Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored segment where we peruse the extensive Lightbox catalogue for shows you might like to watch. This time, we round up the sizzling new content coming this February. LIVE ON LIGHTBOX NOW Pushing Daisies (S1-2) Pushing Daises knew about everything cute before it was cute. Bushy eyebrows. Zooey Deschanel dresses. … Read more
The ’00s are rightly remembered as a golden age for the hour-long teen-centric drama, thanks to The OC and Gilmore Girls. But Duncan Greive says Veronica Mars is the very best. The kids of Neptune High dress like absolute idiots. Platinum blonde hair feathered at every extremity, tartan bootcut pants, all the earth tones on Earth … Read more
Tara Ward watches the new promo video for TV3’s new 7pm show The Project, and is overwhelmed with pumpkins, backflips and Jesse Mulligan’s cha-cha. Some might say that a song and dance routine has no place in the serious world of current affairs. To them, I kick-ball-change and pirouette in their face, for the promo … Read more
Duncan Greive finds some sweet reprieve in the shambles of The Crowd Goes Wild, the only seven o’clock show New Zealand can count on right now. In these times of dread and chaos it’s hard to know what induces more anxiety: being away from a constant supply of breathless reporting, or mainlining it ceaselessly. On … Read more
Peter Capaldi, the 13th person to play The Doctor in the BBC’s Doctor Who, has announced 2017 is his last year as a Time Lord. José Barbosa assesses Capaldi’s tenure in the role and offers some pleas for the next incarnation. “Everything ends and it’s always sad. But everything begins again and that’s always happy. Be … Read more
Ahead of David Attenborough’s New Zealand live shows, Anthony Gardiner pens a heartfelt letter to the man in blue who made bat poo cool. Dear David, I can’t remember the first time you came into my life. For someone who means so much to us all, it is strange to not be able to recall … Read more
People keep saying The Path is a TV show about Scientology. Hayden Donnell sets out to demolish these false prophets and their suppressive allegations. Last weekend I snuck into Scientology’s new headquarters in Auckland. During my two hours inside, I was infused with new depths of knowledge about the perils of psychiatry, the drugs enslaving us … Read more
Before the return of Suits to Lightbox tonight, Tara Ward spends a day embodying the spirit of the slick, emotionally unavailable lawyer Harvey Specter. Harvey Specter from Suits is a living legend. Despite putting up more emotional walls than a mansion of Bachelor rejects, his shirts are always well pressed, he has beautiful hair, and he … Read more
Dominic Corry sits down in LA with late night host Samantha Bee and producer Jo Miller from Full Frontal With Samantha Bee to talk Trump, The Shire and why New Zealand kicks ass. Since launching less than a year ago, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee has carved itself out a prominent place among an especially crowded … Read more
Calum Henderson spent season one of 800 Words helping main character George Turner turn his shambolic column excerpts into finished newspaper copy. In season two, Turner has lost his writing job – and the show is better for it. George Turner made it as far as the second series of 800 Words before someone at … Read more
Sick of seeing women portrayed as squeaky clean and virtuous, Jaya Beach-Robertson created PSUSY to prove they can be anything but. Liam Maguren sat down with her to talk through the ups and downs of creating a worldly web series. If you haven’t come across the New Zealand web series PSUSY yet, I’m not sure how … Read more
Ahead of David Attenborough’s New Zealand live show, superfan Anthony Gardiner assembles the great naturalist’s greatest television moments. Ahh David Attenborough <heart eyes>. More so than any other human on Planet Earth, Sir D.A has inspired generations of us to love nature. The modern environmental movement is said to have started in the ’60s. How … Read more
The original MacGyver is a stone-cold classic, with a likeably earnest hero and a lot of heart. The reboot, which began last night on Prime? Not so much. José Barbosa explains. MacGyver airs 7.30pm Thursdays on Prime This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the … Read more
New Zealand woke up to the presence of a huge new internet celebrity this week thanks to the controversy around Jimi Jackson’s ‘blackface’ imagery. But a gross reply to a woman who commented on the image suggests his attitude to women is disastrous too, says Alex Casey. Who would have thought it would only be … Read more
Tara Ward stares into Leanne’s crystal ball and makes her predictions for the coming year in Ferndale. Like a drug resistant virus that refuses to be eradicated, Shortland Street made a triumphant return to our screens last night. The show kicked off its 25th year by presenting us with a gaping wound of human suffering and … Read more
New Zealand television icon Thingee made a shock TV comeback during the cricket on Sunday. Hayden Donnell spoke to our most famous expat extraterrestrial about whether this could pave the way for a reunion with his old friend Jason Gunn. People tuning into the cricket on Sunday would’ve expected to be rewarded with some slow, … Read more
Editor’s note, January 20 2017: This post has been removed at the author’s request. Emily writes about the original post, the response, and her decision to take it down here. Thank you Lana for this post, I hope it’s shared widely. I apologise sincerely for my ignorance and racism https://t.co/ffTwP1PuLF — Emily Writes (@DearMama_) January … Read more
Amelia Langford examines her fascination with Hoarders, and picks some of her favourite moments from the gut-wrenching reality show. I’ve never met a ‘freegan’ but my friend Harriet used to live with one. She said it became difficult to throw anything away – permanently at least. “I once threw out my shampoo bottle, which … Read more
Henry Oliver watches the award-winning series Mozart in the Jungle, one of the lighter offerings from an era of often-traumatic Peak TV. Things are getting dark in this Golden Age of Television. ‘Drama’ is now a synonym for existential dread, bloody violence and sexual assault. ‘Comedy’ is now a synonym for existential dread, relationship problems … Read more
Calum Henderson review Maigret, the two-part detective drama featuring the man in the Mini as you’ve never seen before. Mr. Bean is back, baby … only this time he’s a pipe-smoking police detective in 1950s Paris. It’s not quite “Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher” levels of outrageousness, but Rowan Atkinson is still a bit of … Read more
Pete Douglas tries to stage an intervention for poor old Daddy Pig, the bumbling patriarch of the ever popular kids show Peppa Pig. Before we had our first son four years ago I was blissfully unaware of the existence of Peppa Pig, much less the intricacies of the show’s plot and character development. This seems … Read more
Will The Project usurp Hosking? Will Shortland Street bring back Lionel? Will Dominic Bowden take his place in The Bachelor circle of life? We look bravely to the year ahead and pluck out the most promising bits of local television programming. Survivor New Zealand It feels like 1000 years have passed since Lana Coc-Kroft had a deadly … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored segment where we peruse the extensive Lightbox catalogue for shows you might like to watch. This week, Alice Webb-Liddall creates a vision board of shows to help you become the best can be in 2017. Swamp People There’s nothing like a bit of tragic reality television to make you … Read more
Alex Casey and Madeleine Chapman live blog the highs and lows of the 2017 Golden Globe awards, for all of you poor folk stuck in the office pretending to work. This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do us and … Read more
New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-ethnic and -cultural society it’s growing into. But while Māori and Pacific representation has improved since the ’80s, our exploding Asian population remains near-invisible. Sonia Gray tries to find out why. Originally published May 17, 2016 Lately, I’ve been looking at the people around me and looking at … Read more
Brave scientist and television enthusiast Lucy Zee attempts to solve one of the last remaining mysteries of modern times: at what moment does Elliot in Mr Robot become irresistibly attractive? Originally posted September 22, 2016 There’s no doubt that Mr Robot is one of the most engrossing, trippiest shows of 2016. But apart from the intriguing storyline, … Read more
When Duncan Greive reviewed Filthy Rich earlier this year he was overwhelmed with messages from a depressed New Zealand TV industry. Here he summarises what they had to say. Part of an ongoing series assessing our publicly funded television. Read part two, comparing TVNZ with the BBC, here. Originally published February 29, 2016 A couple of weeks … Read more
Sam Heughan is farmer, fugitive and all round Scottish spunkrat Jamie Fraser in fantasy-drama Outlander, the second season of which arrived exclusively to Lightbox on April 10 this year. Longtime fan Tara Ward swallowed her nerves and spoke with Sam ahead of the premiere (please note, contains spoilers from season one). Originally posted March 24, 2016 Last … Read more
A Black woman living in New Zealand talks about this year’s infamous episode of Real Housewives, and why it’s indicative of a broader racist culture in New Zealand we still refuse to acknowledge. Originally posted September 23, 2016 This week’s episode of Real Housewives has left many people shocked. They cannot believe that there are … Read more