Before Breaking Bad, the world’s sharpest look at the scourge of methamphetamine was written by Deja Voodoo. Ten years on, songwriter Matt Heath recalls the fallout from their hit single ‘P’. ‘I smoke P and I’m alright’. It’s the first line of the fourth single from Deja Voodoo’s debut album Brown Sabbath. We wrote the … Read more
Alex Casey has never watched a second of Breaking Bad, nor read anything about it. Going in completely blind, she has committed to watching the whole series over summer in the lead up to spin off series Better Call Saul‘s arrival to Lightbox in February. Contains spoilers, obviously. Day 22, Thursday 22 January 6.30pm Watched: … Read more
Mediaworks buys Prime News This morning the Herald confirmed that the 15 staff who works on Prime News at 5.30 have been made redundant. Previously owned by Sky TV, the production will now be taken over by Mediaworks, There is unlikely to be any rehiring by Mediaworks of the Prime staff. The final day for … Read more
The latest promo for The X Factor NZ has gone live and, despite all the bird-flipping and glitz, there is a glaring omission – the bronzed statuette on The X Factor NZ mantelpiece, Dominic Bowden. Since the end of The X Factor NZ in 2013, Dom has been a little incognito. His Wikipedia says that he “currently interviews … Read more
An introduction to our forthcoming methfest ‘Bad Week’: a weeklong party dedicated to Breaking Bad, ahead of the launch of its spinoff Better Call Saul. On February 9th, New Zealand time, Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul makes its debut. The show will screen exclusively on Lightbox in New Zealand, and we’ve decided to devote a whole week to … Read more
Things have been a little quiet on the Paul Henry front of late. Since his final episode of the late night Paul Henry Show last year, there has been a serious shortage of Paul. No smug grin. No hysterical laughing at rodents. No description of impoverished countries as shitholes. There was a weak online attempt at finding … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey looks at the whacky comedy exports from post-Y2K Britain. // When the clock ticked over on NYE in 1999, everyone was expecting the worst. The computers will wipe! The planes will … Read more
Bringing you the highlights of this week’s TV Guide, New Zealand’s top selling magazine and this website’s papery spiritual grandmother. // Growing Up Winston: A Talk With Bree Peters This week’s issue features a cracking interview with Bree Peters, daughter of Winston Peters and Dr. Pania Stevens on Shortland Street. Bree talks about her career … Read more
Please enjoy this excellent episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? The drinks flowed freely through the streets from The IV all the way to the unemployed trolley boy. First important thing of note: James has ditched his usual sweater for a more relaxed and weather-appropriate look for … Read more
After watching the introductions on The Bachelor Australia, Alex Casey dispenses some crucial advice to New Zealand’s upcoming Bachelorettes about how to make a good first impression. // The Bachelor Australia started here last week in a flurry of sequins and tealight candles (truly the ideal combo for a painfully blinding iridescence). The format? Same … Read more
Summing up the past week in television news for you, because we care. // Woohoo for Puru? On Monday it was announced that our stalwart The Edge radio host and Shopping Channel presenter Mike Puru would be the host of The Bachelor NZ for 2015. It was a safe choice and a smart choice, but what … Read more
This Throwback Thursday, Aaron Yap applauds the metaphysical triumphs of a particularly buzzy episode of The Twilight Zone. // The conflation of metaphysical concepts and science has always been a difficult, tricky thing for me to swallow in TV and movies. Not that it’s impossible to achieve; for example, Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica was persuasive … Read more
Alex Casey has never watched a second of Breaking Bad, nor read anything about it. Going in completely blind, she has committed to watching the whole series over summer in the lead up to spin off series Better Call Saul‘s arrival to Lightbox in February. Contains spoilers, obviously. Day Fifteen, Monday 12 January 9pm Watched: … Read more
After the passing of Coronation Street‘s beloved Deirdre yesterday, Alex Casey looks back at how TV shows have historically coped with unexpected cast deaths. // We must admit that, here at The Spinoff HQ, our mourning for Deirdre was overshadowed only by our complete panic at the realisation that nobody we knew was remotely interested in Deirdre … Read more
Each month we bring you the latest arrival to streaming service Lightbox, the good people who sponsor The Spinoff. This month features some HBO classics and a brilliant pair of ‘00s dramas. // News broke today that Lightbox will be free to all Spark broadband customers, an extremely fortuitous turn of events for everyone in … Read more
Bringing you the highlights of this week’s TV Guide, New Zealand’s top selling magazine and this website’s papery spiritual grandmother. // Behind the Scenes at Breakfast: An insightful look behind the polished veneer of Breakfast by Shaun Bamber. Goes in-depth to bring you what you really want to know about the Breakfast couch (yes, it’s … Read more
Competitive reality shows have tightly controlled formulas for a reason, and Mike Puru fits the format. But Duncan Greive had been hoping we’d have someone stranger watching The Bachelor unfold. This morning Mike Puru was announced as our inaugural host of The Bachelor, an appointment that was greeted with an overwhelming shrug by New Zealand. Because it … Read more
This Music Monday, Alex Casey finds beauty in the horror of American Horror Story: Freak Show’s bizarre musical numbers. // If there is one thing that Glee, Nip/Tuck and Popular have taught us, it’s that producer/writer/director Ryan Murphy loves a good pop soundtrack. If he can integrate that soundtrack into the diegetic world of his TV … Read more
Please enjoy this year’s premiere episode of Shorty Street Scandal, wherein James Mustapic recaps the past week of Ferndale hijinks. This week? Hanky panky, a creaky baby and Leanne’s heartbreaking pyjama woes: We were off to a roaring start to the year with a spiffing series of summer makeovers, marking a new era for Dallas and his … Read more
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 the new shows arriving in January, ranging from the finest Scandinavian thrillers to the return of pillaging pirates. Mozart in the Jungle (Season 2) Coming away with two Golden Globe … Read more
Alex Casey trawls the New Zealand Herald comments section to get a conclusive answer on our nation’s opinion of Daniel Corbett.// I wrote an impassioned ode to the new TV One weatherman that miraculously made it into the top read stories of the NZ Herald. As a result, punters from North to South started weighing … Read more
Friday Night Lights examined the side effects of a small town’s obsession with high school sports. Don Rowe reflects on the show’s realism through comparison to his own rugby career at Hamilton Boys High. “Do you think God loves football?” “I think everyone loves football.” – Jason Street and a young fan, Friday Night Lights For an … Read more
Bringing you the highlights of this week’s TV Guide, New Zealand’s top selling magazine and this website’s papery spiritual grandmother. // Just yesterday, frustrated with the sideways scrolling function of the TVNZ guide hurtling me into a thousand tomorrows, I took a walk to the dairy and purchased a crisp copy of the TV Guide. … Read more
This week has truly heralded 2015 as the big big year for online content. Alex Casey breaks down the past week of web TV news. // The Return of Wet Hot American Summer This week Netflix announced an 8-episode follow up to the 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer. Creators David Wain and Michael Showalter … Read more
Alex Casey has never watched a second of Breaking Bad, nor read anything about it. Going in completely blind, she has committed to watching the whole series over summer in the lead up to spin off series Better Call Saul‘s arrival to Lightbox in February. Contains spoilers, obviously. Day Seven, Thursday 25 December (yes, it’s … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a new sponsored feature where we mine the extensive Lightbox catalogue for cool shows you might like to watch. This week, Alex Casey gets the best medical shows prepped and ready for you on the operating table. // We can all agree that hospitals are the worst places on earth, filled with enormous … Read more
Alex Casey revels in the highs and lows of Daniel Corbett, the endearing One News weatherman and replacement for Jim Hickey in our hearts. // I have always been told to listen to my parents, so when my Dad urgently let me know that the new TV One weatherman looked like “Dynamo in 30 years” I … Read more
With the return of Shortland Street last night, Alex Casey breaks down some of the new summer looks in Ferndale for 2015. // The first episode of Shortland Street for the new year aired last night, and boy did it provide summery excellence. The episode was fizzing with holiday vibes: Garrett ate half a sandwich (probably … Read more
United by history and language, but very much divided by humour, Elle Hunt says America and Britain reveal their national character through the dispositions of their sitcoms. // It’s the last vestige of a once-great empire: the belief, persistent in the face of the fish-slipping sketch and Mrs. Brown’s Boys, The Benny Hill Show, or … Read more