Gordon McLauchlan

Journalist and prolific author Gordon McLauchlan, ONZM, edited The New Zealand Encyclopedia for a decade. His 1976 bestseller The Passionless People dissected the Kiwi psyche. In the 1980s McLauchlan presented Sunday morning magazine show Weekend for six years — aside from a tour of the United States, hosting series American Pie. In 1987 he won a GOFTA Award as Best Presenter. He repartnered with Weekend's Kerry Smith for weekday show 5.30 Live. McLauchlan was also a television critic, and set questions for the first two seasons of Sale of the Century. He died on 26 January 2020, at the age of 89.  

You shouldn’t take TV too seriously. I want people to feel there’s some kind of intelligence behind Weekend without being preachy. A kind of Listener in your home on a Sunday morning... Gordon McLauchlan describes Weekend, in a 25 April 1987 Listener interview