50 years of broadcasting – no mean feat, I guess, but then, let’s take a moment to look at what we have been served up over those 5 decades:
- 1960s – Lassie, Bonanza, Mr Ed, Dr Who, Get Smart, The Avengers, Man from Uncle, Bewitched, Mission Impossible, Ironside
- 1970s – Dad’s Army, Monty Python, Two Ronnies, Alias Smith and Jones, M*A*S*H, Six Million Dollar Man, Kojak, Basil Brush, It’s in the Bag, Top Town, Starsky & Hutch, A Week of it, Are you being served, I Claudius, The Professionals, Happy Days, Soap
- 1980s – Mork & Mindy, Fawlty Towers, Minder, Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, To the Manor Born, Benson, Billy T James, Gliding On, University Challenge, Hill Street Blues, Battlestar Galactica, Ready to Roll, After School with Olly Olsen, Brideshead Revisited Love Boat, Hogan’s Heroes, A Team, Night Rider, Blind Date,
- 1990s – Holmes, Sale of the Century, Frontline, On The Mat, Counterpoint, Eyewitness, Assigment, Ralston Live, Flying Doctors, LA Law, Cheers, Young Ones, The Bill, Simpsons, Married with Children, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Thunderbirds, Dastardly & Mutley, Family Ties, Magnum PI, Star Trek, Doogie Houser, Macguvyer, Cosby Show, Beverly Hills 90210, 21 Jump Street, Casualty, Roseanne, American Gladiators, Seinfeld, The Nanny, Friends, Ally McBeal
- 2000s – Brothers & Sisters, Go Girls, Shortland Street, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, The Apprentice, American Idol, Two & a half men, Unauthorised History of NZ, Eating Media Lunch, Big Brother (list courtesy of kiwiblog)
Hmmm.
Well, there has been David Mitchell’s “Elegant Shed”, and Douglas Lloyd Jenkin’s “At Home in NZ”, not to mention de Botton’s “Architecture of Happiness” – but aside from these shows, and the odd “Artsville” type guest appearance of architecture – what else have we been served up, in terms of architecture and/or urban design, in those fifty years.
Should we count the various ‘DIY/Real Estate’ derived shows like “Grand Designs”, “Mitre 10 ad nauseum”, “My Home My Castle”, and that one that the title escapes me, but which seems to feature little more than an annoying American shouting through a megaphone for the entire show (you know, “Move that Bus”)…
Is this the state of it, or have I missed some shows of significance…?
Entertainment is one thing, but it is my view that it is not the role of the State to be supplying it – a case could be made for State broadcasting as a public service but I’m not sure that is what we are getting with NZ On Air funding shows like “Dancing with the Stars” (more of a public disservice if you ask me). 50 years of state broadcasting seems like a good time to reappraise the continued involvement of tax-payer dollar funding of the “unmitigated shite” that we are routinely presented with…
What say you…?
Leave a Reply