Wellington Paranormal, the TV spinoff of Taika Waititi’s hit movie comedy What We Do In The Shadows, debuts on TVNZ tonight. So what’s it like? There’s a bit in last week’s episode of Police Ten 7 where Officers Kevin and Bevan (I know) go looking for a rough sleeper who’s skipped a court date and now … Read more
One of this year’s must-see moments of NZ television aired at 10am on a quiet Sunday morning and almost everybody missed it. It’s not often that New Zealand television presents debate as you’d imagine it: critical, emotional, and at risk of derailing at any moment. The last election debates between party leaders, though pitched as … Read more
Westside is back for a fourth season tonight on Three. Sam Brooks visited the set and came back with thoughts on how the show mythologises our country’s recent history. If there’s one thing I know for sure about the 80s, it’s that there was a lot of smoke. Correction: If there’s one thing I know about Westside, … Read more
The final tribal council is inching closer and closer with just a few weeks left in the game, and the twists, turns and blindsides just keep on coming. This week we watched as our remaining castaways embraced capitalism, smashed some perfectly good crockery, and betrayed longtime alliances. There’s drama up the wazoo, so let’s get … Read more
Tonight, four enthusiastic New Zealand couples begin their journey along the giblined highway to renovation glory. Tara Ward on what to look forward to in this season of The Block NZ. That’s right, our favourite reality show The Block NZ is back to suck us into its murky depths, and I’m more excited than Ling and Zing … Read more
Is it a real estate ad if you see more of the Dancing with the Stars judges than you see of the house? Our DWTSNZ power-ranker Sam Brooks investigates. I remember the old days, when people used to look at pictures of houses in the newspaper and then go along to open homes and hope the house … Read more
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not knowing what beautiful nightmares await us in next week’s season finale. Tara Ward recaps the penultimate episode of the second season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Time flies while you’re having fun in the apocalypse, and several weeks have passed since we left June bleeding on the … Read more
Alex Casey goes for a stroll on the foot-shaped sands of Heartbreak Island, week four. Every relationship hits that point. You know the one. The golden playback dial gets put in the attic, if you know what I’m saying. You move from Foot Island to Dolphin Island, if you know what I’m saying. Mark Dye … Read more
Jam and Jerusalem. Bells and Smells. Tea and Cakes. Murder and Intrigue. Four of the classic double acts. And they all come together in the delightful investigation series Father Brown, five glorious seasons of which are available for your leisurely winter viewing on Lightbox. As any Catholic lapsed or otherwise will tell you, the greatest … 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, the old gang is back together with your regular scheduled programming of reality madness. We look back at the whopper finale of Dancing With the Stars NZ, which crowned Sam Hayes … Read more
Alex Casey, Sam Brooks and Madeleine Chapman round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including the return of TV juggernauts Suits and UnREAL. Harlots S2 (Express from July 12) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmUP1idcOhU If you missed out on the first season of this, what are you doing? Two of England’s best actresses – Dame Lesley Manville (not actually a … Read more
The season is over but there’s one more power ranking left to do. Who won the season – really? And who truly, truly lost the season? And who the hell is in between? Sam Brooks power ranks Dancing with the Stars one last time. 12. Robert Rakete Poor Robert Rakete. Coming into this competition, you’d think … Read more
It’s the final dance off, fully voted on by the public – and here are your final power rankings. Dancing with the Stars, it is over. ABSOLUTELY NOT: Dai Henwood – Contemporary Interpretative It’s not a super successful parody dance if that dance is better performed than one of your contestants performed just the previous … Read more
We’re into the 11th week of Survivor NZ, and this game is only getting crazier. Luke Harries recaps all the action, including a new immunity idol, a chocolate feast, and non-blindside strategies. Things got tense at last week’s tribal council, and after putting up a good fight, we said goodbye to Renee. The drama didn’t stop … Read more
Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson’s hit podcast The Male Gayz is now a thing you can look at with your eyeballs, thanks to TVNZ on Demand. Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson are two of the country’s most prolific and well-known young comedians. They’re both writers for Jono and Ben and Funny Girls, as well as occasional performers on both … Read more
A birth, an Oprah, a Serena, a Moira, a denial, a denial, a denial. Tara Ward recaps episode 11 of The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2. This I (do not) know is true, but I do know Oprah was the welcome voice of the resistance in this week’s intense episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. June listened to … Read more
Alex Casey goes for a stroll on the foot-shaped sands of Heartbreak Island, week three. I truly couldn’t have put it any better than Josh himself, when he looked down the barrel of the camera and sincerely announced that “Lord of the Flies is kicking off.” Except, this time, the infamous conch is a tumbler … Read more
Lightbox Movies has a huge selection of movies to choose from, but film geek Sam Brooks is most excited about the obscure, hard-to-find and objectively best ones. A Fantastic Woman Obviously, the first thing a film nerd should catch up on, if they haven’t seen it already, is the latest winner of the Academy Award for … Read more
You might not know that Dancing with the Stars NZ is actually filmed in front of a live studio audience. This week Miriam Moore was a member of that audience, and this is her story. Not since the days of Legends of the Hidden Temple have I longed to be a live audience member as much … Read more
Even before it aired, Heartbreak Island had attracted an excess of controversy. Duncan Greive says the show is much better and stranger than its detractors would have you believe. Has there ever been a show as doomed as Heartbreak Island? The name is manifestly a jack of ITV’s smash hit Love Island, only inverted so … Read more
The Real Pod assembles with a very special guest to dissect the madness that was Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, are blessed to be in the presence of reality superstar Tracey Jewel – author, rapper, Lord of the Rings enthusiast and Married at First Sight Australia legend. Here … Read more
It’s ’90s week on Dancing with the Stars – approximately the decade when this series started. We’re doing the power rankings again. And they have to dance not once, but twice! There is neither rhyme nor reason to these power rankings, so I will rank by dance, not by contestant. There’s just one more week to … Read more
In the middle of last decade, one man dominated our local music television. Then he disappeared. Elle Hunt tracks down Joel Defries, and talks to him about life as a Kiwi TV star, and what he’s been doing since. Joel Defries was once a household name. Well: in some households, between 4pm and 7pm weekdays, … Read more
It’s week ten of Survivor NZ and things just got weirdly Jurassic. Last week on Survivor NZ we saw Matt make undoubtedly the biggest move of the season, blindsiding Brad who left the game with a hidden immunity idol still in his pocket. Brad’s exit has completely shaken up the game, leaving a huge power vacuum in … Read more
We’re rocketing towards the ending of season two of The Handmaid’s Tale, and Gilead is not letting up one bit. Tara Ward recaps episode 10. Let myself introduce myself: this is me after I watched this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. I am ruined. I am a bleeding carcass of emotion, stripped of everything that … Read more
Alex Casey goes for a stroll on the foot-shaped sands of Heartbreak Island, week two. The passion play plus can now take place. The passion play plus can now take place. The passion play plus can now take place. Now that I have summoned the tanned ghost of Mark Dye and we’ve done our drama … 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’ve infiltrated the Radio Live studio to deliver you yet another week of reality TV recappery. Dancing With the Stars NZ is getting down to the wire with group … Read more
On Lightbox Premium, you can download Lightbox content to your mobile device. We asked our colleagues for their picks to watch on your next commute – no matter the length. Your commute can be the worst part of your day; there’s nothing to do on it except waste time. But what if you could catch … Read more
Week after week on Dancing with the Stars, the ACT leader has cheated eviction at the hands of the judges thanks to massive support from viewers, to the extent that he’s comfortably received more text votes than he did in the election last year. Anecdotally, much of his support is coming from young people. But why? … Read more