Hilary Barry was in her early 20s when she began reporting for TV3 in 1993. Twenty-three years later she left the network, after more than a decade co-presenting its prime time bulletin. In this excerpt from her last TV3 bulletin, newsreader Mike McRoberts gives an emotional farewell speech. A best of Barry video package shows her drinking a Spam smoothie for an early story, laughing about an "emergency defecation situation", and reporting from Christchurch and South Africa. Barry later spoke of leaving TV3 after many close colleagues had left the network.

When television fails to go to plan, polished professionalism can collapse into laughter, awkward pauses and the occasional bruise. Audiences can find both laughter, and even a measure of comfort, as they witness things falling apart. We're reminded that no one is perfect, even the beautiful people. NZ On Screen's Bloopers Collection includes presenters and actors reacting to booboos by giggling, dancing, and more. There are famous falls, lost eyeballs and many cameos — from Hilary Barry to the cast of Shortland Street, to a menagerie of animals and children's TV hosts.

These clips offer up a selection of Kiwi news bloopers. First, Sacha McNeil presents a retrospective of unscripted moments from TV3’s first 25 years of news: newsreaders sneeze and laugh, and reporters face rogue weather, animals, dance routines, and lashings of champagne from Olympic champions. Then presenter Hilary Barry laughs at inappropriate moments on The Paul Henry Show: she starts an extended battle with the giggles while mentioning All Black Waisake Naholo’s broken leg (2015). In 2016 she succumbs to laughter over an emergency defecation situation.

Former Prime Minister John Key made regular appearances in the media, and was game for taking on more than political questions: from reading out the top ten list on America's Late Show with David Letterman, to participating in pranks on The Rock radio station. In July 2015 Key faced up to the '9-in-10' challenge on Paul Henry’s MediaWorks breakfast show — trying to provide nine correct answers to a general knowledge question, in ten seconds. The subject for the ex-stock market trader? International currencies. The prize was a Jeep Cherokee for Ronald McDonald House.

Narrated by Hilary Barry and screening on 3 News, this series of short documentaries profiles New Zealanders involved in World War I. This episode looks at sexual health campaigner Ettie Rout, who was determined to tackle the high venereal disease rate amongst Kiwi soldiers. Her biographer Jane Tolerton tells of Rout advocating for prophylactic kits, and setting up a safe sex brothel in France. Rout attracted controversy and censorship, and was scorned by the establishment as immoral. But soldiers and doctors thanked her as the "guardian angel of the ANZACs". 

Great War Stories is a series of 35 four-minute documentaries remembering New Zealanders in World War l. The first season debuted in 2014, a century after the war began. Screening during TV3's prime time news, the bite-sized docos chronicle Kiwi experiences in the conflict, from soldiers, pilots, nurses, rugby players and war horses, to tragedies on land and sea. NZ Herald writer Greg Dixon praised the series as "an object lesson in how a tiny part can speak for the whole". Great War Stories was directed and produced by Anna Cottrell (Children of Gallipoli).

This episode of the series about New Zealanders in World War I looks at Lottie Le Gallais. The Auckland nurse worked on the hospital 'mercy' ship Maheno, which transported wounded soldiers from Anzac Cove at Gallipoli. She arrived to find her brother Leddie had been killed. Te Papa exhibition Gallipoli: The Scale of our War featured a large-scale model of Le Gallais learning of Leddie's death, crafted by Weta Workshop. Weta boss Richard Taylor is interviewed here. The series was narrated by Hilary Barry, and screened during 3 News.

From the second series of short documentaries remembering New Zealanders in World War I, this episode looks at Ormond Burton. Burton left for war as a 21-year-old, and served as a medic and in the infantry. He was decorated for bravery, and a bible saved him from a bullet. His stance on the justness of war changed after experiencing the horrors of Gallipoli and the Western Front. During  World War ll the Methodist minister was jailed as a conscientious objector; later he became a prominent pacifist and anti-Vietnam War campaigner. The series screened during 3 News.

When Taranaki farmer and lawyer William Malone signed up to fight in World War l, he was the oldest man in the Wellington Battalion. But far from being frail, 56-year-old Colonel Malone was fit and disciplined. The Parihaka veteran became one of New Zealand's most important figures at Gallipoli. This short documentary about Kiwis in World War l uses Malone's diary entries and an interview with his great-great-great grandson to tell the remarkable story of Malone's battalion capturing Chunuk Bair, on 8 August 1915. Malone was killed that day by Allied artillery.