Friday night’s alright for… laughing? Duncan Greive seeks comfort in TV3’s reliable and formidable week-ending comedy schedule. For a long time, One’s Sunday night line-up was the most reliable and on-brand night in New Zealand television. You had your news, your magazine-style current affairs and your prestige drama. Everything you needed to feel like an … Read more
Dominic Corry spoke to Toby Stephens about the new season of Michael Bay’s Black Sails. Warning: Contains major spoilers from seasons 1 and 2. Michael Bay’s epic pirate series Black Sails doesn’t get as much attention as some period action dramas, but it’s been building an increasingly devoted audience with its filmic scale and intense, often … Read more
Inspired by more recent NZ On Air funding controversies, Gareth Shute revisits the 1976 historical epic The Governor, and argues why it remains our finest example of a funding furore. Julie Christie recently made headlines for complaining in an email to NZ On Air head, Miriam Dean, that her integrity had been questioned by managers at the funding body. … Read more
Today TVNZ announced that Survivor New Zealand will be coming to TV2 this year, with potential applicants encouraged to apply here. But which NZ TV legend will host it? Alex Casey and Calum Henderson see who the cap fits. Matty McLean He’s already proven his chops as a Survivor superfan right here on the bloody … Read more
Welcome to TV Mum, a weekly podcast starring Brendon Green and his Mum, Dianne. Every week Brendon will try and get Dianne to remember the details of a TV show she’s recently watched. The resulting discussion is a journey through Dianne’s shaky memory and never ends up where you’d expect. According to Dianne there’s plenty … Read more
Lindsey Dawson has been binge-watching Mozart in the Jungle. Despite being about fuddy-duddy music, it won two Golden Globes this year. She can understand why. What’s the story? The New York Symphony Orchestra. It sounds grand but this fictional institution is fighting to maintain reputation, cash flow and audience. Enter ageing maestro Thomas, played with … Read more
Aaron Yap watches Fabrice Gobert’s The Returned, a moody French supernatural series where the dead come to life in a quiet alpine town. In Val Lewton’s 1943 film I Walked with a Zombie, there’s a terrific exchange between its protagonists, Betsy (Frances Dee), a nurse travelling to Saint Sebastian, and Paul (Tom Conway), a plantation owner whose wife she’s been … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Victoria’s last-ditch campaign for #redpeak, Jimmy’s new slang and Leanne not giving a blue duck about anything. 1) Leanne gets funky The age-old question “where do we go to get our funk on?” is right up there with “why am I here?” and “what is … Read more
Madeleine Chapman has been renovating houses with her parents for many years, living out the entire premise of Our First Home NZ. So how does the show stack up to the reality? “If boring is what you’re best at, well, you better get out of here right now.” It was a controversial opener from Our First Home’s … Read more
Alex Casey introduces No Activity, the brilliantly funny Australian cop show where nothing ever really happens. What’s the story? Referred to as “the Seinfeld of cop shows” by The Sydney Morning Herald, No Activity plonks itself right down on the dashboard of a cop car during a series of painfully uneventful stakeouts. Watch policemen Hendy and … Read more
Calum Henderson watched the first episodes of Family Feud and was transported back to the glory days of New Zealand reality television. 2015 will go down in history as TV3’s year of reality, when big franchises like The Bachelor and X Factor and The Block formed an imposing fleet of multi-night battleships, destined to sail … Read more
The X Files is known for both its brilliance and dreadful inconsistency, but did the latest episode drop the ball completely? David Farrier laments what has happened to his favourite show. According to my hazy memory of the Bible, at some point God got annoyed at the great teamwork humans were demonstrating as they came … Read more
2016 has lurched into a loping trot and with that comes all new Parliament TV. José Barbosa sits down, watches the first day of debate in the House and tries to find some foothold on sanity. As with all our TV coverage it comes with supplementary papers filed by our sponsors, Lightbox. Try a 30 … Read more
Alex Casey looks at DUKE, TVNZ’s new male-skewed channel, and asks who in history could be responsible for something so old-fashioned. Today TVNZ’s brand new male-skewed channel launched its dramatic branding, stepping into the regal winklepickers of the name DUKE. Good name, sounds like an XXL condom brand or an old-timey cologne. “Why we’ve done … Read more
This week saw the glamorous debut of Filthy Rich, New Zealand’s most expensive television show. But is it merely standing on the shoulder pads of giants? Gloss creator Rosemary McLeod looks back at the 80s Kiwi drama that had a wealth of big hair, high heels and old money. I walked into Sue Crockford’s Auckland art gallery one … Read more
Alex Casey recaps the return episode of Better Call Saul season two on Lightbox, including pinky rings, alcohol heists and poolside pondering. Contains spoilers. Sometimes it feels like Better Call Saul‘s Jimmy McGill is eerily close to me in the months following my graduation from university. We’re both disgusted by the idea of entering the workforce, both … Read more
Welcome to TV Mum, a weekly podcast starring Brendon Green and his Mum, Dianne. Every week Brendon will try and get Dianne to remember the details of a TV show she’s recently watched. The resulting discussion is a journey through Dianne’s shaky memory and never ends up where you’d expect. This week on TV Mum … Read more
Last December it was announced that TV3’s flagship investigative current affairs show 3D was being cancelled, and 13 of the show’s 16 staff were to be made redundant. Former producer Eugene Bingham describes the show’s final months and the emotional aftermath of its cancellation. It was a Monday, the day before the wolf finally lunged. … Read more
Has the slimy old Spinoff found the new Bachelor for 2016? And has he been hiding in plain sight on TV3 the whole time? Alex Casey investigates his online presence to see if the tailored suit fits. This morning The Spinoff received word that Jordan Mauger is the next brave tribute stepping into Art Green’s non-existent shoes for the … Read more
The story of how loser lawyer Jimmy McGill became legal superstar Saul Goodman returns to Lightbox tonight for its second season. Andrew Todd looks at how Better Call Saul avoided the curse of the prequel. Spoilers for Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad follow. Who is the audience for Better Call Saul? Those who haven’t … Read more
Last night TVNZ’s new local drama Filthy Rich started its run with a first episode that featured suicide, money, grubby incest, car crashes, money and disturbing burnt baby dolls. José Barbosa watched the whole thing and live tweeted his immediate responses via scribbled drawings. Here’s the complete collection fresh from his calloused hand. … Read more
Alex Casey over-analyses the first short teaser for The Bachelor NZ. The brand new, sequin-laden teaser promo for The Bachelor NZ dropped on Valentine’s Day harder than Matilda falling off a wild horse called Paris. And, much like the sensually stripped-back song that accompanies the 45 second clip, it’s got me all bloody shook up. … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Harper the hipster, Leanne the Dame-in-waiting and TK with some tinfoil on his head. 1) Victoria shoots her way to the top She bloody well did it. The mystery assassin was all Victoria: the beige foundation, the blue glove, the stinky perfume. Tired … Read more
It’s worth remembering that not everything is rose petals on the floor and rosé in a hotel room. Relationships need work and as the following on screen relationships show, sharing your life with someone can be more like living inside a concrete mixer made of resentment and loathing. Happy Valentine’s Day! Curb Your Enthusiasm – … Read more
Liam Maguren celebrates the heroic journey of local animation studio Mukpuddy to primetime TV, ahead of the premiere of their new cartoon The Barefoot Bandits (Sunday, 6.30pm on TV2). If you ever wanted to see Buzz Lightyear as a chilled-out bro, you find him in the form of Tumeke Space, a galaxy-hopping television hero worshipped … Read more
The “proudly stupid” clip show Fail Army, hosted by Guy Montgomery and Joseph Moore, returns tonight on TV3 at 10pm. Guy Montgomery teases what punters can expect from the much-anticipated second season. The first thing to know is that Fail Army arrives in New Zealand as a finished product. The show arrives mixed and graded, … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox category for shows you might want to watch. This week, we queue up some of the most romantic episodes of television for you to enjoy this Valentine’s Day (no matter what your relationship status is). Warning: contains very sappy spoilers. Outlander – … Read more
Steve Braunias watches the historic moment that Zayn Malik triumphed over his old 1D posse for the number one spot in The Edge TV’s essential Fat 40 countdown. What to make of Zayn’s comeback at the expense of One Direction? The pop charts on our last two remaining music channels all told the same amazing story. … Read more
This year New Zealand television seems to be returning to yonder year of traditional family-oriented game shows such as Family Feud and Mastermind. So what other game shows could we see back on our screens? With the help of NZ On Screen, we revisit some of our old favourites. Hayden Donnell on Tux Wonder Dogs … Read more