OCTOBER 13 2018 LISTENER 71
TV REVIEW
T
he sitcom: it’s one of those
things, like public transport
and sophisticated media
discourse, we’re inexplica-
bly crap at. There have been noble
exceptions – Gliding On, Bro’Town,
The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Wellington
Paranormal... There were also Melody
Rules and, God help us, Porters. Flight
of the Conchords wasn’t funny enough
for us.
With this track record, we should
at least have been able to make a
good sitcom about a bunch of people
making a bad sitcom. Now Media-
Works, with NZ On Air, has grasped
the nettle with both bloodied hands.
Comedy Pilot Week offered five pilots
screened over four nights on Three
and on demand. Viewers can have a
say on social media on which pilot
becomes a series. It’s not a terrible
idea. Australia’s ABC and Channel
10 have tried it. Transparent began as
part of an Amazon pilot season. We
should be so lucky. Still, I can report
that I made it through the week with-
out retiring behind the sofa cushions
to whimper in despair.H
ere’s my ranking of the five
pilots, from best to yeah, nah.- Mean Mums. Mothers patrol
the grounds of a primary school
policing each other’s parenting
credentials. Who hasn’t been there?
Morgana O’Reilly is the star of the
week as harried single parent Jess,
who leaves her small son on his first
The holy grail of
a successful local
sitcom is within
viewers’ grasp.
Faith in the pilot
Mangere Vice
works on the
assumption
that you can
never have
too many fart
jokes. You can.
day at Kate Sheppard Primary with an encouraging,
“The internet assures me that you are going to be
fine!” Anna Julienne, match fit after fighting off a
gang of unfeasibly attractive competitors for the
affections of Erik Thomson on 800 Words, is equal
to the role of meanest mum, Heather. Her daughter,Cinnamon, is on a hybrid paleo-keto diet, poor
lamb. Heather homes in on Jess’ inadequacies like
a heat-seeking missile. The principal’s name is Mr
Coxhead (shades of The Jaquie Brown Diaries, in
which the John Campbell-like broadcaster was
called the rude-sounding McHuntly). So, nothing
subtle here, but it’s a slick half hour with humour
and, more importantly, heart. Would watch again.- Golden Boy. Local Crawdon boy ascends to
heaven in a golden chariot. Well, he becomes an
All Black (James Rolleston, literally phoning it in as
Tama). His sister, Mitch (Hayley Sproull), is home
from the Big Smoke to represent
the decline of print journalism by
working for the Crawdon Chronicle.
The locals are assorted weirdos and
conspiracy theorists. It almost counts
as social realism.- The Lonely Hearts Motel. No one
would ever call their hostelry The
Lonely Hearts Motel. Never mind.
Millen Baird, as Roy, and the wonder-
ful Ginette McDonald, thoroughly
enjoying herself as his mother, are
busy running the family motel into
the ground. Michael – “the other
brother” – to the rescue. There’s a
long-term Winz resident with bung
eyes who wanders through the
action like an escapee from Waiting
for Godot. Best Pilot Week cameo?
The dead rat. “Sad to be leaving,”
notes Roy, “but thoroughly enjoyed
his stay.” This falls somewhere
between Psycho and Welcome to
Paradise, Geoff Murphy’s bonkers
2009 sitcom about a backpackers’
hostel. It’s set in Palmerston North.
For some reason, I quite liked it. - Sidelines. There’s a South African
Christian football mum who advises
her tot to “wipe the floor and anni-
hilate the other children”. In further
poor-role-model news, there’s lot
of dispiriting sex among the largely
unlikeable parents, plus rating of sex
like an Uber ride: “Three stars. Left me
short of my destination.” Nick Rado,
as hopeless dad and worse coach
Steve, is funny but, overall, Sidelines
left me short of my destination. - Mangere Vice. This police comedy
runs on the assumption that you
can never have too many fart jokes
and kicks to the nuts. You can. A pity
because Cohen Holloway, Iaheto Ah
Hi, the always-magnificent Rachel
House and Ana Scotney are terrific. l
COMEDY PILOT WEEK, ThreeNow.
DIANA
WICHTEL
Morgana O’Reilly stars in Mean Mums.