Shame, shame, shame on you New Zealand On Air. Like everyone with half a brain in this country, I find it appalling that New Zealand On Air used tax-payer money to fund a show as disastrously vacuous at The GC. A misplaced point mentioned by some on my Newstalk ZB talkback show was, “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” I agree! Bad TV shows have existed since the beginning of TV, but what is different is that New Zealand On Air funded The GC to the tune of $420,000.
The GC is yet another Julie Christie production that instead of aiming to enhance New Zealand culture arguably subtracts from it; just think of the Christie-led decline of This Is Your Life with its nadir being a tribute to rugby legend Jonah Lomu in the form of the less than golden triumvirate of NZ Idol winners Lummis, Vai and Saunoa singing a third rate Faith Hill song There You’ll Be that had nothing to do with him. Of course viewers deserved better, but so too did the most famous rugby player we’ve ever produced.
And if people watch these shows and they can sell advertising around it, then we are all the dumber for it and who can blame them for making television that makes them a profit. So let them make a pseudo-reality show (pseudo because large chunks are clearly scripted) about young Kiwis partying and sleeping around on the Gold Coast, but for crying out loud, don’t help with the funding.
Worst of all, here is how the show was originally explained by NZ On Air:
“The TV3 series will explore emigration from a Maori perspective and how Tikanga Maori supports them as they adapt to life in a new country.”
Compare that to TV3’s recent publicity: “The GC follows the lives of a group of talented and attractive young Maori as they work hard and play even harder in Australia’s favorite playground, the glittering Gold Coast.”
New Zealand On Air has lost its way and in the same year that TVNZ7 is getting the chop, it is more vital than ever it gets an overhaul.
Oh my gosh! The dust is settling! The show still sucks, but I feel sorry for the cast. On top of that, the reaction to The GC has become infinitely more interesting than the show itself – read about it here.