madeleine Chapman thinks she can. Watch five seasons of New Girl on Lightbox right here and right now: This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do … Read more
Alex Casey attempts to get to the bottom of the Naked Attraction controversy for The Spinoff TV. Every Friday night, a new set of brave, naked tributes line-up for examination on TVNZ’s surreal dating show Naked Attraction. It’s a series that’s made a lot of people mad, raking in over 500 complaints to the network … Read more
We made it to the end of Survivor NZ! As always in real life, a Christchurch librarian emerges victorious. Luke Harries recaps. It’s been one hell of a journey, and it has all boiled down to this week’s live finale, where Christchurch-based librarian and Survivor superfan Lisa Stanger was named the winner and sole survivor of … Read more
The hugely popular British show about people watching telly is finally getting a New Zealand version. And Calum Henderson, for one, can’t wait. Good news: TV’s not dead. There are still people out there who regularly sit down, in their living rooms, and just… watch it, sometimes for hours at a time. Now, some of … Read more
Let’s take our seat at the trestle table of broken dreams, as we devour this week’s serving of The Block NZ power rankings. Blow me down with a power heater, because this week’s Dinner Wars was the most compelling television we’ve seen since a man wearing a silver wig tried to work out what famous cricketer-turned-television presenter … 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, we are feasting upon the crucial final days of Survivor NZ alongside an assortment of snacks from The Food Show. Duncan and Jane recap the happenings on The Block … 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
There’s one more week to go on Survivor NZ, let’s get back in the drink. This season of Survivor NZ is keeping us on the edge of our seat right to the bloody end. This week we found out which three survivors would make it to the final tribal council, and face the jury of … Read more
Ahoy there mateys and welcome back to The Block NZ, where tempers flared like an over-primed diesel heater and emotions flowed down the broken downpipe of hopes and dreams. Tara Ward recaps. Week two gave us drama aplenty as we witnessed teams fight like feral cats, Mark Richardson wave his umbrella around willy-nilly, and The … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. On this week’s Real Pod, the dream team are back together after a mad week and there is much to discuss from telly land. Heartbreak Island has come to an extremely poetic end, Survivor NZ … Read more
Season eight of Suits starts dropping on Lightbox tomorrow – and Katherine Heigl is coming along with it. Sam Brooks details where the former TV princess has been up to since her heyday. Katherine Heigl has had a strange career, you guys. First up, she had Roswell. You know, that show about aliens starring the guy with … Read more
We’re halfway through the school holidays and you’re probably running out of things to do with the kids. Never fear – Tara Ward to the rescue, with the ideal time-filling shows on Lightbox. Welcome to the school holidays, the magical period when whānau bask in the glow of two weeks of quality time with their … Read more
Based on one of the most notorious murder cases in New Zealand history, Mistress, Mercy finds itself hamstrung by the limits of the doco-drama genre. In 1989, Renee Chignell and Neville Walker were convicted of the murder of Peter Plumley-Walker. Police alleged they had thrown him into the Huka Falls after a bondage session with Chignell, … Read more
Only five survivors are left battling it out for the money and glory, and honestly, it could be anyone’s game at this point. Could our winner be pharma-hunk Dave, who in immunity challenges is always the runner up, never the bride? Or maybe Tara, who no one in the jury is particularly angry at for … Read more
We’ve come to the end of the dystopian conservative marathon that is the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale – and oh my god what have you done, June! Tara Ward recaps. For the love of all things red and capey, why did you not get in the truck? It was the last few minutes … Read more
Absolutely Fabulous is one of the best comedies of all time, no question. Sam Brooks explains why. The first television show I remember falling in love with was Absolutely Fabulous. I was four. Now, I can’t remember why exactly I was allowed to watch Absolutely Fabulous, a show where the two lead characters spend more time high than drunk … Read more
The Block NZ is back, and it’s time to rejoice like we just won a Bosch kitchen upgrade that includes both a griddle and a hand blender. Tara Ward power ranks. Somewhere in the pristine new suburb of Hobsonville Point lies four new couples on four new mattresses inside four new townhouses, which are as empty … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. On this week’s Real Pod, Alex is exiled to snowy South Island (like foot island, but lower), leaving Jane and Duncan to struggle on as a duo. Jane’s already daunting task of hosting without Alex … Read more
Harlots returns to Lightbox tomorrow with a second season full of intrigue, feminism and corset-ripping good times. The show is full of famous faces, but where have you seen them before? Samantha Morton Who is she playing? Margaret Wells! She runs a brothel in 18th century Britain, and her brutal upbringing working in Lydia Quigley’s brothel … Read more