TimeOut takes a look back at the year that was, here are the entertainment highlights from 2015.
We found the droids we're looking for
In Humans, a domesticated dad slept with the robot nanny and then had to explain why to his distraught son. In Ex Machina, humanised droids were given AI by the guy who later flew an X-Wing fighter guided by cute bot BB-8 in The Force Awakens. In Chappie, an ex-police mech unit is given human emotions but turned into a wannabe gangsta. Several versions of Arnie returned to the Terminator, and a giant bot baddie tried to take out The Avengers. Meanwhile, we travelled everywhere on hoverboards while operating drones from our smartphones and strapped watches to our wrists that measured every single thing we did. Too much tech? Probably.
BB-8 at the Japanese press conference for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
If someone died a dodgy death, suffered wrongful imprisonment or just did something plain weird that got serialised for our entertainment, we were there. First came HBO's bonkers doco The Jinx, which examined nervous belcher and possible murderer Robert Durst. Then there was Narcos, the wide-eyed portrayal of Pablo Escobar's cocaine crusade. Then came Serial's second season, about army deserter Bowe Bergdahl. Finally we discovered Making a Murderer, Netflix's new doco about the possibly wrongfully imprisoned Steven Avery, just in time for a fun family Christmas binge. Long may true crime reign.
Robert Durst. Photo / Gerald Herbert
Your fave TV character didn't die
OMG Jon Snow from Games of Thrones is dead! OMG, Glenn from The Walking Dead is dead! OMG, Clara from Doctor Who is dead! Actually, spoiler alert, that last one is real: she really did die this season. Otherwise, 2015 was notable for two major TV death scenes that didn't actually involve anyone dying. Thrones' fifth season ended with Jon Snow being stabbed repeatedly, but his appearance on posters for season six suggests Kit Harington still has a major role to play. And Glenn's innards were seemingly pulled from his stomach and eaten by marauding zombies, only for it to be revealed that he'd escaped under a dumpster. This is a cheap trick, TV writers of the world, and you need to stop it before we get stabby.
Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. Photo / Helen Sloane
The year's best comic wasn't Louis CK
Stand down, Louis, and take a bow, Amy Schumer. The 34-year-old New York stand-up was already three seasons deep into her skit show Inside Amy Schumer, a guilty pleasure for those in the know. But it was Trainwreck, her Judd Apatow collaboration in which she played a drunken party girl struggling with love, which sent a thunderbolt into the mainstream and cemented her status as the funniest person alive. Schumer's year didn't stop there, with her brutally personal, wonderfully R-rated HBO stand-up special Live From the Apollo hitting a home run. Her brilliant takedown of a horny young heckler sitting next to his mum was final proof that Schumer is very funny indeed. Here's the scary thing: it feels like she could get even funnier.
Amy Schumer. Photo / Jordan Strauss
Drake was everywhere
Dance like Drake! Dress like Drake! Date like Drake! Drake! Drake! DRAKE! The Canadian rapper didn't even release an official album in 2015, but he was popping up on news feeds and Facebook timelines constantly like a walking, talking internet meme. Here's a quick selection of highlights: eyeing up Serena Williams at the tennis, gracing Vector Arena with his first New Zealand show, pashing Madonna during his Coachella set, beefing with fellow rapper Meek Mill, hosting a Beats 1 radio show, releasing two full-length mixtapes and a handful of singles while still finding time to dance like a dad during his incredible Hotline Bling video. It was all Drake, all of the time. What a time to be alive.
Drake. Photo / Jack Plunkett
Pop stars get naughty in enzed
With Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga largely AWOL in 2015, it was left to Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift to lead the way. And for several days each, New Zealand was graced with the presence of both. They caused a media frenzy: first Bieber, for having quite the wild time drinking Hennessy on stage with rappers Rae Sremmurd in Auckland. Then came Ms Swift, whose presence on Bethells Beach in Auckland reportedly upset a few nesting birds. She didn't have a great time here, by all accounts, telling Zane Lowe she hid under a pile of towels while a paparazzi helicopter circled overhead for 45 minutes. So much for a safe haven.
Taylor Swift. Photo / Eric Jamison
We said goodbye to...
X Factor judges Willy Moon and Natalia Kills left the country with their tails between their legs, Campbell Live fought the law and Julie Christie won, Echo Festival spectacularly bit the dust, Good Morning and Karen Olsen got kicked out by TVNZ, planned concerts by Chris Brown, Tyler, the Creator, Cee-Lo Green and Beenie Man went up in smoke, R&B festival Soulfest lost its mojo, local music website Amplifier announced it would close, The X Factor and Dancing With the Stars returned then departed, TV3's 3D left our screens, the local movie awards were postponed due to a lack of contenders, and what happened to Kanye West? Perhaps the biggest MIA award of all goes to him.
Dismissed X Factor judge, Natalia Kills.
We saw way too much of ourselves on TV
Us Kiwis, we really love seeing ourselves on the telly huh? This year it seemed there was more of us than ever. We burned kumara and mixed baked beans with bok choy on Come Dine With Me, laughed ourselves silly when Poppy farted during a date with Art on The Bachelor, swooned over Simon Barnett's non-dad-bod on Dancing With the Stars, helped hunky builder Marty stay in the country and keep helping out on The Block, watched Tim take out MasterChef by replicating a dessert called "The Dome of Doom" and watched Wellington besties Jess and Stella win My Kitchen Rules after a five-course frenzy. There was so much reality TV there was almost no time for real life.
