Maria Dallas' performance of Jay Epae song ‘Tumblin’ Down’ helped make it a top 20 hit in 1966. Impressed with her versatility at the Loxene Golden Disc Award ceremony that year, TV producer Christopher Bourn invited her into a television studio five days before Christmas to perform songs for two 15 minute episodes of her own show, Golden Girl. Over the next year Dallas’ career continued to explode. In between trips to Australia, America and Asia, Bourn got her back to film further episodes, each one featuring four or five songs by Dallas, plus a guest spot by another performer.

Multimedia web series Tragicomic follows teenager Hannah Moore (Nova Moala-Knox) as she deals with her Dad’s mysterious disappearance, and the budding relationship between her Mum and her art teacher. Along the way Hannah finds solace in the comic she is making. The comics are part of the storytelling — some of them were released as part of the series, alongside the 10 web episodes. Based loosely on Shakespeare's Hamlet, Tragicomic was made by creative collective The Candle Wasters (Bright Summer Night). It was launched via Radio New Zealand's website and YouTube. 

Author, chef, bon vivant and redhead, Peta Mathias has explored food and cooking on New Zealand television screens for more than 10 years — many of them spent presenting the various titles of the Taste series. Over two seasons of Taste Takes Off, Peta visited 16 destinations — chosen for their culinary diversity and cultural interest — in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas to get an insight into the origins of their cuisines, meet some of the locals, discover the stories behind the flavours and try her hand at cooking some signature dishes.

Well-known Kiwi chef Jo Seagar trained as a cordon bleu chef in London and France, before returning home to promote a culinary style involving “maximum effect, minimum effort.” Her 1997 best-selling book You Shouldn't Have Gone To So Much Trouble, Darling caught TVNZ’s attention and Real Food marked her TV debut. The two series covered recipes from sushi to pecan pie. In a 2012 interview with Avenue, Seagar mentioned that the show rated highly, despite Television New Zealand initially telling her that a food show would never screen in primetime.

After her husband is jailed, matriarch Cheryl West (Robyn Malcolm) decides the time has come to set her family on the straight and narrow. But can the Wests change old habits? So begins the six season saga of the Westie dynasty. Hugely popular (beloved by public, critics and awards givers alike), Outrageous Fortune was a flag-bearer for TV3 and New Zealand television drama. The series proved — in all its grow-your-own glory — that television in Aotearoa could mield comedy and drama, and be so much more than overseas stories pasted to a local setting.

Heavily influenced by the mid-80s MTV-led music video boom, this madcap six part kids fantasy series focuses on an aspiring songwriter and her daughters who renounce life on a land yacht to settle in a house with a mind of its own. Based on scripts by acclaimed author Margaret Mahy (in her first collaboration with director Yvonne Mackay), it utilises then cutting edge video special effects (requiring locked off shots and no camera movement). The soundtrack is by composer Jenny McLeod while Paul Holmes' narrator is omnipotent and petulant in equal parts.

Jo Seagar’s Easy Peasy Xmas saw chef and author Jo Seagar offering advice on how to get Christmas cooking and hosting done right. In the first episode of three, Seagar plans for a Christmas drinks party, and provides advice on how to host the perfect festive get-together. Later episodes feature recipes for eggnog, Christmas pudding, and glazed ham. The following year saw one-off special Jo Seagar’s Easy Peasy Easter. Seagar made her television debut in 1998 with Real Food for Real People with Jo Seagar, shortly before her Easy Peasy shows. Jo Seagar Cooks followed in 2007.

Kai Time on the Road premiered in Māori Television’s first year of 2003. It has become one of the channel’s longest running series. Presented largely in te reo and directed and presented for many years by chef Pete Peeti, the show celebrated food harvested from the land, rivers and sea. Kai Time traversed the length and breadth of New Zealand, and ventured into the Pacific. The people of the land have equal billing with the kai, and the korero with them is a major element of the show —  often over dishes cooked on location. Rewi Spraggon succeeded Peeti for the final two seasons.

Tracy Barr succeeded Andrew Shaw and Richard Wilde (Wilkins) as TV2’s afternoon children’s host — first appearing on Tracy’s GTS (Good Time Show) in 1979. The weekly Tracy ’80 followed a year later — with music from a resident band and guests, competitions and field stories. Tracy drew criticism for her Kiwi accent and lack of rounded vowels (as Karyn Hay would a few years later) and for her wriggling, but viewers didn’t seem to mind. Tracy ’80 was replaced by Dropakulcha in 1981 and then Shazam! (with Phillip Schofield). Tracy Barr now lives in Australia.

This sitcom features a conscientious travel agent attempting to rein in her wayward siblings. Mild-mannered Melody (Nightline's Belinda Todd, oddly cast against type) is aided and abetted by her ditzy air hostess friend, a hapless co-worker and a nosey neighbour. Despite intense work by a team of scriptwriters, hopes this would be a flagship title for the fledgling TV3, were, to understate things, quickly dashed. Careers suffered, stars were exiled, and Melody Rules became a by-word for failure in NZ TV (equalled only by The Club Show). Watch episode one and decide if time has offered redemption.