At the end of every year, our columnist Aaron Yap wraps up his likes, dislikes and learnings from TV’s shifting media hellscape. Jeez, what a stinking hot mess. As 2017 thankfully draws to a close, reflecting on the year that’s been for TV has become quite the exercise in existential soul-searching – to couch it in the … Read more
With season four arriving to Lightbox tomorrow, Sam Brooks previews the return of excellent family dramedy Transparent. I dilly-dallied on watching the third season of Transparent, which I am ashamed about now. Season two ended with one of the strongest images I’ve seen on TV – the image of a baby being born many decades ago, screaming … Read more
Our friendly TV sponsors at Lightbox have a whole bunch of shows nominated for the Emmy Awards this year, so we got our resident award shows obsessive Sam Brooks to pick which ones might take home the gold. I love me an awards show. A bunch of people in pretty dresses saying long speeches and … Read more
Trans activist and academic Lexie Matheson was a key figure in instigating transgender friendly toilets at Marlborough Girl’s High School, a decision made to accommodate the first trans student on their roll. She talked to Alex Casey about the process, and Family First’s Ask Me First response campaign reported on by the Herald yesterday. Yesterday, homophobic, transphobic, … 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
It’s Saturday and all of a sudden people have realised that Halloween falls on a Monday this year. Nobody throws a party on a Monday, so now you need a kick-ass costume for tonight. Luckily, Madeleine Chapman is here to help. It’s hard to tell what’s worse: being the only one at the party with … Read more
With Jeffrey Tambor taking home his 4000th Emmy award yesterday and the new season arriving exclusively to Lightbox on Saturday, Sam Brooks tells you exactly why you need to catch up with Transparent. When Transparent was announced as a pilot for Amazon TV, a pilot where Arrested Development patriarch Jeremy Tambor would be playing a … Read more
With the Primetime Emmy Awards coming up, here are the many, many Lightbox shows that have earned themselves nominations, along with our winning predictions. Spoiler alert: Maggie Smith always wins. Transparent What’s it about? First of all, the name is a pun. It’s important that you know this. Here’s what we made of Transparent way back … Read more
In October we launch The Spinoff Parents, edited by the incomparable Emily Writes and made possible by Flick Electric Co. Here Emily explains her vision for the section as a place for parents on the internet that won’t make you feel like a miserable failure. Parenting. It’s beautiful and incredible and joyous, glorious and so rewarding. It’s such … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we hand pick shows from the Lightbox catalogue that you might like to watch. Here are the best additions coming in September. Transparent (Season 3 arrives Sep 24) Maura’s back for a third season in perhaps the most talked about show in recent years. As well as riding … Read more
Red-faced Transparent fans fess up with their embarrassingly delayed reactions to the double entendre of the show’s title. Raking in yet another pile of Emmy nominations last week, it’s no secret that the Amazon original series Transparent is one of the boldest and best television shows in recent years. Yes, it tackles issues of gender and … 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 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
From Caitlyn Jenner’s internet-breaking news, to Maura Pfefferman, the transitioning matriarch of Transparent, transgender issues were everywhere in 2015. But, asks transgender activist and academic Lexie Matheson, how much has really been achieved? It’s interesting that one of the Words of the Year for 2015 is ‘transgender’. Helen Newstead at Collins Dictionary told us “Collins … 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 all the cool new shows coming in December. COMING IN DECEMBER: Transparent (S02E01, Dec 1) The first episode of the second season of Emmy-winning drama Transparent arrives to Lightbox … Read more
Duncan Greive and Alex Casey run through the Emmy nominations for 2015, picking their favourites to take home the dangerously spiky golden awards. Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series: Better Call Saul • AMC • Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill Bloodline • Netflix • Kyle Chandler as John Rayburn House Of Cards • Netflix • … 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
We polled the Spinoff writing team and hauled out the ol’ abacus to tally the results. The results are in: these are the ten best international shows of 2014. Broad City This surrealist journey following two twenty-somethings stumbling through life in New York City is like Girls dipped in optimism, Dorito-dust and pure hilarity. Despite … Read more
This Music Monday Henry Oliver and Duncan Greive discuss an underrated element of the phenomenal Transparent: its unnervingly sharp portrayal of LA’s music industry. // Henry: Transparent was an interesting show for so many reasons, all of which could/should be discussed at length. There were issues in the show: gender (obvi) and the ‘new’ American family … Read more
New Lightbox acquisition Transparent, an Amazon Original from a key Six Feet Under writer, is already being touted as one of the year’s finest.// “Are you saying you’re gonna start dressing up like a lady all the time?” “No, my whole life I’ve been dressing up… like a man.” Transparent is the brand new comedy-drama from Jill Soloway, producer … Read more