This Christmas 1989 episode of the TVNZ teen magazine show sees newbie reporter Nadia Neave on Stewart Island to meet a crayfisherman, an artist and a conservation worker. Reporter Kerre McIvor (nee Woodham) quizzes David Lange about quitting as PM, as he prepares to drive in a street race. Natalie Brunt interviews Cher songwriter Diane Warren. Dr Watt (DJ Grant Kereama) looks at solvent abuse, and future Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan joins a trio of young actors (including Tandi Wright) to give tips on overseas travel. Graeme Tetley (Ruby and Rata) was a series writer.

Life in the Fridge Exists was a late 80s/early 90s teen magazine show that ranged from celebrity interviews to profiles of young artists and athletes, and health education (presented by Dr Watt, aka radio presenter Grant Kereama). The Christchurch-based show saw early appearances by comedian/actor Oscar Kightley (in his screen debut), Amazing Race presenter Phil Keoghan, future Lotto host Hilary Timmins, and broadcasters Kerre McIvor (née Woodham) and Bernadine Oliver-Kerby. Life in the Fridge Exists was also the name of a short-lived Wellington band.

Prank phone calls were more radio DJ Kevin Black’s on-air stock in trade, but he fronted an unlikely Top 20 hit with this spoof of Deane Waretini’s 1981 chart topper ‘The Bridge’. With more than a little help from his Radio Hauraki creative team, a plea for cross cultural harmony was transformed into a novelty song celebration of a largely unsung domestic appliance. Blackie was front and centre with the souped up fridge in the video shot by TVNZ in Wellington, but producer Kim Adamson was the singer and co-writer (in addition to playing the dodgy salesman).

Packed with creatures and landscapes that quite simply boggle the mind, the Nature Collection showcases New Zealand's impressive menagerie of nature and wildlife films. Many of the titles were made by powerhouse company NHNZ, which began around 1977 as the Natural History Unit, a small, southern outpost of state television. In this backgrounder, Peter Hayden — who had a hand in more than a few of these classic films — guides viewers through just what the Nature Collection has to offer.

As a showcase history of Christchurch on screen this collection is backwards looking; but the devastation caused by the earthquakes gives it much more than nostalgic poignancy. As Russell Brown reflects in his introduction, the clips are mementos from, "a place whose face has changed". They testify to the buildings, culture and life of a city now lost, but sure to rise. 

This NFU documentary goes behind the scenes as Selwyn Toogood and his team prepare an episode of 50s radio quiz show It's In the Bag, long before it hit the telly. Questions are prepared and booby prizes — epsom salts, toy ducks — selected, before Toogood hits the stage at the Lower Hutt Town Hall to utter the ultimate poser. The big prizes du jour included washing machines and flash (New Zealand-made!) fridge-freezers. The show was so popular with '50s radio audiences it was said cinemas closed their doors on Tuesday nights when it went to air.

This reality show provides an eco-twist to the home DIY genre by giving households a green makeover. At each episode's end presenter Francesca Price gifts the house in cash what their earth-friendly conversion has cut from their bills. This household from the show’s first season is an Auckland flat of material girls; their power-hungry cosmetics and takeaways lifestyle gets audited by Price and builder Tristan Glendinning. Created by producer Carthew Neal, the WA$TED! format sold successfully overseas, and a US version screened for three seasons on Planet Green.

In this first episode of the six part comedy drama, a suburban Mum (Jodie Dorday from movie Via Satellite) reaches the end of her tether with her washed-up rock singer husband Brian (Shane Cortese), and he comes to the end of his life — atop a broken bong. After her three closest friends convince her she’ll face a murder rap, Jodie makes a fateful decision to dispose of the body. The show marked a move into drama for reality TV supremos Eyeworks Touchdown. "Think Sex and the City meets Desperate Housewives in an Outrageous Fortune kind of way." wrote Listener critic Diana Wichtel.

The Datsuns make international touring look so easy. Sporting a home movie look, Stuck Here For Days kicks off with a blues slide guitar riff as Dolf, Christian, Phil and Mat Datsun travel to new, exotic locations via vans and planes. A slightly sped up travelogue follows them around international cities, as the boys check into their rooms, set up their instruments and play frenzied gigs in sweaty venues and packed festivals. Look out for Dolf, cool as a cucumber, emerging from a beer fridge.

Kevin Blackatini was star radio DJ Kevin Black, while The Frigids came from Radio Hauraki’s creative team. Together they concocted novelty hit ‘The Fridge’ which spoofed Deane Waretini’s chart topping 1981 single ‘The Bridge’. Their exercise in domestic appliance love was written by Kim Adamson, Tom Davidson and Hugh Walsh, with Adamson providing the vocal and Blackie as frontman. Despite the kazoo playing, the endeavour did have a serious side, with proceeds going to the family of a colleague recently killed in a car crash. Kevin Black died in 2013.