Early teleplay The Evening Paper had the same rigid (theatre or radio-derived) format as other early TV dramas of the 60s, but it did something never before seen on local screens. Written by playwright Bruce Mason, the drama dared to expose a stifling NZ suburban existence. Jaded visiting Pom, Phillip; snivelling Winsome and her domineering mother Elfrida, and passive father Ernest, proved too much for viewers, who decried the drama as inaccurate and "unfair"; in other words, The Evening Paper gave Kiwis their first on-screen dose of cultural cringe. 

TVNZ's Loose Enz series was a series of 12 stand-alone dramas made in the early 1980s. This episode, directed by television trailblazer Caterina De Nave, chronicles married life for two neighboring couples who have very different relationship dynamics. Mary (a rare starring role for Shirley Duke) is trying to move into the working world now that her kids have grown up, much to the irritation of her controlling husband David. The couple next door have a much more equal relationship. Increasingly dark, this episode is a trenchant criticism of patriarchical mores of the time.

Alison (Mary Regan from Heart of the Stag) sets out from Auckland to visit her mother (Elizabeth McRae), who lives alone in the family house. The upcoming reunion triggers strong memories for mother and daughter alike. As an 18-year-old, Alison was angry when her mother felt obliged to support her father's wish that Alison not bother going to university. For creator Shereen Maloney, the film touches on the tensions arising when succeeding generations have differing choices available to them. An experimental short from the anthology series About Face.

This NFU documentary visits a street in a relatively new sub-division in Meadowbank in East Auckland to provide a fascinating slice-of-life look at the early 1970s ideal of raising a family and owning a house in the suburbs. The subjects are a largely homogenous group — pākehā couples in their 20s or 30s with school aged children and a stay-at-home wife. Issues canvassed include paying the mortgage, raising children, social unrest, promiscuity and abortion; but the experience of women as housewives and mothers in the suburbs is the underlying story.