Duncan Greive spends the day at TV3 before the debut of Newsworthy, a show staffed and fronted by young people who’ve finally got a turn at the wheel. In a dark room, David Farrier sits silently, watching himself intently. The on-screen David Farrier is draped across a wooden bench in a wooden room, the sweat pouring … Read more
Alex Casey previews the first episode of Come Dine With Me NZ, and serves up a sample platter of the type of talent you can look forward to meeting. Pull over Road Cops, Come Dine With Me begins on Monday June 15 at 7pm on TV3. The premise? Five New Zealanders take turns to host … Read more
Alex Casey’s second power rankings for Dancing With the Stars NZ, including Maz Quinn’s elimination, Siobhan Marshall’s dog and Shane Cameron’s microwave technique. If there has ever been anything to convince me of the validity of Mercury Retrograde, it’s Dancing With the Stars NZ. Basically, Mercury is seemingly zooming backwards through the zodiac for a few weeks, and … Read more
Aaron Yap watches the first three episodes of TV2’s Empire, and dissects how his new guilty pleasure successfully blends legitimate themes with soapy absurdities. If Fox’s Empire confirms one thing, it’s my suspicion that showrunner Lee Daniels should’ve done TV a long time ago. On the big screen, the producer/director has often been slapped with … Read more
Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive bring you all the moves from Dancing With the Stars’ second week, bringing you our live reaction to the shocking first elimination. We bid a stone-faced farewell to Maz, earnestly discuss whether Simon Barnett’s knee dislocation is real and moon over CMJ’s lustrous hair. iPhone users click here … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? TK doesn’t understand time travel or 3D printing, Wendy has a mid-life crisis and Murray drinks himself stupid: Never far from a strange, misconstrued conspiracy, TK did not take very well to the concept of 3D printing this … Read more
Josh Drummond makes a heartfelt plea for Simpsons fans to cho-cho-choose to put the show out of its misery. On May 14, 2015, my bosom swelled with an unlikely emotion: hope. The news had just broken that Harry Shearer looked like he was leaving The Simpsons. Shearer is the voice of some of the show’s best-loved, most … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue. This week, we look at five of the best new shows that arrived in May and are coming in June. Community (Season Five, May 1) Legendary showrunner funny man Dan Harmon is back for the fifth season of Community, where we reconvene with … Read more
Tara Ward recaps the final episode of Outlander season one, wherein the coos save the day and Jamie and Claire look towards rebuilding and smouldering. At last glance, Jamie Fraser was trapped in the living hell that was Wentworth Prison – with Black Jack Randall using his tongue to sign his name across Jamie’s back. Thankfully, … Read more
Announcing the triumphant winners of our Lightbox mobile devices competition, who bravely took TV into the great outdoors and made the world their lounge. Our May Lightbox competition asked you noble television fans to take TV outside of the house on your compatible mobile devices, and find the perfect setting your favourite Lightbox show. The … Read more
The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and Duncan Greive are joined by freelance writer and critic Dominic Corry to discuss the first three episodes of ‘Empire’, a new show centering around an ‘urban’ music label’s dynastic tensions. It’s become an enormous hit in the US, thanks to a mixture of excellent casting, boldly soapy style and a … Read more
Alex Casey tells you all you need to know about UnREAL, the Lightbox-exclusive drama set behind the scenes of a dating show that will appeal to Bachelor fans and reality naysayers alike. What’s the story? UnREAL is a comedy-drama set behind the scenes of a Bachelor-style dating show called Everlasting. It’s an easily recognisable setting, … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her first power rankings for Dancing With the Stars NZ, including Pam Corkery’s boob jiggling, Simon Barnett’s spray tan and Shane Cameron’s meat hands. Dancing With the Stars came samba-ing (and Simba-ing, weirdly) back onto our screens this week after a six year hiatus that approximately nobody had noticed. Ten celebrities. Ten … Read more
It’s 7pm, it’s local content, it starts with a well-presented white guy driving around in a fast car. Joe Nunweek asks – did we get the 7pm show we deserved? Nature hates a void, so let us watch Road Cops reruns forever, and let us enjoy more motoring mayhem and unlawful adventures on New Zealand’s … Read more
Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey foxtrot reluctantly back into the podcasting arena with their recap of the first week of Dancing With the Stars NZ 2015. We walked into this with clear eyes and full hearts, knowing it was a terrible idea. But if it was bad enough for MediaWorks, then it was bad enough for … Read more
With the final episode of Campbell Live airing tonight on TV3, we have set up a tribute page for friends, colleagues, fans and driving dogs to post their messages and favourite memories for JC and the team. This post will be updated regularly throughout the course of the day, the rest of the weekend, and … Read more
Stevie TV is a monthly column by Steve Braunias. In this instalment, he recalls the many faces of John Campbell through the ages. The final of Campbell Live on Friday night marks the end of an era which encompasses the entire history of New Zealand since the coming of Captain Cook. The show, and its genial … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Harry Warner becomes Harriet the Spy, Damo goes Robert Durst and fruit prices go up the wazoo: Harry-et the Spy has been doing some serious leg work in the snoop department. Watching his druggie neighbours (Paul Williams, probably) … Read more
Guilty of being an apathetic audience member in the target demographic, Josh Drummond sat down and diarised a week of Campbell Live. HAMLET He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again. HORATIO My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. Campbell Live! Campbell Live, the … Read more
Aaron Yap reflects on his own recent hate-watching of Arrow, Under the Dome and Catfish, and attempts to get to the bottom of this bizarre viewing phenomenon. I’m currently watching Arrow and I sort of hate it. It’s the first of the current, intimidatingly large batch of superhero shows I’ve dipped into. An adaptation of a … Read more
With Outlander on hiatus this week before the finale, Tara Ward recaps her top ten favourite moments from the series so far from perverse back-licking to the angriest of chins. This series of Outlander has been a cracking adventure, filled with battles, blood, bigamy and bow-chicka-wow-wow – and we’ve still one episode to go! Before … Read more
With Heartland in it’s final, feeble week of life, Calum Henderson sat down and watched one day’s worth of nostalgic programming. TVNZ Heartland is dying. At midnight on the 31st of May, the national nostalgia channel will shut down, taking with it our chances of ever again opportunistically stumbling upon a classic episode of Mucking … Read more
Alex Casey reviews the debut episode of TV3’s new current affairs show 3D, wherein Teina Pora gave his first on-camera interview since his release from prison. After a rough week post-Campbell fallout, TV3 ended on somewhat of a high with their new Sunday current affairs show 3D. With award-winning journalists Samantha Hayes and Duncan Garner at the … Read more
In the wake of the X Factor NZ finale, Claire Adamson rewatches Popstars – and discovered much more compelling insights into the world of manufactured superstardom. The weird thing about rewatching Popstars – the Kiwi show that started it all – is the fact that it’s not a reality tv show as we know them today. It’s … Read more
Here is all you need to know about The Lizzie Borden Chronicles before picking up an axe and hacking into the pulpy period drama. What’s the story? The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is a fictionalised account of a fascinating true story. In 1892, Lizzie Borden’s stepmother and father were hacked to death with an axe in their own bed. … Read more
Alex Casey chats to Suzanne Rogers, better known as Maggie Horton from Days of Our Lives, about what it’s like to be on a soap opera for 42 years and counting. It’s a very weird thing to be sitting in your dressing gown in Auckland, waiting on the phone to talk to a soap star in LA … Read more
Alex and Duncan give in to the manic soft-focus charm of Days of Our Lives, and urge you to get involved in the sprawling sordid soap. Days of Our Lives is one of the world’s longest-running soap operas, laden with love triangles, random resurrections and drenched in alcohol. We sat down and tried to make … Read more
When big name broadcasters have left their networks in the past it has been chasing vast sums of money, or with the kind of smugness which can only come from knowing you’ve just received the most golden of handshakes. The godly authority of their bully pulpits seemed to mean never worrying about job security. So … Read more
Finlay Macdonald on the imminent order from MediaWorks to pack up the Mazda, and how recent ratings successes were not enough to save Campbell Live. The writing was on the wall the moment John Campbell got behind the wheel of that Mazda and drove it through the opening titles of his show. It’s one thing to … Read more