New Zealand Sitcoms

I live in New Zealand - born here too.

There have been few truly funny sitcoms made here - in my opinion. The three Good ones were...

- 'Gliding On' (a take off of the civil service here - set in an office - also had a catchy theme tune). Glide Time was the New Zealand phrase for Britain's Flexi-time. Glide time was used a lot in the civil service here in the 70s and 80s. Made in the 70s, maybe very early 80s. Writer Roger Hall still writes some very funny plays.)

- 'Market Forces' (a 90s follow up of 'Gliding on'). Series one was excellent. Series two in my opinion totally lost the plot (literally) and was awful. (Series one had an excellent point - changes that were made in the civl service in the late 80s and 90s).

- 'Letters to Blanchy' was THE BEST sitcom ever made in New Zealand. It was great! Very similar to Only Fools and Horses in a few respects - but defenately not a copy in any way. It ran in the 90s. Very funny. For some reason it's never been put out on DVD though. Although was released on videos in the 90s. Funny acting funny writing. And reflected NZ culture, making fun of it - although the culture might have changed a little since then? Some of the actors did some fantastic TV satire here in the 70s and 80s too. But that was sketch stuff not sitcom.

http://www.arovideo.co.nz/film.php?FilmID=7853

- Most NZ sitcoms, although there haven't been a lot have been awful.

I don't know whether cartoons can be classified as sitcoms, but Bro Town is excellent (especially the accents) and should enjoy a much wider international audience.

And surely Jaquie Brown is what James Cotter is on the verge of becoming.

Quote: Kenneth @ November 21 2009, 10:17 AM GMT

I don't know whether cartoons can be classified as sitcoms, but Bro Town is excellent (especially the accents) and should enjoy a much wider international audience.

And surely Jaquie Brown is what James Cotter is on the verge of becoming.

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i've never seen Jaquie Brown. I'm not really up with recent stuff. Also, never seem to get round to looking at TV3 on which it is broadcast here for some reason. I guess its because in the early years it was a bit of a poor relation of TVNZ.

It would not do any harm if you were to record some Jaquie Brown (basically she is a wannabe TV star/producer with delusions of grandeur and she has ended up becoming a star and producer) and send to James Cotter for inspiration.

New Zealanders: I'd like to ask you about Wayne Anderson the singer, the entertainer, the comedian? I don't really know what to make of him, but from the little I've read of him and the few clips I've seen of his shows he seems to be pretty funny. I just don't know whether hes real or if hes playing a character. In any case I'm considering making a blind purchase of his DVDs for the holidays and would appreciate any information at all about him and his shows. Thanks!

Here's his website by the way for anyone unfamiliar:

http://www.wayneanderson.tv/index.html

Oh and to stay on topic, since I don't think what Wayne Anderson does qualifies as a sitcom, I'll say that I've seen several episodes of Seven Periods with Mr. Gormsby, which I had read was supposed to be pretty good, but which I thought was pretty terrible. And I definitely need to check out bro'Town sometime since I've seen it air on either IFC or Sundance here in the States but have yet to watch a full episode.

I'll have to ask my girlfriend about these. She's a Kiwi.

The title of this thread could also act as the title for the world's shortest book surely?

Surely Flight of the Conchords qualifies as a New Zealand sitcom? Or if the essential qualification is 'made in New Zealand', then what about Worzel Gummidge Down Under?

Quote: Kenneth @ November 27 2009, 10:54 AM GMT

what about Worzel Gummidge Down Under?

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That's a bit personal.

Only Fools and Kiwis ?

Quote: Chappers @ November 25 2009, 5:18 PM GMT

I'll have to ask my girlfriend about these. She's a Kiwi.

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Always thought you were a bit fruity

She tells me that Gliding on was really funny but doesn't remember the others.

How would you go about getting these if curious about NZ sitcoms?

I've checked Amazon UK and USA no luck there.

I did find "Gliding On" online... you can watch the first episode here:

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/gliding-on-1981/overview

Quote: Oldrocker @ November 26 2009, 11:22 PM GMT

The title of this thread could also act as the title for the world's shortest book surely?

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Yes - there have been others made but the ones I remember I didn't like.

Letters to Blanchy is tops of the short list for me.

New Zealand has made some other good television though - mostly nature documentaries. I'm not up with the latest stuff.

Quote: Kenneth @ November 27 2009, 10:54 AM GMT

Surely Flight of the Conchords qualifies as a New Zealand sitcom? Or if the essential qualification is 'made in New Zealand', then what about Worzel Gummidge Down Under?

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I don't know. Worzel Gummidge Down Under was not as good as the original Worzel Gummidge in my opinion - although it was still okay. There was a story about it stopping prematurely due to a TV company folding. I'm not sure if that was the original Worzel Gummidge or 'Down Under'. As a New Zealander its nice to have the NZ flavour in downunder - especially as that was the time I was growing up. I have most of them on DVD but not quite all.

Quote: MTpromises @ December 10 2009, 1:56 AM GMT

How would you go about getting these if curious about NZ sitcoms?

I've checked Amazon UK and USA no luck there.

I did find "Gliding On" online... you can watch the first episode here:

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/gliding-on-1981/overview

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Thanks for the link as I'd never seen that site. Nice to see the gliding on clip. Bit of overacting - NZ actors were probably not used to doing TV in those days. Unfortunately none of the ones I recommended have been put out on DVD to the best of my knowledge. Strange as they've put out other NZ stuff on DVD that I think is not so good and wouldn't have thought would be so popular. Neither have I found anything to download. There is other NZ stuff you can buy though. Note that New Zealand uses PAL not NTSC so you might want to take that into consideration if you were thinking of buying anything.

You might want to try trademe - NZ's equivalent of ebay. Not sure about getting stuff to the US though - would depend on individual seller. Unfortunately doesn't seem to have a specific NZ DVD section though.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/

Heres' a online NZ DVD store:

http://www.mightyape.co.nz

Heres a Australia and NZ torrent site - all seems to be more recent stuff though and you might need an invite?

http://diwana.org/