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ListsSeptember 7, 2015

Appointment Viewing: Songs From the Inside to Soapy Ed Sheeran – Five Things to Watch This Week

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Woah, busy alert! I see you, shuffling papers and scrolling through your calendar with a furrowed brow. Life is crazy, life is hectic. TV? Forget about it! What a nightmare! Lucky for you, we have had a scan of the week ahead and have got your five essential television appointments booked. Sit back, relax and let the trusty Spinoff guide you through your television week.

Songs From the Inside, Monday 9.30pm on Maori TV

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Returning for a third and final season, Songs From the Inside takes some of New Zealand’s most prominent musicians behind the walls of New Zealand prisons. Once there, they work with prisoners to write, perform and record their own original music. This season takes us into the prisons of Christchurch, with Scribe, Ladi6, Troy Kingi and Anika Moa as the musical mentors. Earlier this year I interviewed Anika Moa about her work on Songs From the Inside:

“It changed the way I perceived the prison system. It’s changed the way I perceive people in general. Because anyone that’s been in prison, they are generally there because their whole life has been tormented with drugs and alcohol and abuse. It’s all been carried on to them. You’ve got to learn to not judge people that are in prison. Look in your own backyard before you start judging other people.”

Kid Criminals, Tuesday 9.30pm on TV One

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This two-part series debuts on TV One this week, taking viewers behind the bars of Indiana’s juvenile prisons. With inmates as young as 12, Kid Criminals profiles the kids themselves, prison guards and staff, as well as the backgrounds that have led them all to this point. What treatments will they receive? What skills will they need to re-join society? Will Anika Moa pop up with a guitar? Sadly, not for this time.

Struggle Street finale, Wednesday 8.30pm on TV One

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The final part of Struggle Street, a documentary series examining extreme poverty in the western suburbs of Sydney, airs on Wednesday. Observational, impartial and absolutely relentless in its gaze, the camera takes us inside the homes of families gripped by unemployment, drugs and mental illness. It’s some of the most harrowing and eye-opening television of the year.

Home and Away, Thursday 5.30pm on TV2

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Look, we all love it when Ed Sheeran pops up on a fictional television show. He’ll do it here. He’ll do it there. He’ll do it anywhere. This week he’s taking his luscious red locks to the sandy shores of Summer Bay, where he is guaranteed to be strumming a guitar in The Deli for no reason.

Dogs: Their Secret Lives, Friday 7.30pm on Prime

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Finally, someone’s asking the big questions.

Bonus binge: Twin Peaks on Lightbox – With David Lynch finally locked in for a 2016 reboot after throwing a big tanty about money, it’s a great time to relive this piece of haunting, surreal, and damn good television.


This content, like everything we do at The Spinoff, is brought you thanks to the excellent folk people at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this truly wonderful service.

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ListsSeptember 4, 2015

Appointment Viewing: From Bullseyes to Blushing Brides – Five Things to Watch This Week

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Woah, busy alert! I see you, shuffling papers and scrolling through your calendar with a furrowed brow. Life is crazy, life is hectic. TV? Forget about it! What a nightmare! Lucky for you, we have had a scan of the week ahead and have got your five essential television appointments booked. Sit back, relax and let the trusty Spinoff guide you through your television week.

Bullseye, Friday 7.30pm on TV3

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Kellan Lutz from Twilight hosts this new extreme game show, where competitors must go to extreme lengths to hit the bullseye in physical challenges from transforming into human darts to bombing down from helicopters. I did a rare interview with Kellan Lutz last month, and he told me that he tried out one of the stunts and had to get staples in his head. I then asked him if he would come over here and be our Bachelor for season two. He said no. I have since lost the interview footage completely, suppose you could say that… missed the bullseye.

The MTV Video Music Awards, Monday from 12pm on MTV

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It’s been a Bermuda triangle of Twitter controversy already. Both Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have called out Nicki Minaj for calling out the absurd music industry standards that meant ‘Anaconda’ missed out on a bloody Best Video nomination. Perhaps as some sort of olive branch, Nicki’s now opening the ceremony – it’s guaranteed to be killer.

Shortland Street, Weeknights at 7pm on TV2

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They have tried their best to keep it secret in the Ferndale world, but Nicole and Vinnie are tying the knot this week. This won’t be a Chris and Rachel commemorative mug type of swanky affair, but they are still a long term crowd favourite that are sure to get some tears rolling down the aisle.

TLC, launches Tuesday on Sky Channel 16

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Launching tomorrow on Sky Channel 16 is TLC, short for The Learning Channel. So, what can we expect to learn about? Sister wives, little people, big people, psychic people, obsessed people, tattooed people and people with shocking sexual injuries. This reality-packed “lifestyle programming” schedule is like no other, and will be appointment viewing from now until forever.

Step Dave, Tuesday at 8.35pm on TV2

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Season two of Step Dave kicks off tomorrow night, throwing us back into the alarming world of the OLDER WOMAN and YOUNGER MAN relationship. Will she know what Disclosure is? Will he miss the mark and buy her a tunic from Caroline Eve for her birthday? Who is to say.

Bonus Binge Watch: Suits on Lightbox

Season five of the fast-talking legal drama has just gone on hiatus in the US, so there’s no better time to catch up . It’ll only take you 2.5 days, you big wimp.


This content, like everything we do at The Spinoff, is brought you thanks to the truly wonderful people at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here to start a FREE 30 day trial of this amazing service.

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