We Are Who We Are, the new limited series from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, treats this zoomer love story like it’s paradise, writes Sam Brooks. There’s a moment towards the start of the first episode of We Are Who We Are that left me genuinely breathless. The preceding hour of the … Read more
Doctor Emma Espiner watches TVNZ’s The Checkup, which promises to tell you the things about health that you really want to know. I lie to my doctor. It’s even worse now that I’m a doctor too and she treats me like a colleague. I pretend to know things that I don’t just so she doesn’t … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews Russell T Davies’ It’s a Sin, which tackles the Aids crisis in a powerful, intimate way. Early on in It’s a Sin, Russell T Davies’ new drama about the HIV/Aids crisis in 1980s London, the disease is still so new that Ritchie – the show’s protagonist – refuses to believe it even … Read more
What are you going to be watching in February? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon, Acorn and TVNZ OnDemand. The biggies Men in Kilts (docu-series on Neon from February 15) Outlander fans, rejoice. Two stars from the popular time-travelling drama – … Read more
The singer turned TV personality is back with a new show and she’s doing what she does best: talking to people. If you asked many of the questions that Anika Moa has asked in interviews over the past few years, the most common response would probably be a left hook directly to your chin. Here … Read more
This morning, TVNZ announced what we’ll all be watching in 2021. Here’s a quick rundown of what you’ve got to look forward to, assuming we’re still here next year. The Brokenwood Mysteries OK, let’s get the biggie out of the way first: The Brokenwood Mysteries is jumping from Prime to primetime, baby! Brokenwood travels to … Read more
The second season of TVNZ on Demand satire Educators continues to skewer New Zealand’s school system, brilliantly and brutally. Is there anything bleaker than a New Zealand high school? As local comedy Educators tells it, probably not. The show, created by Jesse Griffin, Jackie van Beek and Johnny Brugh, has returned for its second season … Read more
What are you going to be watching in October? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. The biggies The Mandalorian (season two weekly on Disney+ from October 30) The Mandalorian was the surprise hit of 2019 for reasons nobody … Read more
What are you going to be watching in September? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. The biggies Shrill (on Neon now) It’s the superhero show we need right now: a woman who decides she’s had enough of everyone … Read more
Because there’s no time like now to catch up on the best the small screen can offer. Picture this scenario: it’s the end of the workday, you’ve just got home (or if you’re working from home, transformed your work-couch into your rest-couch) and you hit up your streaming services. Instantly, you’re bombarded with choices across … Read more
Sick of dating shows? The Dog House is a matchmaking show with none of the drama and all of the feels. I like to schedule my crying jags for Tuesdays at 8.30pm. A bawl isn’t guaranteed: sometimes just a trickle of salty sadness runs down my cheek, other times happy tears flow. Either way, it’s … Read more
Around a quarter of the country has been at home for just over a week. So what the hell are they watching? Here’s what New Zealanders have been streaming on Netflix, Neon, TVNZ on Demand and ThreeNow in the past week. YouTube is not included in these statistics. That’s between you, God and the algorithm. … Read more
Glow Up NZ is the latest reality franchise to hit New Zealand screens, and Tara Ward discovers a show with plenty of heart. “An online makeup revolution is sweeping the world,” host Megan Papas tells us in the opening moments of Glow Up NZ, TVNZ On Demand’s new reality competition about the wonders of makeup artistry. … Read more
What happens when New Zealand’s queen of K-Pop rallies a room full of kids to become homegrown popstars? You get TVNZ On Demand’s K-Pop Academy. Korean pop music – or “K-pop” – is, arguably, the biggest musical genre on the planet. BTS is its most famous name, but South Korea is home to plenty of … Read more
What are you going to be watching in August? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to see our listings from July. The biggies Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story (on Netflix from August 14) The original … Read more
The new TVNZ On Demand political comedy relies on great performances to paper over a wafer-thin story, writes Jean Sergent. The set-up is simple: Darren Bellows (Tom Sainsbury), a Colin Craig-esque political loser, is being blackmailed by his dominatrix (Kathleen Burns). The stakes are high for Darren as the leader of the minor league Conservative … Read more
What are you going to be watching in July? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to see our listings from June. The biggies The Baby-Sitters Club (on Netflix from July 3) Hold on to your landline … Read more
You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your drama. Tara Ward rounds up the five best family dramas on TVNZ OnDemand. However weird your own family might be, there’s a strange comfort in knowing there’s always one on TV that’s much, much worse. Whether it’s a grieving wife discovering her husband has three … Read more
Sam Brooks interviews Walter Iuzzolino, the man behind TVNZ’s new curated algorithm-free channel, Walter Presents. When you sign onto any given streaming platform, you’re likely to be bombarded with several shows before you get to the one you want or even get an idea of what you’re looking for. Some of them are shows that … Read more
Sam Brooks compares two of the most prominent on-screen bodyguards to see how they stack up in the all-important realm of guarding bodies. One man has to guard the home secretary against potential terrorist attacks. One man has to guard an actress-turned-singer against stalkers and fans. Two bodyguards in two very different products. Let’s zoom … Read more
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books. “What if James Bond was a teenager?” The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 novels (with the … Read more
With Rhys Darby returning to our small screens with a travel series documenting his wild travels around Japan, Tara Ward rounds up some more TVNZ shows that will take you from your armchair to locales far and wide. Rhys Darby is world famous for bringing walk socks to New York on Flight of the Conchords … Read more
What are you going to be watching in June? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to see our listings from May. The biggies I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (docuseries on Neon from June 29) … Read more
Tired of watching human faces on your screen but still love a bit of action? Tara Ward has you sorted with nature docos to fill the heart and lift the soul. People are annoying, and that’s the truth. Look it up in the dictionary, write it in the sky, tattoo it across your heart. Have … Read more
What are you going to be watching in May? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand. Click here to read our listings from April. The biggies Dead to Me (season 2 on Netflix, binge from May 8) When … Read more
Gentle, moving and a little bit sexy, the BBC and Hulu’s take on Sally Rooney’s book club staple Normal People not only survives adaptation, it thrives, writes Sam Brooks. If the Unity Books charts are anything to go by, everybody in New Zealand owns about two copies of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. The novel by … Read more
You Got This! pits bubble against bubble in family fun challenges with no risk of overlap. Tara Ward gives us a few of the challenges she’s done with her own family during lockdown. Gather all ye wooden spoons and empty boxes and prepare to enjoy You Got This!, a new show that sees Kiwi families … Read more
Need to scratch that Gone Girl itch from years past? The Secrets She Keeps is the new Australian thriller that asks how far you should go to get the perfect life. Pre-lockdown, influencers were king and there was no better way to feel stink about your own life than to step into theirs. This is … Read more
Sam Brooks reviews the third season of Killing Eve, which trades a razor-sharp focus for a wide lens and pays the price. Spoilers for the first two seasons of Killing Eve follow. In the space of three years, Killing Eve has turned from unlikely success – a cult pulp series of novels adapted by a … Read more