Wheelie bins and really big geese: How has ThreeNews' first week gone?
Plus: terrifying twisters return, a groundbreaking new reality show from Japan, and two new films for horror fans.
Last weekend I sat down to watch something deliciously mind-numbing and trashy, and Netflix’s algorithm served me up its new docuseries The Man with 1000 Kids. Given the title, I started watching with extremely low expectations, but what followed was a bewildering and astonishing true-crime series about Jonathan Meijer, a Dutch sperm donor who travelled the world determined to father as many children as possible. It’s a gripping (if not despairing) watch, but if out of control sperm donors aren’t your thing, we’ve got plenty of other excellent recommendations for you this week. Happy watching!
We’re nearly one week into the new ThreeNews era
The city of New York has just discovered wheelie bins, and the news has sent ThreeNews anchor Samantha Hayes into a hearty case of the giggles. “I remember getting wheelie bins in Milton when I was a kid,” Hayes laughs to weather presenter Heather Keats, who seems as equally as bemused by the march of progress across one of the world’s biggest cities. It’s nearing the end of ThreeNews’ fifth ever news bulletin, and they’ve saved the weirdest story for last: America now has rubbish bins.
We’re nearly a week into the ThreeNews era, now produced by Stuff after 35 years of being made by Three and Newshub, and the ratings are going well. Figures provided by Warner Bros. Discovery show that Saturday’s edition received an average of 19.3% of viewers aged 25-54 (up from 15.7% over the last quarter), and an increase of 89% on the week prior in the 5+ age demographic. Live streams were also up 19% on the previous four week average.
Saturday night’s inaugural bulletin was sleek, shiny and very, very purple. Now with a few more bulletins under its belt, how has ThreeNews fared during its longer one-hour weekday editions – and how many wheelie-bin stories are too many?
Breaking news: it’s still purple. Former Newshub presenter Samantha Hayes was in the anchor seat on Monday, and kicked off ThreeNews’ first weekday bulletin with her typical warmth and professionalism. Along with fellow former Newshub journalists like Laura Tupou, Jenna Lynch, Juliet Speedy and Tova O’Brien, Hayes appears to have shifted seamlessly across to ThreeNews. The experience of the ex-Newshub team is critical to this new news being taken seriously, and it feels like we’re in safe hands.
Each edition this week covered a variety of local, national and international stories, from the prime minister’s visit to the Nato summit to some annoying Canada geese in Canterbury to Lulu Sun’s Wimbledon tournament. ThreeNews also ventured beyond the studio, reporting from parliament, travelling to Spain for a live interview with Team New Zealand’s Grant Dalton and crossing live to Tova O’Brien in Washington DC – or as it was accidentally called, “Barcellona”.
So far, it feels like ThreeNews is covering all its bases, but understandably, there’s still a few things to be fine tuned. A sports interview on Monday night was filmed with a camera that moved so much I felt seasick. Saturday’s exclusive interview with a Whakatāne gang leader popped up again on Tuesday, and featured much of the same content. There were also some lighter items towards the end of each edition that felt out of place, like footage of a Cornwall ice-cream van floating out to sea or John Cena announcing his wrestling retirement, or the aforementioned wheelie bins.
And no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop trying to work out where the floor ends and begins during Heather Keats’ pixellated weather report. That green screen has got me good, and while it’s a tad more obvious when Simon Dallow is pretending to be in outer space, it’s unnerving that I can’t work out which parts of the ThreeNews studio are real and which parts aren’t.
Clearly, ThreeNews is still working out who it wants to be, and who it really is. It’s doing the basics well, delivering the essential news with energy and authority and keeping us informed on international events, but there’s no doubt this is a move of extremely high stakes. Stuff promised innovation and freshness, but will its nightly interactive polls, ad-break quiz questions and mystifying set be enough of a point of difference to retain viewers, and ideally, draw them over from TVNZ? For ThreeNews’ sake, I wheelie, wheelie hope so.
ThreeNews screens on Three every night at 6pm and streams on ThreeNow.
Listen to episode 5 of Juggernaut – ‘Nine Day Wonder’
Fran Wilde takes the homosexual law reform bill to parliament in 1985. The campaign encounters fierce resistance on both sides of the house. At the same time, strides are being taken in introducing the Treaty of Waitangi into political and legal structures.
Juggernaut was made with the support of NZ On Air. Follow now to make sure you get every episode.
Why you should watch: Twisters (in cinemas)
I went into Twisters with absolutely no inhibitions and a couple of hours to kill, and came away having had a bloody good time. A standalone sequel to the 90s action classic (just called Twister, singular, despite it also having several twisters), this is a fun, mid-year blockbuster centred on tornado hunters. But it also has a lot more going for it. For starters, it’s shot on film and looks significantly better than most Hollywood thrillers. It also has Lee Isaac Chung behind the camera, who you may remember as the director of Minari – which couldn’t be any further from Twisters. Throw in the likes of Glen Powell and you have yourself a good night out. It occasionally suffers from some heavy handed climate change messaging that, though important, doesn’t really add a lot, and it’s not going to win any awards for its scriptwriting. The closest comparison I can make is something like Top Gun Maverick – a surprisingly well made sequel to a classic from yesteryear that nobody asked for but maybe everyone will want to see. / Stewart Sowman-Lund
Why you should watch: The Boyfriend (Netflix)
Reality fans have a new must-watch: Japan’s first same-sex romantic reality series The Boyfriend. It takes place over one summer, as nine men in their 20s and 30s move into the same beachside house to find love. The men must work together in a coffee truck, and as the weeks pass, begin to find the freedom and confidence to express themselves among their new friends. It feels similar in tone and style to Japanese reality hit Terrace House, and like that show, comes with a vibrant panel of Japanese stars who provide a commentary to all the blossoming romances. Groundbreaking, wholesome and extremely heartwarming.
Other pop culture news from The Spinoff:
If you’re not already deeply invested in the spectacular second season of The Traitors NZ (ThreeNow), then don’t miss Alex Casey’s power rankings for all week two’s deadly drama.
Speaking of deadly drama, I wrote an emotional obituary to one of Shortland Street’s (TVNZ+) most iconic characters Leanne Miller, after her tragic passing this week.
As the world’s best choirs descend on Auckland for the World Choir Games, Ben Fagan looks back on three particularly memorable NZ choir performances.
Following on from last week’s review of Madam (ThreeNow), Alex Casey spoke to the real-life madam who inspired the award winning comedy-drama.
I loved reading Kuru Turuwhenua’s TV memories in this week’s My Life in TV, while Shapeshifter’s P Digsss shares his perfect weekend playlist.
Don’t miss all the new shows streaming this week, including the charming Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Netflix).
Why you should watch: Maxxxine and Longlegs (in cinemas)
Horror fans rejoice as this week provides two big releases that have been buzzing up a storm online in the last few months. Maxxxine is the final film in Ti West's century-spanning horror trilogy, picking up a few years after the deadly events of X (filmed in Aotearoa, along with prequel Pearl). Maxine Minx is now working as an adult film star in glitzy, grimy 1985 Hollywood, her vaulting ambition to be famous only periodically disrupted by traumatic memories of X's bloodbath. Features a fantastic Kevin Bacon, a bizarre Halsey, and is a solid three star experience. If you'd prefer to be scared to the core of your being at the sight of Nic Cage taking the biggest straggly-haired swing since Heath Ledger's Joker, I'd go see Longlegs instead. Part Silence of Lambs, part Zodiac, all a pure nightmare, it's an unrelenting and often bone-chillingly satanic serial killer hunt that has haunted my thoughts since I saw a preview last night. For a fun challenge, try not to flinch in the opening sequence :') / Alex Casey
Before we pop off…
This fun yarn from RNZ about how comedian and Beef actor Ali Wong ended up popping over to Masterchef NZ winner Sam Low’s house for a meal.
Delighted that The Lord of the Rings musical is coming to Auckland for FIVE WEEKS?! First opening on the West End in 2007, critics were perturbed by the “charismatic and creepy” performances, others disliked the “overblown, over-orchestrated" score, and some went as far to rename it 'Bored of the Rings'. See you opening night, my precious.
Season two of the excellent Australian dramedy Deadloch (Prime Video) has been confirmed, with both Madeleine Sami and Kate Box returning. This time, they’ll be solving crimes in the Northern Territory.
Taskmaster fans should dive into the latest episodes of the show’s official podcast, with Ed Gamble and guests discussing season one of Taskmaster NZ (“What is Invercargill?” seems to be the most perplexing issue so far).
Obsessed with Shortland Street's overly dramatic RIP Leanne social media post causing mass confusion as to who had actually died. Reminds me of the collective national mourning experienced when Sarah Potts carked it, and the many, many furious comments left on Facebook by well-wishers.
That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.
