British miniseries galore, Joanna Lumley travelogues, plucky teens putting on a musical about 19th Germany – May on Lightbox has got it all. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey run down what’s coming to Lightbox this month. Love, Nina (May 2) Who doesn’t love a delicious Nick Hornby adaptation to soothe the weary soul? Based on 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. This week on The Real Pod, we are on a high after an extremely strong two episodes of Dancing With the Stars NZ. Which star is basically The Real Pod come to life? Which star … Read more
Light up your bleak office life with our cut-out-and-circulate Dancing with the Stars NZ Sweepstake kit. Please feel free to repurpose as bingo or a drinking game or whatever. To print, click here for PDF. Brought to you by Toby Morris, Tina Tiller, Mad Chapman & Alex Casey This content, like all television coverage … Read more
Alice Snedden’s Bad News is a new TVNZ OnDemand show in which Alice Snedden investigates the issues she’s interested in – and makes it all about herself. Sam Brooks talks to her. Alice Snedden is a special comedian. I remember the first time I saw her perform, in the 2016 RAW Comedy Quest; she came onto … Read more
We’re two nights into the dance off, and now we’ve seen all the acts. So with a lot of trash talk, but absolutely no back-walking or mascots, we’re going to do a power ranking. Dance off. These are the power rankings for the first week of highly anticipated not-dropping-dancer-celebrity show, Dancing with the Stars NZ. In … Read more
It’s week two of Survivor NZ and Luke Harries is jumping back in the drink to see what our Kiwi castaways got up to in the Thai jungle. Cracks start to show in Khang Khaw Viewers got an extra special treat during the first reward challenge as Matt climbed out of the drink to reveal … Read more
They challenge you to a dance-off. No trash talk, no back walk. Dance off. These are the power rankings for the first episode of highly anticipated celebrity-moving show, Dancing with the Stars NZ. From its first moments, it was clear Dancing with the Stars NZ came here to play. They knew they had stars, they knew … Read more
Alex Casey reviews the return of The Handmaid’s Tale, available exclusively on Lightbox with new episodes every Thursday. Sweaty palm on heaving heart, there is simply no other television show that elicits such a violent, physical reaction in me like The Handmaid’s Tale. You should know the story by now, because it’s one that may … Read more
As revealed on The Real Pod this week, cats Brian and Christine Rice-Green are having a second chance at living with New Zealand TV royalty. In a shock twist straight out of any M. Night Shyamalan thriller, The Spinoff has learned that the feline friends of Matilda Rice and Art Green are not who they … 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 dive into the still Thailand lake of Survivor NZ season two. Alex brings all the exciting gossip from the premiere event at TVNZ, and we get to … Read more
Long-lost siblings? A high-stakes and seemingly pointless quest? A fake death? Sounds like a good time. Sam Brooks celebrates the forgotten Kiwi drama Seekers. Before Filthy Rich was even a glimmer in Gavin Strawhan’s eye, Seekers brought the unpredictable and improbable drama to New Zealand primetime television. Straight off the bat, Seekers is an extremely weird high-concept premise for … Read more
With The Handmaid’s Tale season two arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Thursday, Alex Casey assembles a handy list of ways you can bide your time. I wish I could tell you everything about The Handmaid’s Tale season two, I really do. I wish I could tell you why I was silently wincing at my office … Read more
It’s the OG, the king, the grandaddy, and it’s back – New Zealand-style. Luke Harries recaps the first episode of season two of Survivor NZ. The first of anything is never that good. It’s like when you make pancakes and the first one is really burnt because the pan was way too hot. You eat it … Read more
All seven seasons of Prime Suspect drop on Lightbox today, and Sam Brooks is here to tell you why its central character Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is one of television’s most significant characters – ever. Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison doesn’t show up until five minutes into the first episode of Prime Suspect, which came out way back … Read more
Alex Casey looks back at two glorious weeks of Anika Moa guest hosting on Seven Sharp alongside Hilary Barry. It began with Anika Moa sitting in Jeremy Wells’ chair, proclaiming live on air that she was so nervous she felt like vomiting and reaching over to touch Hilary Barry to make sure she was real. … Read more
Alex Casey watches the charming, awkward return of First Dates NZ, including a famous radio host and a Lannister situation for the ages. First Dates NZ feels like home, and not just because the greatest night of my life (X Factor NZ launch party where I was photographed with ½ of Brendon Thomas and the … Read more
In his special guest appearance on The Real Pod, with special thanks to Nando’s, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ covered everything from the secret tapes to what happened to his wedding ring. In his debut appearance on The Real Pod, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ discussed the hidden camera … Read more
There’s a whole heap of brilliant kids television on Lightbox. But where to start? Anna Gowan runs down the best shows to watch with your kids these school holidays. Paw Patrol (Seasons 1-3) Parents, teachers and nannies will weep tears of gratitude as Ryder and the gang return to protect the shoreside community of Adventure … Read more
With all 12 Dancing with the Stars NZ contestants now announced, Sam Brooks already knows who is going to win based on their promo videos alone. These are his absolutely correct predictions. They’re all out now. I’ve watched them all at least 20 times each, especially the first one, and my hard drive is stuffed … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Nic Marshall, director of the Jim Henson Retrospectacle, about her decade-long mission to bring The Muppets down under. If you thought it wasn’t easy being green, you should try organising a single festival for over 10 years like Nic Marshall, director of the Jim Henson Retrospectacle. A celebration of the Muppet … Read more
It only took a week for the Anika-era of Seven Sharp to get its first true fiery moment, writes Alex Casey. Tonight on Seven Sharp Anika Moa proved that, if you take a swing at her, you best not miss. Following negative audience feedback regarding her prominent, glorious tattoos, Moa – aided by her co-host … Read more
Buck House was an edgy sitcom from the 70s that manages to still be edgy and different now, though not for the right reasons. Sam Brooks muses upon the distinct pleasures of Buck House. When I think of the 70s, I think of Yakety Sax, Mary Tyler Moore and a show where a guy had to pretend … Read more
The new show by Ryan Murphy, Feud: Bette and Joan, hits Lightbox next week. Sam Brooks runs down which great current-day actor is playing which star of Hollywood’s golden age, and where to check out their best work. For a self-identified actressexual like myself, Feud: Bette and Joan is a goldmine. The miniseries follows the making of … Read more
This week, TVNZ announced our very own local version of The Great British Bake Off, The Great Kiwi Bake Off. Tara Ward comes in hot with her predictions of what it could possibly be like. Unless you’ve been hiding under a croquembouche helmet for the past few years, you’ll know that The Great British Bake Off is … Read more
After seven seasons, the characters of Modern Family have gotten themselves into some wild, wacky and straight-up weird situations. Sam Brooks collects the best of them. Modern Family is one of the most successful sitcoms of the current generation of TV. It’s won boatloads of awards, always gets great ratings and has never had a drop … 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 inundated with hard-hitting real news from around New Zealand. There’s a slide in Dunedin that doesn’t slide, Anika Moa hitting the hot seat on Seven Sharp … Read more
An ex-Bachelorette has opened up about her experience on The Bachelor NZ, claiming that producers monitored her weight and banned her from eating dessert. Ally Thompson of The Bachelor NZ season three and The Bachelor Winter Games has written about the pressures of appearing on the romance reality show and the impact that it had … Read more
A spy thriller by the woman who wrote Fleabag starring the woman who made you cry as Cristina Yang. Why wouldn’t you want to watch that? Sam Brooks reviews. There’s a moment about ten minutes into Killing Eve where Eve (Sandra Oh) and her boss Bill (David Haig) are legitimately, honest-to-God hungover and slogging it through work anyway. It’s … Read more
Alex Casey reads through the complaints against Naked Attraction, the very rude show that aired on TVNZ last year. Everybody knows that absolutely nobody has genitals. In fact, nobody has ever been naked. Before birth we are prepped with an in-utero uniform of jorts and a high vis vest, gifted to every growing foetus from … Read more