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Latest FromCalum Henderson

Once you get over your initial disbelief, Knives Out is an absolutely cracking sports documentary.

ENTERTAINMENT

Knives Out: Cutting edge viewing

9 Jun, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The stakes are high for the competing Sharp Blacks.

Jordan Mooney (centre) plays Dance Exponents lead sing Jordan Luck in Why Does Love? Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

Who's next for film biopic: Lorde, Scribe?

2 Jun, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Make a musical biopic — you can't lose.

All Blacks during the national anthem. Photo / Getty Images

ENTERTAINMENT

Calum Henderson: A doco of two halves

26 May, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

All or Nothing divulges the inner workings of our rugby team.

ENTERTAINMENT

Calum Henderson: Have a good cry, pet

19 May, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Vet on the Hill and his furry friends tug at the heartstrings.

Samantha Hayes dances with Aaron Gilmore in Dancing With The Stars. Photo / Three

ENTERTAINMENT

Be a sport: Dancing with the Stars

12 May, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Dancing with the Stars: Light reality or serious sport?

TV show Design Junkies host Shane Hansen.

ENTERTAINMENT

A rubbish show that's worth watching

4 May, 2018 5:57pm
3 minutes to read

REVIEW: Design series better than most reality junk, says Calum Henderson.

ENTERTAINMENT

Calum Henderson: Danish edge lost in translation

14 Apr, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comedy remake Splitting Up Together is weird, but there are encouraging signs.

New HBO series <i>Barry</i> is Bill Hader's biggest lead role to date.

ENTERTAINMENT

Class act in dark comedy Barry

7 Apr, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Calum Henderson on hitman and actor Barry.

ENTERTAINMENT

Easter TV treats: The best on the box this Easter

31 Mar, 2018 5:30am
4 minutes to read

Calum Henderson comes to the rescue - the best on the box this Easter.

ENTERTAINMENT

Terrace House is a gentle but compelling watch

24 Mar, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Terrace House, Japanese reality franchise is a surprisingly difficult show to describe.

Tim Roth stars as British serial killer John Christie in Rillington Place.

ENTERTAINMENT

The terrifying true story behind Rillington Place

14 Mar, 2018 8:00am
4 minutes to read

A three-part mini-series recaptures the terror of British serial killer John Christie.

The Wall is a 'heartless money scramble' that has taken over the world.

ENTERTAINMENT

Game show 'a weirdly heartless money scramble'

28 Feb, 2018 8:00am
4 minutes to read

'It's a show so simplistic it makes Tipping Point seem like Mastermind.'

Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam 'Midge' Maisel.

ENTERTAINMENT

Calum Henderson: Stand up for the Mrs

25 Feb, 2018 10:55am
3 minutes to read

It's another time, another place and has the feel of another show, writes Calum Henderson.

ENTERTAINMENT

90s-style Kiwi family game show to hit screens

18 Feb, 2018 1:10pm
4 minutes to read

The ultimate code-breaker returns with Simon Barnett, writes Calum Henderson.

ENTERTAINMENT

Is Jeremy Wells the Paul Holmes for millenials?

4 Feb, 2018 8:17am
4 minutes to read

Newsboy will put the edge back into New Zealand current affairs, writes Calum Henderson.

The third season of TVNZ 2's My Kitchen Rules NZ has been simmering away nicely on Monday nights. Photo / supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

MKR serving up a plate of Good vs Evil

26 Nov, 2017 10:50am
4 minutes to read

Good vs evil, darkness vs light — the MKRNZ bandwagon is leaving the station.

Jacinda Ardern's DNA reveals she is 54 per cent British & Irish, 29 per cent Northwestern European, 10 per cent French-German, 3.7 per cent Scandinavian and 1 per cent Eastern European. Photo / TVNZ

ENTERTAINMENT

The roots of our Prime Minister

8 Nov, 2017 8:00am
4 minutes to read

Jacinda Ardern traces her roots back to Greece and New York.

Bill English with the class from Ellerslie Primary featured in Face the Classroom.

ENTERTAINMENT

Must-see TV: Kiwi kids grill political leaders

20 Sep, 2017 8:00am
4 minutes to read

Move over Hosking and Gower, these are NZ's toughest political interviewers.

Homemade marks a return to property shows of old, before the days of The Block.

ENTERTAINMENT

TVNZ's Homemade delivers old school DIY

30 Aug, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

homemade

A scene from HBO's Room 104. Photo / Supplied

ENTERTAINMENT

NZ television could learn from this show

2 Aug, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

Hit and miss, inconsistent and all over the place - is exactly what makes it so exciting.

The real-life story of Kiwi band The Exponents made for gripping Sunday Theatre viewing.

ENTERTAINMENT

New Zealand needs more TV like this

19 Jul, 2017 8:00am
4 minutes to read

The story behind The Exponents made for electric Sunday Theatre viewing.

Wild horses, or mustangs, roam freely over much of the southwest United States. They live in herds of five to 20 horses, mainly breeding females and foals led by a dominant stallion.

ENTERTAINMENT

Attenborough delivers the year's best drama

12 Jul, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

Sir David Attenborough and his team return with Planet Earth II.

Flight of the Conchords's HBO show debuted 10 years ago. Has it stood up to the test of time?

ENTERTAINMENT

What if the Conchords sucked?

21 Jun, 2017 9:00am
4 minutes to read

What if, in hindsight, Flight of the Conchords sucked? Let's go back and check.

Jamie Curry went to Antartica and learned it was cold and full of science.

ENTERTAINMENT

A millenial's view of Antarctica

19 May, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

YouTube star Jamie Curry went to Antartica and found it was cold and full of science.

ENTERTAINMENT

TVNZ's Naked Choir fails to hit right note

5 May, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

TVNZ's new series is more 'Praise Be' than a cappella X Factor.

Neil Oliver returns for the second season of Coast New Zealand on TVNZ.

ENTERTAINMENT

The secret to Coast New Zealand's appeal

26 Apr, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

Neil Oliver returns with his poetic turn of phrase.

Screaming Reels is a fishing show like no other, starring Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte.

ENTERTAINMENT

Leigh Hart's hilarious return to TV

19 Apr, 2017 9:00pm
3 minutes to read

Funnyman Leigh Hart is back - and more ridiculous than ever.

ENTERTAINMENT

Finished S-Town? Here's your next binge

10 Apr, 2017 11:07am
3 minutes to read

After finishing the series then you may be desperately searching for the next podcast hit.

Lanky, handlebar-moustached Kiwi bloke-out-of-time Darryl Walker from the web series, Darryl: An Outward Bound Story. Photo / TVNZ

ENTERTAINMENT

Darryl, the bloke skewering Kiwi blokes

31 Mar, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: 10-part web series about humiliated athlete's quest to regain form.

Dealing with Scientology is like being in a relationship with someone with a borderline personality disorder. Louis Theroux. Photo / FRPAP.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Cult fiction: Scientology

21 Mar, 2017 8:16pm
6 minutes to read

Scientology puts journalists on a par with perverts, writes Calum Henderson.

ylvester Stallone hosts the television series Ultimate Beastmaster. Photo / Netflix

ENTERTAINMENT

The brutal future of reality game shows

10 Mar, 2017 8:00am
3 minutes to read

This TV show offers a hint of what reality games could be like on global streaming.

Shailene Woodley, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman star in Big Little Lies.

ENTERTAINMENT

The addictive new thriller you need to watch

1 Mar, 2017 8:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The mini-series format is where the show's real strength lies, and why it promises addictive viewing.

A scene from the television series, Te Radar's Chequered History. Photo / TVNZ1

ENTERTAINMENT

A bizarre history of New Zealand

24 Feb, 2017 8:30am
3 minutes to read

Te Radar's new series offers an obscure but interesting patchwork of NZ history.

Last night I watched a live dress rehearsal of The Project. I saw the future. Now I have the answers. Photo / Three

ENTERTAINMENT

Has Three finally solved the 7pm problem?

17 Feb, 2017 8:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: The Spinoff's Calum Henderson watched a live dress rehearsal for The Project, and predicts the 7pm curse will soon be broken.

Three's The AM Show hosts, Mark Richardson, Duncan Garner and Amanda Gillies. Photo / The Am Show Facebook

ENTERTAINMENT

Why Mark Richardson is the new Paul Henry

14 Feb, 2017 10:00pm
4 minutes to read

'The AM Show' may have a new name but it's still using Paul Henry's winning formula.

A young David Attenborough feeding Benjamin, the Zoo Quest bear in Borneo, 1956.

ENTERTAINMENT

Why Prime is screening a 60-year-old series

8 Feb, 2017 8:00am
4 minutes to read

David Attenborough's original BBC series Zoo Quest is back on our screens - 60 years after it premiered. But this time, it's different.

Cole Sprouse and K.J. Apa star in the television series, Riverdale. Photo / CW Network

ENTERTAINMENT

How Netflix made Archie cool

4 Feb, 2017 8:00pm
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The inevitable and overdue reboot, which finally arrived last week, might change that. Archie's on Netflix... and now he's got abs.

Erik Thomson stars as George Turner in the television series, 800 Words.

ENTERTAINMENT

How firing its star made 800 Words better

25 Jan, 2017 9:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The star character in 800 Words (finally) got fired, opening the show up to all new small-town escapades.

Stars of TVNZ 2's ratings hit Grannies Make You Laugh Out Loud. Photo/Supplied.

ENTERTAINMENT

Is this a new low for NZ television?

22 Jan, 2017 9:45am
4 minutes to read

The latest in the Laugh Out Loud series is a new low for television, writes Calum Henderson.

Maigret shows Rowan Atkinson as you've never seen him before.

ENTERTAINMENT

Mr Bean as you've never seen him before

11 Jan, 2017 8:30am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Mr. Bean is back, baby ... only this time he's a pipe-smoking police detective in 1950s Paris.

Some of the best things on TV: Funny Girls, Brokenwood Mysteries and Anne the Champagne Lady

ENTERTAINMENT

Ten good TV things to come out of 2016

21 Dec, 2016 8:00am
3 minutes to read

What were the best moments on TV this year? Calum Henderson shares his picks.

Former democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton listens to now President-elect nominee Donald Trump during the second presidential debate at Washington University. Photo / AP

ENTERTAINMENT

Here are the worst TV shows of 2016

16 Dec, 2016 2:28pm
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Would life without television really be that bad? Consider these, the worst shows of 2016.

Somewhere along the line Grandmaster Flash broke the number one rule of playing records:

ENTERTAINMENT

Netflix shows searches for hip-hop's real roots

9 Dec, 2016 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The four-part series Hip-Hop Evolution starts by going right back to the foundations of hip hop.

A scene from the Netflix series, 3%. Photo / Netflix

ENTERTAINMENT

Careful: This new Netflix show is dangerously bingeable

30 Nov, 2016 10:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: 3% it is a low-budget dystopian sci-fi Netflix series from Brazil, and it is dangerously binge-watchable.

Ben Cotton as Ben Sawyer, the American mission commander and systems engineer on the Daedalus, in a scene from the series, Mars. Photo / AP

ENTERTAINMENT

'Some of us, if not all of us, will almost certainly die'

25 Nov, 2016 11:45am
4 minutes to read

Should we go to Mars? A new docu-drama makes a "mind-blowing" case to answer with a yes, writes Calum Henderson.

Rachel Khoo, Adriano Zumbo and Gigi Falanga on Zumbo's new cooking competition Just Desserts.

ENTERTAINMENT

Pudding chefs find themselves in a pickle

16 Nov, 2016 10:30am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: It's hard to take competitive cooking shows seriously when they start being called things like Zumbo's Just Desserts.

Claire Foy and Matt Smith in a scene from the Netflix series, The Crown.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Crown's a visual and artistic treat

9 Nov, 2016 8:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: It takes a good dollop of dramatic licence here and there, but by the end of the first episode the story has gathered a satisfying momentum.

Television series, Humans 2.0 returns to TV3.

ENTERTAINMENT

Will the second series be just as good?

4 Nov, 2016 7:30pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: If anything, the second series of Humans could turn out even better than the first.

A scene from the Netflix series Black Mirror, episode Hated the Nation. Photo / Netflix

ENTERTAINMENT

A show worth putting your phone down for

26 Oct, 2016 8:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Overall the clangers are forgivable - even the bad Black Mirror episodes are at least consistently stylish and fun.

A scene from the docu-drama Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses.

ENTERTAINMENT

Docudrama tells difficult story with clarity

18 Oct, 2016 12:30pm
4 minutes to read

The death of Janet Moses is a sad, difficult story, however the crime docu-drama Belief tells it with poise and clarity.

A scene from the TV series First Dates New Zealand.

ENTERTAINMENT

Who orders a pint of milk on a first date?

12 Oct, 2016 11:00pm
3 minutes to read

If a guy orders a tall pint of milk on the first date it's probably not a good sign.

Judy Bailey, Steve Hansen and Rhys Darby all took part in the I Know This To Be True documentary. Photo / TVNZ

ENTERTAINMENT

Kiwi doco didn't make any sense

7 Oct, 2016 8:30pm
3 minutes to read

There were more notable New Zealanders than a Holmes Christmas party on TVNZ 1's Sunday night special I Know This To Be True, a well-meaning but rambling and incoherent collection of meditations on the meaning of life.

Toni Street hosts the new TVNZ television programme Spellbound.

ENTERTAINMENT

The most spellbinding television of the year

7 Oct, 2016 6:30pm
3 minutes to read

The gut-wrenching tension feels similar to watching a penalty shootout in soccer. So simple, so unforgiving: get one letter wrong and you're out.

Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Milo Ventimiglia as Jack in a scene from, This Is Us. Photo / NBC

ENTERTAINMENT

Henderson: 30-somethings' crises tug the heartstrings

28 Sep, 2016 9:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: On the strength of the pilot, most viewers should be sticking with This Is Us for at least a few more episodes to see how it all plays out.

ENTERTAINMENT

New look Breakfast: Is it any good?

20 Sep, 2016 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

Two days in, the new look Breakfast team have got over their opening morning nerves. But is the show worth watching?

And Then There Were None features an all-star cast including Aidan Turner, Sam Neill and Charles Dance.

ENTERTAINMENT

Why did this TV show kill off Sam Neill so soon?

14 Sep, 2016 8:18am
4 minutes to read

Not many television series would cast an actor the calibre of Sam Neill only to kill him off less than half way through - but such

Brandon, who is deaf and autistic, takes us wordlessly through a day in his life.

ENTERTAINMENT

A poignant look at real lives

7 Sep, 2016 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Individually the films stand as heartwarming and often deeply poignant testaments to kindness, patience and compassion.

The wily old bloke is a Survivor archetype as old as the show itself, and Des may be the least successful one in history.

ENTERTAINMENT

Is this a sign of what's to come for Survivor NZ?

2 Sep, 2016 8:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: It's easy to pinpoint the best thing that happened to the Aganoa tribe in the first episode of Survivor Australia - they got rid of Des.

Andrew Munro as Ed Hillary in the new TV One series Hillary.

ENTERTAINMENT

Hillary's TV One debut a 'promising start'

22 Aug, 2016 11:30am
3 minutes to read

If the Legionnaire hat comes roaring back into fashion in New Zealand this summer, we won't need to look far to find the reason why.

Brief Encounters turns out to be an unexpectedly feel-good watch despite its bleak setting. Photo / TVNZ

ENTERTAINMENT

Why are vibrators being used as kitchen utensils?

17 Aug, 2016 8:05am
4 minutes to read

In the space of a week, two characters in different TV One comedies have innocently mistaken a vibrator for a kitchen utensil.

Heritage Rescue host Brigid Gallagher has great instincts for what will make compelling viewing.

ENTERTAINMENT

Museum makeover show a surprise gem

10 Aug, 2016 5:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Seven years on the popular British show Time Team obviously left Gallagher with a strong sense for what audiences will find interesting.

Karena Bird's emotions were as raw as the veges she sampled with Mrs Lee on Karena and Kasey's Kitchen Diplomacy.

ENTERTAINMENT

Sisters' heart and Seoul on show in debut

3 Aug, 2016 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The sisters' honesty and openness helps set Kitchen Diplomacy apart from the countless other travel and cooking shows on television.