This National Film Unit production was made to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Plunket Society. Plunket — aka ‘Karitane’ — nursing is a New Zealand system of ante-natal and post-natal care for mothers and infants, founded by Sir Truby King: “the man who saved the babies”. Featuring original nurse Joanne MacKinnon, the film follows Plunket from a time of high infant mortality to providing contemporary nursing to a New Zealand flush with postwar optimism: “a family country, where children grow happily in the fresh air and sunshine.”

In this 2012 series, media personality Jaquie Brown chronicles a year as a young mother, as she raises her first child Leo. With a single rule — not to offer advice — Brown aimed to document honestly the realities of modern parenting. This first episode looks at everything from worrying nipple advice to installing car seats, from the pelvic floor to the post-baby body. Brown's candid reflections (captured in video diary 'Little Brother') are mixed with experts (Plunket nurses, baby whisperers), and a look at Kiwi child-rearing social history. The show was produced by JAM TV for TV One.

AA Torque Show was a Kiwi motoring show following in the wheelspun tracks of international hit Top Gear. In this episode from the second series, architect Roger Walker takes the new Audi TT off the drawing board for a spin on the Central Plateau; actor and host Danny Mulheron tries to convince superbike champ Aaron Slight that a convertible is more than “a hairdresser’s car” as they drive a Volvo and a BMW coupe to the Gladstone Pub in the Wairarapa; and it’s the final of the Motormouth Cup (“which C-lister will walk away with motoring’s glittering prize”?) 

This post-war film was made to showcase New Zealand to UK audiences. Directed by Michael Forlong, the NFU film is a booster’s catalogue of contemporary NZ life. The message is that NZ is a modern pastoral paradise: open for business but welfare aware. Nature is conquered via egalitarian effort; air and sea links overcome the tyranny of distance; and science informs primary industry. Māori are depicted assimilating into the Pākehā world. Sport, suburbia and scenic wonder are touted, and an NZSO performance shows that the soil can grow culture as well as clover. 

In 2009 Māori Television rebooted the classic game show first hosted by Selwyn Toogood. In this episode from the fifth season, Stacey Daniels Morrison and Pio Terei take the popular roadshow to Masterton in the Wairarapa. Contestants answer locally themed questions (ranging from local iwi to Brian Lochore, Jemaine Clement and Ladyhawke), and earn the right to barter for the money or the bag. But as Morrison says, “remember that lurking in some of those bags are the boobies…”. Prizes include a basketball stands, a 50 inch TV and the MultiKai cooker. 

Independent channel TV3 launched its prime time bulletin on 27 November 1989. The flagship 6pm bulletin — originally called 3 National News — was anchored by ex state TV legend Philip Sherry, with Greg Clark handling sports. Sherry was replaced by Joanna Paul, then another ex TVNZ anchor, John Hawkesby. A 1998 revamp saw Carol Hirschfeld and John Campbell take on dual anchor roles. Their move to Campbell Live in 2005 opened the doors for a decade-long run by Hilary Barry and Mike McRoberts. In 2016 Mediaworks rebranded its news service — and the slot — as Newshub.

TV3's late night news show was devised in 1990 to provide a mix of credible news and entertainment. Once the serious news of the day was dispensed with, the brief was that the show could be a bit "off" with few rules - and the freedom to push boundaries. That's exactly what presenters like Belinda Todd, Bill Ralston, Dylan Taite and David Farrier proceeded to do in the show's often infamous "third break". Meanwhile, newsreaders including Joanna Paul, Janet Wilson, Leanne Malcolm and Carolyn Robinson did their best to keep a straight face. "Yo Nightliners!"

Popular consumer affairs show Fair Go is one of New Zealand TV's longest-running series. It began in 1977, devised by Brian Edwards and producer Peter Morritt. The TVNZ programme mixes investigative reporting (daring to "name names" and expose rip-off merchants everywhere) with light-hearted segments. Its roster of presenters has included Edwards, Judith Fyfe, Hugo Manson, Philip Alpers, Kerre McIvor (nee Woodham), Carol Hirschfeld, Gordon Harcourt, and longest serving host, Kevin Milne. A perennial favourite segment is the round-up of the year's ad campaigns.  

Holmes was a long-running current affairs programme that followed the news each weeknight on TV ONE. Presented by veteran broadcaster Paul Holmes, the show was as famous for his showmanship as it was for examining the issues of the day. Holmes interviewed the day's newsmakers; often championing the underdog 'kiwi battler'. In 2004 Paul Holmes defected from TVNZ to Prime TV to set up a rival 7pm current affairs programme, Paul Holmes. That lasted a few months before being axed (due to low ratings).