Sam Brooks is a playwright, journalist and critic. Email him on sam@thespinoff.co.nz
She's an Oscar-winning actress, a widely hated celebrity and founder of one of the most successful wellness brands in the world. And all your jade egg jokes make no difference at all.
Avenue 5, the new show from The Thick of It and Veep genius Armando Iannucci, veers off-course after an ambitious launch, writes Sam Brooks
Sam Brooks covers how long it’ll take to binge some of the most bingeable shows – and how to prepare to for it.
Is there a more empathetic show on television than the British teen comedy-drama Sex Education? Unlikely, writes Sam Brooks.
Sam Brooks went to the FOMO 2020 festival in Auckland, and was relieved to find it was more than just the final time that Lizzo will ever perform at 7:20pm.
In the year 2000 there was no Netflix or Amazon Prime or On Demand; the 'too much TV' era was still years in the future. So what did we watch instead?
Another year, another avalanche of television to keep track of. Sam Brooks rounds up all the shows you'll want to watch this year – new, returning, and local.
Summer reissue: Ten years on from its first episode, Sam Brooks revisits all the wild, dumb, and plain terrible things that happened on Glee.
Sam Brooks steps back in time to 2009, the year of Now! That's What I Call Music 31. What did his younger self think of those songs – and do they still hold up today?
Sam Brooks digs into his childhood to present his magnum opus: a ranking of all 151 OG Pokémon.
With Falling Inn Love, New Zealand gets its very own Netflix romcom – so how accurate is its depiction of small town NZ? Sam Brooks investigates.
Sam Brooks reviews the second season of You, the surprise Netflix hit of 2018 that made toxic masculinity fun and watchable, and it finally finds the depth to earn that fun.
Sam Brooks reviews Netflix's The Witcher, a wildly fun adaptation of the Polish fantasy novels of the same name.
Culture editor Sam Brooks saw a midnight screening of the new Star Wars film last night. These are his fast reckons.
Holidays are stressful, and it can be real easy to lash out. Here's a list of easy things to do to make sure you don't come off like a Grinch this festive season.
Google just released what New Zealanders looked for the most in 2019, and it says a lot about us. Not all of it is good.
Sam Brooks interviews Cecily, the local singer behind surprise sleeper hit 'Thinking 'Bout Me'.
Sam Brooks reviews Marriage Story, the latest Netflix movie that tackles that universally horrible experience: Divorce.
What the hell are you meant to give the person who has everything for Christmas? Don't stress, we've got you covered.
Sam Brooks ranks the songs of Frozen 2 based on how likely it is your kid will scream them in your face.
It's that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks watched the latest instalment last night, and is still recovering.
Sam Brooks reviews Gris, the stunning, newly updated game from Devolver Digital that gamifies and makes beautiful that one universal process: grief.
Sam Brooks reviews the latest season of Nailed It!, the cooking show that celebrates enthusiasm over talent or edibility.
Sam Brooks reviews the latest generation of the Pokémon games which finally hits the big-ish screen.
Sam Brooks gives you the lowdown on Disney+, the exhaustive streaming service launching today.
Can the much-hyped Disney+ show The Mandalorian serve the Star Wars diehards at the same time as the casual viewer?
