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Summer season reissue: Following the information that The Challenge NZ was coming to an finish, Alex Casey appeared again on the fascinating historical past of 7pm present affairs reveals in Aotearoa.
First revealed on November 1, 2023.
It could seem to be a contemporary thought, however we’ve been craving a scrumptious chaser to comply with the shot that’s the each day information bulletin earlier than a person even walked on the moon. As early as 1965, we had been experimenting with methods to make the information extra palatable, starting with nightly present affairs present referred to as Town and Around. Airing at 7.50pm (when!) after The Information at 7.33pm (what!), the regional journal sequence had location-specific presenters and tales which serviced Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin (the place!).
As Robert Boyd-Bell wrote in New Zealand Tv: The First 25 Years, City and Round was “free from the extra inflexible construction of the information bulletin, capable of do rather more free wheeling in its method to points and personalities.” Sound acquainted? What if I instructed you that the present included every part from “slapstick, to parish pump, to the occasional studio confrontation”? Or that its most well-known episode included a joke story about a turkey wearing gumboots? How a lot has actually modified?
City and Round within the 60s would pave the way in which for a veritable buffet of present affairs reveals within the 70s and 80s (together with Top Half, The Mainland Touch, The South Tonight, Today Tonight and… Tonight), earlier than a crooner named Paul Holmes heralded the fashionable period of personality-led, headline-grabbing 7pm present affairs. Following the latest information that Three’s 7pm present The Challenge NZ is about to be axed by the tip of the 12 months, it looks as if an applicable time to look again at how the style has developed – and the way it’s stayed the identical.
Holmes (TV One, 1989-2004)
Paul Holmes was the primary however actually not the final 7pm host who was already infamous for his opinionated and provocative breakfast radio slot. The very first episode of Holmes, in April 1989, included a now notorious interview with America’s Cup skipper Dennis Conner, who was on the town to advertise a board recreation. Holmes shortly honed in on the latest Cup loss (“did you cry?”) earlier than turning to Conner’s poor sportsmanship and taking part in a clip the place Conner referred to as New Zealand yacht designer Bruce Farr “stuffed with shit”.
Conner took his depart from the interview early, telling the host “I’ve to run now”, selecting up his briefcase and swiftly storming out of the studio. This second would be part of a litany of different unforgettable interviews from Holmes’ 15 12 months reign, together with the Ingham Twins, the Ingham Twins once more, and when he got a bollocking from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. In 2003 Paul Holmes got here beneath hearth for calling UN secretary-general Kofi Annan a “cheeky darkie” on his radio present, inflicting public outcry that led to key sponsors fleeing the Holmes present. The ultimate episode of Holmes aired less than a year later in 2004.
Shut Up (TV One, 2004-2012)
Changing Holmes was Shut Up, fronted by Susan Wooden and Mark Sainsbury. Promising a view of “New Zealand, shut up”, the nightly present affairs present was a traditional mixture of onerous hitting information and life-style tales. A promo from 2005 encompasses a terrific one-two punch: a particular investigation into the Ron Jorgensen thriller (“He was declared lifeless… however is he nonetheless alive?”) promptly adopted by John Cleese winking suggestively on a mattress beside Susan Wooden. The present took an much more stunning flip in 2010, when an historical curse left host Mark Sainsbury trapped inside a muppet.
In direction of the tip of 2012, it was revealed that Close Up would be no more. TVNZ’s Ross Dagan mentioned the choice was a proactive response to suggestions that viewers had been in search of one thing contemporary and totally different in early night present affairs. Invoice Ralston criticised the transfer, saying that scrapping Shut Up could be “a disaster” and that will probably get replaced by one thing lighter and “extra like Breakfast.” Host Mark Sainsbury was barely much less maudlin in regards to the information on Twitter: “Picked a nasty week to surrender smoking!” he posted from his @SAINSO account.
Paul Holmes (Prime, 2005-2006)
After leaving TVNZ for Prime, the primary episode of the inventively-named Paul Holmes premiered in February 2005 on with a Seussian-style tongue tornado. “It was One Tree Hill after which it was None Tree Hill and yesterday it was One Tree Hill once more, briefly, after which immediately None Tree Hill once more. Properly, now it’s One lovely Tree Hill once more, as a result of I planted a tree up there immediately.” Afterward, Brian Tamaki will get roasted by a caller named Miri for sporting designer garments as an alternative of placing the cash in the direction of his parish. “Can’t a person of god be spunky?” mused Holmes.
Regardless of securing a exclusive and extremely long interview with Cher in 2005, Paul Holmes acquired “poor early critiques” and failed to herald the numbers to Prime. After simply six months it was introduced that it would be axed entirely. “Whereas we had been unable to vary viewing habits to the extent we might have favored, we’re very pleased with the programme and its achievements,” Prime chief govt Chris Taylor mentioned on the time. Paul Holmes would go on to host a short-lived weekly chat present on Prime, earlier than devoting some much-needed time to his Paso Doble.
Campbell Reside (TV3, 2005-2014)
Three’s Campbell Reside started in March 2005 and shortly turned identified for its emotive advocacy journalism and the overall marvellousness and mischief of host John Campbell (who opened the very first episode by saying “G’day youse fellas”). “Ever since Little Paul acquired the humpty and went to Prime, the battle for the all-important 7pm slot has been heating up,” reviewer Gordon Brown wrote on the time. “These days present affairs on tv has to do greater than inform. It additionally has to entertain. Campbell Reside manages that fairly properly.”
Whether or not it was the intensive protection of the Christchurch quakes, lunchboxes in low decile faculties or teaching rescue dogs how to drive, Campbell Reside instructed New Zealand tales at 7pm for over a decade. In Might 2015, after a six week overview of Campbell Reside which noticed scores soar and a passionate public marketing campaign attain over 80,000 signatures, Mediaworks introduced that the present could be ending and John Campbell could be leaving TV3. Hilary Barry cried on the news, tributes flowed, and the final episode was the highest rating in the show’s history.
Seven Sharp 1.0 (TV One, 2013-2014)
Changing Shut Up on TVNZ got here Seven Sharp, initially fronted by Jessie Mulligan, Ali Mau and Greg Boyed. Encouraging a way more conversational, interactive and youthful tone than its predecessor, Seven Sharp wholeheartedly embraced platforms like Twitter and Fb, a lot to some viewers’ chagrin. “Viewers don’t want social media foisted on them throughout each transition,” a reviewer wrote at the time. “For those who ain’t acquired an iPad don’t hassle tuning in,” wrote another. Rewatching the first episode earlier this 12 months, our personal Stewart Sowman-Lund admitted the social media integration was “janky” at finest.
Inside simply weeks of the premiere, Campbell Live began to beat Seven Sharp within the scores, heralding the primary time in historical past that TV3 had ever been forward of TVNZ within the 7pm time slot because the channel started in 1989. Stories of crisis meetings at TVNZ started to emerge, with host Ali Mau later revealing she discovered of her pending dumping through media reports. The Seven Sharp 1.0 hosting trio was disbanded towards the end of 2013, and the present ready to enter a brand new period the next 12 months.
Seven Sharp 2.0 (TV One, 2014-2017)
Seven Sharp returned in January 2014 with Mike Hosking, Toni Avenue and Jesse Mulligan on the helm – Mulligan would later describe an “awkward” third wheel dynamic that finally noticed him depart the present after just a few months. Duo Hosking and Avenue would host the present for the following 4 years, with memorable moments together with Mike Hosking’s crestfallen face after the 2017 election, Mike Hosking trying on a Chewbacca mask and Toni Avenue trying to get a word in.
Of their second to final episode for the 12 months in 2017, it was introduced that both Street and Hosking could be leaving Seven Sharp imminently. “We’re off, we’re performed, we’re ending. Tomorrow night time it’s over,” Hosking casually revealed. “These are lengthy hours and onerous days. And so we thought, what higher factor are you able to probably do than name it a day and exit on a excessive.” The following day, he could be crying while holding a Sol3 Mio Christmas CD.
Story (TV3, 2015-2016)
Changing Campbell Reside on TV3 and trying to conquer the would possibly of Hosking and his Chewbacca masks got here Story in 2015. Hosted by Heather du Plessis-Allan and Duncan Garner, the sequence was touted as a sensible, enjoyable and thought-provoking present that can cleared the path in each day present affairs. The primary episode featured iPads, du Plessis-Allan door stopping actual property brokers, Garner chatting with whistleblowers from a safety firm, and a video of a bullet being shot underwater.
Reviewing the primary episode, Duncan Greive noted “immediately we’re a world away from the set-bound lectures of Seven Sharp. Our hosts are out in the neighborhood, getting ordered off properties. And getting scalps.” Different notable moments included slicing an ‘uncuttable’ ankle bracelet live on air, and when du Plessis-Allan bought a gun. Regardless of receiving reward for “agenda-setting journalism”, the series was axed on the finish of 2016.
Seven Sharp 3.0 (TVNZ1, 2018-present)
Earlier than Hosking had even been in a position to make use of his Sol3 Mio CD to dry his eyes, Hilary Barry and former Hosking impersonator Jeremy Wells had been introduced because the information hosts of the TVNZ mainstay. The pair debuted on Seven Sharp in February 2018 and acquired mixed reviews – fellow broadcaster Dom Harvey mentioned that Wells was “wood” and former newsreader Jennie Goodwin was delay by Barry’s prime mixing into the background.
This was removed from the final time Barry could be criticised for her wardrobe. Except for naked shoulders, different “scandals” embrace the grotesque Jacinda Ardern lolly cake made by comic Laura Daniel and the time that Anika Moa clapped back at viewers that didn’t like her tattoos. Wells and Barry celebrated 1000 episodes together last year by rewatching the very first episode, and revealing that they’re secretly a couple of old cockroaches.
The Challenge NZ (Three, 2017-2023)
Asserting itself with an unforgettable La La Land-inspired musical quantity, full with Josh Thomson doing a backflip and a dubstep dance break, The Challenge NZ premiered on Three in February 2017. An area iteration of the vastly profitable Australian format, The Challenge NZ promised an “informative and really humorous half-hour mixture of the tales that matter from New Zealand and world wide” and would characteristic hosts Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Josh Thomson joined by rotating line-up of comedians, journalists and TV personalities.
Since then, The Challenge NZ has delivered moments together with as Kanoa Lloyd wiping off her makeup live on air following a narrative about magnificence requirements, a complete episode delivered in te reo Māori and the inimitable “come box” blunder. On October 26, 2023, it was introduced that The Project NZ will be axed by the tip of the 12 months. “Viewers behaviour has modified dramatically” mentioned Sarah Bristow, head of stories for Newshub, “We’ll design a redefined information present within the 7pm timeslot as a part of the broader Newshub proposition.”
After taking an evening off to course of the information, The Challenge NZ returned with a message for its viewers final Friday. “We nonetheless have a lot extra nice reveals to return earlier than the tip of the 12 months,” mentioned Mulligan. “After which keep tuned for my Onlyfans.”
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