Aardvark Daily

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Internet rescues TV

24 October 2008

I've never been a "big" TV watcher but I must admit that 20 or 30 years ago I did watch more than I do today.

Until the other day, I thought that might have been because the quality of TV content was a little better back then.

However, after a few minutes using one of NZ's newest websites, I realised that I was wrong - it's always been bad, really bad.

What website?

NZ On Screen is a site that's been set up to give us a glimpse back at some of NZ's more iconic series and movies, a job it does very well.

If you have a longing to revisit some of the shows that have been a part of NZ's cultural evolution then you might find yourself wasting a great deal of time (and sizeable chunks of your data-cap) there.

Some of the stuff is great - a lot of it is real cringe-material.

One thing's for sure though, almost everyone will find something of interest there.

I'm also impressed with the technical quality of the video presented, it's very good.

Of course the first thing I did was take the chance to watch Blokes 'n' Sheds, a programme I managed to miss when it screened on FTA TV.

And look... no ads!

Hey, this is TV on demand, the way you'd dreamed it would be!

But getting back to comparing today with yesterday in terms of content quality on our TVs...

I regularly criticise "current affairs" programmes like Campbell Live and CloseUp for their lightweight coverage of material that often barely qualifies as news.

Surely, back in the days of black and white TV, things were better -- right?

Well if the Town and Around: Wellington Highlights from 1968 are anything to go by, it would appear that nothing has changed.

By the way, that clip shows the great awe in which computers were held back then. The IBM 360 (complete with girl's name) carefully processes the stack of punched cards and then converses with the host through a TTY terminal (all in upper-case).

And to think -- your cellphone now has more computing power (and memory) than that lumbering giant!

Another item I found *very* interesting in that video is the way they found so many cars left unlocked in a city carpark -- one even had the keys in it.

I didn't see a single ratbag youth giving the fingers to the camera in the background and everyone seemed well dressed and sell spoken. What a difference a few decades makes to people's attitudes and manners eh?

So, with a nasty wet, windy and sometimes cold long-weekend approaches, perhaps it might be a good time to sit down with a hot drink or a beer and enjoy some of the best that NZ film and TV makers have produced over the past four decades.

If I get a spare moment, I might just join you.

If you've visited the site and viewed some clips - what do you think?

Have you spotted any gems that the rest of us should also watch?

Are there any lessons to be learned from the more historic clips?

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