From Love Story to Louis Theroux to Last One Laughing, we recommend 10 top TV shows to enjoy this long weekend.
Easter is here, and if you’re lucky, you’re about to enjoy a four-day long weekend. No matter whether you’re staying at home or heading out of town for a quick holiday, The Spinoff knows there’s no better way to spend your precious free days than staring mindlessly at a screen. With that in mind, we’ve gathered together 10 of our favourite shows to watch right now. From nail-biting award-winning dramas to shocking documentaries to a British comedy that really doesn’t want you to laugh, there’s a recommendation here for everyone.
Love Story (Disney+)
The best thing about Love Story is that it’s actually quite boring. We know how the story of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette ends so all we have to do is follow their impeccable style along the rollercoaster of their courtship with vague interest. If you’re anything like me, you might need your escapism this Easter to be relatively low-stakes yet mildly compelling all the same. Love Story is smooth, nostalgic (that 90s fashion, those New York vistas, that 90s music), easy to absorb, and will lend you a cathartic cry (the finale is the best episode with the best performances – heartbreaking). It’s also great fodder for follow-up reading material, particularly Daryl Hannah’s blistering take-down in the NY Times (they did her dirty in the show). / Claire Mabey
LOL: Last One Laughing UK (Prime Video)
If you want a few hours of completely silly TV, I can’t recommend Last One Laughing enough. Based on a Japanese format, this comedy series chucks a bunch of funny people together in a Big Brother-esque house and asks them not to laugh for six hours straight. If anyone dares to crack a smile or stifle a guffaw, they’re out, and the last comedian standing wins. The just-concluded UK season is arguably the best yet, thanks to comedians like Alan Carr, Mel Geidroyc, Romesh Ranganathan, Diane Morgan, Sam Campbell and season one winner Bob Mortimer, who’s back for a second go at the laugh factory. Just like Taskmaster, Last One Laughing is completely ridiculous and totally pointless, but it’s never felt so good to have a laugh. / Tara Ward
The Pitt (Neon)
Four days off sounds pretty relaxing. Too relaxing. Enter The Pitt, which is stressful as all hell and so worth the cortisol spikes. Noah Wyle, known for starring in ER as an emergency room doctor, shows his range by starring in The Pitt as an emergency room doctor. Honestly, range is overrated – just do what you’re good at, and Wyle is damn good at playing a calm-on-the-outside, messy-on-the-inside, blood-spattered doctor. The writing is sharp, the acting nuanced and the pace is relentless in the best possible way. Binge both seasons (series two is about to wrap up) consecutively and you’ll end up pretty much feeling like a qualified medic. Side effects may include muttering about tachy patients, intubating and getting 10ml of epi on board. / Veronica Schmidt
Millie Lies Low (Maori+ from April 5)
Sure, it’s a movie rather than a TV series, but Millie Lies Low is a local gem. Ana Scotney and Rachel House star in this comedy-drama about a wannabe architect who fakes her career online. Scotney plays Millie, a young woman preparing to leave New Zealand for New York to intern in a renowned architecture firm when her anxiety gets the better of her. Instead of catching her flight to the other side of the world, Millie retreats into her Wellington home and sets about convincing everyone online that she’s actually living her best life in the Big Apple. Directed by Michelle Saville, Millie Lies Low received glowing reviews when it was released in 2022 and was praised as “a refreshing must-watch” and “an instant New Zealand classic”. / TW
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Amerie, Harps, Darren, Quinni, Malakai, Cash, Spider, Missy, Sasha! Over the past three seasons of Heartbreak High I’ve grown to love these Aussie high-schoolers. The show is a bit like Sex Education but grittier and with more developed characters. Rachel House is brilliant as the school’s principal and season three (the final season) introduces Aki Munroe as Taz, House’s charismatic onscreen niece. Every single actor steals the show in this high-stakes, high-drama, high-hair, high-glitter dramedy-thriller. It’s glorious, it’s messy and it’s a shot of youthful energy. Highly recommend bingeing the lot in one go. / CM
The Newsreader (Netflix)
This award-winning Australian drama came out in 2021 but fkew under the radar here in Aotearoa, and is thankfully getting a new life on Netflix. Anna Torv and Sam Reid star as rival newsreaders working in a cutthroat Sydney newsroom in the mid 1980s, who decide to pair up to survive the sexist and unforgiving industry. The Newsreader has it all – an excellent cast, strong writing and a vivid sense of the 1980s, as real news stories like the Challenger explosion and the AIDS crisis are wound through the episodes. There’s plenty of drama both in front of and behind the cameras, and with three juicy seasons to binge, The Newsreader is a compelling, easy-to-watch gem. / TW
The Other Bennet Sister (TVNZ+)
There’s nothing like a period drama for a bit of escapism on a long weekend, and this new BBC series is charming from start to finish. Based on the novel by Janice Hadlow, The Other Bennet Sister takes Mary Bennet – the awkward middle Bennet daughter from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – and gives her a vibrant and independent life far beyond the original character. The 10-part series is a fresh take on a much-loved story that still honours Austen’s spirit. Ella Bruccoleri stars as Mary, while Richard E Grant and Ruth Jones play the Bennet parents – and don’t miss the cameo from Lucy Briers, the actress who played Mary in the iconic Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. / TW
Crackhead (ThreeNow)
Confident, fresh and darkly funny, Crackhead is one of New Zealand’s strongest TV shows in recent times. Created by, written and starring Holly Shervey (Millennial Jenny) and directed by Shervey’s husband Emmett Skilton (The Almighty Johnsons), Crackhead follows Frankie Jones (Shervey) as she confronts her addiction and spiralling mental health at a 28-day rehabilitation programme in the remote town of Laast. Frankie arrives at the facility (fittingly called The Laast Resort) expecting a luxury holiday, but what she finds is anything but relaxing. With a stacked New Zealand cast and a raw, fierce energy, Crackhead is a compelling portrayal of one woman’s descent to rock bottom and her emotional journey back up to redemption. Don’t miss it. / TW
Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere (Netflix)
Everyone has been talking about this documentary, but I’ve been hesitant to watch Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere because I don’t know if I can face the horrors of watching misogynists be misogynists for a full 90 minutes. Yet it remains on my to-watch list because men like the ones featured in this doco – who think women should be their sexual playthings and housekeepers – are absolute mysteries to me. It’s impossible to understand how anyone could think or act as they do, and I’m curious as to what could drive them. So I’m going to watch it over Easter, probably on Friday, so I have three full days to recover before having to face the world again. / VS
Deadloch (Prime Video)
A second season of this sharp and darkly comedic Australian murdery-mystery recently dropped on Prime Video, and great news, it’s as sharp and funny as the first. Created by Australian comedians Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney, Deadloch takes all the familiar murder-mystery cliches and plays with them for laughs, giving us a fresh perspective on a well-known genre. Madeleine Sami and Kate Box are back as two detectives investigating a series of mysterious deaths, this time in the hot and sweaty Northern Territory. “Deadloch captures the eccentricities of small-town Australia and the complexities of family dynamics in humorous ways, but never forgets to hit you with an emotional sucker-punch at the end of the joke,” we said in our review. “If you’re looking for a smart, funny series that isn’t remotely subtle, this is well worth the watch.” / TW
