Lotto presenter Sonia Gray first found fame as the conniving Aleesha Cook on Shortland Street. She reflects on life as a soap villain ahead of the iconic show’s return to our screens this week. As New Zealand prepares itself for the fallout from Ferndale’s first brush with homegrown terrorism, I find myself reflecting on the time it … Read more
Whether you’re trading in stocks or assault rifles, the stakes are high. But who are the real gangsters? Don Rowe talks with one guy who might know – Sons of Anarchy screenwriter Brady Dahl. Someone, it might have been Immortal Technique, once said that the real gangsters are the ones wearing suits. Anyone who’s seen … Read more
This week Ricky Gervais set lips flapping after he hosted the Golden Globe Awards. José Barbosa sat down and watched the whole bonkers thing to see if Gervais was as controversial as reported. Click below to watch Golden Globe winning show Mr Robot on Lightbox
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored post where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for shows you might like to watch. This week we line up some of the shining stars from the 73rd Golden Globe awards, including Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent and Mr Robot. THE WINNERS Mozart in the Jungle Mozart in the Jungle is … Read more
The history of New Zealand television features plenty of lowlights, but few as low as the drunken and chaotic 1987 Listener Gofta Awards. Comedian Michele A’Court was there. It is possible that I am one of the few people who has fond memories of the 1987 Gofta Awards. It’s also possible that I am one … Read more
To usher in a new look for 2016, female TVNZ presenters were told that they must keep their arms covered at all times. The Spinoff has censored their imagery accordingly and has filed all bare armskin away in this exclusive sealed section. If you missed the news, over the weekend a briefing document sent to TVNZ … Read more
Jemaine Clement on creating ‘Bowie’s in Space’, the Flight of the Conchords’ paean-parody to their musical hero. In 1999 Bret McKenzie and I were sitting with our guitars in our dingy flat in Wellington trying to learn David Bowie songs. They were catchy, which usually translates to being easy to play. Not David Bowie. He’d … Read more
Alex Casey watches the premiere of The Bachelor US, and notes down some powerful first impression techniques that could be used effectively in this year’s season of The Bachelor NZ. If there are two things that I like in this world, it’s The Bachelor franchise and delicious home-style cookies just like Grandma used to make. … Read more
At the start of this year we ran a series called ‘Bad Week‘, celebrating all things Breaking Bad. One of our favourite pieces during the week was this by Joe Nunweek, who found himself deeply embarrassed by Walter White fandom. Our hero is bald, save for a goatee that would seem ridiculous were the stakes … Read more
Josh Davis brought a bit of 2016 to 16th century England through creating a slew of hilarious memes from BBC drama Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall is a BBC drama documenting the power dynamics of the court of Henry VIII. Unfortunately, while the 16th century had many things – the Church, fancy clothes etc – memes … Read more
Earlier this year Alex Casey watched Putting Our Town on the Map, a 1995 documentary on NZ On Screen that unearthed the bizarre origins and rituals around Paeroa’s L&P bottle and Ohakune’s giant carrot. Our host Miranda Harcourt is taking us around New Zealand, looking at what different small towns have done to put themselves on … Read more
Alex Casey watches UnREAL – a drama set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-esque reality show – with The Bachelor NZ runner-up Dani Robinson, who dishes the dirt on how real reality TV really is. Set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-style dating show, the fictional world of UnREAL hints at the dark methods used to construct reality TV. Co-created by Marti Noxon and … Read more
When Funny Girls was still but a twinkle in her eye, Rose Matafeo sat down with Alex Casey to talk about her eclectic TV upbringing, getting toenails in the mail and becoming a television star. // Rose Matafeo has already lived many television lives. Just 23, but already a grizzled showbiz vet, having been on the … Read more
After Come Dine With Me limped to an unlamented end, Alex Casey (big fan) and Joseph Moore (official Come Dine With Me NZ joke writer) mercilessly ranked all 40 contestants from the first (and ultimately last) well-seasoned season. Story has officially made it to our screens, causing us to forget about Come Dine With Me NZ faster than … Read more
Revisiting Alex Casey’s piece about ‘crotchgate’, an issue which took over the internet, broke our website, and revealed some heavy truths about shock jocks, women’s bodies and rape culture in New Zealand. I have spent a very large chunk of 2015 floating on the choppy whitecaps of the MediaWorks reality TV sea. I’ve recapped and … Read more
Back in April, brave couch warrior José Barbosa journeyed 10 hours across the televisual seas to consume the first season of Spinoff sponsor Lightbox’s epic Norse saga Vikings in one sitting, accompanied only by meat soup and mead. This is his story. It’s an interesting feature of this amazing future amusement park we currently inhabit … Read more
After the terrifying tirade that made our top TV moment of 2015, we thought it would be fitting to revisit Don Rowe’s report from Auckland airport as he watched Willy Moon and Natalia Kills leave the country. Like great dark bats they swooped through Auckland International Airport. He wore leather and she sheltered beneath a … Read more
Hacking thriller Mr Robot was undoubtedly one of the most critically-acclaimed TV shows of 2015. Upon its release, José Barbosa tracked down the man who once ran the internet in New Zealand, and asked him to assess its realism. Listen below as a podcast, or read on for a text transcript of the package. So there’s this scene in a movie … Read more
MediaWorks launched gossip site Scout amid much fanfare in 2015. Duncan Greive spoke with a number of former Scout staff members and MediaWorks employees, and was given access to a large cache of correspondence, recordings, data and other documentation to create this portrait of a modern media debacle. On Wednesday September 16 of 2015, MediaWorks CEO Mark Weldon … Read more
This year Pam Corkery had a crack at reality television – but she is by no means the first politician to dive in front of the camera. With the help of the internet and genius archivists NZ On Screen, Sarah Robson takes a look at five of the best appearances. In a time before she donned … Read more
In July Aimie Cronin spent a maniacal week incessantly ruining TV shows for her nearest and dearest, and wrote it up hilariously. Spoiler alert: contains a very well-known Game of Thrones spoiler. When someone has been told the ending of the show they are watching before they have watched it, their face looks like those … Read more
Homai Te Pakipaki has been a mainstay every Friday night on Māori Television, encouraging people from all walks to life to “bring your keyboard and your mates for a jam”. José Barbosa went behind the scenes during the Grand Final, before the karaoke show shuts down after nine glorious years. The first time I watched Homai Te … Read more
Lost amongst TV3’s big budget reality imports and current affairs cancellations has been one unexpected hit: YouTube-on-TV clip show Fail Army. Duncan Greive tries to figure out how this designed-to-fail show works. Of all the millions of new shows TV3 has launched this year, few had lower expectations than Fail Army. A clip show screening … Read more
Ears at the ready, our sponsors over at Lightbox have just launched a new game that challenges you to identify some famous TV theme tunes from a small clip. To celebrate, we thought we would share some our favourite (and least favourite) theme songs of all time. Don Rowe Best theme tune: Sherlock Sherlock’s opening theme … Read more
Danielle Moreau, the blogging mastermind behind Coronation St of Old, assembles her favourite Coronation Street moments of 2015 including a rare clip of Deirdre singing Rihanna. We shouldn’t talk about Hayley’s death straight away, should we? We want to end this piece curled up on the floor sobbing in the foetal position, not start out that way. … Read more
Before Joe Irvine copied Willy Moon, the only important suit this year was Harvey Specter. In June, Tim Lambourne shared his triumphant story about how binge-watching the legal drama Suits helped him win his underdog tenancy dispute. A few years ago I lived in a four bedroom flat on Summer Street in Ponsonby, Auckland. If you’re unfamiliar with … Read more
Not only were WIlly Moon and Natalia Kills electric TV talent, they also were involved in one of the strangest TradeMe auctions of the year. Alex Casey tracked down the man who tried to sell their used sheets, towels and hotel feedback form on TradeMe. Notwithstanding the furore enveloping ex-con Slim Shaedy, there was far more … Read more
With a bit of spare time on your hands this summer, you might want to revisit some old family-friendly classics. José Barbosa suggests the legendary Kiwi canine caper A Dog’s Show on NZ On Screen, arguing a strong case for why it is the best television show New Zealand has ever seen. It’s become part of … Read more
In May 2015, Campbell Live left our screens. We ran a rolling tribute page all day, here are the messages from fans, colleagues and other legends from across New Zealand. Saturday May 30, 12 PM Grant Findlay, Campbell Live Cameraman 2011-2014 (@GrantFindlay) One of the most stressful, yet exhilarating experiences of my life to date … Read more